In Malaysia, politics is the epicentre of power. It affects our daily lives from the simplest of things like the cost needed to buy groceries to the most complex of things like dealing with sensitive religious conflicts.

As the saying goes, “You can ignore politics, but politics will never ignore you.” Since politics is an omnipresent entity, it is critical that we shape it in a way which best serves societal interests. It is critical that we foster a progressive and inclusive political atmosphere which propels our country forward and not drag it downward. For the cultivation of this atmosphere, an honest policy-based discussion should be pedestalised over the immutable identity-based politics.

Identity-based politics refers to political positions based on the interests and perspectives of social groups with which people identify. It can range from social constructs like race and gender to more ideological stances like religion and ‘conservatism/liberalism’. Policy-driven politics on the hand judges issues based on data and well-researched outcomes, devoid of sentimentalism and the imposition of ideological structures.

Let’s be clear, it is perfectly fine for a person to associate themselves to a specific race, class, religion, etc, however the assessment of the issues should not be predominantly controlled by those very same characteristics. For example, a discussion of gender-based issues shouldn’t be driven by sentiments and traditional misbeliefs but data.

Arguing for quotas should not just be based on one’s born-into identity, instead it should be based on the efficacy of the plan fused with notions of justice and equity.

In Malaysia, when discussing about ways to uplift the position of the bumiputeras, we are quick to jump to emotive logic. This has led to policy-outcomes which are undesirable where the elite Malays are the biggest beneficiaries of the well-intentioned policy to reach racial equity.

In its 20 years, the New Economic Policy (NEP) has raised the bumiputera share in economy from 1.9 percent in 1970 to 20.4 percent in 1990. Since then it has hovered at the 22-24 percent mark, thus signaling a need for a recalibration.

One of the major problems of identity-based politics is that it paints everyone from a specific identity with the same brush. It presumes that all Muslims want a specific set of laws. This is evident in the debate on Act 355. Anyone who objects to the law is quickly labelled as deviants and ultra-liberals. At its base, identity politics is driven by the need to homogenise groups as it gives them strength in numbers and some form of ideological purity to champion for.