What is ketuanan Melayu?
The notion of ketuanan Melayu did not just appear in recent years. It has historical basis, existing
in Tanah Melayu since hundreds of years ago. In Malay historical culture and language,
the term ketuanan Melayu originates from the word ‘Tuanku’ – a title reserved for Malay rulers since the early days of our
society. Ketuanan Melayu thus can be seen as a contraction of the
phrase ‘ketuanan raja-raja Melayu’, the sovereignty of the Malay rulers.
To get a clearer
sense of ketuanan Melayu, it is more helpful to use the phrase kedaulatan Melayu – sovereignty of the Malay nation-state symbolised by our supreme
institutions. Ketuanan Melayu, ‘Malay supremacy’ or ‘Malay
preeminence’ – the core notion is the same; it is not about the supremacy of the Malays, but it is historically about
the ‘kedaulatan’, the sovereignty of the Malay homeland. It
will be more accurate to translate it as ‘Malay sovereignty’ - kedaulatan Melayu.
It encapsulates
the place of honour for the unique characteristics that form the identity of
our nation – the traditions, culture and symbols that identify Tanah Melayu as
a unique, sovereign entity. This includes our supreme royal and social institutions
and the traditional customs of budaya Melayu and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak.
Why has there been a sense of Malay
dominance about ketuanan Melayu?
There could be
many possible reasons. At the level of the general masses, I see ignorance and
lack of understanding as the main reason for this misinterpretation. Presently,
not many Malaysians are actually aware of the evolution of Malaysian history.
So when a phrase like ‘ketuanan Melayu’ is used, especially in a political
context, it is simply misunderstood by the mass public. The word ‘tuan’ is
equalised with ‘master’; and sentiments affect how we react. Some respond defensively
because they see it as a statement that the Malays are superior and non-Malays
are subsidiary. On the other end, some Malays perceive this question as an
attack to their position in society. At the same time, this lack of understanding
by the general public makes it easy for some to use it politically for selfish
purposes.
Do the Malays see themselves as dominant?
Not at all! I
have strong convictions that the Malays do not see themselves as dominant. To
begin with, the notion of any superior community is totally against Islamic
teaching. In Islam there is a tradition about the first bilal, the one who calls
believers to prayer. Bilal Ibn Rabah was an Ethiopian slave. When he went up to
make the first call to prayer, some of those in the community asked that the
honour be given to someone else. But Prophet Muhammad reminded them that God
does not see the physical manifestation, but judges the purity of the heart. In
Islam, there is no preference between Arab and non-Arab, slave or no slave,
black or white. Later, a Quranic verse confirms Prophet Muhammad’s position in Quran
49:13. Most Muslims, if not all, are familiar with this story. And to this
date, the person who calls for azan is known as bilal, an honour given to him.
I see that what
is important to the Malays is kedaulatan
Melayu. This devotion
to the sovereignty of the homeland is deeply rooted in the Malay psyche. We can
see this clearly in the historical development of our society. It was the main
crux of nationalism in the early days of Malaya.
The 1930s nationalist movements, the 1946 movement against the Malayan Union and
the nationalists who worked towards Merdeka
between 1946 and
1957 all had kedaulatan Melayu – the sovereignty of the Malayan
nation-state - as their cause.
What does kedaulatan Melayu mean
for us today?
For us today, kedaulatan Melayu still plays a huge part in our identity as a nation. The royal and
social institutions, cultures and traditions that characterise our land must
still be held supreme. It is core to what makes us unique as a nation, and to
disregard it would be unwise. Since Independence,
our social composition has changed and we have been finding ways to adjust to
how we all relate to our national identity. While the nation is now made up of
several communities practicing different customs and traditions, kedaulatan Melayu today means that as people of this land, we are all bound together by
the supreme traditions which have characterised this land from the very
beginning.
In today’s terms,
it means that Chinese and Indian Malaysians integrate Malayan language, culture
and traditions along with their own. For example, while we speak a myriad of
languages and dialects, we all should also know how to speak, read and write
Bahasa Malaysia
adequately as a common language. Though every group has their own colourful, beautiful
costumes, all Malaysians should own and wear traditional Malay costumes; for
example, now it is quite common for women of all races to own at least one baju
kurung or kebaya.
During official
ceremonies, supremacy of Malay culture means that the ceremony follows Malay
customs, using traditional Malay arts and symbolic objects, and those present wear
Malay traditional attire as official garb. This is applicable for example in
ceremonies like the opening of Parliament or Dewan Undangan Negeri.
This does not
mean that the local culture overrules any other culture, but as ethnic cultures
and ethnic identity are held intact, they are integrated along with Malaysian
culture in practice while we belong in this nation.
Why budaya Melayu?
Budaya
Melayu is a good
unifying culture. As earlier discussed, it is entrenched in the historical
basis of the land, not just here in Malaya but in the whole of South East Asia which
was known as the Malay Archipelago. The Malay
civilisation has been around for more than 2000 years – not many are aware that
it is one of the oldest civilisations in the world. It is a rich, vibrant
tradition with influences from Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.
As mentioned
earlier, we cannot and should not disregard this indigenous culture which has
shaped our people from the start. At Independence,
we did not emerge from nothing – Independence
marks a momentous point when three major communities came together to form one
nation, but this development follows a long history of social evolution of the Malay
civilisation.
