Back
About RSIS
Introduction
Building the Foundations
Welcome Message
Board of Governors
Staff Profiles
Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office
Dean’s Office
Management
Distinguished Fellows
Faculty and Research
Associate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research Analysts
Visiting Fellows
Adjunct Fellows
Administrative Staff
Honours and Awards for RSIS Staff and Students
RSIS Endowment Fund
Endowed Professorships
Career Opportunities
Getting to RSIS
Research
Research Centres
Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)
Centre of Excellence for National Security
Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)
International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
Research Programmes
National Security Studies Programme (NSSP)
Social Cohesion Research Programme (SCRP)
Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
Other Research
Future Issues and Technology Cluster
Research@RSIS
Science and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
Graduate Education
Graduate Programmes Office
Exchange Partners and Programmes
How to Apply
Financial Assistance
Meet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other events
RSIS Alumni
Outreach
Global Networks
About Global Networks
RSIS Alumni
Executive Education
About Executive Education
SRP Executive Programme
Terrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
International Programmes
About International Programmes
Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)
Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)
International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS)
International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
Publications
RSIS Publications
Annual Reviews
Books
Bulletins and Newsletters
RSIS Commentary Series
Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
Commemorative / Event Reports
Future Issues
IDSS Papers
Interreligious Relations
Monographs
NTS Insight
Policy Reports
Working Papers
External Publications
Authored Books
Journal Articles
Edited Books
Chapters in Edited Books
Policy Reports
Working Papers
Op-Eds
Glossary of Abbreviations
Policy-relevant Articles Given RSIS Award
RSIS Publications for the Year
External Publications for the Year
Media
Cohesive Societies
Sustainable Security
Other Resource Pages
News Releases
Speeches
Video/Audio Channel
External Podcasts
Events
Contact Us
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Think Tank and Graduate School Ponder The Improbable Since 1966
Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Technological University
  • About RSIS
      IntroductionBuilding the FoundationsWelcome MessageBoard of GovernorsHonours and Awards for RSIS Staff and StudentsRSIS Endowment FundEndowed ProfessorshipsCareer OpportunitiesGetting to RSIS
      Staff ProfilesExecutive Deputy Chairman’s OfficeDean’s OfficeManagementDistinguished FellowsFaculty and ResearchAssociate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research AnalystsVisiting FellowsAdjunct FellowsAdministrative Staff
  • Research
      Research CentresCentre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)Centre of Excellence for National SecurityInstitute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
      Research ProgrammesNational Security Studies Programme (NSSP)Social Cohesion Research Programme (SCRP)Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
      Other ResearchFuture Issues and Technology ClusterResearch@RSISScience and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
  • Graduate Education
      Graduate Programmes OfficeExchange Partners and ProgrammesHow to ApplyFinancial AssistanceMeet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other eventsRSIS Alumni
  • Outreach
      Global NetworksAbout Global NetworksRSIS Alumni
      Executive EducationAbout Executive EducationSRP Executive ProgrammeTerrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
      International ProgrammesAbout International ProgrammesAsia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS)International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
  • Publications
      RSIS PublicationsAnnual ReviewsBooksBulletins and NewslettersRSIS Commentary SeriesCounter Terrorist Trends and AnalysesCommemorative / Event ReportsFuture IssuesIDSS PapersInterreligious RelationsMonographsNTS InsightPolicy ReportsWorking Papers
      External PublicationsAuthored BooksJournal ArticlesEdited BooksChapters in Edited BooksPolicy ReportsWorking PapersOp-Eds
      Glossary of AbbreviationsPolicy-relevant Articles Given RSIS AwardRSIS Publications for the YearExternal Publications for the Year
  • Media
      Cohesive SocietiesSustainable SecurityOther Resource PagesNews ReleasesSpeechesVideo/Audio ChannelExternal Podcasts
  • Events
  • Contact Us
    • Connect with Us

      rsis.ntu
      rsis_ntu
      rsisntu
      rsisvideocast
      school/rsis-ntu
      rsis.sg
      rsissg
      RSIS
      RSS
      Subscribe to RSIS Publications
      Subscribe to RSIS Events

      Getting to RSIS

      Nanyang Technological University
      Block S4, Level B3,
      50 Nanyang Avenue,
      Singapore 639798

