By Wan Hamidi Hamid, Advisor of Impian Malaysia

The Democratic Action Party has adopted democratic socialism as its ideology when it was formed almost half a century ago. In fact the chosen ideology was a product of its time when the whole world was trapped in the Cold War – the global tension from 1945 until 1989. It was the time when the world was divided between communism and capitalism.

So DAP’s choice for democratic socialism was to stress the fact that it was a socialist but not communist party; and although it accepted market economy, it was against unfettered capitalism.

It’s only natural that 40 years later DAP’s ideology evolved into social democracy; which basically put freedom, social justice, equal opportunity and solidarity as its main tenets – perhaps it’s to suit the needs of the 21st century.

But that doesn’t mean DAP members are all social democrats. There are still many socialists in the party, although there are a lot of liberal democrats too. And there are also those in DAP who still think that ideology is not something to be considered important.

Whatever an individual member believes in, she or he knows that when you’re with DAP, you’re always part of a social democratic movement – a global phenomenon. Since the inception and expansion of social democracy in the late 19th century, it has been accepted in many parts of the world.

In fact, social democracy seems to be the preferred choice of most governments – whether it is led by a left or centrist party. The reason is simple; whether a party is on the left or centre (but not necessarily on the right, as there some right wing parties that are actually fascist in nature), it has to appease many groups of people in a particular state or country.

Hence, social democracy offers a middle path – not too left and not too right – and economically it means accepting the market system but providing the right for government’s intervention to ensure the market does not discriminate workers or bully consumers.

Social democracy in practice

In Penang where DAP is the main party with Lim Guan Eng as the Chief Minister, the DAP-led Pakatan Rakyat state government has managed to balance itself to ensure that both the business sector and the people are in a win-win situation.

In Selangor where DAP is a major partner for a PKR-led state government, its representatives have been playing their role in assisting Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim in implementing a welfare-state style governance that is also favourable to the business sector.

However, over-appeasing the business sector can be dangerous, as capitalists have the tendency to seek favour from the government – usually in the form of “you help me, I help you” situation, whereas the people in general have less access to the leaders of any particular state or country.

Therefore, a social democratic party or a social democratic government has to put more emphasis on the people – hence the word “social” refers to the well-being of the rakyat. In this way, the needs of the people will always be prioritised over the interest of the capitalists.

In the process of taming capitalism to ensure that the people can enjoy the benefits of the government’s programmes, it is imperative that DAP, as part of the regional as well as global social democratic movement, to share experiences of governance from sister parties all over the world. This will enable DAP and supporters of social democracy in Malaysia to avoid repeating mistakes and blunders of their counterparts in other region.

Of course, social democracy is neither a perfect solution nor a complete, comprehensive ideology. It is merely one that serves as a guiding light for many of us who believe that all human beings are equal; it is a form of solidarity building.

And it does not promote the idea that some people are more equal than others because of the colour of their skin or their religion.

Racism and religious fanaticism

There are racists in this country who believe that their race is the master of the land. There are racists who think they have the right to trample on other people’s faiths and religions. Yet these racists as a group do not form a majority within their racial community, thereby has no right nor validity to claim that they represent any particular race.

Despite that fact, “the other” who are targeted by those racists began to develop a flawed belief that all members of the community that the minority racist groups belong to are racists too. This is a wrong, perverted view. And two wrongs don’t make a right.

We have seen in Malaysia how religion is being used and misused over and over again. Yet when Malaysians are offered a non-religious alternative such as secularism, the religious people usually become upset with the idea. Some even accused secularism as being anti-religion. This too is a wrong, perverted view.

Being secular simply means separation of state and religion, i.e. the state can’t use religion as its weapon and religious group/class can’t use state power as its weapon. It also ensures that all religions and faiths are treated equally; and that’s fairness and justice, according to all religious beliefs.

European Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan in his book “What I Believe” explains that a secular tradition provides a neutral space where people are allowed to discuss anything including religious issues. This means being secular is being fair to all religions, as well as to people who choose not to believe in religion. It is not about attacking or destroying any religion.

Hence, social democracy can provide the alternative to the problem of religious misunderstanding and fear mongering that we are facing today. How? Because the main values of social democracy – freedom, social justice and solidarity – are the major components that can ensure fairness, justice and equality for all.

Of course it’s not a magical solution but it could be the first step towards recognising that a secular way of handling our fragile society through social democracy might be a better alternative than surrendering ourselves to the dictate of racists and religious fanatics.

Why UMNO fears social democracy

UMNO leaders have one fear: they are so scared that one day the Malays might actually accept the practical ideas of freedom, democracy, social justice, equal opportunity and interfaith understanding. I call these values social democracy. But you can call it anything you like as long as we agree that these are good values.

UMNO leaders are afraid that when the Malays embrace those values, they (UMNO, MCA, MIC) will become irrelevant because by that time no one wants racial politics anymore; because Malaysians will realise the more important things in life are the economy, safety and security, good home for the family, job security and better life for our children.

The Barisan Nasional government seems no longer interested in providing the best for the people – unless those “people” are their family members, friends and cronies. Hence, UMNO leaders are so afraid that one day the Malays can actually accept those good ideals – the ideals of social democracy, the ideology of the DAP.

Social democracy can destroy UMNO’s racial politics, it can tame religious bigotry and it can bring about solidarity among Malaysian of various ethnic groups and religions. That would spell the end of UMNO-BN.

And that’s why UMNO-BN leaders will continue to vilify the DAP, to spread lies and malicious rumours, because they want the Malays to hate an idea that could bring about change through genuine solidarity among us.

And that’s why we must never give up in our struggle to fight UMNO-BN’s racism. We need to share with our fellow Malaysians, including the Malays, the true and good values of social justice, equal opportunities and human rights.