In other words,
while as Malaysian citizens we are the same, in terms of culture the Malay and
indigenous cultures are preeminent. We can say that as each ethnic community practices
our distinct cultures and we accommodate and value each other’s customs and
traditions, the banner that unites us is the Malay and indigenous cultures. We
embrace the different ethnic identities, but take our indigenous cultures, budaya Melayu, plus our ethnic culture as the unique
brand of our national identity as Malaysians. At a more micro level, in Sabah the Kadazan culture historically has cultural
preeminence. Similarly in Sabah, we should not
equalise any other culture - not even the Peninsular Malay culture - with
Kadazan culture. The uniting culture and identity in Sabah
is the Kadazan culture.
Why does the
notion of one culture being preeminent bring out wariness in many Malaysians?
One of the main
reasons why people respond defensively - or at the very least - cautiously, is
because in this country, the Malay culture is tied so closely with religion. When
we talk about Malay culture, it is perceived as Muslim culture. When we say we
should integrate Malay culture, it is perceived as having a Muslim agenda.
People feel the need to defend their race and religion from being compromised.
In other words,
we have not brought enough awareness to the universal, non-religious aspects of
Malay culture. One can practice Malay culture without having to adopt Islamic practices
as they are two separate things. There are many universal elements in budaya
Melayu, such as language, attire, traditional games, crafts, music and arts
that all Malaysians can integrate regardless of ethnicity, religion, locality
or background. These are the elements that if adopted, will not take away
anything but be an added value to one’s own ethnic culture.
What are
some universal elements from the Malay culture?
In terms of
traditional wear, the baju kurung is a great example of an inclusive cultural
symbol for Malaysians. Most women have a pair or two, and it is an added value
to them alongside their cheongsams or saris. However, the tudung is not necessary,
because its connotations are more Islamic - or to be more precise - Arabic.
Similarly, one may wear baju Melayu but choose not to wear a songkok. The baju
Melayu is cultural, it is not religious – the Hindus in Bali commonly wear it,
as well as in Myanmar.
We have Malay
literature – sajaks, syairs and pantuns; we have arts like wayang kulit, dikir
barat, dikir laba; traditional dances like ngajat, sumazau, mak yong, zapin,
joget; crafts like keris making, batik printing, wau and gasing making. We have
traditional instruments like gamelan, angklung and sape. These are amazing,
unique elements of Malay culture we all can know and share.
Let’s share the
elements of Malay culture that are universal, not exclusive. We cannot say we
want a banner culture and brand to unite us, but push elements that exclude others.
For example, we can promote and share Malay cultural traditions, crafts,
literature - but we should not make it compulsory that Christians, Buddhists or
Hindus must learn about Tamadun Islam to pass their first year of university. Understandably,
this puts them off.
How can we
get people to value and integrate the Malay and indigenous cultures as our
shared national identity?
We must start
from the ground level, at our kindergartens and schools. For a start, once a
week we can get students to wear a traditional Malay costume. During my school
days, it was compulsory for students to wear ties as our education was
British-based at that point. Now that we want to promote a shared Malaysian
culture, let’s get our students – including those in Tamil and Chinese
vernacular schools - to wear baju Melayu or baju kurung once a week in the
Peninsular, and the indigenous cultural costumes in Sabah and Sarawak.
Secondly, we need
to incorporate our cultural traditions into our school syllabus, from
kindergarten right up to the older stages of our children’s development. The
Balinese have a good model of this – by the time Balinese children are eight or
nine years old, they know how to sing, dance or perform something from the
culture because they learn it in school. We need to do the same here with the
Malay and native cultures. For arts lessons, instead of teaching them generic
arts, we should incorporate our traditional arts into it. Let’s teach them things
like how to make a wau, making a gasing, or batik printing. We can incorporate
arts and dances into lessons, for example, learn the wayang kulit, mak yong, dikir
barat, dikir laba, zapin, joget, ngajat or sumazau. In music lessons instead of
learning the recorder, let’s teach them gamelan or angklung, kompang, rebana or
gambus.
We should ensure
that by twelve years old our children should be able to at least know how to do
something from the culture. And not to forget, as we incorporate cultural
traditions into our classroom lessons, we should also include universal elements
from the Chinese and Indian culture. When we incorporate traditional values
into our schools, it will not only build a sense of national identity and
pride; it will add value to the personal and social development of our
children. Learning culture has the effect of enriching a person’s sense of self
and values. I think that the more culture we embody, the more patient,
accepting and adaptable we are.
Another great
element that can forge Unity is the peribahasa. It is open, practical, and encompasses universal values. There are
similar types of sayings in Indian and Chinese traditions as well. We should
incorporate peribahasa
into language or
civic lessons, and when we do so we can integrate it with Chinese and Indian sayings
– something to get our children to see how we relate to each other. The
beautiful thing about peribahasa is that we can also easily incorporate it in
our day to day speech, whether at home, with our neighbours, at our workplaces,
in official and public events. It is appropriate whether in formal or informal
events, whether we are young or old.
When we start
practicing universal aspects of Malay culture in schools, homes and workplaces,
we will start to see how it can add value to us, individually and as a society.
We will see each others’ culture as an added value to our identity whether as
Indian, Chinese, Kadazan, Iban, or Malay. Then we will learn to understand that
the history of our land, the beauty of our indigenous and Malay institutions
and cultures belong to all of us as our banner identity and collective brand.