MARCH 12 — On the morning before Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin released his Cabinet line-up, I posted a video of the Selangor football coach ranting about race-abuse.
Considering the political announcement’s expected skew, B.Sathianathan’s outburst became more pointed.
The Super League season is just underway, and the Selangor coach lost it when his players were derided on social media for their skin colour rather than their footballing abilities. The K-word and other desultory terms were used, and Sathianathan had had enough.
Indian Malaysians are used to hearing the K-word in every situation that is not formal, but it was quite the sight to have an ethnic Indian blurt out the K-word so many times without apology on video — like some American gangster rapper flipping out the N-word in retaliation.
It was liberating to hear him, actually.
He lambasted that it’s a bloody shame after 62 years there’s still such filth in public discussions.
But above all, it’s the willingness to take it on. Sathianathan’s will to force the conversation in Malay directly to Malaysians.
Unfortunately, racism in sports, as in all walks of life, won’t disappear without a fight.
Malaysia has a mountain to climb when it comes to race, but my conviction remains that we will scale it eventually. With a bit of help from sports, for sure.
For it possesses a special place in society’s heart.
While many regret the pockets of hate in stadiums around the world, in more developed economies the presence of multiculturalism in sports has humanised ethnic-relations.
Regular people fuel sports competitions, and they speak freer about sports than most things in life. Cultures and religions when seen through the appreciation of fans for their players makes acceptance more seamless.
I love it when cafes here are alive with people discussing how Mo Salah is far too selfish when compared to Sadio Mane in the Liverpool team. No mention the acrimony is about one being Egyptian and the other Senegalese, or that it’s the rift of a fair-skinned African versus a decidedly dark African, or that they should get along because they are both devout Muslims who don’t drink.
They are, in the assessment of fans different due to personality and footballing mentality. They are just two different dudes. Which is exhilarating news. Football transcends race obsessions yet again.
So much is being achieved in terms of how people implicitly look at race, religion and nationality as incidentals — because now they are seeing past demographics.
Which is why, our politicians should see the national football league as a vehicle to bring Malaysians together, rather than just a way to get more votes for themselves.
Eleven players to the pitch based on their abilities and suitability to the team’s style and strategy.
Eleven players, and their substitutes, determined by practicalities and commitment to the cause rather than any other consideration.
Muhyiddin’s team
Should that be the same attitude to the assessment of the prime minister’s selection to lead the country?
I’m not choosing to be naïve to sweep all of the other realities under the carpet. For instance, Muhyiddin and gang came up with a new government based on a heavy emphasis on race. The rebuttal that this new house is built on the rejection of DAP which reflects a race affectation is fair.
However, with the divisions drawn and a discernible Bumiputera weightage to the Perikatan Nasional coalition, it was expected to be an ethnic Malay heavy Cabinet.
But so too is the fact, barring the last two years, Malaysian governments in the past 50 years have been under firm Malay leadership.
It didn’t matter if there were five Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) ministers, or less or more, the Umno president reigned over Cabinet.
Perhaps the inability of the previous Pakatan Cabinet members to consider the history and culture and to navigate gently, to ease everyone to a far more egalitarian system with charm and humour, was what forced the strong repulsion from within and without government.
Now, we are back to the old order.
Our Cabinets have been race-controlled, so the number of non-Malay ministers matter less than the tone adopted.
Therefore, to watch over this new government in the early months requires focus on two things.
Monitor Muhyiddin’s passion — or not — for a more inclusive government; and second, to a lesser degree, the ministers’ commitment to inclusivity.
It mustn’t be ignored that Muhyiddin picked 31 Malaysians to join his team.
I began this by saying Sathianathan — and all the other coaches in the Super League, Premier League and FAM League — should be judged not by the ethnicity of the players he picks but by the performances they dish out.
That for his sake, and my sake as a Selangor-lad, his team delivers wins — a late penalty denied us a win at Terengganu yesterday.
He’s putting out a team of Malaysians with foreign players, and they are not any less or more of a Malaysian team based on the ethnicities of the local players.
If that’s the prescription for sporting teams, then our political leadership should also be given the benefit of the doubt, in these early months.
They are Malaysians. For now, let’s see if they behave in the best interests of all Malaysians.
They can’t be rejected merely because they are from Bersatu, Umno and PAS.
If they are, then the liberal left is behaving exactly like the Malay right, which never gave DAP, PKR and Amanah the space to display their qualities.
It’s cruel that Pakatan leaders were cut from government but politics is a long-term game for parties even if not for individuals. If they show character and less pettiness when it comes to assessing this new government, they may win new friends regardless of how the present government performs.
Their cultured behaviour would be saying, “We’re Malaysians doing our jobs while fairly checking on the other Malaysians in charge for now. We won’t let them bully us, but neither would we denigrate our political institutions to win cheap points.”
That augurs well for Pakatan, in the future.
For now, we have to let manager Muhyiddin see his 31 players through the season. Let them rise or fall on their own merits.
The voters can show their evaluation at the polling stations.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
