08/09/09 MALAYS UNIFYING FACTOR......do we have the intelligent gut!

(TARY: One of those who fought hard for the Malays educational gap narrowing initiatives.....but now, this kind of leadership is no more needed, but what are we looking for?)

As I was having a breakfast(ing), at Samudra Court last Thursday Evening, a friend of mine referred me to a series of articles that I have written about the Malays, especially with regard to the greatness of the Malay language and race. The Malay is the fifth largest race on earth! Statistical estimation of about 300-350 million people!Within the Muslim community, I would figure out that the Malays probably accounted for 30-35 percent of the Muslim, and might be the largest Muslim race! In term of number, the Malay positioned the fifth, but socio-economically, are they as strong as their demographic statistic? Definitely not, if we measured their social standing in accordance to the standard western socio-economic indicators. There is yet a real great success story of a Malay!

(2) Why so? My friend said, the Malays have no unifying factor! But my replied to him was that, Islam, the religion is one of the key unifying factors. Similarly with the Malay language and tradition, doesn’t matter where: Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, and the Philippines, Islam and Malays tradition are (and were) practiced by the Malays.

(3) Islamic-wise, the Malays had been divided by the way Islam being introduced and practiced. In Java, in view of the Hinduism long influence, Islam sort of had been assimilated with the Hinduism traditions. While in Thailand (Pattani) and Cambodia (the Cham), Buddhism had great influence over the practice of Islam. In the Malay Peninsula and Brunei, the Islamization of the Malays probably had been greatly influenced by the confluence of both the Hinduism and Buddhism. Similarly with the Acheh and Riau archipelago. Among the Sulus, the spread and the early practiced of Islam was far from the influence of the early Hindus and Buddhist conquest, but probably there was a great assimilation with the pagan or animism life style. The early spread of Christianity by the Spanish to this part of the Malays World had also impact significantly to the following Islamization of the Sulus. Though Islam is the dominant religion of the Malays, but due to the nature of the early spread of Islam, had made the religion not able to focus the Malays into one greater course, their dominance in their own homeland! The way the Malays practice Islam, I would say and was (and is) not able to unify the Malays!

(4) Unfortunately, ever since, Islam could only touch the hearts of the coastal Malays, leaving those in the interior or more isolated as the base for, the later influx of the Christianity influence especially after the WW2. These minority non-Muslim Malays are now a great weapon for the foreign elements to fight the majority Muslim Malys from within, in certain instances! Thus, that again contributed greatly for the non-unity factor of the greater Malays (covering those Dayak, Dusun, Aborigines, Batak, Menado, etc)

(5) Ethnicity wise, the Malays are (were) geo-physically divided by the South China Sea, the Strait of Malacca, the Java Sea, the Malucu Sea, and the Sulu Sea. These seas, with their rich marine resources, had made the early Malays become great fishermen which then transformed them into the early great maritime citizens. They were great sea explorers, of which, their exploration characters had made them into great traders. Firstly trading among the archipelagos, on what were available and needs of the region. Nonetheless, all these localized trading later expanded into greater trading with the expansion of the Indian (Hindu and Buddhism), followed by the westward movement of the Chinese, and later eastward exploration of the Arab, in those silk trade era. In those days, the Malays became the great trading middlemen between the Arab and the Chinese. That's why, before 1511, Malacca had became the great Global Trading Port! Far a head of the 21st century Western Globalization declaration!

(5) Spain, Portugal, the Dutch, and later followed by the English in their quest to expand their empire and as well as to spread Christianity, slowly began to exploit the great division of the Malays (geo-physic and socio-religion), while recognizing their natural wealth, into their great advantage. Thus, the Malays, whom once were socio-culturally united, were split and administer in accordance to the interest of the new conquerors. Initially due to spice trade, later as source of raw material production such as tin and rubber, the Malays began to be split into geo-political boundaries which later term as nations and countries. Now we could add on to our splitting factors: geo-physical, early religion spread, and colonial geo-political interest.

(6) I have a strong feeling, even the Japanese, might have known the real strengths of the Malays, as the source of energy, foods and construction materilas, thus ignited the WW2 in the Asia Pacific, due to their ambition to unify the Malays into AsianNiponRaya, which in fact was not really for the greatness of the Malays, but to fulfil the Meiji ambitious to be the World Eastern Supper Power!

