He strongly advocates the idea of the liberated Malay thinker.
We were at the ZI Publications office for an interview with the writer and political observer before the relaunch of his book Liberating the Malay Mind last Saturday. “I can’t tell you what a liberated Malay would think, because the very definition of liberation is that you can’t predict what one will think,” he said.
“That’s what creativity is. That’s why you want freedom. It’s limitless. You can’t say you want Malays to be liberated so that they’ll be in business, or so they can do something else. Let them find their own love. The only thing you can do is channel it. You can’t control it.”
Liberating the Malay Mind is essentially a long, measured attack on the idea of Ketuanan Melayu, or Malay supremacy. In it, Bakri takes a close look at the Malays’ history with colonial powers through the ages, explaining the formation of the idea of Malay supremacy and how it has trapped the Malay mind. He also takes issue with the institutions and systems formed in the past few decades, which he says has kept the Malays from truly participating in the global stream of thought.
“We are by nature excluded from the mainstream, and that entraps our minds,” he said.
Bakri especially takes issue with Islam as it is practised in Malaysia, attributing the “Malay problem,” as he calls it, in part to the state religion. “I call it religion, and not Islam,” he stressed. “The Islam we practice is different from how it was practised during the great Muslim civilization in the past.”
For example, he says, Muslims should not kill just because the Quran has an injunction against killing. “That’s not the reason you don’t kill. It’s a bad thing to do. That’s why the Quran says don’t kill. It’s bad not because the Quran says it’s bad. It’s bad, and that’s why the Quran says it’s bad. We have it backwards.
“When you justify something based on the hadith and the Quran, two things are at work. Firstly, you’re assuming your interpretation is correct, and that’s a big assumption. The second thing is that it may not be the only interpretation. The Quran is a document meant for all mankind at all times. So it must be interpreted differently with different times.”
Bakri is also a strong advocate of capitalism. The relaunched edition of his book has an added section on the recent issue of GLCs (government-linked companies), which he argues against in great detail.
“We have a plethora of government-linked companies and similar entities more adept at sucking precious public funds out of the Treasury and then squandering them,” he rails in his book, lamenting the failure of Malay economists and “innovations like Tabung Haji” to cater to the special and specific needs of Malays.
“One of the great things about capitalism, which many people have noticed, is that you look at people differently once you’re in a business and have a commercial enterprise,” he said during the interview.
“Now, if you’re not in business, you get government cheques, and you look at non-Malays and foreigners differently. But if you run a business – a restaurant, say — you look at people as potential customers. You want to please them.
“A dollar coming from a Bangladeshi is the same as a dollar coming from a Bumiputera.”
In his book, Bakri argues for capitalism being part of the way forward for Malays to break free. He believes that races interacting with each other through trade can only build goodwill. “I’ve spoken to people in Perkasa, telling them that if Malays are competitive and have a good education system, Malays can be tuans in countries that are not Tanah Melayu. Otherwise, they’ll be coolies even in Tanah Melayu,” he said.
He gave the example of Felda settlers, saying that they now looked at the Chinese differently because of China’s purchase of their palm oil. “Malays in Felda now look differently at the Chinese because China is buying our palm oil. If China stops buying our palm oil, the price of palm oil drops, and those Felda fellows won’t be able to buy cars. That’s the beauty of capitalism,” he said.
Liberating the Malay Mind, which was published three years ago by ZI Publications, was relaunched here last Saturday.