United Malays National Organization Research Articles

Panmalajzijskaya islamskaya partiya: istoki sozdaniya

The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) is, after the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the most influential political party among the country's Malay population. The party emerged in 1948 as an organization for protecting the interests of students and graduates of Malay Muslim schools. It did not play an independent role in politics, and until 1951 was in solidarity with the UMNO on many issues. PAS continues to be one of the most influential opposition parties in Malaysia. In 2022, the number of party members exceeded one million people.

UMNO in GE15: factionalism and its effects

ABSTRACT The ‘green wave theory’ has haunted the explanation of the rise of the Malay-Muslim coalition – the National Alliance (Perikatan Nasional, PN) – in the 15th Malaysian general election held in November 2022. PN mainly consists of two political parties, the Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) and the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (Bersatu), a splinter of the former dominant party – the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). Although PN was not able to form a national government after the election, it has more than doubled the number of seats won by PAS and Bersatu in the last election in 2018. Expressing caution over the general belief that the ‘green wave’ reflected entirely the Malays’ positive support to PN, this article offers another side of the story: PN’s gain was UMNO’s further decline due to factionalism and elite break-up, manifested in disengagement, sabotage and party switching among its estranged leaders.

Islamist Civilizationism in Malaysia

Malaysia is known to have a diverse population across the racial and religious spectrums. However, a majority of the population identifies as Malays, and, thus, legally, as Muslims too. Although the development of the Malay identity had begun immediately after World War II, the stark division between Muslims and non-Muslims came out of the 1971 New Economic Policy that prioritized the Malay population in the name of reducing poverty and stabilizing the country. With the Malay-nationalist party United Malay National Organization (UMNO) being in power for six decades, the position of the Malays became undisputed. At the same time, international and domestic development such as the Islamic revival of the 1970s, the Global War on Terror and the splitting of Malay votes in the 2000s further pushed UMNO and, later, the Islamist PAS to redefine Malay identity as part of the larger Muslim ummah under the framework of ‘civilizational populism’. By conflating ethnicity and religion, Islamist and Malay nationalist parties together with their leaders used populist discourses to ensure the people’s continued support, even at the expense of non-Muslim Malaysian citizens. Using process tracing, this article shows that civilizationism is effective to unite the majority Muslim population in a divided country such as Malaysia when policies in place failed to engender unity. As a result, Malay-Muslims sought a community beyond its borders, and with the rise of Islamist politics around the world, it has become much easier for the Malay-Muslims to highlight the plight of Muslims over that of their own co-nationalists for the benefit of domestic politics.

Anwar Ibrahim, the New Prime Minister of Malaysia

The article is devoted to the results of the general elections held on November 19, 2022 in Malaysia, as a result of which a coalition of the Hope Bloc, the United Malay National Organization and two parties from Sabah and Sarawak came to power, and the charismatic and energetic politician Anwar Ibrahim became the country’s new prime minister. The long and difficult path to power of Anwar, who started the reform movement in the late 1990s and whom the ruling bloc repeatedly tried to eliminate from political life, including by sending him to jail, to the point that many political observers have already put an end to the career of a politician, is analyzed. Despite this, Anwar was able to persevere, unite the opposition around his People’s Justice Party and succeed in the elections. Now he faces an equally difficult task of doing everything for the prosperity of his country and people.

Transformational leadership, job enrichment and recognition as predictors of job satisfaction in non-profit organizations

PurposeThis study aims to examine the influences of transformational leadership, job enrichment and recognition on employee job satisfaction in non-profit organizations.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical study was conducted on employees working in United Malays National Organization (UMNO). Data was collected from 226 employees via self-administered questionnaires. The convenience sampling method was applied for participant selection, and data was analysed using Pearson’s correlation and multiple regression analysis via statistical package for the social sciences.FindingsJob enrichment, transformational leadership and recognition were all found to have significant and positive relationships with job satisfaction.Practical implicationsThe findings imply that job satisfaction will improve if managers are motivated to promote job enrichment, transformational leadership and employee recognition programs. These steps will augment the organization’s effort to design and implement the best strategies for enhancing employees’ job satisfaction.Originality/valueThis study elaborates on transformational leadership, job enrichment and recognition in relation to job satisfaction. The insights it provides are novel due to the lack of research on the combination of these attributes. The study’s model was tested on UMNO, a non-profit organization in Malaysia that plays a significant role in Malaysian politics. Hence, this study provides a valuable addition to the literature on Malaysia. The study’s model was supported by transformational leadership theory and social exchange theory, making it another significant contribution to the body of literature.

