Catharsis

A Second Chance for Democracy in Malaysia

Kee Beng Ooi

• Publisher: ISEAS Publishing
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9789814818926
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Democracy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Malaysia pulled itself back from the brink on 9 May 2018. That day the majority of its voting population decided to topple the Barisan Nasional government that had been in power for over 60 years and that had come to be seen as corrupt beyond redemption, and incompetent to boot.

Lined up against the unpopular administration of Najib Razak was a coalition led by former strongman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who at the age of 92 had decided to return to Malaysian politics to stop the rot which many believed had begun during his earlier period in power, in 1981–2003. As the oldest prime minister in world history, he is now setting about creating structure that he believes will lead to a Malaysia that will achieve the Vision 2020 that he first propounded in 1991. This vision dovetails with the ideals of the highly influential Reformasi Movement which was ignited by the sacking of his deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, in 1998.

This compilation of insightful analyses is Ooi Kee Beng's seventh, and discusses key events from the last five years leading up to 9 May 2018 and beyond. These seven books together cover the strange period we may come to know as the Inter-Mahathir Era, and the present volume discusses some of the challenges facing the new government, and the Malaysian population in general, now that the Barisan Nasional has imploded.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Foreword
• 1. Introduction – Malaysia’s Future Is Redeemed
• Before Pakatan Harapan
• 2. After All These Years, Malaysia Is Still Held Hostage
• 3. Beyond the Nationalism Trap
• 4. Federating Malaysia — A Continuous and Troubled Process
• 5. Funeral for a True Son of Penang
• 6. Let’s Work Out What Malaysia Is Good For
• 7. The Unity Fetish
• 8. When the National Narrative Loses the Script
• 9. Let’s Be Cosmopolitan and Leave Multi-ethnicity Behind
• 10. Noses Don’t Grow Back
• 11. Mahathir’s Bersatu is Best Understood as an NGO
• Before 9 MAY 2018
• 12. Racialising the Un-racialisable: What is the Red Shirt Rally All About?
• 13. One Country’s Merdeka Is Another’s Damage Control
• 14. Malaysia – Where Politics Must Be Ethnically Inclusive and Exclusive at the Same Time
• 15. Is Malaysia at a Crossroads or in a Quagmire?
• 16. Unity Without Solidarity Sows Disunity
• 17. UMNO and Looking Back at History
• 18. Sarawak Forces Federal Opposition to Do Deep Soul-searching. But Can It?
• 19. By-elections Reveal New Malay Politics
• 20. Interview with Mahathir Mohamad: ‘People Must Be Able to Hold Their Heads Up.’
• 21. Malaysia Has to Start Re-examining Its Histories
• 22. Waves from US Probe into 1MDB May Turn into Tsunami
• 23. Seeking a New Formula to Unite Malaysia’s Diversity
• 24. Time for Anwar to Accept Mahathir’s Olive Branch
• 25. Najib, Mahathir and the Timing of Malaysia’s Polls
• 26. Excessive Governance is Not Good Governance
• 27. Why Malaysia’s Opposition Will Take to the Streets Again
• 28. Merdeka is About the Individual, Too
• 29. A Battle Between Malay leaders Over Malaysia’s Future
• 30. The Primacy of Political Economy in Asia
• With Mahathir at the Helm
• 31. One Thing is Certain—There Will Be More Amendments to the Constitution
• 32. The More Things Change, the More Things May Actually Change
• 33. Did Merdeka Liberate or Create Malaya?
• 34. Interview with Nurul Izzah Anwar: Rebuilding a Nation Long Divided
• 35. The Diminishing of Humans Through Identity Politics
• 36. The Art of Dismantling Cultural Pluralism
• 37. No Need to Let Bigots Dictate Policy
• 38. What the Penang Floods Say About Malaysian Politics (and It’s Not Just About Climate Change)
• 39. This is the Moment of Truth for Malaysia’s Race-based Politics
• 40. We are Equal Only Through Our Vote
• 41 Why the Opposition Has a Shot at Toppling the Barisan Nasional with Mahathir at the Helm
• 42. Spiralling Back Towards Reformasi
• 43. Individual Freedom Is a Matter of National Survival
• 44. Why Meet the Twenty-first Century with Twentieth Century Mindsets?
• 45. A Final Quarrel Between a Repentant Grandfather and Oldfashioned Self-absorbed Parents
• 46. Outraged Enough to Go Vote or Cynical Enough to Stay Home?
• Beyond 9 MAY 2018
• 47. The Bewildering Game of Malaysian Politics, the Rot Within the Barisan Nasional
• 48. A Revolution in Malaysia? Not so Fast…
• 49. Mahathir: Renaissance Man
• 50. Malaysia’s Reformasi Movement Lives Up to Its Name
• 51. In Lieu of Race and Religion…
• 52. It All Seems So Simple Now…
• 53. Catharsis – The Rebirth of Malaysia Finally Begins
• 54. A Malaysian Spring for Intelligentsia?
• 55. The Layers of Historical Significance of GE14
• About the Author