A day after a massive pro-government rally with strong racial overtones paralysed parts of downtown Kuala Lumpur, many Malaysians yesterday were left reflecting on the latent ethnic divisions that threaten the foundations of their national unity.

Chinese-Malay relations in the federation remain shaky as anti-Chinese sentiment grows, analysts have noted after Wednesday’s “red shirt” rally, which saw the Chinese being called “babi” (pigs) and told to “balik Cina” (go back to China).

… Dr Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University, said it would appear superficially that the protest did not bode well for race relations in Malaysia.

“But we must keep this event in perspective, namely a small group of organisers trying to curry favour with the powers that be (albeit not successfully, as the powers that be also do not officially approve of their childish antics) by toying with racial sentiments,” Dr Oh said. “Most Malaysians see through the charade and are not of the same wavelength as these simpleton wannabes.”