A turning point for Malaysia

AFTER a 24-year wait, Anwar Ibrahim has ascended to the premiership of Malaysia. His victory represents a moment of multiracial opportunity for the diverse nation – but only if this moment lasts long enough to become part of the political norm.

Anwar embodies a type of multiracialism – less a model than a vision – that is both liberal and practicable in the realities of the Malaysian political condition. In an essay he wrote last year, he was outright in recognising that “racism in Malaysia is a systemic cultural and political problem, which has been exacerbated by government policies”.

No evasiveness here. He put his finger firmly where it belonged: on racism as a structural problem emerging out of the politics of race and institutionalised in the processes of governance. Few Malay leaders courting the majority vote would have dared to be so honest.