Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : NEW ZEALAND
Tarikh/Date : 27/03/96
Tajuk/Title : THE INAUGURATION CEREMONY OF THE
CHAIR OF MALAY STUDIES VICTORIA
UNIVERSITY OF WELLINGTON NEW ZEALAND
1. I would like to thank Victoria University for
inviting me to say a few words on the occasion of
the launching of the Chair of Malay Studies in this
University.
2. I am indeed happy that the Victoria University
of Wellington has been chosen to be the home for the
Chair of Malay Studies in New Zealand. The setting
up of the Chair reflects the goodwill, understanding
and cooperation in the long established relationship
between New Zealand and Malaysia in the field of
education.
3. Victoria University has an outstanding
international and national reputation in many areas
of research and academic pursuits. I understand
that the University which was established in 1899 is
one of the oldest universities in New Zealand.
Being located in the capital city which is also an
important commercial and financial centre, the
decision to set up the Chair of Malay Studies in
this university is most significant.
4. It is hoped that Malay Studies in Victoria
University of Wellington will become another centre
of academic excellence, which will attract
researchers, scholars and specialists interested in
the field of anthropology, sociology, language and
literature of the Malays and the Malay world.
5. The establishment of this Chair of Malay
Studies, among other things, will create awareness
among New Zealanders and the people in the Pacific
region on the need to promote cultural understanding
and to establish greater cooperation between this
region and Southeast Asia, especially with the Malay
world. This is also in keeping with Malaysia's own
endeavour to reduce cultural prejudices and
ignorance between the peoples of the two countries.
We can do this by communicating with each other and
the most effective way would be through the use of a
common language. This cannot be achieved simply by
the use of English. To understand a people and to
appreciate their culture, an understanding of their
language is essential. To learn about them through
another language is to distort understanding
somewhat due to the basic values and nuances
inherent in different languages. Practically
everyone has experienced the immediate empathy when
discovering that a foreigner you meet understands
your language.
6. The richness of the language, the culture and
literature of the definitive Malays transcends the
boundaries of the countries where the Malay language
or variations of it are used. And these countries
include Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand and
the Philippines. In terms of culture, there are
many aspects of Malay culture and language which are
shared with the Maoris and other Polynesian peoples.
Indeed, ethnically speaking, the Malays are to be
found as far east as Easter Islands and as far West
as Madagascar. The Malayo-Polynesian linguistic
group, for example, demonstrates the sharing of
certain words by the Malays and the Polynesians
including the Maoris. Except for the Peninsular
Malays, the Malayo-Polynesians are obviously island
people and they must have been great sailors and
navigators in order to spread so far and wide across
the Indian and the Pacific Oceans. A Malay Studies
Centre would offer a rich field for anthropological,
historical, cultural and linguistic studies.
7. The first centre for Malay Studies was
established in Leiden, the Netherlands, in 1876. We
also know that the University of Leiden has, until
today, been recognised internationally as a leading
centre for the cultural study of the Malay world.
In late 1992, the Malaysian Government initiated the
establishment of the professorial Chair for the
study of Malay literature at the University of
Leiden. By establishing such a Chair Malaysia hopes
to promote the study of Malay literature in Europe.
8. It is topical and relevant that various aspects
of the discipline of Malay Studies should be studied
and taught to the peoples of Australasia and the
Pacific. As I have indicated earlier, with the
establishment of this Chair, I am sure mutual ties
and bilateral interests between our two countries
would be further enhanced. I hope to see the day
when many people from this country will be able to
speak Bahasa Malaysia as well as to appreciate and
learn the cultures of the Malay world.
9. In Malaysia, efforts are being made to ensure
that our economic achievements are balanced with our
pursuit and sustenance of our sosio-cultural values
and our religions. This balance is vital and
Malaysia's Vision 2020 is predicated upon this
principle of creating a society that is not only
strong economically but also morally and socially.
10. Wealth and power have a way of undermining the
moral fibre. If allowed to go unchecked, the
deterioration must eventually lead to the
destruction of the accumulated wealth and the
accompanying power. The society then reverts to its
former impoverished and weak status. Clearly there
is a kind of cycle here. Some societies take
longer, others take a shorter time to go through
this cycle.
11. Whether Malaysia's attainment of a developed
nation status will be short-lived or not depends
very much on the ability to sustain the moral and
cultural values of the people of Malaysia. And of
the people of Malaysia, the Malays make up the
majority. It will be largely the Malays who will
determine the permanency or otherwise of the
Malaysian achievement, if indeed the objective is
achieved.
