Bangsa Malaysia: Perdana Discourse Series 8

Prologue

The multi-racial nature of Malaysian society with Malays and other indigenous groups as Bumiputeras and the descendants of the immigrant races (the Chinese and Indians) as minority groups with divergent interests, pose problems towards achieving national unity. The problem is further aggravated by the fact that each group is well entrenched in its own culture, religion, and language. Hence, the notion of Bangsa Malaysia was introduced in 1991 by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the country's fourth Prime Minister, as part of his Vision 2020, to bring about greater integration among the various ethnic groups within the country. The idea was to create an inclusive national identity for all inhabitants of Malaysia, thus abandoning the National Culture Policy that asserted a Malay ethnic national identity.

However, this concept of Bangsa Malaysia has generated a multitude of reactions. Some felt that the concept is similar to the concept 'Malaysian Malaysia' that was proposed by Lee Kuan Yew when Singapore was still part of Malaysia. Some worry that Bangsa Malaysia will dilute the position held by the Malays. Others however, are more positive to the idea, as it means acknowledgement of the ethnicities as partners of equal class in building a nation. Even so, questions with regard to language, culture, and religion persist.

From an academic viewpoint, the introduction of Bangsa Malaysia is a positive move as it represents an extension of the historical and current development trends that will allow Malaysia to shape a future of unity. It is a way to fortify the nation for the future, a process that would be facilitated by expanding the spirit of Malaysian nationalism.

In view of this, Malay nationalism has to be redefined as Malaysian nationalism. To that end, a few questions have to be asked if the concept of Bangsa Malaysia is to be properly understood:

Is the meaning of the concept clear to all Malaysians or does the notion mean different things to different people, thus necessitating further debate on the issue?

Is Bangsa Malaysia the much-needed solution to the problem of national unity in Malaysia?

To what extent does the concept of Bangsa Malaysia correlate to the requirements and features of a modern nation state?

Are the existing social and political structures of the country conducive for the attainment of Bangsa Malaysia?

What are the major obstacles on the road to realising a BangsaMalaysia for the country?

Keynote Address by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

Bangsa Malaysia

The auditorium is full of young people today. This tells me that young people in Malaysia are interested in the future of their country. I imagine that they would want to do what is best for this country, and they believe that attending today’s talk is useful (for that purpose). I feel greatly honoured, and I will try my best to elaborate on this subject.

I have been interested in this subject for a very long time. If you care to read ‘The Malay Dilemma', you will find that I wrote about this topic (in the book).

When I wrote the 'Malay Dilemma' in 1970, I was trying to find a model for Malaysia that would enable us to bring the different races together as one nation, to make everyone feel that they belong to Malaysia, and that this nation is distinct from other nations. I looked for examples in other multi-racial countries but I found none that were similar to Malaysia in terms of ethnic mix and origin. The closest approximation I could find was Switzerland, about which I wrote at length.

Switzerland is not exactly like Malaysia but it does have a multi-racial population, although they are all Europeans. Europeans are divided into different ethnic groups. For example, there are Latin people around the shores of the Mediterranean. In the north, there are Germanic people who are quite distinct from the people in the south. Then there are the easterners, the Slavics. These are the three major ethnic groups in Europe. These groups are further broken up into different countries and races. The Germanic people include the English, the Scots, the Welsh, and the Germans. The people of the Nordic countries have common ethnic backgrounds and they too belong to the Germanic group. In the south, the Mediterranean people are referred to as Latin. These are made up of Spanish, Italian, French, and some other smaller groups. In the eastern part of Europe, the Slavic people are also divided into Russians, Polish, Czechs, Yugoslavs, and others who migrated from central Asia.

They are different yet similar in the sense that the European culture is based on Greek culture. This is common to them. Although they come from different ethnic groups, they share the same basic culture. In terms of their skin colour, they are white, Orang Putih (white people). There is not that much of a difference in terms of skin colour between the groups in Europe as there are, for example, between Asian people from different cultures. Certain Asian groups like the Mongolians, Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese are physically similar. The South East Asians are brown people and then we have the darker people of South Asia.

Switzerland has four separate ethnic groups. They include the people of Germanic origin; people of Latin ethnicity who are akin to the Italians; the French people; and a very small Romanic group. We can think of the Swiss as people of different ethnic origins - French, German, and Italian. They speak four different languages in Switzerland: French in the west, Italian in the south, German in the north, and Romanian where there are clusters of Romanic people. They even live apart from each other. People of Germanic origin live in the north, the French live in the west, while the Italians stay in the south. However, they have long formed this country called Switzerland, and call themselves Swiss. They regard Switzerland as their country and their nationalism is strong. They do not identify themselves as Italian Swiss, German Swiss, or French Swiss.

