A call for a united Malaysia By Ranjit Singh Malhi

The 101 On Malaysia’s Orang Asli & Native Community. They’re More Diverse Than We Think!

Malaysiakini : COMMENT | Malaysia stands today at a critical juncture in its nation-building journey. National unity and social harmony are increasingly strained by divisive rhetoric and insensitive labelling.

Derogatory references to South Indians as “botol kicap” (soy sauce bottle)and branding of non-Malays as “pendatang” (immigrants) are among the corrosive forms of language that persistently surface not only in chauvinistic circles, but even brazenly in the media and public domain.

These racially tinged narratives have been compounded most recently by controversies over the landholding status of long-established Hindu temples that date back to colonial Malaya.

They risk deepening mistrust and undermining the shared values and mutual respect among ethnic groups upon which our nation was founded.

As a nation shaped by its unique historical confluence of diverse cultures and yet shared aspirations, Malaysia must continually reaffirm the foundational principles upon which its sense of national affiliation and progress depend.

Central to this endeavour is a clear and honest recognition of our past, a principled commitment to justice in the present, and a collective vision for an inclusive future for every Malaysian.

We must begin by acknowledging historical truths with integrity and respect. Unity cannot be built on selective or distorted history; rather, it must be grounded in truth, justice, and mutual respect. A truthful nation must have the courage to acknowledge all its beginnings, and not merely the convenient ones.

MS : Was national unity ever a national imperative …like Ketuanan Melayu/Islam? Never. National unity is a convenient sop to be dispensed as a quick fix, fast relief pill whenever the excesses of Ketuananism become apparent. 

Which is why the least consequential political lightweight at the bottom of the totem pole is given charge of that ministry and why no PM has ever coveted that role unlike the one in Finance. 

Nation building since 1957 (if you can call it that), has deliberately and consistently trivialized unity and diversity, reducing it to ad campaigns at best while every policy we know has sought to discriminate on the basis of race and religion. The state of national disunity today is there for all to see.

VioletQuokka1493 : Malays are also pendatang like the rest of us. The bumis are the jakuns, sakais, negritos, orange laut, ibans, dayak, kadazans. Malays have hijacked the term bumiputra just to give themselves the aura of a privileged class. This has to stop in order to have a united nation free of a privileged group.

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