Kebijakan Politik United Malay National Organization (UMNO) dalam Perkembangan Islam di Malaysia 1981-2003 M

United Malay National Organization (UMNO) is a political organization that serves as a forum for Malaysian people to express their main aspirations in an effort to fight British colonialism in Malay lands. The policy of the Malayan Union by the British government actually ignited the spirit of the Malay community to oppose the policy through UMNO. Malaysia as a multi-ethnic, racial and religious country indirectly demands the government to be fair in making policies so as not to cause friction even though it is dominated by the Muslim community. This problem is studied using a political approach to government with Carl Friedrich's policy theory. The research method used is the historical method which includes 4 stages; heuristics, verification, interpretation, and historiography. This study found that UMNO's political policy to be pro-Islamic encouraged the development of Islam which was marked by the establishment of Islamic research institutes, Islamic Teacher Schools, International Islamic University (IIUM), Islamic Banks, Islamic Insurance and Islamic Pawnshops. Thus, Islam becomes the foundation for Malaysian society in everyday life because the values of Islamic teachings are embedded in every individual.

End of Empire and the Bomb: Britain, Malaya and Nuclear Weapons, 1956–57

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the repercussions of remarks made by Duncan Sandys, the British Minister of Defence, at a press conference held in Canberra in August 1957 which suggested that British nuclear weapons were going to be deployed to airbases in Malaya. Against the background of the negotiations that had led to the Anglo-Malayan defence agreement, and with Malaya on the cusp of independence, an intense debate took place between Whitehall officials over whether and what form of assurances over consultation should be given to Malaya’s new leaders over the deployment of nuclear weapons and the use of Malayan bases. Besides examining why and how such assurances were issued, this article seeks to demonstrate the tensions produced by British defence policy in South East Asia during this period, which was increasingly rooted in alliance obligations to SEATO and the consequent projection of nuclear capabilities, as they began to conflict with the political imperative to bolster the post-independence United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) Alliance government in Malaya. It also brings forward some of the links and connections that can be made between nuclear issues and the dynamics of decolonisation.

UMNO dan PAS dalam Persaingan Politik Sekuler-Islam di Malaysia

This article aims to look at the political competition between the United Malay National Organization (UMNO) and the Se-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) in political dynamics in Malaysia. These two parties are the two largest parties in Malaysia which both consider themselves to represent the voices of the Malay-Islamic community. In writing, this article uses historical research methods in four steps: heuristics, criticism, verification, and historiography, using a political approach. This approach is used to view a historical event from a political point of view. While in terms of data collection techniques, this article uses library research to collect sources related to the topics discussed. The results of the study show that, since their inception, UMNO and PAS have experienced differences in their political goals. UMNO prioritizes the Malay side of its political strategy, while PAS makes Islam its main strategy. These two parties are trying to win most ethnic Malay votes as the largest ethnic group in Malaysia. Mutual claims and criticisms continue to be carried out by the two parties. Another result is that competition between UMNO and PAS has implications for political stability in Malaysia. The arrest of political opponents between the two parties is unavoidable, resulting in the erosion of the Malay majority vote in the Malaysian general election.

Influences of Mahathirism in Utusan Malaysia editorials on Mahathir’s policies during his premiership from 1981-2003

This study examined editorials in one of Malaysia's Malay newspapers, the Utusan Malaysia, from 1981 to 1987, during Mahathir's premiership. The study specifically examined the influence of Mahathirism on Utusan Malaysia's editorials on government policies. The theoretical framework of Reese's hierarchy of influences served as the foundation for this study. This qualitative study utilised retrospective in-depth interviews with key personnel of Utusan Malaysia as its methodology to answer the research questions. This study found no compelling evidence of direct or overt influence of Mahathirism on the editorials. What the study discovered was the chief editor, Zainuddin Maidin (ZAM)'s enthusiasm for Mahathir's thinking and his conviction that this Prime Minister possessed the courage to carry out his promises of a modernised and prosperous Malaysia and a greater share of the economy for Malays. The editorials demonstrate that he shared Mahathir's concerns about how Malaysia should be developed and how the Malay agenda and increased economic representation for the Malay community should be accomplished. We find in the editorials, not verbatim echoes of Mahathir’s thoughts and ideas, but ZAM’s original thinking about Malaysian nationalism, the Malay agenda and the assertion of Malaysian sovereignty in the face of Western dominance. Many of these ideas are reflected in what is conveniently called Mahathirism. By personal choice ZAM became UMNO's (United Malays National Organization) official spokesman and the journalist, who through his own thinking and unique perspectives on government policies, emphasised Mahathir's political and economic objectives for Malaysia, as well as Mahathir's emphasis on the Malay agenda, as the intellectual basis for his pro-Mahathir editorials. Utusan editorials are primarily influenced by ZAM's thinking and his commitment to Mahathirism or aspects of it.

