Malaysia, Truly Asia

In an interview with the New Straits Times last Monday, Yasmin Ahmad said,

”You know this Satu Bangsa Malaysia thing? I'm really not interested in seeing us as a homogenous society, as if we are all the same. Don't want all this (stuff) about integration.

”I don't want integration. I want Indians and Chinese to stay as they are. I love them as they are. I don't want them to be like me, and I don't want to be like them.”

When asked further – “So if it's not integration, then what should we seek?”

She simply replied, “Harmony, not homogeneity.”

Brave words from someone who had had her share of run-ins with the authorities.

And you know what, I think she is correct, about de-emphasising “homogeneity”.

One must realize that the various races in Malaysia and by extension, their cultures and religions have since the time of the Melaka Sultanate always existed side by side. There were no attempts by any race to assimilate another. All this because the immigrants came as “friends” and not conquerors and the locals welcome that.

We became “Malaysia (before that, Malaya), truly Asia”, to borrow a phrase from TDC. Our country was never, as some misguided people put it, “the melting pot of Asia”. And in the former form we obtained nationhood, the Malaysian Nation.

Why then this obsession, nowadays, with one culture, one language, one education stream and so on as the basis to move ahead as a Nation.

Homogeneity does not really spur one to the nation’s cause.

It its pride in the country that makes one willing to work for its interest. This comes from a sense of belonging, which in turn, stems from policies that encourage it.