Just days ago, Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi made yet another familiar claim. "Chinese have China. Indians have India. Malays only have Malaysia. Malays must vote for Malays to protect their sovereignty."

Same script. Different election. Same divisive rhetoric, recycled and repackaged.

And every time, the racial tension spikes. The social media comments explode. The fear-mongering begins.

So why does this keep happening? Why is race the only trick they use to radicalise the people when an election is at stake?

The Reality We Live Every Day

We do not have a problem living together. We work together every single day. We eat together. We celebrate together. The harmony we share is not a façade – it is real, and it is lived daily.

Walk into any kopitiam in Malaysia and you will see Malays, Chinese, and Indians sharing tables, sharing food, sharing conversations. 

Visit any office and you will find colleagues from different backgrounds collaborating, problem-solving, and building careers together. Attend any wedding or open house and you will see neighbours from every community celebrating together.

Malaysians have been doing this for generations. The multicultural fabric of our society is not a political construct – it is our lived reality. It is what makes Malaysia unique.

But you would not know that from reading the headlines during campaign season.

The "Pendatang" Narrative: A Weapon of Fear

The moment another race achieves even modest success – whether it is a thriving business, a top student, or a community that has worked hard to improve its economic standing – the same voices start screaming. "The pendatang are taking over." "We are being invaded in our own land."

It is understandable that Bumiputera sovereignty is enshrined in the Constitution. No one questions that. The special position of the Malay community and the rights of indigenous groups in Sabah and Sarawak are not in dispute.

But the moment other communities achieve success through effort and resilience, the rhetoric shifts from "protecting sovereignty" to "defending against a threat."

And what does that do? It paints ordinary Malaysian families – many of whom have been here for generations – as outsiders. As a foreign force. As people who do not belong.

The irony is that the so-called "pendatang" narrative ignores the fact that these communities have been part of Malaysia's story for centuries. They have contributed to the economy, to the culture, to the nation's development. They are not a threat. They are part of the family.

The Numbers That Don't Support the Panic

Minorities in Malaysia are shrinking every year – now making up less than 30 percent of the population. The so-called "foreign force" that is supposedly "taking over" is actually declining.

According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the Bumiputera population share has increased from 69.9 percent in 2021 to an estimated 70.1 percent in 2024.

 Chinese representation dropped from 23 percent to 22.6 percent over the same period. Indians declined from 6.6 percent to 6.4 percent.

The numbers simply do not support the panic. Malay sovereignty is not under threat. The demographic reality is that Bumiputera are growing as a proportion of the population. The "invasion" is a fantasy. But facts do not matter when fear works.

The Cost of Division

The sad part? A large portion of the public eats it up. They see their fellow citizens not as neighbours, not as colleagues, not as friends – but as threats. They view us as outsiders, never as part of Malaysia's shared story.

And that is the tragedy. We have so much more in common than what divides us. But division sells. Fear wins votes. And every election, the same tired playbook is pulled out and dusted off.

The cost of this division is not just political. It is economic. It is social. It is cultural. When communities are pitted against each other, trust erodes. When trust erodes, cooperation breaks down. When cooperation breaks down, the nation suffers.

Malaysia cannot afford to be a country that is constantly at war with itself. We cannot build a prosperous future if we are always looking over our shoulders, suspicious of our neighbours.

The Solution: Rejecting the Politics of Division

So what is the solution?

We do not need to erase history or ignore legitimate concerns about equity and inclusion. There are real issues of economic disparity and social mobility that need to be addressed. The Bumiputera community has legitimate concerns about economic participation and opportunity.

But we do need to reject the supremacist framing that frames one community's progress as another community's loss. We need to see each other as what we are – Malaysians, building a shared future.

We need to hold leaders accountable when they use divisive rhetoric. We need to stop rewarding the politics of fear with our votes, our clicks, our shares, and our outrage. We need to demand that our politicians talk about issues that matter – jobs, education, healthcare, infrastructure, and the cost of living – rather than reducing every election to a zero-sum game of racial survival.

Until we stop rewarding the politics of division, until we stop clicking, sharing, and reacting to the same old fear-mongering, our country will remain trapped in this endless loop.

We can do better. We must do better.

Because Malaysia belongs to all of us. The Chinese, the Indians, the Malays, the Orang Asli, the natives of Sabah and Sarawak – we are all part of this nation. 

We all have a stake in its future. And we all deserve leaders who remind us of that – not just when the election season arrives, but every single day.

The fear-mongers will keep playing their tired script. But we do not have to keep buying it. We can choose unity over division. We can choose hope over fear. And we can choose to build a Malaysia that truly belongs to everyone.