JULY 26 — My previous article didn’t really ruffle feathers, but some of the reactions I received were expected. I was asked to inject positivity (one), when would the Malays realise that Malaysia did not revolve around them, and thirdly, when will we just move beyond this fear? Lastly, contemporary Malays really don’t care — they have other worries to think about. Among many professional Malays, working abroad is now an option; many are doing very well as expatriates in the Middle East, Europe and the US.
All these comments are justified. I emailed a blogger who had featured my piece in his blog, ktemoc.blogspot.co.uk, titled “A Malay Country”. I found his defence of me, that I was no Michelle Yeoh, rather funny. In my email, I had said that I found all this Malay-ness rather intriguing. I feel rather divorced from this racial identity, but as an amateur anthropologist (a would-be hobbyist, more like), I like to observe the Malays. They are contradictory, patriotic, loyal, unfaithful, reactionary — all these can be applied to another race, of course, but Malaysian Malays are a breed by itself.
So why we do need to focus on Malay-everything? As Gaik Cheng Khoo has clearly stated in her paper, “The Rise of Communal Patriotism in Malaysian Civil Society”, this (being Malay) is always being raised, and that “in multicultural Malaysia, the Constitution is not racially blind but it does provide room and protection for ethnic-religious diversity under Articles 3, 5 86 and 11.7. Malaysian constitutional patriotism is in creative tension with cosmopolitanism: Malaysians invoke constitutional patriotism to argue for their rights as citizens, but seldom do they realise that these rights might equally apply to non-citizens.”
As a casual observer, I feel that Malaysians should realise that the cultural make-up of their country is rapidly changing, and this is a point I have raised many times before: foreign workers have embedded themselves into Malaysian society, as well as many other expatriates who have made this country their home. Are we to reject their ways and lifestyles, or are we situational bigots, (especially when it comes to money)?
It was during the premiership of former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi(and the later part of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s administration) that significant shifts were made.
The loosening of media censorship
Malaysiakini.com was the first Internet newspaper to make an impact, and in spite of the many raids and visits by Special Branch, has not shut down for good. Abdullah’s premiership was during the tech boom: MDC was set up to regulate Internet abuses and also support technology firms; young Malaysians who were tech savvy set up organisations like Cradle and Skali.
And it was during this time that many young Malaysians, who came from many backgrounds, asserted their presence and questioned the authorities and even themselves.
The questioning of what it meant to be Malay, Chinese, Indian, Orang Asal, polka-dotted, surged and stayed.
Khoo also noted that “Badawi’s consultative and approachable style of leadership allowed for diverse groups and individuals, progressive and conservative, to make competing claims in the public sphere.”
I think all this political navel-gazing is healthy. The debate can be raucous. I’m in enough Facebook groups to see that race, religion and politics can divide families, friendships and make an individual go nuts. But we need this debate, and more and more Malaysians (even the ultras) are making the case for articulate disagreements.
I also think that part of the current (rising?) Malay consciousness is not because of the loss of political power. It is because Malay-Malaysians have lost themselves — their semangat and angin. In our bid to become the best Muslims on earth, we have Arabicised our national language. It is rare to see Malay women wear the authentic and traditional baju kurung; the latter has seen many incarnations.
Young Malay Malaysians and professionals shy away from the arts and theatre shows because they are “... Melayu la, tak main lah...” I have been witness to conversations among the young who talk of nationalism but are derisive of Malay musical instruments.
I leave you a quote to mull over:
“Kau tahu tak di Eropah, rakyatnya tak boleh sesuka hati buat bangunan tinggi-tinggi, buat pembaharuan itu ini walaupun bangsa mereka sudah beratus tahun maju. Sebab tu, di Eropah sana masih banyak tanah-tanah yang terpelihara, yang masih hijau, masih indah, masih nyaman. Tak macam kita di sini yang rakus dan berahi sangat nak buat pembangunan, tak tahu yang mana patut dipertahankan. Pembangunan dan kemajuan bukan hanya pada berapa tinggi bangunan kita, berapa panjang jambatan kita, berapa bagus orang-orang kita boleh bercakap orang putih, bukan hanya pada lonjakan Bursa Saham, tapi pada bagaimana kita harus memelihara teras agama, budaya dan kelangsungan bangsa. Bangsa yang bertuankan kedaulatan. Kalau tanah dan Melayu itu sendiri hilang, apa pentingnya tanah ini dulu dinamakan Tanah Melayu?” — “Jogosimo”, Mahizan Hussain, DBP, 2012.
This loss of semangat and identity is not about power or about one particular race. It is about a country with many peoples, and which has taken its own journey trying to adapt to the new ways of the world.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