      Click here for direction to RSIS

      Get in Touch

    Connect
    Search
    • RSIS
    • Publication
    • RSIS Publications
    • Malaysia’s DAP in a Unique Position of Strength
    • Annual Reviews
    • Books
    • Bulletins and Newsletters
    • RSIS Commentary Series
    • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
    • Commemorative / Event Reports
    • Future Issues
    • IDSS Papers
    • Interreligious Relations
    • Monographs
    • NTS Insight
    • Policy Reports
    • Working Papers

    CO23084 | Malaysia’s DAP in a Unique Position of Strength
    Shahril Sufian Bin Hamdan

    05 June 2023

    download pdf

    SYNOPSIS

    The cohesion of Malaysia’s coalition government owes as much to the new posture of the DAP as it does to PKR and UMNO. But interpreting developments chiefly from the prism of the government’s stability risks missing other important dynamics about DAP and its place in Malaysia’s political system. A case can be made that the DAP stands to be the biggest winner in this political reconfiguration.

    230605 CO23084 Malaysias DAP in a Unique Position of Strength
    Source: Unsplash

    COMMENTARY

    Recently, six months after the 15th General Election, parties in Malaysia’s Unity Government held a joint convention at the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. It aimed to solidify relations between the 19 parties that make up the coalition while also highlighting the imperative of cohesion and unity to internal and external audiences.

    Principally through many speeches from party leaders throughout the day, such signals were indeed conveyed, albeit with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Speakers from UMNO and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) were keen to exchange compliments, straining credulity given how both were until recently arch enemies. The Sabah and Sarawak parties were more circumspect in tone and substance – and this heterodoxy ought not go unnoticed – but they did not challenge the overarching mood.

    Amidst the backslappings, there was one highly anticipated speech by the Secretary-General of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), Anthony Loke Siew Fook. His speech was arguably more important than those of UMNO President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi or even Prime Minister and PKR President Anwar Ibrahim. After all, there is little mystery about the latter two individuals’ direction of travel with regard to the new political union – at least for the moment. But Loke has been relatively and conspicuously muted on the subject, focusing instead on his work as Transport Minister.

    DAP Leading from Experience

    If Loke’s aim was to put forward the case that DAP poses no threat to Malay-Muslim privileges and their cherished institutional-political norms, and thereby calm all attendant anxieties, he struck the right notes. For example, discerning observers would have allowed themselves a wry smile when he laid out the numbers: out of the 148 MPs that make up the government’s parliamentary majority, 77 are Bumiputra-Muslims and only 43 are ethnic Chinese. Others could have said it. But the fact that it was DAP that did was most significant.

    Such remarks, in fact, speak to the ethos of the DAP’s new leadership: exercise restraint, give no cause for nativist alarmism and compensate generously for the trust deficit it has always suffered among Malay-Muslim voters. Evidently, DAP is anxious to learn the lessons from its first truncated stint in power after the 2018 elections, when a more abrasive Lim Guan Eng led the party.

    Back then, DAP bore the brunt of the “culture wars”. There was the racialised polemic around Malaysia’s ultimately aborted accession as a party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. There were the arguments about official government press statements made in Mandarin, and the clamour for local council elections seen to favour non-Malay candidates in townships due to population demographics.

    In all cases, DAP was an easy target for UMNO and PAS in opposition, as well as those who would readily interpret such developments through a racial lens and hence as a challenge to the social contract not to be tolerated. The fall of the Mahathir administration in March 2020 is of course multi-factorial. Even so, a view among many Malays was that DAP had tried to move things too much and too fast.

    A Posture for the Current Times

    That was then. Today, the Prime Minister is Anwar Ibrahim – a long-time partner DAP has fought alongside for years. And UMNO, the erstwhile resident storyteller of DAP’s alleged excesses, is now also a partner in government.

    But the culture war is still with us, even if the principal agitators have changed somewhat. DAP is still the choice bogeyman and will be for some time. Egalitarianism is still a loaded concept to be handled with care in Malaysia’s racialised political economy.

    The biggest difference is that DAP’s leadership now appears to have decided that, rather than try to radically transform the terrain, it should aim to succeed in it. In doing so, it cannot rely on allies – old or new – more than it can on its own posturing and actions. Thus, the deliberate restraint and downplaying of its own influence, as encapsulated in Loke’s remarks.

