“Continuing the Legacy of Freedom and Harmony under the 1Malaysia Concept: The Role of Sarawak’s Youth”
Hai.....We would like to share a presentation by Professor Dr. Chandra Muzaffar during the 1st Dialogue with Sarawak Youth on Continuing the Legacy of Freedom and Harmony under the 1Malaysia Concept 'Legacy of Freedom and Harmony – Passing on the Torch to our Future Leaders' at the Dewan Undangan Negeri Kuching on 8 February 2010. He is the Chairman of Trustees, 1Malaysia Foundation.
Welcome your comments on the presentation. Thanks.
Assalamualaikum, salam sejahtera, peace be with you. I’d like to begin by thanking SDI for this very kind invitation. I am happy to be here in Kuching again after a few years. It is not very often that I come to Sarawak. I was just remarking to my friends as we were driving to the Dewan Undangan, that Kuching always impresses me with its beauty and its cleanliness. If I have to recommend a city to visitors from abroad, I wouldn’t be in doubt to recommend Kuching.
Friends, you could not have chosen a more appropriate day to talk about the Legacy of Freedom and Harmony. Why? The 8th of February is the birth anniversary of Tunku Abdul Rahman. The Tunku as you know, the 1st Prime Minister of Malaysia, the Father of the Nation, is the person responsible for this entire legacy that we talk about. The legacy of freedom and harmony, he perhaps more than any individual, has to be credited for ensuring that freedom and harmony would be part of the foundation of the Malaysian nation. The Tunku chose to commit a young nation, called “Malaya” at that time in 1957 to Parliamentary Democracy which enshrines the principles of freedom and he chose to commit the people to a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious nation. That this would be the nation that we try to build, in other words, both freedom and harmony were part of the Tunku’s mission, they have become part of the nation’s legacy. I don’t know whether it is a coincidence or you chose the 8th of February by design but whatever it is, I think it is most appropriate that you are discussing the legacy of freedom and harmony on the 8th of February. If the Tunku had been alive today, he would have been 107 years old. He was born in 1903, our 1st Prime Minister and this is important for your generation; you must always connect with your history as a people, as a nation. We cannot forget this, only if we value our history, we will be able to move forward because every nation needs a good foundation and history is part of that foundation.
Friends, Malaysia are one of the very few countries in the Global South. By the Global South I mean countries in Asia, Africa and Native America. The term we used nowadays is the Global South. Malaysia is one of the very few countries in Global South that has ensure a degree of freedom - political freedom, economic freedom and cultural freedom - and at the same time, sustained and appreciable measure of inter-ethnic, inter-cultural, inter-religious harmony. There are very few countries in the Global South that have succeeded in doing this. In spite of all our weaknesses and there are many, in spite of all our shortcomings, we cannot deny that Malaysia is one of the very few countries that have succeeded in maintaining both freedom and harmony at the same time.
Friends, we have to ask ourselves this very important question, “Why have we succeeded?” We have to know why we have succeeded. Why there is this relative success in maintaining freedom and harmony. This would be the first of the 4 more questions which I will ask and try to answer. (i) What explains this relative success? (ii) What are the challenges that confront us today in relation to that success? (iii) How can we overcome those challenges? (iv) What is the role of youth in Malaysia, specifically youth in Sarawak in overcoming these challenges? These are 4 simple questions that I will try to post and attempt to answer in the next few minutes.
What explains our relative success, friends? There are perhaps three reasons; there maybe other reasons but let me highlight three reasons which explain our relative success as a nation in maintaining freedom and harmony. One, if you have succeeded because right from the beginning, in 1957, at that time Malaya decided that as a nation we would choose the path of accommodation and acceptance, that we would try to accommodate the different communities that made up the nation called Malaya in 1957. Accommodation, a very important word to remember. There was a conscious attempt to accommodate the different communities, by sharing citizenship, by sharing rights and responsibilities that go along with citizenship, by sharing political power, by providing economic roles for everyone, by recognizing the cultural rights of the diverse communities. That was a very critical decision.
