As good citizens, Christians must concern themselves with politics for it affects our daily lives. By the passing of a law and the stroke of a pen, our lives can be changed.

Before I discuss how Christians can actively participate in politics, we need to know the realities of Malaysian politics. What are the facts?

Malaysia is a multi- racial, cultural and religious country, comprising about 65% Malays and the indigenous people in East Malaysia (now all termed as Bumiputras), about 25% Chinese ethnic origin, and the remaining 10% people originating from what is today India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The political and military power is in the hands of the Malays due to historical and other reasons. Prior to May 13, 1969, it was perceived that the economy was largely in the hands of the foreigners and the non-Malays. The scene has changed somewhat over the last three decades.

The National Economic Policy (NEP), implemented over a period of 20 years (1971–1990), had a two-pronged goal. Firstly, it aimed to restructure society to eliminate compartmentalisation of economic function with race. Hence today, we have Malay billionaires and a strong Malay middle class, and recently we hear of the emergence of the "Melayu Baru".

Secondly, the NEP’s aim of eradicating poverty irrespective race has been achieved to a certain extent so much so that the general standard of living in Malaysia is far above that of other developing countries. Malaysia has been so prosperous that in recent years, there has been a large influx of illegal immigrants from neighbouring Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Myanmar and others.

Since Merdeka, the political leaders in the government—from our first Prime Minister, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman, to our present Prime Minister Dato' Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad—have realised that Malaysia must first have political stability before it can pursue economic development and prosperity. And to achieve political stability there must be national unity. That is why the first Government elected into power in 1957 was the Alliance Party, comprising UMNO, MCA and MIC (parties representing the three main racial groups).

Even then, the political leaders realised that any elected government—if it was to rule wisely—must be moderate, accommodating and be able to resolve sensitive issues in a give-and-take spirit, and not through open confrontation.

As a matter of practical polities, the government (though it appears to be Malay-based) must be multi-racial, as reflected since Merdeka in the composition of the parliament and cabinet. The presence of multi-racial leaders is conducive to moderation and acts as a brake on excesses intended by any one community. This is also why the government cannot condone racialism and extremism in any form.

Because of the multi-racial make-up of the tripartite Alliance party, and after 1973 (when it became the National Front or Barisan Nasional, which was enlarged from a party representing the three major communities to one embodying the parties representing the native tribes in Sabah and Sarawak), it has won every election since Merdeka.

Malaysia is one of the very few countries in the world which has had the same political party in power since its independence. This is the reason behind the political stability in Malaysia and with it came rapid economic development and a consistently high level of GNP growth (eight percent per annum for 14 years since the end of the recession in 1985).

Since 1997, particularly before the last general election in 1999, there has been a major split in Malay unity, not only within UMNO but amongst all Malays arising from the PAS and UMNO political and religious differences, which was brought into sharper focus by the so-called "Anwar factor".

Many staunch supporters of Anwar Ibrahim led by his wife Datin Dr Wan Azizah founded the Social Justice Party (Parti Keadilan). Together with PAS, DAP, and Party Rakyat, they formed the Alternative Front as a counter bloc to Barisan Nasional (BN).

Although the 1999 General Elections results showed that BN won the parliamentary seats with their usual two-thirds majority, a major dent in their armour was the loss of the Terengganu state government to PAS and their retention of the Kelantan state government.

In fact, DAP, because of their alliance with PAS, were the biggest loser as the three party stalwarts—Dr Chen Man Hin, Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh—lost their parliamentary seats. PAS emerged as the main benefactor of this alliance, and since then, they have been capitalising on their newly-gained confidence to show the non-Malay voters that they can be as accommodating and even more liberal than UMNO.

This is a new scenario never seen before in Malaysian politics. Malay unity, particularly spearheaded by UMNO in the past, has always been trumpeted as the backbone of national unity, bringing political stability, racial harmony and economic development for the last 32 years (since the racial riots in May 13, 1969).

