Malaysia
Malaysia, while outwardly a multi-party democracy, imposes restrictions
on opposition parties, especially in terms of their access to the media.
The government is effectively under the control of the United Malays National
Organization (UMNO), a governing coalition of several indigenous Malay parties
headed by the Barisan Nasional (National Front), whose leader is Dr Mahathir
bin Muhammad, the prime minister since 1981.
Malaysia possesses one of the most dynamic economies in Southeast Asia.
The Malaysian government was forced to take action during the year to slow
down the economy, which was expanding too quickly and threatening to lead
to a rapid rise in inflation. Projections of economic growth for Malaysia
in 1996 were approximately 8.4 per cent, in line with second-quarter figures.
The latest available figures indicated that the current-account deficit
had suffered a 6.8 per cent setback in 1995. The real effective exchange
rate of the Malaysian currency fell substantially below that of other major
Asian currencies. Shortages of labour and basic commodities like cement,
as well as rapidly increasing consumer spending, were treated dismissively
by the government, which adopted a xenophobic attitude to criticism.
Malaysia continues to push its initiative for an East Asian Economic Caucus
(EAEC), excluding the USA, New Zealand and Austra-lia. In March 1995 it
vetoed a Japanese proposal to allow Australia and New Zealand to attend
an Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Thailand.
Prime Minister Mahathir did allude to an eventual Australian membership
of the EAEC, dependent on its integration with the region. At the Bangkok
meeting in March 1996, Mahathir continued to oppose future Australian involvement
in the ASEAN-EAEC forum.
In January 1996, Australia's prime minister, Paul Keating, praised Malaysia
on a visit that also included a successful meeting with Deputy Prime Minister
Anwar Ibrahim. Following the Australian federal election of March 1996,
Australia's new prime minister, John Howard, met Mahathir in Cairns, Australia,
and called for closer relations between the two countries.
The most publicly identifiable history of anti-semitism in Malaysia is
associated with Prime Minister Mahathir, who has long espoused hostile attitudes
towards both Israel and Jews. In his 1970 treatise on Malay identity, entitled
The Malay Dilemma , Mahathir asserted that "the Jews . . . are
not only hook-nosed but understand money instinctively . . . Jewish stinginess
and financial wizardry gained them the commercial control of Europe and
provoked an antisemitism which waxed and waned throughout Europe through
the ages".
In 1984 the Malaysian authorities banned a performance of Ernest Bloch's
Shlomo , which is based on Hebrew melodies, by the New York Philharmonic
Orchestra. Following a worldwide protest, the orchestra cancelled its visit.
In 1986 Mahathir charged Zionists and Jews with attempting to destabilize
the country by means of the allegedly Jewish-controlled international media.
He subsequently banned the Asian Wall Street Journal for three months
and expelled two of its correspondents, describing the publication as "Jewish-owned".
Since 1991 Mahathir has used UMNO and the Malaysian news agency, Bernama,
to allege that leaders of the Australian Jewish community were conspiring
to overthrow his regime.
Sixty per cent of Malaysians are Malay, with ethnic Chinese constituting
30 per cent and Indians 10 per cent of the population. The state discriminates
in favour of Bumiputras, literally "sons of the soil", meaning
ethnic Malays, giving them privileged access to universities and ensuring
that Malay culture dominates the media and giving special consideration
to Malay businesses.
Unrest was reported in 1995 among the estimated 4,500 Vietnamese refugees
living in transit camps on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. Under an agreement
signed in Vienna in March 1995, all Vietnamese "boat people" were
to be repatriated by the end of the year.
The militant Islamist Parti Islam Se Malaysia (PAS), which claims 400,000
members and controls the government of the northern peninsular state of
Kelantan, poses the most important long-term challenge to the UMNO and its
allies. Unlike Mahathir's vision for a technologically advanced Malaysia,
Kelantan leaders want that state to become austerely Islamic as an example
for Malaysia to follow. PAS opposes any dialogue between Israel and Malaysia,
and does not distinguish between Jews and Zionists in its rhetoric.
The government maintained its crackdown, initiated first in 1994, on the
strong Islamist movement, al-Arqam, with a membership of 10,000 and an estimated
100,000 supporters. Ashaari Muhammad, the leader of al-Arqam, who was detained
in 1995 under the Internal Security Act, subsequently recanted his position.
The government claimed that al-Arqam was plotting an Islamist revolution.
Antisemitic texts, including The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,
continued to be available in Malaysia.
In mid-June Mahathir announced the establishment of a rehabilitation
centre, where Muslims who renounced their faith would be detained and "treated".
The move was seen as an attempt to counter the growth of the Islamist opposition,
particularly the PAS (see PARTIES, ORGANIZATIONS, MOVEMENTS), by demonstrating
stronger Islamic credentials.
Malaysia is also embroiled in a dispute with the Thai government over the
activities of Muslim separatist groups operating in southern Thailand (seeThailand).
Thai government officials' statements have been highly critical of Malaysia,
and a newspaper with links to the Thai military referred to Malaysia as
the "enemy to the south".
This is a unique country in many ways with an impressive record of economic
growth and political stability, striving to modernize yet doing so on the
basis of institutionalized discrimination. Most Malays do not seem to share
their prime minister's antisemitism or anti-Zionism. Such sentiments are
confined to a handful of his cabinet supporters and Islamists active in
Malaysian politics. Iranian ties with the government are a source for concern,
based on the activities of Islamists in Thailand and the Philippines. While
there is little substantial evidence that Malaysian support is going directly
to Islamists or Muslim separatist groups, Malaysian territory does contain
support facilities for such movements.
© JPR 1997