From Adnan D

Every few years, when Malay politics descends into its usual circus, someone dusts off the same tired phrase, Malay unity. It is heard at party assemblies and recycled endlessly by politicians who cannot even unite their own committees, let alone an entire community.

If unity were real, it would not need to be announced so loudly.

Let us be brutally honest. The problem is not Malays. Ordinary Malays are not tearing the country apart. They are working, raising families, paying taxes, worrying about inflation, and wondering why politics feels increasingly detached from reality.

They are busy surviving. The politicians are busy posturing.

The problem is the Malay political class, a small elite addicted to power, patronage, and internal warfare, yet constantly demanding loyalty in the name of “unity”.

Unity, in their vocabulary, means obedience.

The first serious attempt at Malay political unity came with the formation of Umno. This was not a moral project, but a political response to colonial restructuring that threatened Malay primacy. Umno unified Malay associations to consolidate bargaining power, not to create harmony.

It worked because the objective was clear, survival and dominance in a post-colonial order.

But even then, unity was conditional. It relied on elite control, managed dissent, and a carefully balanced alliance with non-Malay parties. The moment those conditions weakened, so did the unity.

Unity survived only as long as power remained centralised and unquestioned.

Since then, Malay politics has not produced unity. It has produced divisions, breakaways, mergers, divorces, and remarriages of convenience.

The PAS–Umno illusion

For decades, unity advocates pointed to the supposed religious and cultural bond between Umno and PAS. If these two could come together, the argument went, Malay unity would finally materialise.

This argument survives only because people refuse to look at history.

The late Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat was blunt. He rejected unity with Umno outright while he was alive. Dialogues were allowed. Subordination was not. He understood something many unity evangelists pretend not to see, unity without equality is surrender.

And surrender is not unity, it is submission.

When Muafakat Nasional was forged in 2019, it lasted exactly as long as it took for power calculations to change. Once access to government, positions, and leverage came into play, the unity rhetoric evaporated. The agreement collapsed under the weight of the same old egos and rivalries.

Unity, it turns out, is fragile when it competes with ambition.

A recurring pattern

Every time Malay politics tries to centralise power in the name of unity, it ends up decentralising itself through ego, factionalism, and distrust.

Every attempt at consolidation produces another splinter. Every slogan about togetherness creates another excuse for exclusion.

Mahathir already spoke the truth

If anyone had the authority to unite Malays politically, it was Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He dominated Malay politics for decades. He crushed opponents, reshaped institutions, and centralised power more effectively than anyone else.

If unity were possible by force of will, he would have achieved it.

And yet, even Mahathir eventually conceded that Malay-based parties cannot unite the Malays, which should have ended the debate.

Instead, the political class chose denial. It is easier to chant slogans like Bangsa Malaysia, shared prosperity, and national cohesion than to dismantle the machinery that profits from division.

Fast-forward to today and the picture is almost comical.

Umno cannot unite itself. PAS is ideologically rigid and strategically selective. Bersatu is shrinking. PKR is divided internally and directionally confused.

Everyone claims to speak for the Malays, yet no one speaks to each other.

Meanwhile, Anwar Ibrahim governs with a coalition that exists more out of necessity than cohesion. Whether he listens to his advisers or cycles through them is almost beside the point. The government survives, but it does not inspire confidence in long-term coherence.

Survival has replaced vision. Longevity has replaced leadership.

The opposition, such as it is, spends more time undermining itself than challenging policy. One faction waits for another to collapse. Another waits for defections. Everyone waits for someone else to fail.

And through it all, Malays are told to “unite”.

Unity a catchphrase

The Malay political elite does not actually want unity as it requires compromise; power sharing; letting go of patronage networks; accountability; and leaders stepping aside when they have lost credibility.

Unity would cost them everything they currently enjoy.

Disunity, on the other hand, is extremely useful. It allows leaders to blame rivals, rally bases through fear, and avoid scrutiny. Every internal fight can be reframed as a noble struggle for Malay survival, even when it is nothing more than a contest for positions.

When politics becomes theatre, unity becomes a prop. That is why unity is always promised and never delivered.

Malays aren’t the problem

This needs to be said clearly. Malays are not fractured as a community. They are not incapable of coexistence or shared purpose.

They are not waiting for politicians to teach them how to live together. They already do.

It is the political class that is fragmented, insecure, and addicted to dominance.

Other communities do not need to interfere. They simply need to watch. The spectacle of Malay elites tearing each other apart is self-sustaining.

Under the current system, no one can unite the Malays. Not Umno or PAS, nor reformists or coalition engineers who mistake survival for vision. The system rewards division and punishes convergence.

If a unifier ever emerges, that person is not currently in the system. They are not at party assemblies. They are not recycling the same speeches. They are not obsessed with legacy or lineage.

But they are certainly not invited to the table. So perhaps it is time to retire the myth entirely.

Malay unity has become a distraction, a convenient shield behind which mediocrity hides. It is invoked to silence criticism and justify dysfunction.

Instead of asking whether Malays are united, Malays should ask whether their leaders are competent, honest, and accountable.

Because unity without integrity is useless. Unity without direction is empty. Unity without reform is just another lie dressed up as patriotism.

And when slogans stop working, the politicians will still be in business. It is ordinary Malays who pay the cost.

Adnan D is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.