Today, UMNO are still recovering from the dismemberment of the mainstay of their erstwhile political strength, viz: the Malay intelligentsia—teachers, university students and lecturers, even professionals. The 1999 Elections has been touted as the wake-up call for new vigour and vitality to be injected into UMNO’s political sinews so that Malay unity can be restored and strengthened.

With this proper understanding of the political realities in Malaysia, a Christian must decide how he wants to participate in politics or in the political decision-making process.

In the early days of Merdeka and the early years of the nation-building process, people like the late Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Tan Cheng Lock and Tun Sambanthan went into politics with commitment and dedication to an ideology—the ideology of winning independence for Malaya (now Malaysia), and the building of a united, harmonious, progressive and prosperous Malaysian nation—a country where every Malaysian of whatever race, colour, or creed can have his rightful place under the Malaysian sun.

The Malaysian polity cannot run away from a bias so long as the Malays regard themselves as Malays and look at national problems from the Malay perspective. The same is true of Chinese and Indians. Malay, Chinese and Indian problems are equally national problems.

In any conflict involving the people, there is always a racial undertone. This racial undertone has been suppressed so long as the leaders in the government and Opposition realise that they cannot afford to have racial confrontation and worse, if to it is added a religious flavour.

Malaysians can be proud of the fact that nowhere else in the world can people of so many different racial backgrounds, cultural and religious differences live together in peace and harmony and attain political stability and economic prosperity which even the developed nations envy.

The politics of today is, of course, different from what it was in the early ‘70s and ‘80s. I find that while the commitment may still be there, the motivation is somewhat adulterated. I find that people nowadays go into politics for what they can get out of it. That is why there is so much allegation about "money politics" in almost all political parties, more so in the parties in power.

1. Be a strong pressure group but stay on the sidelines. That does not mean demonstrating in front of Parliament or marching through the streets like what we see in Indonesia and Philippines and even in Malaysia. Voice your concern through the media, participate in political meetings, go to your elected representatives, (MPs or state assemblymen) and bring your national or local problems to their attention and make them act. (If they don't act, do not vote for them in future.)
2. Be involved in partisan politics. Join a political party, either the Opposition such as DAP or a government party such as MCA, Gerakan, SUPP, etc. By being a party member, you can influence the party leadership to take up your problems in the parliament or state assemblies. In other words, be in the corridors but not in the front-line.
3. Be actively involved in front-line politics. Participate in the election and be elected to parliament or state assembly.
4. But if you comprehend the political realities, and if you want to be a front-line politician "who can deliver the goods", then you have to join a party which is in the government. This is the fourth option, and this is the way I chose to participate in politics. A Christian can be an active politician, serving as MP or Minister and yet be the light and salt of the earth.

However for one to do well and be at the top in the political party, he must have strong grassroot support. Party politics is sometimes called the politics of survival and has its ups and downs. There are no rigid rules in politics—your friend today can be your enemy tomorrow, but if you stand firm on your principles, people will respect you. I have always believed that one goes into politics because of his ideology, and so long as he can play an effective role in the party to fulfill that ideology, he should strive to be at the top. The moment he feels and finds that he cannot perform that role effectively, it is time to step down and leave to others to carry on. It has been said that leaders in any political party come and go, but the party and the ideology which it stands for, remains forever.

One last option is for Christians to form a political party of their own and field candidates in the state and parliamentary constituencies in the next general election. If elected, the party can be the mouthpiece and platform for upholding Christian principles and ideals. Or it can openly declare its support for certain candidates who subscribe to the Christian party’s manifesto.

During his 12 years as a Member of Parliament, Dato' Lew served as Deputy Minister of Primary Industries and Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry. Following a three-year term as Malaysian Ambassador to the USA and concurrently to Mexico, Dato' Lew left politics in 1986, turning his activities to the Malaysian private sector.