What Went Wrong With The Malay Paradigm

In the midst of War Against Terror campaigns, humanitarian efforts in Japan, reformation and revolution of Middle East nations, there is a slightly much bigger problem at hand. On the coast of Malaysia, a prominent nation yet ironically unknown by others unless Singapore is mentioned, a progressively ill dilemma is surfacing. This dilemma revolves around the Malay race and the detriments of its actions. The harsh reality in Malaysia that Malays have to live by is that there a few things that a stereotyped Malay is perceived as. Malays are slothful. Malays are below par. Malays are arrogant. Malays are ignorant. But worst of all, Malays are deemed to be oblivious to the ramifications to all these discerning, or it has become the disheartening fact of this nation that the deeming of this race is now a hardened reality. Malaysia has, in all its 57 years of independence, seen the best and the worst of the Malay race. From the admirable success in traversing the Antarctic, to the horrifying and bloody street fights among Mat Rempits (youngsters on bikes with no purpose in life performing dangerous stunts), from the first solo sail across the world, to the tidak apa or who cares attitude causing wrong and misled perceptions, Malaysia can stand proud with the myriad accomplishments of her predominant inhabitants but at the same time, under the most unfortunate and humiliating of circumstances created by the same group, she can also bow down in defeat and embarrassment. As one of the major races in Malaysia and the first to set its foot on the ground (and ocean) of the Malay Peninsula, this race was once looked upon as the crme de la crme of the pre-independence social hierarchy. However, the table has seemed to turn as globalization extends its vines to the hearts and minds of this fickle race. The problem that is faced by the Malays lies not in its severity but in the embedment of that problem in the race itself. This problem is the mindset that the Malays carry. Bernama reported that former Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi stated that the feelings of inferiority, nervousness and insufficiency are poisons that have been injected into the Malay mentality since colonial times.[ 1] How this mindset came to be and how it is capable of maintaining itself in this race, enduring the sands of time and combating any efforts of changing, is meandering even until now. The
Bernama.com. (2008, November 7). Retrieved from http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news_lite.php?id=294705
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Malays fail to highlight sheer formidability in their very existence and in everything that they do, instead portray a very much violent picture for the rest of Malaysians to paint. It is in this painting that the colours of 1Malaysia seem to lack. The Malaysian Government, led by Malays, is carrying the misconceived notion that the resolution to racial tension in this country is in the introduction to a concept of holistic improvement in togetherness. Noting what Tun Mahathir Mohamad said, with the benefit of hindsight it is of course easy to point out the flaws and the mistakes of the past. Nevertheless it is useful to look back and analyze, and even apportion blame, if the past is to be a lesson for the future. [2] Today, Malaysia bears witness as the Malay community gradually sinks itself in the political, economical and social gap. The disheartening part of this predicament is that the Malays, when smacked in the face by reality, will have no way to go to and no one to turn to. Through extensive research and hours spent on looking up the internet and reading novels pertaining to this matter, it can be deduced that the Malays have adopted the previously said mindset because of four things; the concept of special rights, the comfort attained by the status quo, the lack of effort put in by politicians in changing the fate of the Malays and the fact that Malays are so easily influenced.

An additional piece of information with regards to the notion on Malay paradigm shift is on the May 13th tragedy. May 13th, 1969 is a date everyone has engraved at the back of their heads. It is a date everyone wants to forget but ironically strongly remembers. It is a date that made us lose the progress of this nation in self-governance yet made us gain consolidated unity. It is a date that came to be from a few incidents, however taught us so many lessons. The backdrop of this date which was sparked by the increasing racial tension between the Chinese and the Malays ignited even more prejudicial assertions and perceptions until today. The violence that erupted in Kuala Lumpur on May 13 th, 1969 and the happenings on that day are a blot on the history of Malaysia. Prior to that, the nation's progress to independence, the transition to power and of the evolution of an independent national spirit, all these phases in the history of our people had been by and large peaceful in character. The tragedy of May 13 was so serious the Federal government

Mohamad, T. D. (1970). The Malay Dilemma. Kuala Lumpur: Marshall Cavendish Editions.

