Pertimbangan Semula Masyarakat Tidak Sivil di Malaysia: Kajian Kes PERKASA dan ISMA (Uncivil Society In Malaysia Reconsidered: The Case of PERKASA and ISMA)

Abstract

The role of civil society in Malaysia has been widely debated by scholars. This has led to the emergence of another typology, which is uncivil society. However, the discussion of such concept in Malaysia is rather limited. Although there are other studies that already covered the uncivil society concept in Malaysia, they are not inclusive and relatively biased. The uncivil society label in Malaysia has mostly directed to Malay-Muslim NGOs for championing the ethnic exclusivity cause that tends to be assessed from the perspective of ‘ethnicization of knowledge’. Malay-Muslim NGOs are often perceived as ‘uncivil society’ and anti-democratic. Therefore, this study explores this discourse by covering two case studies of influential Malay-Muslim NGOs, often labelled as an uncivil society, namely the Organization of Indigenous Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa) and the Muslim Association of Malaysia (ISMA). This study finds that PERKASA and ISMA have a higher tendency to be classified as a civil society rather than an uncivil society. This argument is based on the characteristics exhibited by both NGOs which highlights the role of the ‘third power’ through the delivery of mass issues based on grassroots orientation and at the same time also contributes to the trajectory of democracy in Malaysia. In fact, from their basic characteristics, both organizations are also on the path of ‘civil society’ which embodies the fundamental framework of a democratic system.