Lost in my own land...

Jalur Gemilang

By Dina Zaman

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 — "Who's that minister? Tu... yang MCA tu... Ong Kee Tiat? Tat?"

"Tee Keat," I say.

"What the hell. He keeps harping and harping on Chinese rights. Eh, you listen. Umno is not perfect. But one thing Umno has done for the non-Malays is afford them opportunities in this country. We have been too kind. We give them vernacular schools, we give them businesses. Maybe it is true that we do not accord the non-Malays the scholarships they deserve, but the Chinese hold the economic power of this country. Ane jangan cakap lah."

"You fail to realise that we, the younger, newer Malaysians want meritocracy. We see beyond race. We do not abide by Old Politics."

"Apa kau cakap tu?! Jangan! Diam! You never fought for this country. You never had to eat tapioca. You did not endure wars and colonialism."

"I guess not."

"Where is my Malaysia?"

I had no answer. I too asked, where was MY Malaysia?

As I write this, Malaysia is 52 years old. In the past two years, our country — yours, mine — have seen moments which have caused us much joy, grief, strife and hope. Still, the never ending saga of race and religion in this country will not cease, and I personally do not see an end to this.

Picture by Choo Choy May

My personal belief is that should we move on from racial and economic politics, we will move to religious (politics), which despite the propaganda we are told incessantly, may be to our detriment.  Among the dominant race in Malaysia, the Malays are facing an identity crisis: be a Muslim first or Malay? They may be synonymous with each other, but there is a marked difference between the two. Throw in characters like Zulkifli Nordin, whom I am determined to meet one day, and we have the makings of a telenovela which may rival the Spanish and Korean ones.

I used to write for other newspapers, and I once published a book. From there, my readers communicate with me. It is interesting to see how other Malaysians feel, think and live. I audit all my readers' emails and call this survey Ms. Zaman's 0.01 Sen Survey on Ethnic Relations in Malaysia.

I have two types of readers: the old and young. The young who communicate with me articulate their frustrations of not knowing their place in this country called Malaysia. It's work, get married, have babies and then as they age, death. Some have dreams, some don't. The older readers, my age and above, I divide according to race, only because they fall into these places.

The Malay readers want submission to not just Allah and their faith, but want other Malaysians to submit to their fates as Chinese/Indians. One's identity as a Malay (Muslim, though these identities seem to be swapped around and exchanged as and when situation requires) is the only thing a man or woman has.  Nothing else matters and don't you forget that.

My non-Malay readers can be cheeky. They're highly cerebral, judging by the language they use when writing out their thoughts. And they are blunt. One has told me in a series of emails that he cannot stand the sight of a Malay. He is in his early 40s, a professional. After a spate of mails which were rather vitriolic I asked him why he wrote to me, as I was Malay. He wrote back, "Ha ha. You got me there." My non-Malay readers may express racist sentiments but they are proud Malaysians.

The abovementioned echoes findings which were disclosed in two Merdeka Center surveys. The slightly dated 2006 Ethnic Relations Perceptions Poll conducted by the research centre then showed that 73 per cent Indian-Malaysians saw themselves as Malaysians first, while the Malays identified themselves as Malays first. Indian-Malaysians also identified themselves by their race too, second after the Malays while Chinese Malaysians sat somewhere in between. One assumes that no Orang Asli were interviewed or harmed. Overall, Malaysians felt ethnic relations were good, with the Chinese stating that the perceived unity was superficial. (The poll canvassed over 2,000 Malaysians in two surveys, aged 20 and above. Gender was not specified.)

In a surprising finding, all agreed with the perception that Malays were lazy and that most Chinese were greedy. However, Indian-Malaysians were adamant that not all Indians could not be trusted. All ethnic groups wanted their cultural identities maintained. Most Malays and Indians polled agreed that perhaps having more open houses (!) would help improve ethnic relationships in Malaysia (perhaps food and holidays are a great unifier after all…) while Chinese and Indian Malaysians agreed that just and fair government policies would improve ties.

In another survey conducted by the Merdeka Center for MyFuture Foundation, Zaid Ibrahim's youth-based non-profit organisation, in January 2009, young Malays polled saw themselves first as followers of a religion (Islam), while young Chinese and Indians were very patriotic and saw themselves as Malaysians first. Hence the question of national pride and unity: since young Malays (at least the ones polled for the survey) saw themselves as Muslims first, why is nationalism not high on their agenda?

This shift, compared to young Malay nationalists of the yesteryear, begs to be analysed. Many questions abound: Islamist fundamentalism on the rise, or a simple altruistic journey to become better Muslims, and that geography and nationality are irrelevant? (This survey interviewed 500 young Malaysians aged 16 to 24 years of age, and the gender split was equal. 67 per cent were Malays while 22 per cent were Chinese and 11 per cent were Indian Malaysians. A nitpicky question that keeps bouncing in my head: what if the figures are swapped. Will the results be the same?)

How relevant are these findings three years onwards? Are we more united or divided?

My generation and the ones below want only one thing for this country – good, clean governance. We do not abide by the idea of race and the politics and hatred that have become unwanted barnacles on a country that has yet to fulfil its potential. We know none of us are perfect and we are willing to battle it out. We may support different ideologies but we want our country to not be a Malaise-ia.

Tell me, what is your idea of Malaysia?

Article source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/36401-jalur-gemilang