Thread by @NatAsasi

How can PH smart engineer a new narrative of inclusion that will make every Malaysian feel safe, valued, and inspired to rise together?

A🧵

malaysiakini.com/columns/645791

Congratulations to PM Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Harapan!

After a brief (but strong) hug to every single Malaysian who sacrificed sweat, blood, and tears to bring about this long, long awaited day, let's jump to the question:

What’s next?

My one word answer would be: narrative.

What we urgently need now is a strong, clear story being pushed out to all of Malaysia that really frames and defines what this transition actually means for all Malaysians.

To understand the importance and centrality of narrative, we can look back to 2018 to learn from the mistakes of past, and avoid the disasters those mistakes resulted in.

The PH government of 2018 was led by Mahathir, and it was more of a Mahathir govt than it was a PH govt.

It is now clear that Mahathir never really wanted the PH government to succeed. It’s also clear that he masterminded the Sheraton Move - which ultimately backfired on him.

What Mahathir really wanted was a strong govt with a strong Malay-only party at the centre (he has never cared whether this party was called ‘Umno’, ‘Umno Baru’, ‘Bersatu’, ‘Pejuang’, or so on). According to his old school thinking, this was the only formula that works in M'sia.

In 2018, Mahathir thus had no interest in a new Malaysian narrative that was driven by true, inclusive multiracial harmony.

When problems like ICERD started rolling around, Mahathir probably thought that things were unfolding exactly the way he wanted - with increasing racial and religious sentiment as a backlash to a ‘DAP dominated’ government on the rise.

This was the perfect precursor to Mahathir’s plan to eventually dump DAP by having several Umno and PKR MPs basically switch over to Bersatu.

Of course, the cherry on top of all this scheming was that by doing this, Mahathir could avoid the greatest political nightmare of his entire life - letting Anwar become PM.

The term _“New Malaysia”_ emerged organically, but it was soon clear that *nobody knew what those words meant*, and that Mahathir’s government was not interested in defining and building on that narrative.

This created a vital void.

And into that void poured Umno and PAS - with their protests against ICERD, the ‘Malay unity’ narrative of Muafakat Nasional and so on.

GE14 could have been the end for Umno, and to a lesser extent maybe even PAS. But this was not the outcome that Mahathir wanted.

And so Mahathir allowed that void to appear, and for Umno and PAS to fill that void with the old narrative - the story of Melayu/Islam versus the rest.

This was the story that worked perfectly well for Mahathir in the 80s and 90s, when he ruled unchallenged like an emperor or ‘Mahafiraun’. And so in 2018, he did everything he could to bring back that mentality and that story.

It is now 2022. Mahathir and all his friends have lost their deposits contesting in GE15, and Anwar Ibrahim is Prime Minister.

What is the story now?

I think this is the greatest and most vital question facing PH today.

Our entire understanding of the world around us boils down to stories we tell ourselves in our heads - stories that define and shape every aspect and experience of our lives as human beings and as Malaysians.

Stories define whether we feel truly accepted and at home here as Malaysians; how we feel about people of different races and religion; and ultimately, how we interact with one another as fellow Malaysians.

If PH can build the right narrative and the right story to really frame this huge political transition, then we will finally have the seeds of a truly new Malaysia.

Mahathir didn’t have faith in Malaysians. He believed they were too racist to have any kind of government except a race-based one.

A new narrative needs to be built on a completely different belief - one that has full faith in the ability of Malaysians from all backgrounds to build this nation up together.

Building this narrative is far, far more important than trying to ‘counter’ stupid political attacks like saying alcohol and gambling shares went up as soon as Anwar became PM, or aggressively trying to arrest kids posting racist nonsense on Tik Tok.

It’s never about getting bogged down with countering, attacking, or trying to eliminate bad narratives - that’s a waste of time, and marching to the beat of your opponent’s drums.

It’s always about having a better narrative that people prefer.

A new narrative has to go way, way beyond 1 simple phrase (though you’ll need 1).

Malaysia has experienced the emptiness of slogans like “1Malaysia” or “Keluarga Malaysia” - slogans that are in and of themselves perfectly well and good, but were never backed up by real action.

A good narrative can’t be something you think up haphazardly over a couple of days.

It’s got to be a story put together by ppl who really understand narratives, and by people who really understand Malaysia - not just the M'sia of the Klang Valley or West Coast, but the M'sia of the East Coast and Sabah and Sarawak. People who really speak the local language.

The right narrative will make every Malaysian - whether part of the majority or a minority - feel truly safe, welcome, validated, and valued in this shared home of ours.

There are no end of right-thinking, intelligent, and most importantly sincere Malaysians out there who are perfectly qualified to build a narrative like this. I’m confident that if asked, they will answer the call to serve.

If PH can bring these ppl together & give them all they need to work their magic, they can stitch together a story & narrative that will make every single M'sian - from Padang Besar to Johor Bahru, from Langkawi to Semporna - feel like this is a home they want to build together.

In doing so, they will not only heal the deeply harmful wounds caused by toxic, divisive politics over decades; they will forge a new meaning of what it means to be Malaysian, and galvanise the full, awe-inspiring potential of a united Malaysia.

NATHANIEL TAN is a freelance strategic communications consultant who works with Projek #BangsaMalaysia. Email: [e-mail].