Urban poverty, socio-economic disparity breeding intolerance in Taman Medan, say experts

A couple ride past the corner lot of the shophouse in Taman Medan, where the cross symbol of a church used to be displayed outside. Sunday's protest by some 50 people against the church has raised the socio-economic conditions of this Petaling Jaya backwater. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, April 23, 2015.

That the people of Taman Medan, Petaling Jaya’s own residential backwater of close to 40,000 inhabitants, live a disconnected existence from the rest of metropolitan Klang Valley, seems an obvious observation.

Located at the far end of Old Klang Road, residents zip around this densely-populated area on motorcycles without safety helmets, and children play along dusty, rubbish-laden roads away from any signs of watchful guardians.

Housing consists largely of pigeon-hole, government-subsidised apartments and zinc-roofed squatter homes, a stark contrast from the affluent Petaling Jaya neighbourhood just a stone’s throw away.

But this urban backwater “village” was cast into international attention last Sunday when a group of some 50 residents demanded the removal of a cross from a local church.

The incident brought back memories of the deadly racial clashes in the same area more than 14 years ago.

While Sunday’s protest ended without much fanfare, with the church in question deciding to remove the symbol of Christianity from its building, clashes between ethnic Indians and Malays in March 2001 resulted in the death of six people, making it the deadliest racial clash in Malaysia since the May 13 riots of 1969.

The most recent incident, while contained, has reopened crucial questions on how a residential area so close to the city centre – residents enjoy a majestic view of the sparkling Petronas Twin Towers – and so easily accessible, seems to be a breeding ground of intolerance that shake the image of a harmonious multicultural Malaysia.

Taman Medan, seen through Google Earth, is located just a stone's throw from Petaling Jaya's thriving industrial area and affluent neighbourhoods, and accessible through the New Pantai Expressway. – April 23, 2015.Taman Medan and its surrounding areas house the bulk of urban dwellers who have been largely sidelined from the country’s rapid economic rise in the 1990s.

The residents in these areas were uprooted from different squatter villagers around Kuala Lumpur and Selangor in the 1970s, and forced to live in cramped public flats and homes.

Facilities are sparse, income levels are low with a bulk of residents falling under the "hardcore poor" category, and opportunities for inter-racial assimilation are rare, making Taman Medan, which is made up of an 80% Malay and almost 20% ethnic Indian population, a hotbed of crime.

“In a way, it’s a time bomb waiting to happen,” said Haniza Mohamad Talha, the PKR state assemblyperson for Taman Medan.

“Most of them are low or middle-income earners, so there’s that frustration with their social-economic position. Also, as both parents are very likely to be working, and many of the men work several jobs, there’s very little monitoring of the youth.

“As such, the people tend to be highly volatile in terms of emotions, especially when dealing with what is perceived to be their religious and racial rights,” she said.

Haniza said this made the people of Taman Medan easy targets for “irresponsible parties” who may be looking to stir up sentiments to further political agendas, a situation many analysts said was also true of the four-day-long clash back in 2001.

“There is today much political contestation with religion being used to mobilise public opinion,” said Dr Denison Jayasooria, principal research fellow at the Institute of Ethnic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

“There is much discontent still in the local communities. Many local issues are not being resolved and therefore it is easy to steer a group of people to react,” he said.

Political analyst Dr James Chin agreed that the clashes went beyond merely racial and religious intolerance, adding that the urban poor were actually victims of an imbalanced development and a widening social class divide.

“The real issue is urban poverty and low income of Malaysian workers,” said Chin, who has written several books on the socio-political environment in Malaysia and is now director of the Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania, Australia.

“This is a fertile ground for politicians to use race and religion to mobilise support,” he said.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the Cabinet had instructed the police to investigate those involved in Sunday’s cross protest, warning that they could be detained under the newly-amended Sedition Act for inciting religious hatred.

Denison (pic, left), however, disagreed with the use of the law as it could further strain racial ties and would not address the root issue of the rising discontentment among the urban poor.

“It is better to get people to sit down and resolve it. But if there is a crime, charge people for violence or threat of violence and incitement under the Penal Code in an open court, in a fair trial basis,” he said.

Moving forward, Denison said apart from improving the lives of the residents, the government must focus on strengthening “grassroots democracy” by giving communities the space to foster closer inter-ethnic and religious communication.

“Urban high-rise living has many tension points, and the sense of community and social cohesion requires greater neighbourhood development,” he said.

Chin from the University of Tasmania warned that unless the core issues of poverty and an increasing socio-economic divide among the urban population were addressed, the country would see a rise in such clashes.

“We can expect much more of these type of incidents in the coming days,” he said.

“Blaming (other races and religions) is very effective to mobilise political support and distract from failed government economic policies.”

- TMI