Kader’s Adventure

Multi-racial Malaysia

I have been asked “What is the meaning of a multi-racial Malaysia to me?”

Being
multi-racial does not mean the same thing to every multi-racial country
e.g. Singapore claims to be multi-racial but basically it is a
predominantly Chinese State.

Because of the refusal of the
descendants of migrants from China and India to be assimilated by the
indigenous people we have to accept the retention of the identity of
Malaysian citizens of Chinese and Indian origin. The people of
Indonesian origin chose to be assimilated by the indigenous people, so
they don’t constitute a separate entity.

Multi-racial
countries are usually unstable. Racial conflicts occur frequently. If
Malaysia is to avoid racial conflicts it must try to reduce the
differences between the different races.

We cannot change ethnicity. So we have to accept the ethnic differences. Religious differences also cannot be changed.

However,
various aspects of the cultures can be made common. Chinese food in
Malaysia reflect the influence of Malay and Indian tastes. We can
celebrate each other’s festivals etc. etc.

But economic
disparities pose a major problem. Yet this is one area where
corrections can be made and can reduce tension in a multi-racial
society.

If we care to look we would notice that even in a
single ethnic country, disparities in wealth distribution lead to
conflicts. The principal reason why the Socialist and Communist
ideologies were formulated and then espoused by the working class is
because of the extreme disparities of wealth between the workers and
the employers. But Socialism and Communism tended to reduce economic
growth, causing not only the rich to suffer but also the poor.

Trade
Unions also tend to stunt economic growth, as they are often abused as
for example the holding of nationwide strikes for political reasons.

These
confrontations between workers and employers, basically between poor
and rich, happens quite often even in single-ethnic countries.

Now
if the workers and the poor are made up largely of one race in a
multi-racial country and the employers are rich and are of another
race, then class confrontation would be amplified by racial animosity.
That was the basic situation in Malaysia pre-1969, and we know the
results.

The Malay, Chinese and Indian leaders of that time
agreed that the disparities in wealth between the races must be
corrected. That is why we introduced the New Economic Policy which
proposes to eliminate the identification of race with economic
functions.

Unfortunately the affirmative action we have to
undertake must result in discrimination against Chinese and Indians in
favour of the Bumiputera. This caused resentment because even the
economically prosperous race must have a fair number of poor members.
These people will feel the discrimination more acutely.

The
other leg of the NEP is to eradicate poverty irrespective of race. From
surveys it is clear that there is more poverty among the indigenous
people than among the Chinese. It is therefore more likely for poverty
among the Chinese to be self- eradicated than among the Malays and the
natives of Sabah and Sarawak. Unfortunately the Indian leaders did not
address the problem of Indian poverty.

If we are going to
correct the imbalance it is necessary to try to reduce poverty among
the indigenous people more than among the Chinese. However, where the
Chinese poor show exceptional abilities, as for example getting
brilliant examination results, they should not be deprived of help
simply because they belong to a more prosperous race.

The
affirmative action of the NEP is good in principle but along the way
there were misapplications and failures. Nevertheless since 1969 we
have seen no major racial conflicts in Malaysia. Also despite the NEP
and its imperfections, Malaysia has remained far more stable than most
other multi-racial or even single ethnic countries. And economic growth
in Malaysia belie the assumed negative effects of the NEP.

I
feel sure that if we can reduce economic disparities between Malaysians
they would not be too conscious or too insistent on being identified by
their racial origins. They would still be Malays, Chinese, Indians,
Muruts, Bajaus, Dayaks etc. but they would be less hostile and critical
of each other.

Malaysian races are symbiotic and they really
complement each other. Even though multi-racial Malaysia will still be
ethnically multi-racial, Malaysia would remain relatively peaceful,
capable of good economic growth and exhibit relative harmony between
races if the leadership of the country understands this problem and
knows how to manage.

That is as much as we can hope for since we
are opposed to the adoption of a single mother tongue and culture and
to dropping the identification with the countries our ancestors came
from.

credited to chedet.com.