Switzerland is a country defended by volunteers. Every Swiss adult must be able to handle a gun and train as a soldier. The Swiss keep guns in the house so that if there is any attack against Switzerland, they will be prepared to defend their country. It is not required that German Swiss should defend the German part and French Swiss should defend the French part. They are Swiss.

How do they communicate with each other? The Swiss are very good linguists. Some of them are able to speak in as many as five languages. English is a common language as practically every Swiss citizen can speak English. In addition, each person speaks at least two other languages. These can be French, Italian, or German. When you have three languages and people have a command of two, there will always be a common language with which you can speak to one another. People from the French group may speak French and Italian. The Italian group may speak Italian and German, and therefore, the French group can communicate with the Italian group in Italian. The Germans, in addition to the German language, would know enough French to be able to speak in French. Therefore, while there is no notion of a national language in Switzerland, they are very much together as a Bangsa Swiss. There is no doubt about their loyalty and identification to Switzerland.

Then, we have other countries like the United States where the population is made up of various immigrant races. Americans originally come from different countries in Europe and Africa. Once they are in America, the migrant becomes naturalised American citizens and swears allegiance to the country. As Americans, they accept English as their national language. They go to school where teaching is done in English, and they speak English at home. English is the national language of America, despite the fact that the Anglo Saxons may not have been the first to settle in America and found the country we now call the United States of America. Their numbers were not very big but they inter-married with the descendants of English-speaking settlers from England, Ireland, and Scotland. The United States made English its mother tongue and all migrants who come to the United States must learn and speak English. After the first and second generations, these migrants would have forgotten their native languages. They may be from Germany, Italy, or France, but they have become American citizens. As an example, Frank Sinatra was an Italian but spoke American English and, as far as I’m aware, never sung in Italian. Although Americans come from many countries, they identify themselves as Americans who speak, study, and conduct research in English. That is their language at home, in school, and in university. They accept that as Americans, English is their national language.

In America, although the population originates from different countries, they are identical in terms of language, culture, and loyalty to their country. It is worthwhile pointing out that (President Dwight D) Eisenhower was of German descent, yet he led the American forces against the Germans. He fought hard against the Germans and he beat them. (President John F) Kennedy was Irish; the Irish migrated to America because of the famine in Ireland some 150 or 200 years ago. These people have been able to assimilate and adopt the original language and culture brought by the English-speaking settlers of the thirty colonies. They do not argue whether the language should be English or Spanish, even in California, a territory that once belonged to Mexico.

I can cite a few other examples. Australia is becoming multi-racial. People of Asian origin are allowed to migrate to Australia. You may not remember this, but I lived during a time when Australia had a 'white-Australia' policy, and non-whites could not migrate to Australia. In Australia, the national language is English. If you're an Australian, you speak English.

Malaysia’s situation is different. No matter how we try to find a situation like Malaysia, we cannot, as Malaysia is unique with a multi-racial population that is separated not just by ethnicity but by language, culture, religion, and also by economic well-being. We are very widely separated.

When Malaysia became independent in 1957, many people thought this country would not survive because of the vast differences between the races living in Malaysia. Even in terms of skin colour, we are different. Malays and other Bumiputeras are brown; the Chinese are of lighter skin; the Indians are dark. People predicted that we would not have a good future. They predicted that once the country became independent, the majority would oppress the minority. At the time of independence in 1957, the Malay majority was overwhelming. There were only about 250,000 Chinese citizens in Malaya against over two million Malays. There were other Chinese and Indian migrants but they were not citizens and therefore were not eligible to vote.

Fortunately, Tunku Abdul Rahman decided to address this disparity. Despite the concerns of the British, Tunku decided to confer citizenships to one million migrants without referring to the usual qualifications of ‘Jus soli'. The criteria of being born to a Malaysian parent was waived; if you were born in Malaysia, you were eligible for citizenship. Around 800,000 Chinese and 200,000 Indians became citizens, significantly reducing the disparity of voting power between the Malays and the Chinese.

In 1955, the first national elections before independence, there were 250,000 Chinese voters and more than 2 million Malay voters, and UMNO could have fielded ninety percent of the candidates. Instead, they formed an alliance and decided that Malays should give up some of their seats to the Chinese and Indians. UMNO also ensured that Malays would support the Chinese and Indian candidates who contested in Malay constituencies. Malays under the leadership of Tunku Abdul Rahman conceded some constituencies to Chinese and Indian candidates, and supported these candidates in