had to take drastic actions which led to the breakdown of the Constitution as the whole of the legislative structure of the Constitution was virtually suspended. Maybe, at this juncture, it is appropriate to trace the events leading to the tragic day. It began when Parliament was dissolved on March 20, 1969, and a general election for the Dewan Rakyat and all State Legislative Assemblies was starting on Saturday, May 10. Vigorous campaigning by politicians took place and feelings became inflamed, culminating in interracial rioting beginning on Tuesday, May 13, in Kuala Lumpur. It temporarily disrupted the machinery of the Federal government, but fortunately the rioting was quickly contained. We can speculate the reasons for the rioting. It can be said that the reasons were many, revolving around political, social and economic issues. Two days after the outbreak of violence, the Yang di Pertuan Agong proclaimed a state of emergency under Article 150 of the Constitution. At the same time, acting under Clause (2) of the Article, he promulgated the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance No. 1, 1969, giving himself wide powers for securing public safety, the defence of Malaysia, the maintenance of public order and of supplies and services essential to the life of the community. All elections that had not been completed were suspended. More or less what happened that day, this significantly unprecedented event grabbed TIME magazines attention, reporting that Malaysia's proud experiment in constructing a multiracial society exploded in the streets of Kuala Lumpur last week[3]. Since that fateful and bloody day, many people started to question on the true events that led to May 13th, 1969. They demand answers from the Government. According to The Star newspaper, We should stop sweeping it under the carpet. May 13 is a ghost that must be exorcised. As long as it remains a hidden, censored part of history then it hinders our maturing as a people and a nation, and will continue to haunt us.[4] Many sources assert that the cause of the May 13 incident is the mindset of Malays in preserving their Special Rights and it is due to May 13 that the disparity between Malays and other races in Malaysia is widening. How the Malays perceive the concepts of victory and defeat must utterly change if they do not wish for this disparity to reach the point of no return.

Race War In Malaysia. (1969, May 23). Retrieved from TIME: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900859-1,00.html
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Vengadesan, M. (May 11, 2008). May 13, 1969: Truth and reconciliation. The Star.

The first point that we can safely yet sadly carry is that the mindset of the Malays have been swiftly changed by the concept of Special Rights. Article 153 Clause (1), according to the Constitution of Malaysia, states that It shall be the responsibility of the Yang di Pertuan Agong to safeguard the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities in accordance with the provisions of this Article.[5] Malaysia practices an affirmative action policy for ethnic Malays, known as bumiputras or "sons of the soil," in a bid to boost them economically and ensure they control at least 30 percent of corporate equity. The so-called bumiputra policies favor the Malays in business contracts, housing, bank loans, education and government jobs. This creates a problem on its own as dissatisfaction may rise among other races pushing aside the fact that it has already conspicuously risen. The aforementioned problem brings us to the pre-independence era when the engineers of Malaysias constitution have boldly included a section mentioning the Special Rights of the bumiputra (indigenous people of Malaysia). When the Malays have adopted the concept of Special Rights, they have cemented into their minds that no matter what situation they are in, the Government will lend them a helping hand based on the concept of Special Rights. There is clearly no justice in this system towards other races and this has evidently pushed them to strive for success knowing that their Government will not allow them access to the same privileges it provides the Malay race. Perhaps, this is what led to the overtaking of the Malays by other races in Malaysia. They have contemplated on the detrimental repercussions if they were to slack off even for just a short while and are aware of their position in the system that they live in. The Malays paradigm in the aspects of economy, social and politics must be shifted if they hope to ever come close to other races in the never-ending competition to gain total control of Malaysias system. In the hopes of maintaining this control, the Malays have constantly been advised to reassess their position in the economical system as it is through this system that the politics of Malaysia is linked by. According to TheMalaysianInsider.com, Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mukhriz Tun Dr Mahathir said economy of the Malays should be on par with other races to enable them to retain

Sheridan, L. (1987). The Constitution of Malaysia. Lexis Law Pub.

their present political power.[6] In other words, the race with more economical control will have more political control.

