We're Not So Special

Negara Malaysia mempunyai rakyat berbilang bangsa dan agama tetapi hidup dalam keadaan yang aman dan harmoni. (Malaysia consists of people of different creeds and religions and yet we live together peacefully.)

That's standard SPM (the Malaysian GCSE equivalent) essay material for you. Thankfully, racial or religious tensions have not escalated to the extent of the Sunni-Shiite problem in Iraq nor the Islamophobia in the West.

However, contrary to the impression I got when I was still in school, we are certainly not the only multi-cultural hub in the world. Sure, we're a melting pot of cultures but so is France, the UK, Sri Lanka, Kenya -the statement above applies to Malaysia as equally as it would to many countries across the globe.

Salman Rushdie writes in reference to the multi-faceted society within the UK but I think that what he says can be applied to Malaysia as well.

When we, as individuals, pick and mix cultural elements for ourselves, we do not do so indiscriminately, but according to our natures. Societies, too, must retain the ability to discriminate, to reject as well as to accept, to value some things above others, and to insist on the acceptance of those values by all their members. This is the question of our time: how does a fractured community of multiple cultures decide what values it must share in order to cohere, and how can it insist on those values even when they clash with some citizens’ traditions and beliefs?

The beginnings of an answer may be found by asking the question the other way around: what does a society owe to its citizens? The French riots demonstrate a stark truth. If people do not feel included in the national idea, their alienation will turn to rage. Chouhan and others are right to insist that issues of social justice, racism and deprivation need urgently to be addressed. If we are to build a plural society on the foundation of what unites us, we must face up to what divides. But the questions of core freedoms and primary loyalties can’t be ducked. No society, no matter how tolerant, can expect to thrive if its citizens don’t prize what their citizenship means — if, when asked what they stand for as Frenchmen, as Indians, as Britons, they cannot give clear replies.

Undeniably, as a Malaysian Chinese, I identify myself more with Malaysian culture than with Chinese culture. By this I mean that when I compare myself with my friends from China or Hong Kong, I can draw stark differences between us and in relation to my Malaysian friends (again, regardless or race or religion) there is a sense of familiarity and common ground. However, if you were to ask me what my Malaysian citizenship means, I honestly can't give you a straight answer. Surely being Malaysian goes beyond our mamak culture, our obsession with multiple As in national exams and the priviledge of cheap DVDs?