F*** Malay Supremacy

I attended an event earlier this year (now last year – cos I wrote this article originally in dec 2008) by a new organisation called Malaysian Scholars Foundation (MSF). One of the speakers was the renowned Malaysian Scholar – Dr. Sheikh Afifi, the 1st permanent full-time Malaysian lecturer in Oxford University (from my understanding) and a very close friend of my family. He mentioned something to us which was quite interesting. Something along the lines of the following:

The word “Malays” is pronounced in the same manner as the English word “Malaise” meaning the following:

1. a condition of general bodily weakness or discomfort, often marking the onset of a disease.
2. a vague or unfocused feeling of mental uneasiness, lethargy, or discomfort.

Source: http://www.dictionary.com

Whilst his intention was not to say we have become what the English language has ‘defined’ us as, it was rather a wake-up call to us saying that we need to define who we are. If we want to be the best, then be the best. If we want to be the worst, then be the worst.

See, once a while a Malay person comes to me and when s/he understands my background s/he immediately says that I should be proud to be Malay. I normally just do a fake half-smile and walk away – but today I think I’ll try something different. I’ll analyse the situation more deeply and come to a conclusion – should we really be proud of being Malay? I mean, is it good or bad to be Malay?

Let’s take just some examples of what Malays really do in real life. And these examples are what my Malay friends (who were been born and raised in Malaysia) tell me:

1. Malays are always late when they make an appointment
2. Malays are lazy
3. Malays want everything for free (or at least a discount)
4. Malays like to show-off their wealth and/or status

Now, no-one’s actually told me the benefits of being Malay – so let me think of a few:

1. Malays like to eat like six times a day (I get fat in Malaysia)
2. Malays eat with their hands (saving money on spoons)
3. Malays eat rice (even if we just eat it with soy sauce, chilli sauce and fry a chicken)
4. Malays like to sing (although I prefer Gangsta rap)
5. Malays like to laugh (although not as much as Yemenis)

So to me, it’s obvious – there are some things which are good about the Malays and some things which are bad about us.

But the funny thing is when someone says that they’re so proud of being Malay such that they advocate the Malay race at every opportunity they have (even though they never explain what’s so good about being Malay and they completely ignore the bad things about the Malay race).

I wonder, does this guy/girl have edited posters of Hitler wearing a songkok (Malay hat) and samping (Malay sarong) in his/her bedroom?

Let’s face the facts. Each race has its own ups and downs. Furthermore, new races are being developed all the time (due to mixed marriages etc). Should we spend so much time, money and energy on fooling ourselves thinking there’s nothing bad about our own race? Or should we admit the problems we have and focus on devising practical solutions on overcoming these problems?

Is it not time for us to forget about who’s Malay and who’s not? Is it not time for us to just focus on helping each other regardless of ethnicity?

I mean, granted – some organisations (including one which I’m involved in) specialise in helping Malays, but not because they are ‘Malay Supremacy’ organisations, but rather because they are organisations which believe in specialisation. Therefore in order to ensure a better output, they specialise in specific target groups. The overall aim is not to make Malays Supreme, but rather to help us to develop into those which contribute more to the society positively whether the Malay community or outside of it.

Am I proud to be Malay?

One of my friends once said to me a very interesting analogy. He said he’s proud to be Malay because of the following reason:

Imagine a painting. That painting’s beautiful. The painting consists of millions of colours blending together to make it beautiful. Imagine that English people represent the white colours, French represent blue, Malays represent yellow, Africans another colour, Indians another colour etc. If you take all the yellows out (i.e. the Malays out), then the picture would suddenly become horrendous. Equally said, if you take any other colour out, it would also become horrendous.

So in that way, he was proud to be Malay because Malay to him represented God’s creation of an amazing multi-ethnic global community.

In this way, I’m proud to be Malay too. But in no way do I believe Malays should rule the world or are the chosen race from God. It’s just an appreciation of God’s creation.

I’ll take this analogy further. What nationalists (or those who advocate their ethnicity) do is that they try to put too much of their colour into the picture which makes the intonation of the picture also look horrendous. Or when the picture is modernised (cos its a special picture) hence does not require the same amount of yellow anymore – possibly require a different shade of yellow – a more modern colour – they still want to use the original yellow. Hence this old-fashioned yellow makes the picture look horrendous and backward and destroys the natural beauty and progression of the picture.

“O people, we created you from the same male and female, and rendered you distinct peoples and tribes, that you may recognize one another. The best among you in the sight of God is the most righteous.” [Al-Quran – 49:13]

Sorry that this post isn’t as funny as my previous post. Once a while I try to be more sensible.

F*** Malay Supremacy