In a commentary published in the Straits Times, the founding chief of the think tank said that despite the higher level of education and social status among this group of voters, there is no guarantee they can move away from ethno-religious politics to focus on policy or better governance matters.
“Although they are clearly concerned about the economy and some are longing for better governance, they continue to be fixated on identity politics.
“For most of them, if push comes to shove, identity politics trumps other concerns they may have.
“What this means is that in the next general election (GE14), Pakatan Harapan (PH) faces a tall hurdle in winning over urban Malays.
“To gain the upper hand, all Umno and BN needed to do was to stoke racial insecurity among these voters. They don’t have to invest too much in the finer points of policy.”
Wan Saiful, who will be leaving his post as IDEAS CEO at the end of this month, said urban Malays feared that a PH win in GE14 will further chip away at their Malay privileges.
“They see the DAP as a Chinese party bent on removing the special status enjoyed by Malays in the country. The DAP has repeatedly denied this accusation but the distrust remains.”
Wan Saiful also said many urban Malay voters feel that despite their special privileges, they are being neglected by the Umno-led BN-government.
“The introduction of the New Economic Model by Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2010 has led to more attention being given to the bottom 40% of society, or the B40 group.
“Many urban Malays belong in the middle 40% (M40) group.
“Unlike the B40, these M40 Malays receive much less government assistance.”
Wan Saiful said some of the respondents in the study felt that their economic “rights” as ethnic Malays were being gradually eroded as a result of this shift in policy, making them feel the cost of living pressure even more.