Being a Malay, is who I am…

Growing up as who i am never stops me from making friends with the non-Malays in Malaysia and this is not new. Since schooldays, most of my primary and secondary friends are non-Malays. The question of whether I’m Malay or Bumiputera never appear in our day-to-day conversation, between me and my friends. What i pay at the school canteen for drinks or for foods is what other’s pay too. No double standard or no discrimination or what so ever. Hence, i enjoyed my primary and secondary like other’s do, to the fullest.

But, now things are changing. Being a Malay seems to be a dirty word. Why i say so? Because,  i feel disturbed looking at the t-shirt add by The Malaysian Insiders which says “I am Malaysian first and Malay next. Does any bigot have a problem  with that?”. Man,  i really want to say more about this but, will i be labeled “a bigot” and furthermore being called “racist”. I don’t care lah. Let’s say something since this is my personal ground.

Again, i have no problem with people who wants to be seen as Chinese or Indian or Malay. But why a Malay like me can’t be seen or be acknowledged as a Malay? What’s wrong with that? What is the final message the t-shirt wants us to understand? Let’s dilute everyone and create a new race called “Malaysian”. Mate, at the end, it all goes back to square one. We “erased” one race for another race to emerge. Whether the new “race” will bring goodness to the nation, I’m preparing to give the new “race” the benefit of my doubt but not too much.

While most of us aspire for a better nation, if not for us but at least for our next generations, this should not allow us to take drastic moves and ignoring the consequences. Yes, for whatever moves that we might take, there will be consequences. But, will erasing the “Malay” from the Malays solve the problem? Why don’t we look into the root cause of the problem. Let’s be objective here.

I once argued with friends about this matter by asking a question “what do you expect to see from this country in the future?”. Simple and straight forward, majority of them said “a better nation”. I asked further, one by one, about their definition of “a better nation”. The conclusion from this simple question is that, not all shared the same definition but all believe in having a better nation. My take from this simple evaluation is that, we are all different in our means of achieving the common goal.

Thus, from a simple mind, my conclusion is that we are in a dire need to find a mechanism where all of us can achieved our common goal using only one mean. Yes, i agree that our present system is “old” but that doesn’t mean it is obsolete. As it was workable in the past, it should give us a good foundation for the future. But now, what i’ve been hearing more is that most of us are talking about replacing the “old” with a new one and disregard the goodness of the “old” system has given us. I’m neither historian nor blinded by history. Me too, want a better nation but again, my definition is different from some of us. Thus, it makes the process a bit more difficult and sometimes turned into an argument. Hey you know what, being an adult is never easy especially when we want to be a matured adult. Same goes with the nation.

Thus, I’m disagree with the t-shirt. Probably that is what I’m trying to say here. But it is not a baseless disagreement. As a media of information, The Malaysian Insider should be more “creative” in educating the masses. You know what i mean. We don’t live in an anarchy period and i hope and pray hard that we don’t have to face it at all. I’m all for the changes that are required in order to make our nation a better nation. But please, don’t kiddy me with a such a t-shirt. Period.

 

fatmax

 

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