Today, we take it for granted, it is something we see as natural but we forget, that is that decision to be accommodative was not an easy decision. There was tremendous debate and disagreement at that time but the leadership, the Tunku at the helm; his colleagues decided that this was the best path for the nation, to be accommodative. Let’s not forget these friends, because if we look at the history of Malaya, we are not talking about Malaysia yet or Sabah and Sarawak, just the history of Malaya. In 1957, Malaya grew out of a Malaya polity, this is a historical fact, and it grew out of Malay states. Basically Malay states, because even the states of Penang and Malacca, they were part of Malaya at that time were historically Malay states. Penang was part of Kedah, the state that I come from which is why I always remind my friends in Penang. I lived in Penang for 26 years, I am still linked to Penang because I’m still a professor in USM, that they were actually part of Kedah at one time, which is why they continue to pay to this day a lease, a small amount of money to Kedah. Small amount of money, you won’t believe it but that was based on the agreement in the old days when the British, some people would argue they stole Penang from Kedah, but that’s history.
The important thing is whether it’s Penang or Malacca, Malacca was part of the Sultanate, and it was actually the founding Sultanate in the Peninsular as we know. So they were also part of the Sultanate and the other 9 states, all Sultanates, they were actually Malay states and the Malay states became the Federation of Malaya. The nature and the character of those states changed because of the massive conferment of citizenship upon non-Malays at that time like the Chinese and Indians. In other words, from a Malay polity, it became a Malayan nation, accommodating the others and it transformed the landscape completely, it was a major decision. A lot of people were not happy at that time but the leadership decided that this was the best way in terms of harmony; this was the best thing to do because a lot of Chinese and Indians were in the tin and rubber industries, they were important to the economy. We had an underground communist movement which at that time you know was largely Chinese. There was a need to win over the Chinese community; there were a number of factors which we need not go into details. All these reasons persuaded the leadership at that time that the best part was accommodation. Those are very important decisions to accommodate, let the communities keep their cultures, give them political power, let them continue in their role in the economy and that is why there has been harmony and stability. Otherwise there may be tremendous tensions, otherwise we may have had a situation where our society may have broken down, we don’t know but there was an attempt to accommodate and that’s a very important decision.
Now again, the same point, accommodation. 1963, Malaya expanded into Malaysia, incorporating Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore at that time. In 1963, 3 more states, Brunei was supposed to come in but it didn’t work out at the last minute but 3 other states joined Malaya and became Malaysia. Again, the politics of accommodation, the leaders at that time, Tunku, Tun Razak, Tun Dr Ismail, Tan Sri Hussein, Tun Sambanthan from the Peninsular and leaders of Sabah and Sarawak at that time, people like Tun Mustapha, Dato Donald Stephen, people like Temenggong Jugah and a number of other leaders. They too recognized the need to come together to be accommodative, to learn to accept one another.
So, many of the unique features of Sabah and Sarawak were maintained in the agreement that gave birth to Malaysia, their rights, their autonomy in various areas, those things were incorporated into the constitution, which is why if you study the Malaysian Constitution you will find the position of Sabah and Sarawak would be quite different from the other states because of historical factors, because they were different, different history, different evolution and the need to accommodate. They were part of the Confederation, they accepted the King as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, they accepted Bahasa as the national language, and all these things were part of that accommodation. But nonetheless, they were unique. Now that willingness to be accommodative was a major factor in ensuring harmony, recognizing the rights of the freedom of people who have become part of the new emerging Malaysian family.
From a Malayan family, become a Malaysian family. And a family which was very complex and one of its complexities is the fact that it was separated by a huge stretch of water is not an easy thing. If you want to keep people together, it is not an easy thing, don’t forget even when people were just separated by land they can break up like what happened in the case of Pakistan. Pakistan has 2 different parts, East Pakistan and West Pakistan, separated by land, by India. But in the end, East and West Pakistan broke up n 1971, you now have Bangladesh. But in our case, we are separated by water, which is more difficult than being separated by land. In spite of being separated by this ocean, the South China Sea, we have managed to stay together for such a long while since 1963. That is a great achievement. Sabah and Sarawak remained together of course; Singapore left in 1965 for other reasons but as far as the Malaysian Federation is concerned, it has remained all these years because of accommodation and the willingness of leaders to meet each other halfway without insisting that only their position counts. The desire to compromise to achieve some consensus, it is very important in politics, in nation building and in life, you can’t run away from this, it is very important. So that is the 1st point we have to keep in mind, friends, accommodation, one of the reasons why we have succeeded.