PRESTASI UMNO DAN PARTI AMANAH NEGARA (AMANAH) DALAM PRU-14 DAN PASCA PRU-14

The 14th General Election, 2018 (GE-14, 2018) has taken place and is finished with calm and full of surprises. For the first time, the Barisan Nasional (BN), which was promoted by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), has lost its main opposition party, namely Pakatan Harapan (PH) using the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) logo along with the Parti Warisan Sabah (WARISAN). Thus, BN/UMNO also failed to defend its power after 63 years of mastering the rule of the Federal Government. The atmosphere of euphoria or the feeling of excitement among the people in this country is the result of the GE13 2018 demands for the necessity of a new Federal Government regime that is different from the previous BN government rule. The new atmosphere is also called ‘New Malaysia’. The results of the 2018 General Election can be highlighted in the performance of political parties competing in the GE. In the context of this article, UMNO and AMANAH were chosen to analyze the performance of the political party in the 2018 General Election because of UMNO’s status as an old political party (founded in 1946) while AMANAH is a newly formed political party in 2015 which is a PAS splinter party. It is important to see the old party's performance experienced in the political and governance (UMNO); and realistic, professional, progressive, and dynamic new party (AMANAH) formed as a result of the original party (PAS) was not suitable for mixed ethnicity in this country and seen as a conservative party. The writing of this paper uses primary data (the result of GE2018) and secondary data processing (information from published sources) that are critically and rationally analyzed and based on current ‘real politics’ in the country. The findings show that although UMNO as a spear in BN has lost federal and state levels the political party still retains control over the majority of Malay ethnic voters in rural areas. UMNO managed to dominate Pahang and Perlis State Governments in addition to being the majority opposition in parliament. AMANAH, however despite not contesting many parliamentary and state seats resulting from the distribution of election seats among the parties in PH but still managed to win seats in urban and semi-urban areas composed of mixed ethnic groups. People's representative from AMANAH also managed to oversee the post of the Chief Minister in the State of Malacca besides receiving the post of EXCO in several State Governments as well as the post of Minister and Deputy Minister at the Federal level. After the PRU 2018, it appears that there are some scenarios in the current issue that involve the continuity of UMNO and AMANAH politics which may affect the direction of the two parties towards the next general election.

ISYU KETUANAN MELAYU DI MALAYSIA

Ketuanan Melayu” is a conception of Malay political hegemony in Malaysia. The terminology was firstly introduced by a member of Parliament of Malaysia from the United Malay National Organization, namely Dato’ Abdullah Ahmad, in a speech offered at the Institute of Intenational Affairs, Singapura, Agustus 30, 1986. The speech was originally aimed at countering the negative propaganda proposed by the Malaysian Indian and the Malaysian Chinese, who accused that the special socio-political privileges given to the indigenous Malaysian peoples in the Malaysia’s Constitution (partaicularly in article 153) and the affirmative discriminative New Economic Policy of 1971 have been a servere strategy to condemn the Indian and Chinese Malaysians. On the other hand, the Malays in Malaysia traced the idea of Malay political hegemony from the political situation in the period of Malay kingdom of Melaka in the 15th century. They considered the period of Melaka as the golden age of Malay political sovereignty in Selat Melaka. When Melaka was occupied by the Portuegese in the 16th century, and followed by the Dutch in the 17-18th centuries, the political sovereignty of the Malays in the Malaysian Peninsula was carried on by the newly subsequent Malay kingdoms, such as Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, and others. In this article, I proposed that what is now called Malay political hegemony could be compared to what was called beschikkingsrecht in Dutch language, in the colonial period of Indonesia. This terminology was introduced by an adat law scholar, van Vollenhoven, in 1905, referring to the sovereignty of the native peoples in Malay Archipelago over their land and political state. Lastly I find the debate on the Malay political hegemony in Malaysia recently, whether between the natives versus the immigrants, or between the ruling Malays versus the opposition Malays, are pertaining with 6 articles in the Constitution and Act of Malaysian Armforce of 1972. This set of rules is knownly called Wasiat Raja-raja Melayu (The Wasiat of the Malay Sultans). Therefore, I conclude, the Malay political hegemony is constitutionalized, thus it is unnecessary for the Malays to boasting it anymore. The real problems of the Malay political hegemony now in Malaysia rests on the way it has been implemented by the Malaysian government.