    In government, DAP no longer counts local council elections as a priority policy. It has not done or said anything particularly bold about Chinese vernacular education – a longstanding port of call in Chinese identity politics. Its National Publicity Secretary has openly urged members to vote for UMNO candidates standing in the upcoming state elections, even if as a response to an UMNO leader doing the same for DAP.

    But despite holding 40 seats, DAP has only four representatives in the Cabinet. In short, it goes about its business aiming to project competence while ruffling no feathers – so much so that some voices in UMNO may tentatively claim that DAP is being tamed by the former’s presence in government.

    Questions have been posed: Is DAP now giving in too much? Has it come so far only to play it too safe?

    Playing for the Future from a Position of Strength

    Such a line of inquiry may betray a misreading of the landscape and an underappreciation of the party’s inherent advantages. In the first instance, there is a temptation to read DAP’s posturing principally as a contribution to, or a sacrifice even, for the fledgling “unity” government. After all, few questions about the coalition are more live than whether UMNO’s Malay base – or what is left of it – can accept this union with an old nemesis.

    But if the lens is flipped, and the picture seen from the DAP’s unique position instead, its part in this reconfiguration of Malaysia’s party politics may have as much to do with its own prospects tomorrow as it does with keeping this government afloat today.

    DAP is arguably the most secure, stable and resilient of political parties in Malaysia. It has consolidated its grip on Penang, the second most prosperous state. It boasts the highest win ratio in elections and its MPs hold the largest majorities in the country. The party enjoys near absolute popularity with non-Malays and a broad appeal among middle-class urban voters. It can point to a number of well-regarded policy minds in government and the backbenches. Perhaps more importantly in politics, it has exhibited an ability to gently jettison unpopular or divisive elements – be it individuals or policies – for the greater good of the party.

    Based on this reading, it is precisely from such a position of strength and stability that the party does what it is doing now – biding its time. It knows there is little danger of its hard-won advantages dissipating anytime soon. Additionally, there simply isn’t a credible alternative for voters who had either abandoned the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) en masse beginning four general elections ago, or who have never voted anything but DAP and its allies.

    But DAP also knows that its current addressable market is getting saturated and must now be broadened meaningfully. Hence, DAP’s seemingly deferential restraint in government is really not about deference at all. Rather, it might be better understood as self-assuredness as it moves towards a greater goal – to more credibly demonstrate its claim to be a multiracial party in substance and not just in name.

    Loke himself has addressed the topic many times including even before the 15th General Election, saying that DAP needs to reassure the Malays. Other senior leaders like Liew Chin Tong have been more explicit – calling those who want DAP to focus only on its Chinese base as “half-witted”. To be sure, realising this ambition would require more than just tactical posturing. Difficult decisions will have to be made, such as how to distinguish its vision of a multicultural Malaysia from that of PKR’s, for example. But the recent political reconfiguration presents a once in a generation opportunity for DAP to take huge strides.

    And why wouldn’t they? With downside risks of this approach minimal in the short term, why not sow the seeds for something more ambitious in a long game? If it doesn’t work, they will likely be none the weaker. But if they dare dream it and succeed, the DAP might “graduate” from being an indispensable partner in a governing national coalition to being the leader itself. No other party can claim to face as advantageous a calculus. Now that would be the more audacious proposition.

    About the Author

    Shahril Hamdan is a Visiting Fellow with the Malaysia Programme at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. He was the Information Chief of UMNO and Deputy Youth Chief of UMNO before his suspension from the party in January 2023. He now co-hosts a current affairs podcast “Keluar Sekejap” (“Out for the Moment”) and is active on the lecture circuit speaking on public affairs and policy advocacy. He also runs a corporate advisory firm for international investors wanting to navigate Malaysia’s political economy and can be reached at [email protected].

    Categories: RSIS Commentary Series / Country and Region Studies / East Asia and Asia Pacific / South Asia / Southeast Asia and ASEAN / Global
    comments powered by Disqus

    SYNOPSIS

    The cohesion of Malaysia’s coalition government owes as much to the new posture of the DAP as it does to PKR and UMNO. But interpreting developments chiefly from the prism of the government’s stability risks missing other important dynamics about DAP and its place in Malaysia’s political system. A case can be made that the DAP stands to be the biggest winner in this political reconfiguration.

