Soft Barriers To Malay Partiipation In Commece

Soft Barriers to Malay Participation In Commerce

M. Bakri Musa

Soft barriers to active participation in the money economy are especially pronounced in societies that still exist in or have just exited from the peasantry and subsistence living. That is Malay society at the time of colonization. It is still true for a vast segment even today. The concept of money and the “money economy” is alien to them. Money was equated with greed and unbridled materialism, not a suitable topic in polite conversations. To ask for the monetary value of anything or service was tantamount to insulting its owner or provider. Monetary value was only for showing off your social status as with how much was your dowry or car.

The traditional trading activities in such societies are primitive, restricted to bartering. The worth of such exchanges, as with trading a few coconuts for fixing a leaky roof, is not with the economic value of the coconuts or the repairing of the roof, rather the goodwill generated, one fellow villager helping another.

One can imagine the difficulty members of such a society would have in adjusting to a money economy. If this were to be imposed from the outside world, as with colonialism, free-flow immigration, or unrestrained globalization, the difficulties in adjusting would be compounded.

Typically that society would react in one of two ways. It either withdraws, effectively declaring that it does not want anything to do with this alien value system, or else it blindly embraces the new system enthusiastically and uncritically.

The first reaction is seen in many Muslim countries, and I will pursue this further in the section, “Imprisoned by Religion.” We also see this with North American Indians, India under Nehru, and today’s Myanmar.

With the second, what typically happens is the absorption of only the superficialities and excesses, as can be seen in the immediate post-Mao period of China. After spurning the outside world, China suddenly changed under Deng Xiaoping. In mature capitalistic societies such as America and Western Europe, there is an effective taxation system with redistributionist elements, and where philanthropy is an honored tradition which have evolved and been perfected over time.

In China (as in many Third World societies) you are considered stupid if you do not conceal your income from the government and cheat on your taxes. As for charity, when Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, two billionaires known for their charitable deeds as much as their capitalistic instincts, visited China to interest its newly rich in philanthropy, the pair were greeted with silence if not derision. America has its Dukes and Stanfords, elite universities that are testaments to the generosities of their capitalist titans. China has none as yet, and possibly never will.

It is the rare society that gets it right immediately. The hope is that it will learn and stabilize eventually. Otherwise those excesses would lead to instability. The Chinese leadership today is very much aware of the severe negative consequences to the excesses and flamboyance of its politburo members and their children, especially when displayed abroad. There is as yet no such abhorrence with the excesses, corrupton, and flamboyance of the Malay elite–our sultans and UMNOputras.

It was only a generation or two ago that Malay society was deep in its subsistence and agrarian mode, typical of the kampong lifestyle. Most Malays lived off the land, and gotong-royong (communal effort) was the norm; bartering or trading of goods and services were strange concepts. Instead you helped each other, with no financial considerations.

With the coming of colonial rule and with it, capitalism, Malays were thrown into the money economy precipitously without any transition. The later influx of immigrants further compounded the issue. The immigrants by default and out of necessity had to adapt to the money economy to survive; they had no social or physical support system as with Malays and our kampong lifestyle. This earlier entry into the money economy by the immigrant population conferred significant advantages vis a vis the native peasant population.

It was no surprise that Malays, specifically those in UMNO, at the dawn of our country’s independence were clearly anti-capitalistic, except for its top leader, Tunku Abdul Rahman, who remained unabashedly committed to capitalism. To those in UMNO during its infancy, the term kaum kapitalis was derogatory, comparable and perhaps synonymous with kaum kolonialist (colonialist class/hordes). That soon changed when they saw the tangible results of profits and wealth. This Malay embrace of capitalism was accelerated under Mahathir.

Like the Chinese in China today, Malays embrace only the primitive or animalistic form of capitalism, its raw and exploitative version, and the associated quick bucks and short-term mindset. Also akin to modern China, corruption, collusion, and influence peddling rapidly became the norm.

If those are not formidable enough obstacles, then there is yet another significant “soft” barrier to Malay entry into commerce–our religion, or more accurately our particular and myopic interpretation of the Koran and Hadith (sayings and practices of Prophet Muhammad, s.a.w.). I will defer this to Part Eight, “Imprisoned by Religion.” For now, let me quickly preempt the anticipated reflex criticisms.

As a Muslim, I believe that my faith is fully consistent with and supportive of the ideals and practices of capitalism. Nothing in my reading tells me otherwise. After all, our Prophet Muhammad, s.a.w. (May Allah bless his soul) was a successful trader before receiving his prophethood. That reflected the profession’s high standing with Allah as much as His appraisal of the man.

However, being not an Islamic scholar or an economist, I lack credibility. All I can do is share with readers what I have learned from others about my faith and its view on capitalism.

One thing is certain; Islam cannot be supportive of atheistic communism or its close cousin, socialism. It is true that the egalitarian ideals of socialism may appeal and indeed have to many Muslims and can be construed as being consistent with those of Islam. On closer reading however, equality is not the ideal of Islam; indeed that would be against human nature. Allah in his wisdom has created us in all our diversities, with different skin colors, speaking different languages, and having diverse cultures. He has also endowed us with different talents and abilities.

Equality in such a setting would be an elusive goal, as well as a cruel illusion. Those in power would determine what equality would mean. In America at the time of the declaration of independence, the “We, the people” phrase in the preamble of its constitution for whom “equality” would apply were restricted to only tax-paying white males. They alone were entitled to vote and have the protection of the constitution. Slaves, women, and those who did not own land were excluded. Only later was that “equality” extended to them.

Likewise with meritocracy; those already in power would determine what attributes are considered meritorious.  Meritocracy as a concept could easily be used to justify continued suppression and denial of opportunities to others not currently favored.

Islam emphasizes justice, not equality. We cannot treat an orphan in the same “equal” manner as the son of a privileged family. That would be the height of injustice. Indeed to be just, we should do more for the orphan, which would also be the right thing to do. The great American jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes said it best, “It is a wise man who said that there is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of people who are unequal.”

It is easy for today’s observers, Muslims included, to conclude that Islam is against capitalism, or at least wealth creation and accumulation. Muslim countries, even those blessed with abundant natural resources like oil and gas, are overrepresented in the poor and deprived category. In Malaysia, Malays, who by statutory definitions are Muslims, lag behind the other races in all socioeconomic indices. That there was a time when Muslims were ahead of the curve has been all but forgotten, and if recalled, only for syok sendiri (self-gratification) exercises and not as a learning opportunity.

Capitalism is not un-Islamic. On the contrary, many of the practices and consequences of capitalism are very much in tune with the aspirations of our faith. Both capitalism and Islam are very adaptive. If the communist Chinese could adopt capitalism and imbue it with Chinese characteristics and sensibilities, and in the process emancipate hundreds of millions of its people out of poverty, I fail to see why we cannot do the same. Meaning, imbue capitalism with Islamic characteristics.

Next:  The Fallacies of GLCs

Adapted from the author’s book, Liberating The Malay Mind, published by ZI Publications, Petaling Jaya, 2013. The second edition was released in January 2016.