‘Malaysia belongs to the Malays’ (Malaysia ni Melayu Punya!): Categorising ‘us’ and ‘them’ in Malaysia’s mainstream Malay-language newspapers

ABSTRACT Malaysia’s 13th general election (henceforth, GE13) in 2013 was the final election where the longest-serving elected government in the world, Barisan Nasional (BN), regained power, before it was ousted after over six decades of authoritarian rule in 2018. In a country that practises parliamentary democracy but simultaneously observed close cooperation between the then ruling coalition and the mainstream press, this paper shows the micro-politics of the driving force of the coalition, United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) – specifically, how anxiety regarding the maintenance of their privileged and empowered Malay position dominated the national narrative during the GE13 campaign. Focusing on editorial journalistic genres in four paid-for Malay-language newspapers, I illustrate the typical politics of fear that characterises much of Malaysian right-wing rhetoric – the ways in which racial and religion issues are provoked. The in-depth representational analysis, via the Discourse-historical Approach’s (DHA) nomination and predication strategies, also suggests the normalisation of nationalistic and racist rhetoric, which primarily works with ‘fear’: fear of change, of loss of privilege, of the future, of other races; in principle, almost anything can be constructed as a threat to ‘Us’, an imagined homogenous people inside a well-protected territory through the discursive construction of such in-groups and out-groups.

Perception of survival and overconfidence: The case of Najib Razak (2009–2018)

This article aims to examine political decision-making by focusing on how leaders’ motivation to maintain power affects their perception of political survival. Such motivation however is susceptible to judgment bias. Built on political psychology, accountability may help leaders improve their cognitive complexity or make them resort to cognitive shortcuts. Where leaders end up in the cognitive spectrum depends on the type of audiences to whom they feel accountable: core (i.e. ruling elites and loyal voters) and external (i.e. the opposition and its supporters) audiences. Preoccupation with the former may prompt leaders to downplay the latter’s challenges. Moreover, leaders’ understanding of their support base may be mistaken—that core audiences may shift their allegiance to the opposition. The result is overconfidence. Analysing Najib Razak’s leadership (2009–2018), I argue that Najib’s perception of survival stemmed from his perceived unwavering loyalty towards core audiences, invulnerability as the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) standard-bearer and the weakness of the opposition. Unfortunately, his overconfidence resulted in Barisan Nasional’s (BN) defeat in GE14.

The framing of the Chinese ambassador’s visit to Malaysia’s Chinatown: A gesture of goodwill or interference in domestic politics?

The implications of media representations of ethnicity, religion and related issues are significant because they have the potential to fuel nationalism, spreading fear and tensions instead of promoting tolerance and compassion. This study examined the aspects Malaysian newspapers have created for readers’ understanding of the then Chinese ambassador’s visit to Petaling Street (Malaysia’s Chinatown) on September 25, 2015. The then Chinese ambassador’s visit took place a day before the red shirts rally, which was reported as an ‘anti-Chinese demonstration’ by some overseas Chinese-language media. Through framing analysis, this study found that the mainstream and alternative newspapers in Malaysia reported the then Chinese ambassador’s visit with different intensity and prominence. They also employed different news sources and carried dissimilar valence in their coverage. Utusan, a Malay-language daily and a mouthpiece of the United Malay National Organization (UMNO), concentrated on criticisms of the then Chinese ambassador in its coverage. The Star, an English-language daily and also a messenger for the Malaysia Chinese Association (MCA), reported the consequences of the then Chinese ambassador’s visit. Significantly, the more independent and vocal newspapers in the country – Sin Chew (Chinese-language) and Malaysiakini (alternative) – focused on condemning the racist remarks of an UMNO politician.

The Pro-Palestinian Transnational Advocacy Network in Malaysia

A powerful pro-Palestinian transnational advocacy network has emerged in Malaysia since the Gaza war of 2008–09. Taking the cooperation between the Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia, the Islamist Hamas, and the United Malays National Organisation as an example, I analyze the network and argue that the three actors are engaging there to promote the Palestinian struggle for an independent state but at the same time, each actor is using the network to pursue its own interests.

