'Political Volcano' in 12th Malaysian General Election: Makkal Sakhti (People Power) Against Communal Politics, '3Cs' and Marginalization of Malaysian Indian

Journal of Politics and Law, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 84–101, 2008

18 Pages Posted: 8 May 2009

See all articles by Lim Kim Hui

Lim Kim Hui

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)

Wai-Mun Har

Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR)

Date Written: September 1, 2008

Abstract

Malaysian politic has been overwhelmingly dominated by the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition since 1969. In the 12th Malaysian General Election, the ruling coalition suffered a shocking moral defeat. This paper argue that the 12th Malaysian General Election is metaphorically a political volcano eruption, witnessing the rise of People Power against suppression of dissatisfactions over communal politics, deteriorating social-economic conditions (dubbed the “3Cs” factors) and continues marginalization of Indian community in Malaysia. Aspects of communal politics include (1) the issues of NEP, Ketuanan Melayu, racism and “second-class citizen” treatment to the Malaysian non-bumiputera, and (2) the issues of UMNO-putra politicizing the NEP and Malay poverty. The “3Cs” refers to dissatisfaction over increasing (1) cost of living, (2) crime and (3) corruption, taking the first letter of each to form the acronym. Meanwhile, the revolution by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) highlighted the marginalization of Indian. Indeed, the Hindraf revolution popularized the Makkal Sakhti that means “People Power” in Tamil.

Keywords: Political volcano, People Power, Makkal Sakhti, Malaysian General Election, Malaysian politic, Communal politics, Marginalization, Malaysia

Suggested Citation

Hui, Lim Kim and Har, Wai-Mun, 'Political Volcano' in 12th Malaysian General Election: Makkal Sakhti (People Power) Against Communal Politics, '3Cs' and Marginalization of Malaysian Indian (September 1, 2008). Journal of Politics and Law, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 84–101, 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1398362

Lim Kim Hui

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) ( email )

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
UKM Bangi, Selangor 43600
Malaysia

Wai-Mun Har (Contact Author)

Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) ( email )

Sungai Long Campus Lot PT 21144
Bandar Sg. Long, Cheras, Selangor D.E.,
Bandar Sungai Long, 43000
Malaysia

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
115
Abstract Views
1,136
Rank
433,058
PlumX Metrics