GEORGETOWN, Malaysia -- Drums and cymbals crash ferociously as hundreds of spectators cheer a troupe of youngsters capering with a cloth dragon 30 feet long. The Year of the Snake is at hand, but the festivities mask a troubled time for Malaysia's ethnic Chinese minority.
"For the first time, I'm relieved that the Year of the Dragon is over," Tan Swee Chee, a second-generation Malaysian of Chinese origin, said at a street party ahead of Chinese New Year celebrations on Wednesday. "It was supposed to bring us prosperity and happiness, but we seem to be worse off now."
Relations with the Malay Muslim majority have grown tense in recent months, with many Chinese believing that Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is playing a dangerous race card. In Indonesia, ethnic Chinese were raped and killed in riots that accompanied the fall of dictator Suharto in 1998.
Singapore, the region's only Chinese-majority country, is sensitive to anti-Chinese sentiments. "Recent events at home and in the region have brought out starkly the importance of constantly tending our harmonious race relations," Goh Chok Tong, Singapore's prime minister, said in his Chinese New Year's message.
In Malaysia, next door to Singapore, race is the backdrop to all politics. Every government since independence from Britain in 1957 has been led by the United Malays National Organization, the exclusively Malay party. Chinese and Indian-based parties have minor roles in government, but UMNO under Mahathir takes the lead.
In 1969, ethnic riots fueled by Malay resentment of Chinese dominance in the economy left hundreds dead. Malaysia then instituted a brand of affirmative action that guarantees Malays cheap loans, places in universities and government jobs.
Many Chinese dislike the policy, but grudgingly accept it as necessary to keep racial tensions from boiling over. "As a multiracial country, we must accept that no one race will receive everything it wants," says Housing Minister Ong Ka Ting, who is Chinese.
Georgetown is the capital of the northern island of Penang, Malaysia's only Chinese-majority state. Here, where the favored lunch is wonton noodles and conversations usually are about weddings and the weather, the talk has lately turned resentful.
Chinese are 30 percent of the population of 22 million, and their vote was crucial in returning Mahathir to power in a 1999 general election, when his Malay power base was split.
But since then, Malaysia's Muslim ruler of 19 years has repeatedly upset many Chinese with comments and decisions they feel are designed to regain Malay favor.
Just before the election, a Chinese group called for ending the policies, saying they were unfair and holding back the country.
The call stirred little reaction at the time. But a few months ago, Mahathir belatedly condemned it as "extremist." A Malay student group threatened a jihad, or Muslim holy war, to defend affirmative action, and the Chinese backed off.
Now Mahathir is pressuring the Chinese to accept racially integrated schools, putting hitherto separate Malay, Chinese and Indian schools under one roof. Chinese fear the teaching of their language and history will suffer.
"We don't want an angry confrontation with the Malays because we know that racial harmony is the key to our country's peace and success," said Khoo Huck Cheong, a tourist guide. "But nowadays we feel as though we're being treated as second-class citizens."
Copyright 2000 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Be the first to comment on this article!