The second reason, Malaya and later Malaysia, is one of the very few countries which over a long period of time had both growth and a certain degree of commitment to justice, both growth and equity for a long period of time. You know it is amazing, friends, that we have registered on the average over the last 52 years starting from 1957, 6-7% growth every year. Some years have been quite high in the past, 10%, 11%, of course in recent years, it has declined somewhat because of the global situation and also because of our own internal weaknesses. But nonetheless, growth on the average of 6-7% over a long period of time accompanied by a certain degree of justice, justice in the form of delivery of goods and services that matter to ordinary people.
One of our great achievements in terms of delivery is what we have done in the area of education. One of Malaysia’s greatest achievements is education. Compared again to many other countries because sometimes we understand our own situation through comparison to other countries. Can you imagine, Malaysia on the average has spent 25% of its development expenditure on education? You can look at this budget; you have got operating expenditure and development expenditure. 25% of our development expenditure is on education, which is very, very high on the average. You compare this to so many other countries in the world, compare to the world’s biggest democracy, India. India on the average since 1947 has not been able to spend more than 6-7% on education and it will be a shock to many of you that this nation whose spiritual founder was Mahatma Ghandi, the apostle of non violence, of peace, this country called India has spend much more on the military than on education. But in our country right from the beginning, the commitment has been to education. The Tunku used to say, “We want to spend on schools, not on military barracks, on food not on bullets.” That was part of his philosophy which makes a lot of sense. Spending so much on education meant investing in human capital, the most important asset to any nation, to any civilization, right to the history of human kind is human capital, the human being. Investing into the human being, this is what we did from 1957 and this is where growth was linked to justice, growth was linked to equity because the moment you invest in education, you improve the standards of living of the people. Through education you showed mobility, through education you changed the social structure; you create a new middle class through education. So that has been one of our great achievements.
Not just education, health care has been another very important priority for us. In Peninsula Malaysia for instance, right from the beginning, health care was given tremendous emphasis. This is why Malaysia, by the late 60s had a rural health care system that was commended by the WHO, the World Health Organisation as one of the best in the Global South. By the mid 60s we have achieved that already, almost every rural locality had a clinic. In other words, providing access to people to health care, that is very, very important and just like in the case of education, for health care, the driving force behind this for Peninsula Malaysia was the Second Prime Minister, the late Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, a man who was so committed to the welfare of the people who have been left behind, to the poor, to the marginalized.
That really transformed the nation, education and healthcare, and then of course infrastructure development, building roads, improving ports, building airports, this is part of infrastructure development. We have invested a great deal in infrastructure development. Now that also helped the country. Why? Because it brought about stability, because it creates a situation where people were content to some extent, there was education, there was healthcare, and there was infrastructure development. You have water; you have electricity, today of course our emphasis on ensuring that everyone in Sabah and Sarawak would also get water and electricity but in the case of Peninsula Malaysia, this was done some years ago largely because of the great emphasis that the leadership gave at that time to basic needs, to the basic facilities that people require in order to survive and succeed in life. So I would regard that as a second factor because there was growth and equity, we have stability, we have harmony and as I’ll explain to you later, it is because we have stability and harmony, we could practice democracy. If we did not have the stability and harmony, someone would have been tempted to say, “Let’s get rid off elections, let’s get rid off freedom and let’s impose a dictatorship,” as what happens to so many other countries but because of economic growth, justice to some extent, because we were accommodative, we were able to practice democracy and this brings me to the third factor that explains our relative success.
We also succeeded because of our high degree of tolerance amongst our people, not just leaders accommodating one another. Tolerance as a virtue in Malaysian society, tolerance meaning by which people decide to live and let live, they choose to accept one another at the most minimal level, that’s what tolerance is. Tolerance is an important virtue, it is not the best of virtues, believe me, because if you really want to succeed, you must go beyond tolerance, you must learn to respect one another. Respect is more important than tolerance but tolerance is an important virtue nonetheless, we tolerated one another. Having a mosque, a temple, a church side by side was a common sight in Malaysia, it is tolerance. Each other’s religious festivals, people visiting one another, the Open House concept which again is an idea that was initiated by the second Prime Minister, now we have to understand these things, that these has helped us to create an atmosphere of tolerance, and friends, not many of us are aware that Malaysia is one of the very few countries, perhaps the only country which right from the beginning recognized the festivals of each and every community as part of the national calendar. We take it for granted but we don’t realize for instance that in many countries things don’t happen this way, where a minority, 5% of the population, 7% of the population, its religious festival is a national holiday. You take Christians in Malaysia for instance, maybe about 8% of the population today, but Christmas is a national holiday in Malaysia. You take the Hindus, about 8% of the population, Deepavali is a national holiday.
