Minorities in Southeast Asia, whether by virtue of their ethnicity, race, religious belief or sexual orientation, face worsening challenges from two quickly aligning sides. Apart from fighting official discrimination, open or otherwise, they must live in a society that is growing more hostile toward them. For instance, Indonesians of minority background not only must struggle against growing official restrictions but they also have to face diminishing social acceptance. Similarly, Myanmar’s Rohingya, whose plight has received wide international coverage, continue to face the threat of recurring violence—sometimes perpetrated by neighbors.
Unfortunately, the underlying, widely shared prejudices against minorities in Southeast Asia allow discrimination against them to persist unchallenged. What else could explain the appearance of the 2013 Utusan Malaysia headline Apa lagi Cina mahu? (“What else do the Ch*nks want?” in English)?
Moreover, the anonymity of cyberspace has enabled people to spout anything they want to with little consequences. A quick glance at comment sections in the media or your Twitter feed will show dark mutterings and open prejudices against those who are different. Unchecked prejudice in a free-for-all media space results in a harsher atmosphere for minorities.
The rise of social media has complicated matters further. As our first Spotlight article by Johannes Nugroho explores, governments now have another means to keep a finger on their society’s pulse: mercurial opinions on social media. In Indonesia’s politically competitive social media space, a recent case involving a Chinese Indonesian youth insulting President Jokowi has brought matters to a head. The combination of rampant anti-Chinese prejudice, a growing culture of politically motivated and unrestrained criticism of the president, and the growing confidence of an insecure majority, succeeded in changing the government’s thinking on the case.
Exploiting popular prejudices for the political purposes of a morally bankrupt government has a long history. Faced with pressure from the Islamists and a precarious hold on power, Prime Minister Zulfiqar Bhutto set in place the foundations for the official persecution of Ahmadis in Pakistan by declaring them non-Muslims in 1974. As our second Spotlight article by Imad Zafar analyzes, the bloody history that has followed since is threatening to sunder Pakistan’s social fabric. A country with a growing problem vis-à-vis the Ahmadis, Indonesia would benefit from looking at the Pakistani funhouse mirror before it is too late.
That popular prejudices could sway government policies is merely a modern-day iteration of what set off Plato’s skepticism of unadulterated democracy. The danger of democracies turning into majoritarian polities, where only the wishes of the majority matter, is growing more evident as social media often renders the loudest and often unconsidered voices the most influential. There is perhaps no clear way to move forward apart from the psychologically unsatisfying task of asking our fellow citizens one important question and hope they learn the right lesson: What if the table turns against you and you are the minority?