    230605 CO23084 Malaysias DAP in a Unique Position of Strength
    Source: Unsplash

    COMMENTARY

    Recently, six months after the 15th General Election, parties in Malaysia’s Unity Government held a joint convention at the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. It aimed to solidify relations between the 19 parties that make up the coalition while also highlighting the imperative of cohesion and unity to internal and external audiences.

    Principally through many speeches from party leaders throughout the day, such signals were indeed conveyed, albeit with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Speakers from UMNO and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) were keen to exchange compliments, straining credulity given how both were until recently arch enemies. The Sabah and Sarawak parties were more circumspect in tone and substance – and this heterodoxy ought not go unnoticed – but they did not challenge the overarching mood.

    Amidst the backslappings, there was one highly anticipated speech by the Secretary-General of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), Anthony Loke Siew Fook. His speech was arguably more important than those of UMNO President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi or even Prime Minister and PKR President Anwar Ibrahim. After all, there is little mystery about the latter two individuals’ direction of travel with regard to the new political union – at least for the moment. But Loke has been relatively and conspicuously muted on the subject, focusing instead on his work as Transport Minister.

    DAP Leading from Experience

    If Loke’s aim was to put forward the case that DAP poses no threat to Malay-Muslim privileges and their cherished institutional-political norms, and thereby calm all attendant anxieties, he struck the right notes. For example, discerning observers would have allowed themselves a wry smile when he laid out the numbers: out of the 148 MPs that make up the government’s parliamentary majority, 77 are Bumiputra-Muslims and only 43 are ethnic Chinese. Others could have said it. But the fact that it was DAP that did was most significant.

    Such remarks, in fact, speak to the ethos of the DAP’s new leadership: exercise restraint, give no cause for nativist alarmism and compensate generously for the trust deficit it has always suffered among Malay-Muslim voters. Evidently, DAP is anxious to learn the lessons from its first truncated stint in power after the 2018 elections, when a more abrasive Lim Guan Eng led the party.

    Back then, DAP bore the brunt of the “culture wars”. There was the racialised polemic around Malaysia’s ultimately aborted accession as a party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. There were the arguments about official government press statements made in Mandarin, and the clamour for local council elections seen to favour non-Malay candidates in townships due to population demographics.

    In all cases, DAP was an easy target for UMNO and PAS in opposition, as well as those who would readily interpret such developments through a racial lens and hence as a challenge to the social contract not to be tolerated. The fall of the Mahathir administration in March 2020 is of course multi-factorial. Even so, a view among many Malays was that DAP had tried to move things too much and too fast.

    A Posture for the Current Times

    That was then. Today, the Prime Minister is Anwar Ibrahim – a long-time partner DAP has fought alongside for years. And UMNO, the erstwhile resident storyteller of DAP’s alleged excesses, is now also a partner in government.

    But the culture war is still with us, even if the principal agitators have changed somewhat. DAP is still the choice bogeyman and will be for some time. Egalitarianism is still a loaded concept to be handled with care in Malaysia’s racialised political economy.

    The biggest difference is that DAP’s leadership now appears to have decided that, rather than try to radically transform the terrain, it should aim to succeed in it. In doing so, it cannot rely on allies – old or new – more than it can on its own posturing and actions. Thus, the deliberate restraint and downplaying of its own influence, as encapsulated in Loke’s remarks.

    In government, DAP no longer counts local council elections as a priority policy. It has not done or said anything particularly bold about Chinese vernacular education – a longstanding port of call in Chinese identity politics. Its National Publicity Secretary has openly urged members to vote for UMNO candidates standing in the upcoming state elections, even if as a response to an UMNO leader doing the same for DAP.

    But despite holding 40 seats, DAP has only four representatives in the Cabinet. In short, it goes about its business aiming to project competence while ruffling no feathers – so much so that some voices in UMNO may tentatively claim that DAP is being tamed by the former’s presence in government.

    Questions have been posed: Is DAP now giving in too much? Has it come so far only to play it too safe?

