Race and Nation in 21St Century Malaysia: the Production Of
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Race and Nation in 21st Century Malaysia: The Production of Racialised Electoral Politics in the Malaysian Media Alexander MacLeod Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Geography, Politics and Sociology University of Newcastle upon Tyne November 2016 Abstract This thesis explores the development of ethnoreligious narratives in the Malaysian media. It shows how, despite rapid structural changes in the twenty-first century, including the arrival of new media, the growth of a nascent civil society movement and the shift towards a two- party electoral system, the government, opposition and media continue to construct and reconstruct essentialist ethnoreligious narratives around and through political discourses and events. This process will be demonstrated through a media analysis of the three most recent general elections (2004, 2008 and 2013). Samples are taken from pro-government newspaper Utusan Malaysia and pro-opposition website Malaysiakini. While the former was founded in 1939, the latter was central to the growth of Malaysia’s new media landscape and can reveal how these forms of identity have operated in the new information age. The thesis will draw upon Fairclough’s model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), an in-depth methodological approach covering textual, discursive and social practices in order to analyse the form and function of journalists’ language and the ways in which it constructs ethnoreligious identities. It will be shown that Malaysia’s general elections provide a crucible through which Malaysian identity is reconfigured and reshaped; a site where journalists and other writers creatively rework racial and national ideas. But it will also bring to light the fragmentation that underlies the application of these ethnoreligious narratives; a process that has resulted in the reproduction of divisive political discourses. Keywords: Malaysia, media, identity, elections, Malaysiakini, Utusan Acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity to thank my friends, family and colleagues for all of their love, care and support through the years. I am indebted to my supervisors, Alastair Bonnett and Simon Philpott, for their friendship, guidance and – dare I say patience? You made a great supervisory team, directing the thesis, but also providing me with inspiring pep-talks, career advice and always showing the willingness to lend an ear at times of need. I am so grateful to the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) for allowing me to stay with them during that time. Particular thanks go to my dear friend Muna, who was so helpful and supportive not only with the application process, but through her kindness and virtue was ever-prepared to ferry me around to keep me shielded from the hot Malaysian sun! I cannot proceed without also thanking Shanta Nair-Venugopal, not only for agreeing to be my research sponsor but for helping me to gain my bearings in the early days and for our engaging and often candid talks. There are too many friends to mention, but thank you to Jaey for your sincere friendship and especially for your patience and willingness to proofread and offer corrections for my Malay translations. I will forever appreciate the way in which the Institute of the Malay World and Civilization (ATMA) took me in and provided me with six unforgettable months of Malay language training, helping me to appreciate and immerse in Malay and Malaysian cultural life. Cikgu Dian, Cikgu Mali and lastly, Shota, thanks for your patience, guidance and friendship. Likewise, with the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), who gave me a desk to write up my research, and allowed me such rich insight into IKMAS’ research culture. A big Terima Kasih goes to Sumit Mandal, Rashila Ramli and Zawiah Yahya for their advice and support. In this respect I would also like to thank Newcastle University staff and other academics for their warm counsel. Last, but certainly not least, although unable to thank all of my colleagues, thank you to my closest companion and office neighbour Fraser Bell, a dear friend with whom I have traded many PhD ‘war stories’ and shared this academic journey. Contents List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ v List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... v Glossary of Terms: Main Political Parties and Organisations ........................................... vi Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 The Malaysian Electoral System ......................................................................................................... 8 Thesis Structure ................................................................................................................................. 11 Chapter 1: The Evolution of National Electoral Politics in Postcolonial Malaysia ......... 15 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 15 1.1 1955-1964: From Malaya to Malaysia ........................................................................................ 18 1955 ............................................................................................................................................... 18 1959 ............................................................................................................................................... 20 1964 ............................................................................................................................................... 21 1.2 1969-1978: An Emergent Postcolonial Voice ............................................................................. 24 1969 ............................................................................................................................................... 24 1974 ............................................................................................................................................... 29 1978 ............................................................................................................................................... 30 1.3 1982-1990: The Mainstreaming of Islamisation ......................................................................... 30 1982 ............................................................................................................................................... 31 1986 ............................................................................................................................................... 32 1990 ............................................................................................................................................... 34 1.4 1995-1999: Consolidating a National Identity ............................................................................ 36 1995 ............................................................................................................................................... 37 1999 ............................................................................................................................................... 37 Conclusion......................................................................................................................................... 41 Chapter 2: Racial Identity in Malaysia: Colonial Imagination and Postcolonial Innovation .............................................................................................................................. 43 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 43 I: Framework for Malaysian Identity: Ethnoreligious Symbolism .................................. 43 2.1 Early Histories and Historical Erasures....................................................................................... 45 2.2 Melaka’s ‘Golden Age’ ............................................................................................................... 48 2.3 British Rule and the Emergence of the ‘Ethnoreligious’............................................................. 49 i 2.4 Malay Nationalism and its Islamic Influences............................................................................. 54 II: Fragmented Essentialisms in Malaysia: Innovating with the Past .............................. 57 Fragmented essentialisms ...................................................................................................................... 57 2.5 Umno and the Reconceptualisation of Tradition ......................................................................... 63 2.6 Chinese and the Protection/Demonisation Dichotomy ................................................................ 66 2.7 The Indian Dilemma .................................................................................................................... 71 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 73 Chapter 3: New Media and the Shifts in Malaysia’s Political Landscape ........................ 75 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................