Independently Merdeka

I feel urged to write this article not because the theme is Merdeka or Independence but because I just read comments from Malaysians on MalaysiaKini about “Tunku’s Merdeka vision, deliberately forgotten.”

The comments came from Ranjit Singh Malhi’s question of reality: “Independence only comes when true racial integration is recognized, and equal opportunities exist for everyone.” It sounds smart, doesn’t it?

Before I comment on each remark made by MalaysiaKini subscribers, mostly from the Reformasi and Bersih era whose idea is to bring this country to its knees and rebrand it as a free, democratic, and liberal society embracing meritocracy and openness while dismantling Malay and Islamic supremacy, let me counter-argue the two points in the ‘question of reality’.

One, the “true racial integration” has never materialized since the country was established. Is this really so? Many political leaders have acknowledged this, perhaps due to political pressure. But do we know why? Do we think the United Kingdom really has “true racial integration”? How about Singapore? How about China? Do they have it?

What does true racial integration really mean?

Does it mean everyone must speak the same language? Or that Chinese, like in Indonesia, must change their names and speak only Bahasa, at work, at school, or even at home? Does it mean everyone must attend national schools and universities? Does it mean everyone must share the same food culture or typography? What do we really want?

If you ask me, the only way to integrate is by dismantling all vernacular, private, Arabic, and pondok schools. We should attend only national schools. But none of these communities or their NGOs would agree, especially since the country abolished ISA and other laws used to silence protesters or opposition. In fact, talking about the 3Rs can get you caught and brought to justice instead.

How about the second point? Does “equal opportunities” mean everyone can join the police force or army? Does it mean everyone should become a public service officer? Should everyone have the chance to become an imam or priest? Does it mean everyone should have equal rights to own land in Malaysia or secure places at top universities regardless of results? Does it mean that only certain races have the capability for certain roles, so if the University of Malaya has more Malay students, the government is unfair?

Is the government fair if non-Malays do not even try to join the military or police? Are they only interested in wealth and success, but not protecting the country they say must be free and provide opportunities for all? Besides paying taxes, what else do they do to protect the country’s sovereignty? Do they invent innovative products like radars or security equipment to help Malaysians feel safe from China’s aggression? Do they create anything benefiting Malaysians alone, or do they move investments overseas, such as to Singapore, listing companies there to raise capital with IPOs, boosting their brand for their own gain and paying taxes to other governments instead of Malaysia?

What do they really want?

They lament that this country is a “failed nation,” moving backward instead of forward. This is merely the perception of the ungrateful and arrogant. Perhaps their idea of progress is becoming Singapore 2.0 or at least a puppet of Singapore. I am not sure what model they really want that would make them happier.

But they are in the minority. I mean, they are small in numbers, even within the non-Malays, non-bumiputera groups themselves. Most non-Malays, non-bumiputeras are quite satisfied with what they have already achieved, and they can sense the fairness of the Malays toward them.

They know the contradiction between “wanting to be integrated” and “wanting equal opportunities” in Malaysia. The two are contradictory because you cannot have both in Malaysia. You either become more integrated to get equal opportunities, or you can have at least one of them, or neither.

I can simply say that if you want equal opportunities, you need to integrate with locals, or with Malays and Bumiputeras, like in Indonesia. In Indonesia, no race or tribe has privileged rights. They are all Indonesians. And they compete based on their own merits, as they say. But through my lens, the wealthy get to the top easily, and those left behind will always be left behind unless the government helps them.

In Malaysia, despite never wanting to integrate and continually asking for more opportunities, they ridicule Malays by saying “they have been spoon-fed for over 60 years and still want to be fed.” This is a racist statement to the core. We must fight this behavior and thinking as hard as possible. It is like seeing a child fed by her mother and complaining, asking that mother to feed you instead, especially inside her house.

The difference between Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia is an obvious Godsend. There are two extremes, and Malaysia is in the middle. If you want extreme integration, we can follow Indonesia’s model. If you want extreme equal opportunity, we can follow Singapore’s model. But each comes with a different outcome.

Singapore, for example, to provide equal opportunities as they claim, had to choose English as the language of communication. They also made their country without a true “racial identity.” They could have chosen Chinese, like China, Taiwan, or Hong Kong, the original homeland of most Singaporeans. Instead, they are confused. They say their national language is Bahasa, their business language is English, yet at home they speak Mandarin. They are not truly integrated because Malays still attend religious schools and speak Bahasa, especially when they visit their relatives in Malaysia.

Indonesia, on the other hand, is more noble and sensible. They are asking all of their citizens to behave as the true Nusantaran, meaning that this region, especially Nusantara and Indonesia, is the region of the tribes and people of Sundaland. These are the people who speak the common trading language, Bahasa. It is an integrated lingua franca of the Nusantaran people, commonly referred to as the Malays during the era of Malacca Strait traders.

Yet in Malaysia, which takes the middle ground, not as extreme as Singapore’s model that would eliminate the original culture and nature of indigenous people and Malays, nor as extreme as Indonesia’s model that would eliminate the natural style or culture of races from outside Nusantara, such as Chinese, Indians, or others; it is being ridiculed as “unfair” or “uncompetitive”.

You see, the Malays in Malaysia are actually the most sensible and fair. Yet, these ungrateful minorities within the minority groups have been so disgruntled that they are even asking for more rights that they should already have been satisfied with.

They even ask to stop the concept of “race-based political parties” in Malaysia, believing it won’t help them reach the Singapore model. Yet they should also consider the Indonesian model as a good example. Perhaps by 2100, Malaysia would have only the Malay language, Islamic religion, and Muslim names? Is that better? God forbid this is too extreme, and people might be so frightened that they start migrating to Singapore by the droves now. Sarcasm intended.

Yet this isn’t happening, right? In fact, we are being so friendly and fair throughout these close to 70 years, managing the expectations from all sides of the spectrum, all peoples and races in Malaysia. Despite the asks from the two extremes, the Barisan Nasional (BN) party, the race-based-party, which has governed Malaysia since independence except after GE14, remains fair and just, despite maintaining the Malay and Islam supremacy concept, as agreed in the constitution of this country.

One comment even raised the point that “Sabah and Sarawak should not have joined Malaysia,” so that they could even have a better model, probably referring to the “Singaporean equal opportunities” model. If I were the Malays in Singapore, I would ask all Malays, every single one of them, to become police force member, to be in the army, because they need to defend themselves and also their lands. It was their own land, but now, the ungrateful non-Malays in Singapore behave as if that they are the most noble and fairest among all citizens in the world, even better than the Jews, to say that they, the Chinese from China, are here, not even imposing Chinese language, but English instead, transforming Singapore as an equally fair, providing opportunities to “all citizens of Singapore” regardless of their race, religion or backgrounds.

So Malaysians! Remember, we have already given in a lot. We are not going to either extreme. We are already in the middle. We are proudly Malaysian.

We are not going to follow Singapore, and we are also not going to follow Indonesia. We have our own model and systems, and constitution. We will follow only the Malaysian way. We will do it our own way.

Yes, I will do it my own way. Period!