(7) In the post-WW2 struggle and with the collapsed of the European’s Economy, and the emergence of the Communism, again, as China was seriously under the western attack of its solidarity, aim at the Malays as the first line of defence to protect them against the western intrusion. Thus, Mao Tze Dung, began to establish and support the communist terror in Southern Thai, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Here, the Malays were being seen as the great seal for foreign influence for the greater China! China used the oversea Chinese to fight with the western world, and won their battle with the west not in China but in Malaya, Indonesia, Philippinese, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and now Myanmar! That is the smart trick of the Communist China! They really practiced what is meant by observing the fire from across the river!

(8) The western colonalization of the Malays archipelago and the mainland Chinese Satellite Defence strategy before and after the WW2 had brought influx of the more hard working and determine Chinese population to the Malays homeland. These introduced Chinese community were (and are) very entreprenising that today they controlled probably 85-95 percents of the Malays wealth. Almost all the past Malays trading and entreprenising fields are being dominated by the minority Chinese citizen. There is nothing wrong with the Chinese (even Indian), but the Malays may have committed the greatest mistakes in their course that make them lost almost all of their earlier superiority!

(9) I believe, the Westerners, the Japanese, the Chinese earlier break and rule and isolation strategies had worked well onto the Malays. The Malays were left where there are, that make them becoming so comfortable, without realizing, their comfort made them lost their fort! In Malaysia, since 1957, under the pretext of 'disadvantage position', the Merdeka government, make the Malays becoming 100 percent 'protected', which then turned them into becoming a citizen who love to 'demand' rather than to stand on their own feet!

(10) With such historical backdrops, today, as the Malays again began to explore the whole world particularly through the academic and technical skill acquisition: in US, UK, Dutch, Spain, Portuguese, Australia, NZ, German, France, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, etc we again being are trapped into the global game play. Now with the influx of the multi-though and ideologies that the international Malays students coming back to their homeland, they had brought in various forms and understanding of democracy, socialism, capitalism, feudalism, anarchism, and all sort of ‘brokening and weakening’ elements in the Malays societies. All these divergence of thought, especially among the Malaysian Malays had caused great confusion among the ordinary Malays whom mostly are domestic ‘factory made’! Thus, we thought, education is a Malay unifying factor, now it seem, everything seem to go against the Malays! The young Malays are head logging with the older Malays! Our internal quarel persist!

(11) One thing for sure, the Malays seem to have no solid understanding of what is (are) their current key threat(s)! In the past, numeric inferiority, poverty and anti-Islamic ideology were among their prime concern, thus make them became so united and determine to shed their sweat and blood for their Merdeka, but now, all those are no more their major concern. So what is (are) their concern?

(12) As an overall, I strongly believe, the Malays, whom are now much educated, having much open minded, and who have great influence over the majority ordinary Malays, their basic needs had shifted from: Food, Shelter, Clothes, Safety and Security, and Health; are now seeing the Good Governance as their prime needs. Good Governance means good, honest, dedicated, farsighted, courageous, just and fare leadership and management at all levels. Their current believe, with Good Governance, all Malays needs not only could be fulfilled but most important, the fulfilment of such needs would be more cost-effective and be more out reaching. A greater Malays success could only be achieved through Good Governance, good leadership!

(13) Good leadership, would be the real Malays unifying factor. But, who choose the leader. Now, let turn this need to the Malays as and individual and group, do they have the courage to choose the correct leaders? Does a Malay has the gut to stand by his preferred leadership traits! Then, if he don’t, I would say, the Malay is the person who killed and or destroyed the Malays themselves! The Malays must have the gut to stand for the right thing! Gut, nothing but gut, the Intelligent Gut! Yes, we have gut, but normally, an emotional gut! That why we sometimes ran amok, rather sitting back and come up with the Strategic and Techtically winning Master and Action Plan. We don't really have the intelligent gut!

(14) There is a saying in the Quran, if I'm not mistaken, our course is based on 'a blood clump' that exist in our body. If that clump is good, then we are good. The clump referred is our heart. Do we have the mind guided heart to stand to our course!

(15) I would say, the problem with the Malays is the individual Malays. We are now becoming very individualistic. We don't see the need to stand together. I'll elaborate on this in MyMalayStruggle serries later.

Matang Jaya, Kuching.
19 Sept., 2009