Abiding by Malaysia: Mediating belonging through cultural contestations

The uneasiness triggered through an announcement by the then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed in 2001 declaring Malaysia an Islamic state precipitated a disquiet towards what seemed to be a weakening of the secular and multicultural pluralistic basis of Malaysia. This paper considers how the concept of an Islamic state, incrementally applied through a complicated mixture of responses to maintaining MalayBumiputera ethno-nationalist aspirations and privileging fidelity to rulers and Islamic religious structures, has reopened questions of and issues related to the negotiation of common national citizenship and belonging. Through a longitudinal community-based study in the epicentre of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this paper examines, in the light of the recent national elections, current contestations surrounding constitutional perspectives on freedom of religion, secularism and national public life and the effect of Tamil community mobilisation activities such as the Hindu Rights Action Force. These contestations may provide some insight within which Malaysians could mediate the document of destiny that was adopted as the Constitution for an inclusive community and open up the minority perspective as a conceptual space for negotiating belonging.