The second reasoning to the notion of Malay detriment is the uselessness of politicians in helping the Malays. Politic is defined as formal sensible and likely to gain you an advantage by Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. To make matters worse in the beautiful and harmonic nation of Malaysia, the problems attributed to the Malay race are not being dealt with by politicians, who have an indubitable power in determining the course of journey of this race. Instead of performing any action to eradicate the Malays mindset or at the very least, showing the rakyat (Malay community) that it is doing something, the Government, consisting mostly of Malays, is propagating false hope to them with regards to eliminating poverty in cases of ultra poor Malay families in rural areas and giving them a guarantee of economical advantages compared to other races, just to name a few. The Malays must face the sad fact that they will never be able to break free from the shackles of poverty and helplessness if they are consistently being spooned with sugarcoated words by the Government. What this proves is that there can be no help for the Malays if the people who are supposed to help them in the first place, are Malays themselves who have taken a wrong turn in determining the fate of their own race. The United Malay National Organization (UMNO), a founding member of Barisan National coalition is a powerful and perhaps the most influential political party in Malaysia. However, this party, which makes up Malaysias very own Government, is the party that has single-handedly taken up the job of gradually and potentially eliminating any chance of a Malay comeback. Possessing the power to instil into the Malays a holistic awareness to rise up to any challenges and hindrances, this party instead is poisoning them with constant assurances of help, not realizing that with help, the Malay race can never stand on its own two feet to face any challenge. In Malaysia, the achievement gaps between Malays and non-Malays continue to widen despite the political leadership and public institutions being dominated by Malays. This glaring disparity remains a continuous source of communal angst, triggering more than just a few occasions of mass acting out behaviors as keris wielding
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The Malaysian Insider. (2010, December 28). Retrieved from http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malay-economy-needs-paradigm-shift-says-mukhriz/

and shrill calls for Ketuanan Melayu.[7] Ketuanan Melayu, or Malay Supremacy is a claim from the Malay people that they are tuan or master of the land of Malaysia The rakyat should lose their sense of helplessness and over dependence on the government. However, this is easier said than done because politically UMNO wants the community to depend on the party for wealth distribution and assistance. It has the political game of the party. The more the Malays are dependent on the party the higher the likelihood for them to support the party in elections. It should not take too long for the Malays to realize that their mindset and spirit have been imprisoned by their political masters. A lack of attention and purposeful action taken on the mayhem in Sarawak and the neglect of the poorest 40%, majority of which are Malay & indigenous people all over the country, will expedite the end of such mental tyranny which has kept the community from achieving its fullest potential.

There is a distinguishable abhorrence in the comfort that the Malay race gets in its status quo that consequently halts them from progressing. There is no desire to improve or consolidate the current status quo of the Malays. As a result, no efforts are being made to further enhance the chances for Malays to break into the never-ending fight for total control. They prefer to sit down and expect everything to fall on their laps; they expect to be subsidized by their Government in almost every economical situation, they demand more quotas in educational privileges, they wrongly discern that they have rights to almost anything and if those arent bad enough, they refuse to even endorse or be acknowledged that they have a problem to begin with. This is where the Malays fall short behind every other race in Malaysia and this is why this race can never see a steppingstone in progression if it continues to live with the same mindset. How can they when even the slightest remark on their attitude and mindset could trigger a racial issue of catastrophic proportions? Even when those remarks come from brighter Malays themselves, those people will be treated with utter cynic and disdain and if they persist in their genuinely constructive remarks and will eventually be deemed ungrateful. As an expected result of these happenings, the Malays have seen a conspicuously steep decline in their economical, social and political statuses though it cannot be denied that they have
Lim Kit Siang For Malaysia. (2008, December 21). Retrieved from http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2008/12/23/islam-and-the-malay-mindset-what-went-wrong/
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seen it coming miles or in this case, years away. Besides that, Malays are over-dependant on government. The Malays have set the time bomb in their minds that whenever they want to start something new or repair something old, the government will be there to lend a helping hand. This degree of comfort and attitude will not bring the Malays even one inch closer towards success and control over their own country. They are sadly also hanging on to government aid. The government has prepared a huge amount of money, about RM2 million for farmers across Malaysia especially Malay farmers and this supposedly acts as an incentive and subsidies for the farmers.[8] The subsidy provided by the government in terms of petrol today allows Malaysians to purchase it between RM2.70 and RM2.58 for per litre. Compared to our neighboring country, Thailand who should pay between RM3.50 and RM3.90 per litre, Malaysia is considered lucky. It is in this sort of help that the Malays seek comfort in and thus expect more subsidies and incentives from the government. The story for non-Malays however, is very different than that of the Malays. Non-Malays do not take comfort in the subsidies given to them. Instead, take advantage of it and strive for better things to increase their stand on the economy of Malaysia. This is one of the detriments of the Malay mindset today. If the government stops this aid, the Malays will complain and accuse the government of being unfair and untrue to its promise. The Malay race needs to sow the concept of selfdependence into their hearts to reap a better future for the future generation.

