I received an email below stating a view point from the first prime minister granddaughter i.e the late TAR
Indeed the article is well written...unfortunately it does not represent what other people's thinking.
As for Me…I want to be known as "Malay" and for me and my loves, we will have a heritage to fall and proud of.
Being Malaysian is good but that does not means we have to forgo our ethnic identity for the sake of harmony. You can be Malay, Chinese, Indians, Iban etc as a race and a Malaysian at the same time.
I'm proud to marked myself as Malay and Islam as religious in any form which require for me to reveal my ethnic identity cause it associated with my heritage and my faith.
A Chinese will have its origin and heritage associated with homeland China...an Indian will have the same towards India..but we Malays, if this is taken out from us..Then our Malay generations will not remember the origins...the article written is a good example.
My bloodline too does not come soley as true Malay. My grand mom is a Chinese, my uncle is Chinese and most of my best friends in school are Chinese and Indians not Malays, the key point here is we have to continuously educate our self whether you're now old and wiser, youngsters or a toddler, is to respect whatever your origin may be...only then Insyallah...a true Malaysian generation will emerge.
Whether you're a malay but wishes not to practice Islam..it is your own choice. But do not preaches negetively on other who wishes to do so. You can be so calm looking at nuns walking around giving advices but point out loud negetively when we sees ulamak or ustaz around giving advice...Can we be label as Liberal Thinkers for the sake of harmony but we practice discrimination in our thinking in the name of liberalization?
If you ask about equality among races then a question arose in me what if I was born in China, would I have the same equal rights as the Chinese in China but I'm not Chinese. Does their constitution speak about equality...even the more advance country still living in limbo on equal rights, till then let's focus on building up harmony rather than changing for uncertainty.
me...Ohalf a true Malay Malaysian...
The email written....
Sharyn Lisa Shufiyan, 24, Conservationist (the granddaughter of the late TAR)
Both my parents are Malay. My mum's heritage includes Chinese, Thai and Arab, while my dad is Minangkabau. Due to my skin colour, I am often mistaken for a Chinese.
I'm happy that I don't have the typical Malay look but I do get annoyed when people call me Ah Moi or ask me straight up "Are you Chinese or Malay"
Like, why does it matter? Before I used to answer "Malay" but now I'm trying to consciously answer Malaysian instead.
There's this incident from primary school that I remember till today. Someone told me that I will be called last during Judgement Day because I don't have a Muslim name. Of course, I was scared then but now that I'm older, I realise that a name is just a name. It doesn't define you as a good or bad person and there is definitely no such thing as a Muslim name. You can be named Rashid or Ali and still be a Christian.
I've heard of the 1Malaysia concept, but I think we don't need to be told to be united. We've come such a long way that it should already be embedded in our hearts and minds that we are united. Unfortunately, you can still see racial discrimination and polarisation. There is still this ethno-centric view that the Malays are the dominant group and their rights must be protected, and non Malays are forever the outsiders.
For the concept to succeed, I think the government should stop with the race politics. It's tiring, really. We grew up with application forms asking us to tick our race. We should stop painting a negative image of the other races, stop thinking about 'us' and 'them' and focus on 'we', 'our' and 'Malaysians'.
No one should be made uncomfortable in their own home. A dear Chinese friend of mine said to me once, "I don't feel patriotic because I am not made to feel like Malaysia is my home, and I don't feel an affinity to China because I have never lived there.
I know some baby Nyonya friends who can trace their lineage back hundreds of years. I'm a fourth generation Malaysian. If I am Bumiputra, why can't they be, too? Clearly I have issues with the term.
I think the main reason why we still can't achieve total unity is because of this 'Malay rights' concept. I'd rather 'Malay rights' be replaced by human rights. So unless we get rid of this Bumiputra status, or reform our views and policies on rights, we will never achieve unity.
For my merdeka wish, I'd like for Malaysians to have more voice, to be respected and heard. I wish that the government would uphold the true essence of parliamentary democracy. I wish for the people to no longer fear and discriminate against each other, to see that we are one and the same.
I wish that Malaysia would truly live up to the tourism spin of Malaysia truly Asia . Malaysians to lead - whatever their ethnic background. Only ONE NATIONALITY MALAYSIAN. No Malays, No Chinese, No Indians - ONLY MALAYSIANS. Choose whatever religion one is comfortable with.
Remember it was Dr M & UMNO who destroyed Tunku's Malaysia .