    Playing for the Future from a Position of Strength

    Such a line of inquiry may betray a misreading of the landscape and an underappreciation of the party’s inherent advantages. In the first instance, there is a temptation to read DAP’s posturing principally as a contribution to, or a sacrifice even, for the fledgling “unity” government. After all, few questions about the coalition are more live than whether UMNO’s Malay base – or what is left of it – can accept this union with an old nemesis.

    But if the lens is flipped, and the picture seen from the DAP’s unique position instead, its part in this reconfiguration of Malaysia’s party politics may have as much to do with its own prospects tomorrow as it does with keeping this government afloat today.

    DAP is arguably the most secure, stable and resilient of political parties in Malaysia. It has consolidated its grip on Penang, the second most prosperous state. It boasts the highest win ratio in elections and its MPs hold the largest majorities in the country. The party enjoys near absolute popularity with non-Malays and a broad appeal among middle-class urban voters. It can point to a number of well-regarded policy minds in government and the backbenches. Perhaps more importantly in politics, it has exhibited an ability to gently jettison unpopular or divisive elements – be it individuals or policies – for the greater good of the party.

    Based on this reading, it is precisely from such a position of strength and stability that the party does what it is doing now – biding its time. It knows there is little danger of its hard-won advantages dissipating anytime soon. Additionally, there simply isn’t a credible alternative for voters who had either abandoned the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) en masse beginning four general elections ago, or who have never voted anything but DAP and its allies.

    But DAP also knows that its current addressable market is getting saturated and must now be broadened meaningfully. Hence, DAP’s seemingly deferential restraint in government is really not about deference at all. Rather, it might be better understood as self-assuredness as it moves towards a greater goal – to more credibly demonstrate its claim to be a multiracial party in substance and not just in name.

    Loke himself has addressed the topic many times including even before the 15th General Election, saying that DAP needs to reassure the Malays. Other senior leaders like Liew Chin Tong have been more explicit – calling those who want DAP to focus only on its Chinese base as “half-witted”. To be sure, realising this ambition would require more than just tactical posturing. Difficult decisions will have to be made, such as how to distinguish its vision of a multicultural Malaysia from that of PKR’s, for example. But the recent political reconfiguration presents a once in a generation opportunity for DAP to take huge strides.

    And why wouldn’t they? With downside risks of this approach minimal in the short term, why not sow the seeds for something more ambitious in a long game? If it doesn’t work, they will likely be none the weaker. But if they dare dream it and succeed, the DAP might “graduate” from being an indispensable partner in a governing national coalition to being the leader itself. No other party can claim to face as advantageous a calculus. Now that would be the more audacious proposition.

    About the Author

    Shahril Hamdan is a Visiting Fellow with the Malaysia Programme at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. He was the Information Chief of UMNO and Deputy Youth Chief of UMNO before his suspension from the party in January 2023. He now co-hosts a current affairs podcast “Keluar Sekejap” (“Out for the Moment”) and is active on the lecture circuit speaking on public affairs and policy advocacy. He also runs a corporate advisory firm for international investors wanting to navigate Malaysia’s political economy and can be reached at [email protected].

    Categories: RSIS Commentary Series / Country and Region Studies

    Popular Links

    About RSISResearch ProgrammesGraduate EducationPublicationsEventsAdmissionsCareersVideo/Audio ChannelRSIS Intranet

    Connect with Us

    rsis.ntu
    rsis_ntu
    rsisntu
    rsisvideocast
    school/rsis-ntu
    rsis.sg
    rsissg
    RSIS
    RSS
    Subscribe to RSIS Publications
    Subscribe to RSIS Events

    Getting to RSIS

    Nanyang Technological University
    Block S4, Level B3,
    50 Nanyang Avenue,
    Singapore 639798

    Click here for direction to RSIS

    Get in Touch

      Copyright © S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. All rights reserved.
      Privacy Statement / Terms of Use
      Help us improve

        Rate your experience with this website
        123456
        Not satisfiedVery satisfied
        What did you like?
        0/255 characters
        What can be improved?
        0/255 characters
        Your email
        Please enter a valid email.
        Thank you for your feedback.
        This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. By continuing, you are agreeing to the use of cookies on your device as described in our privacy policy. Learn more
        OK
        Latest Book
        more info