12. A study of the Malays should therefore be
interesting. There are other people who should also
be studied of course. But ever since Malaysia
became independent, the Malays have undergone a
remarkable change. These changes are not only
interesting in themselves but are very relevant to
many societies interested in social engineering.
Under British rule the Malays were preserved as
`Nature's Gentlemen'. They were a contented people
who accepted British rule as a matter of course.
And if the British decided that they should remain
the hewers of wood and the drawers of water, why,
what was wrong with that? Had they not always been
the hewers of wood and drawers of water? And so the
end of World War II found them actually welcoming
the return of British colonial rule.
13. But suddenly there was a change.
Uncharacteristically, the Malays objected to a
British plan for a union of the Malay states.
`Nature's gentlemen' began to behave in a rather
ungentlemanly manner. They protested, they
demonstrated and they formed a `national' political
party which ignored loyalty to their own states.
Suddenly they were no longer the people of Kedah or
Perlis or Perak or Selangor or the other Malay
states. Suddenly they were Malays, the people of
the Malay Peninsular.
14. With amazing swiftness, their character and
creed changed. They even learnt to boo at the
British Parliamentarians who came to investigate
what was happening in the Malay states then.
15. The process of cultural change of the Malays
which began then has not stopped. Where they once
politely and deprecatingly decline nomination to
lead political parties because they felt
unqualified, they now campaign, blatantly and
vociferously, proclaiming their own personal virtues
and qualifications. Where once Malay youths would
rather die than be improperly dressed, they now
deliberately discard orthodox styles, wearing
outlandish caps and hats and anything that they
fancy. Where once they preferred the security of
the Government jobs, they now plunge into commerce
and industry with gusto, falling flat on their faces
sometimes but more and more often making a
tremendous success of their new careers.
16. The process of change in the culture and psyche
of the Malays has not stopped. Indeed it appears to
be accelerating. Along with these changes, their
language has changed too. Some of these linguistic
changes have been methodical, instituted by bodies
such as the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka or the Language
and Literature Institute of Malaysia. Others have
literally been coined or spawned on the streets and
through usage have become accepted. In the past,
the Malay language had been enriched with words and
phrases from the Arabic, Persian, Portuguese and
Sanskrit languages. Today, English and some
European languages have intruded, while Arabic
remains a major source. The process is far from
over. The Malay language of the future may be
radically different from what it is today.
17. But, perhaps of more interest to New Zealand is
the programme to bring the rural unmonetised
indigenous people and Malays into the mainstream of
economic activity of the nation. The programme goes
under the name of `New Economic Policy' (NEP).
18. The moment it was announced it came in for
scathing comments especially from the Western media.
Since bringing up the indigenous people required
discrimination in their favour, it was condemned as
racist and anti-Chinese.
19. But strangely the majority of the Chinese did
not take offence. They in fact cooperated and
helped the process of affirmative action and the
equitable restructuring of the race-base economic
functions. After 20 years of the NEP, Malaysia is
much more balanced economically, stable politically
and race relations are much improved. By comparison
with other multi-racial countries, Malaysia is a
haven of peace and racial harmony.
20. Unable to stir up racial animosity by
exploiting the NEP, the foreign media and others now
condemn the NEP because according to them it has
made a few Malays wealthy, Malays who are said to be
friends of the ruling UMNO leaders.
21. It is absolutely true that these Malays are
close to Government leaders, but then the Malaysian
Government is close to all businessmen of all races,
some of whom are successful. They were usually not
close before they succeeded. They became close
after they showed their abilities in business. And
many Malays who are friends and colleagues of the
Malay Ministers of the Government are today as poor
as ever. It is not being close that counts. It is
the ability to succeed in business.
22. But the beneficiaries of the NEP are not only
the millionaires and billionaires. Literally
hundreds of thousands of indigenous business people
have benefited through special training, loans,
licences, contracts and guidance by Ministries set
up for this purpose. Banks and funds have been set
up to help the indigenous people under the NEP.
Farmers and fishermen have also received help in
various forms under the NEP including free outboard
engines and cheap fuel. Of course hundreds of
thousands of indigenous students gain access to
education at all levels including scholarships to
study in New Zealand under the NEP.
23. To denigrate the NEP as benefitting only a few
friends of the Prime Minister is to be deliberately
untruthful and cynical. No social engineering
programme can result in everyone becoming multi-
millionaires. Social engineering by the Communists
and Socialists succeeded only in impoverishing
people equally. But the best of social engineering
programme can only improve the lot of everyone
depending on his own capacity and effort. If he is
good, then he will benefit more. But if he is
incapable of handling the opportunities and help
extended to him, the best of affirmative actions
cannot make him rich.
