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Thoughts on the Mao Zedong Wallpaper Controversy

Recently, the police had seised communist-themed wallpapers at two Shangri Spicy Restaurants. It became a controversial topic among netizens after social media and news outlets reported the incident.

Mao Zedong, chairman of the Communist Party of China (CCP) is one of the caricatures stamped on the wall. Between 1958 to 1960, he launched the Great Leap Forward and failed; it led to a large-scale famine which killed tens of millions. In 1966, he initiated the Cultural Revolution for a decade to consolidate his power and cult-like worship. Hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of deaths were reported due to the massacres and criticism towards the CCP and its leaders. Additionally, the CCP under Mao's leadership backed the Malayan Communist Party which caused the deaths of many including soldiers in our country.
The humanitarian crises occurred during Mao's authoritarian rule not only violated humanitarian values but affected many Malaysians. Many suffered and continued to have traumas even after his regime. The wallpaper stamped in Shangri Spicy Restaurants has glorified his dictatorship and massacre, accepted the regime's anti-humanitarian approach and disrespected millions of victims. Today, the glorification of events or characters such as Hitler, Hideki Tojo, the Atlantic slave trade and others that violate morality and the existence of surviving victims alone, should never be allowed.
The cafe owner said in an interview that these wallpapers are common in China and thought they are funny and have nothing to do with the CCP. However, the owner's perception of the wallpaper is affected by China’s Party-State system. In China, the CCP is integrated with national politics. The CCP also shaped culture, language, military, economy, education, and the internet with its own will. The CCP discourages the people to reflect the horrors of the Mao's regime. Moreover, the state efforts to restrict free speech has made the people not publicly questioned brutal events occurred during Mao's period. Its long-term effects are the Chinese unable to realise that the CCP has become every part of their lives and the failure to look at the CCP critically.
On the one hand, the wallpapers that glorified Mao Zedong at Shangri Spicy Restaurants have been removed. The police must handle this matter in accordance with the law not only to ensure perpetrators are treated fairly but to avoid similar incidents from happening again. On the other hand, we feel the people should pay attention to the simultaneous rise of the 'red-leaning' and right-leaning Malaysian society.
Many Malaysians held the same views with the owner in regards to the controversy. The CCP made use of the nationalist sentiments to infiltrate Malaysia at all levels. The call for the Great Revival of the Chinese Nation prompted many Malaysians to blindly support the superiority of the CCP and its nation. Besides, Malaysian politicians who chanted democracy and moderation defended the wallpaper and conveniently forgot the CCP’s dictatorship and its infiltration. UMANY believes the CCP-brainwashed minds of Malaysians, some who found these wallpapers unproblematic, is more terrifying than Mao's and other communist-themed wallpapers!
In recent years, Malay alt-rights have racialized the disputed wallpapers. By claiming communism regained its presence in Malaysia, nationalists parties and figures created the impression that Malaysian Chinese are not loyal to the country. Regardless, we may replace the Malaysian-Chinese-are-communists label at all times but we cannot solve our race problem if we counter the narrative perpetuated by the Malay supremacies with CCP-promoted chauvinism or see eye to eye with the Malay supremacies, engage with the Ketuanan Melayu narrative to denounce CCP sympathizers.
We cannot deny the brutalities and casualties of the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. However, it became a complicated matter once it was racialized. As Malaysians, we must condemn Mao and the CCP's tyrannies from the view of universal values ​​and the support for diversity. More importantly, we must be rational when confronting with two extremes.
Campus Democracy, Student Autonomy
UMANY



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