The last fundamental reason to why Malays are the most backward in Malaysia is due to them being easily influenced by internal and external factors. In terms of internal factors, the Malays had been taught for generations about how they should follow their tradition, never to ever forget their root and always be proud with their historically rich and diverse culture. But that seems to be the problem with this predicament. Never have the Malays ever been preached about adapting, improving themselves or even progress. So its not that surprising to see most Malays are very conservative with backward mentality. The only thing that the Malay society could produce is just great warriors but

Utusan Online. (2008, November 27). Retrieved from http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2009&dt=1023&pub=utusan_malaysia&sec=Terkini&pg=bt_25 .htm&arc=hive

not wise thinkers.[ 9] Even in school they are only taught to listen and remember everything but not to use their heads and think. If this persists, how will the Malays ever break free from the manacles of deprivation and absolute stupidity? If the Malays want to change their fate, then the best place to start is by changing how they think, or rather, by starting to think. During the British days, Malays were so easily influenced that the British conqueror came up with stories about them. Hikayat Mat Jenin is one of the popular folk tale in the Malay community. This story is passed down to generation after generation and it pertains to Mat Jenin having a big imagination to marry a princess after making a lot of money. However, like Malays, Mat Jenin was only daydreaming. At the end of the story, Mat Jenin died after falling from a coconut tree. Mat Jenin in this story represents the Malays who wanted to change his life but only through imagination and alas failed. It shows that no matter how the Malays try to improve themselves, they will not succeed for as long as they are influenced by factors which will in the end disrupt them in their journey. According to Albert Einstein, Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand. The Malays are constantly advised to analyze whatever input they get and not react immediately. The deduction here is the Malays are not growing as they are easily influenced.

Though the Malays have really deteriorated in many aspects, they have proved to be a race which stresses on mannerisms and etiquettes. They refuse to provoke unless provoked. They greet others with a smile every time and invite others to do what they are doing out of courtesy. It is because of this courteous nature of the Malays are they able to survive with the rest of the ethnics in Malaysia. Tun Dr Mahathir was right when he said that the Malays have been very accommodating and unselfish in order to live harmoniously with other races as one nation.'[10] Though still buried under a rockpile of catching up in the fronts of economy, politics and behavioural mindset with other races, the Malays should still retain this positive nature, left behind by the entrance of Islam on
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Asia Finest. (2010, September 16). Retrieved from http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t160910.html

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The Malaysian Insider. (2010, March 30). Retrieved from http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/article/changing-the-malay-mindset/

the shores of Malaya back then. Now, Islam has been a part of the Malay culture and according to the Constitution of Malaysia, it is what defines someone a Malay. That is the magnitude of significance of Islam in the lives of Malays. What went wrong is not with Islam rather how the Malays have missed the essence of this great faith in their obsession with its peripherals.

There is an urgent need of a shift in the Malays paradigm in almost every fundamental aspect. With the advent of technological advancement and an introduction to a borderless world through the Internet, it is disheartening to see that the Malays are far behind in current issues and knowledge compared to other races even though each race is given equal access to the Internet. The Malay race, rakyat and politicians alike, must contribute in this paradigm shift if they want to see themselves still clutching Malaysias political control in the near and distant future. One can only bear the hope that this vision will soon materialize, no longer having to withstand the negative perceptions of other races towards this one. For far too long have the Malays sat down gathering dust and mothballs, while witnessing other races gaining success after success in aspects the Malay race once was controlling. The Malays are in a state of grave danger if they fail to highlight sheer formidability in their very existence. The Malay dilemma is also a Malaysia dilemma. The Malaysian nation cannot expect to thrive and prosper with this malignant cancer eating away at its heart. The Malays form a substantial portion of the population and anything affecting them must affect the nation. It is therefore imperative that a determined attempt be made to solve this dilemma. The first need is a revolution; a word which is unduly feared in Malaysia. Revolution creates visions of assassinations and anarchy. But revolutions can be creative and orderly if the mechanics are understood by those best able to carry them through.[11] Revolution implies drastic changes. Doctrinaire revolutionists often fail because they see only the objective and entirely disregard circumstances, established forces and institutions. For a revolution to succeed in Malaysia, it is essential that the people recognize what can be done away with and what must be retained and even be propagated. The object is the betterment of the Malays and not the destruction of others and hopefully TIME magazines question of whether the

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Mohamad, T. D. (1970). The Malay Dilemma. Kuala Lumpur: Marshall Cavendish Editions.

wounds opened last week (May 13th, 1969) would ever sufficiently heal to permit Malaysia's diverse peoples to resume their quest for a working multiracial nation[12] can finally be answered. To quote a Malay legendary warrior, Takkan hilang Melayu di dunia (The Malays will not perish from the face of the earth).

Race War In Malaysia. (1969, May 23). Retrieved from TIME: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900859-1,00.html

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