24. Affirmative action is as legitimate as any form
of social engineering. Socialism is still a
respectable form of social engineering in some
countries. It has not done so well. But it has
never been vilified in the West as the NEP is. Yet
the NEP has brought about a more equitable
distribution of wealth between races while at the
same time stimulating the economy and improving
racial harmony. That is the situation in Malaysia
today and I think it is something that others might
study more charitably and if relevant apply in their
own situations.
25. Level playing fields are great for equality of
chances. But when the contest is between midgets
and giants, level playing fields are useless.
Handicaps are needed. The NEP provides the
handicaps.
26. Because of all these changes that are happening
to the Malays, the study of the Malays should become
a major academic exercise. But more than that the
study will be of a people who will have a
considerable role in the future of Malaysia if not
the Malay world and the Western Rim of the Pacific.
Academics who will be studying at this Wellington
Centre of Malay Studies will have the opportunity to
observe the evolution of a race, an evolution which
if I may be allowed to say is dynamic and
intriguing. The study would not be purely academic.
It can contribute towards international
understanding, at least between New Zealand and
Malaysia. But I should think it would go beyond
that. Our Maori brothers in particular may find the
study even more relevant for there can be little
doubt that they are Malays too, or to look at it
from their own viewpoint, we Malays are Maoris like
them.
27. One talks so much now about the equality of
races. Colour should not differentiate us. But the
fact is that many people associate colour with
intellectual and other attributes. Thus the
remarkable achievement of Southeast Asia is
attributed to the overseas Chinese. The brown
Malays who are indigenous to Southeast Asia are
dismissed as quite irrelevant to the progress and
achievements of ASEAN. The prejudice is very much
there. Practically every report or essay on
Southeast Asia written by academics and journalists
of various hues, dismisses as insignificant the
contribution of the brown people to the remarkable
achievements of Southeast Asia. Maybe it is true.
Maybe not. It would be interesting to study the
role of the brown Malays, their metamorphosis, their
trials and tribulations and their achievements. It
would be interesting because such a study could
benefit a lot of people in the underdeveloped
countries. The result could act as pointers. Are
the brown and black people doomed to stew in their
own juices, to always be dependent on others and to
be colonised? Or can they claw their way up?
28. Recently an article was published entitled `The
Clash of Civilisations'. It would seem that this
American believes conflicts are necessary. If there
is no conflict, then invent one. The Cold war has
ended. The USSR has ceased to be the enemy, to be
vilified and reviled and to be the villainous enemy
in thousands of novels. A new enemy is necessary to
prop up the nationalist ego, to be the new villain
in new novels and films. And the new enemy is Islam
and the Muslims. They are shifty, unprincipled,
given to violence and terror, and generally
incapable of governing themselves and developing
their countries.
29. The Malays are Muslims and must therefore be
included in this new substitute bogey. And
accordingly, in articles and reports in the media
this is how the Malays are pictured. They are
incompetent, incapable of being fair and just,
oppressive and discriminatory, untrustworthy and are
generally just plain bad people. In fact someone
once described them in a derogatory sense as `jungle
Arabs' as opposed to the desert Arabs.
30. Malaysia today is a peaceful and secure nation.
It has been developing at an average rate of 6.7
percent since independence, eight percent in the
last eight years. Its per capita income rose from
US$300 at independence to US$4,000 today, which in
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms is equal to
US$10,000. Its inflation is well under control
being only 3.5 percent or less. It is
industrialising. From being dependent solely on the
exports of rubber and tin, its export now is made up
78 percent of manufactured goods. It is admittedly
impudent, daring to castigate big powers and build
buildings higher than the highest buildings in the
developed Western countries. But essentially it
seems to be well governed and capable of taking care
of itself, not being dependent on foreign aid or
even foreign loans. It has progressed to the point
where it is now investing in other developing
countries, helping them to grow.
31. Yet Malaysia is largely a Malay country,
governed by a Malay Muslim majority. How is it that
the usual things said about Muslims and Malays seem
not to be happening in Malaysia? How is it that
Malaysia is able to grow and prosper and not be
beset with racial tensions and fights and general
instability? Is it an accident? Is it entirely
because it has a vigorous immigrant population? Or
is it not possible that the brown Muslim Malays have
something to do with it?
32. Clearly there is a lot of material for study at
the chair for Malay studies in Wellington.
Academics are said to be detached and objective. I
am sure their study of the Malays, their origins and
history, their culture, the achievements or lack of
them will be enlightening. It will not just
contribute to the body of academic knowledge, but it
would serve many useful purposes, not least the
creation of an equitable and stable society.
33. With this hope I would like to express my best
wishes for the success of the Chair of Malay
Studies, Victoria University, New Zealand.
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