Clientelist and Programmatic Factionalism Within Malaysian Political Parties

This article analyses factionalism within ruling and opposition parties in Malaysia, with a focus on party splits and/or the toppling or near-toppling of dominant factions at the national level. Political parties are either composed of clientelist or programmatic factions or represent hybrids that combine clientelist and programmatic factionalism. The strength and the type of factionalism depend upon policy space and the intensity of control over party groups. Programmatic factionalism is more probable if policy space is wide. Policy space is an effect of the positioning (relatively dependent or independent from other parties in the coalition) and the basic ideology of a party, that is, the major stance on religion, ethnicity, and the shape of the political system at large. If there is hardly any policy space, factionalism will be clientelistic rather than programmatic. Whether this type of factionalism arises is contingent upon the intensity of control over groups within the party and the availability of patronage goods. The control of party members is dependent upon the strength of the party leader and the centralisation of party organisation. This is demonstrated with reference to UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) (from programmatic to clientelist factionalism), some coalition partners of UMNO such as the MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) (clientelist factionalism), and the Islamist PAS (Parti Islam Se-Malaysia) (programmatic clientelism). Moreover, a brief analysis of East Malaysian parties in Sabah and Sarawak helps to further elucidate the major dynamics of factionalism.

Language policy, ideological clarification and theory of mind

This interdisciplinary paper shows that investigating community language beliefs, as a pillar of language policy research, can be enriched by the principles of theory of mind. The case study is Malaysia where ethnonationalist law and policy elevates the language and culture of the Muslim Malay majority above those of citizens of Chinese and Indian ethnicity, but where a seismic political shift is underway. The re-election of Dr Mahathir Mohammad as prime minister in May 2018, but now standing for Pakatan Harapan, broke decades of rule by the traditionalist United Malays National Organisation. Promises are being made to bring an end to Malaysia’s race-based politics and foster equality. The situation is ripe for producing contentious and politically-embedded talk in the community about Malaysia’s linguistic diversity and ethnonationalist language policy. In that context, this paper analyses how youths from different ethnic groups feel about Malaysia’s societal multilingualism. However, the innovation is in then soliciting and analysing the hypotheses of these same youths about how their own heritage languages, as well as societal multilingualism and language policy, are perceived by the other ethnic groups. As Malaysia embarks on political change, exploring beliefs in these interethnic multidirectional terms reveals fissures and alignments between beliefs that are articulated by different youths and the beliefs that are attributed to them. This methodological approach can support language policy processes and research by more richly investigating language beliefs and ideological positioning from multidirectional vantage points.

Breaking Malay–Muslim hegemony – patronage, factionalism and feuds in the 14th Malaysian general election

Following the historic 14th Malaysian General Election (GE14), the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the hegemonic party in the ruling multi-party coalition, the Barisan Nasional (BN, or ...

Four arenas: Malaysia’s 2018 election, reform, and democratization

ABSTRACT Malaysia’s 2018 election ended more than six decades of dominant party rule by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). Three questions are paramount. How did the opposition finally achieve victory? What did voters who rejected UMNO actually vote for? Finally, what do the answers imply for reform and democratization? We argue that Malaysia is comprised of four distinct identity-based polities, each with a unique electoral dynamic and vision for the country’s political future. Using this framework provides valuable insights into UMNO’s defeat, which was achieved by making inroads, largely through elite splits, into two arenas that were previously impenetrable for the opposition. One arena remains electorally pivotal and thus exerts a disproportionately large influence on the new government’s reform agenda, entrenching the primacy of identity politics and ensuring the continuity of many policies that address ethnic relations. The case illustrates the extensive impact of divided polities and regionalism on democratization.

Anwar Ibrahim’s Struggle for the Real and Malaysian Politics in Transition

This paper is about Anwar Ibrahim and politics in Malaysia. Anwar Ibrahim was born in a village near Penang, Malaysia on August 10, 1947. His parents were a hospital medical assistant and a housewife who became engaged in local grassroots politics early on. Anwar became involved in politics in 1971 as a pro-Islam student leader, founding the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia. He remained its president until 1982.67 Although he was a leader of opposition groups – in fact he was jailed under the Internal Security Act for two years for organizing mass demonstrations in 1974 – Anwar accepted an invitation in 1982 to join the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO). Rising quickly through the ranks of the party, he served in succession as the Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sports in 1983, of Agriculture in 1984, of Education from 1986-91, and was appointed Minister of Finance from 1991-98. In 1993, Anwar also became Deputy Prime Minister for Prime Minister Mahathir.68 He served as Deputy Prime Minister until 1998, when he was dismissed, on the pre-text of corruption and sodomy allegations, because of major disagreements with Mahathir about the political and economic direction of Malaysia’s future.