For us, it is normal, we take it for granted but again let me compare Malaysia to certain other countries. In the Philippines, where you have a Muslim population as a minority, you will be very surprised if I told you that until very recently, things have changed. Since Fidel Ramos, but until Fidel Ramos, neither Hari Raya Puasa nor Hari Raya Haji was part of the national calendar. Muslims had to work during those days even though you have lots of Muslims, not just in the South but living in Manila. 200,000 of them but they had to work. If you look at Thailand, again until recently, the Thais didn’t regard the Muslims’ festivals as part of the national calendar. But we have adopted a different attitude from the beginning, now this shows how accommodative we have been, how tolerant we are to one another. Now these are things we have to learn to appreciate instead of just regarding these things as well you know, its part of life, we don’t really have to bother about them. These are things which have strengthened our national fabric. Symbolically, it is very important, everyone feels that well, Christmas is something we can all celebrate together, Deepavali is something we all can celebrate together, Chinese New Year is around the corner, we have 2 days off. Today the Chinese population of Malaysia as a whole is 26% but nonetheless, 2 days of your national calendar to recognize the significance of this, the importance of this. This is something we must appreciate as part of our ethos of tolerance, as part of our ethos of accepting one another, I think that is very significant.
Friends, I see these as an upgrade strength as a nation, accommodation at a political level, economic growth and equity and a high degree of tolerance as a people. What are the challenges we face which is the second question I post?
Over the years, friends, in spite of these successes, we cannot deny that serious challenges have emerged. One of them which has a very big impact on our society; the gap between not the haves and the have nots, you have heard this term very often, have and have not. In Malaysia, I wouldn’t call it a gap between haves and have nots, it is a gap between the have a lot and the have a little. Now this is the term I have been using for a long, long time. A gap between the have a lot and the have a little. A lot of Malaysians are above the poverty line, we know that. In other words, they are not the have nots, people have nothing, no that’s not true. They have something like in the city like Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Ipoh, JB, I’m sure Kuching, all these cities, you find that you have people who are poor but they are not abysmally poor but nonetheless they are struggling to survive. Why? Because their incomes are just enough to keep them afloat, above the poverty line, to keep themselves afloat but they are not really doing well. Now that gap between the have a lot and have a little has widened over the years. It has become worse and worse especially after the early 90s. You have people who earned hundreds of thousands of ringgit a month, perhaps more than a million a year who lived very very comfortably and you have got people who are struggling to survive. Yesterday when I was on the train from KL Sentral to the airport, there was someone who sat next to me and introduced himself to me, he was talking about his home state, Terengganu and he told me that there are school kids in Terengganu who used the same “baju”, the school “baju” at home because they have no other clothes. In other words, they may have one pair of uniform and they only wear that at home and there are others who lived on, perhaps one meal a day because they are not doing well, their families are very poor. Now that’s a reality that we cannot run away from, this is part of the struggle.
We have to think of this gap and how to overcome this because this gap translates itself into a number of other things, it translate itself into social tensions, into crime. If you look into the increasing crime rate in Malaysia, it is related to what we call relative deprivation. Relative deprivation is a bigger challenge than absolute deprivation. We have to keep that in mind because relative deprivation means people are able to compare. They look at themselves; they look at others and say, “Well, why is it that I have to struggle so much? In Kuala Lumpur I have to do 2 jobs, my wife have to do 2 jobs, we cannot even spend an hour a day with our children. There are others who live in such luxury, that’s relative deprivation, it creates anger in society and sometimes it translate into ethnic instability, people wrongly give ethnic interpretation to situations like this and come to the wrong conclusion but this is what happens in any society. Perceptions, people’s perceptions, they get angry.
Now this is a major challenge, it is one of the reasons why I think dissent has grown in Malaysia and one of the reasons why they dissent, friends, translate itself into votes and the 12th General Election because of relative deprivation, because of the gap between the have a lot and the have a little, that’s one of the challenges. Now there’s another challenge that confronts us; over the years, because we have had a ruling coalition that has been there for a long time since 1957, which has been challenged now and then in the elections but nonetheless has been very comfortable and sometimes when you are very comfortable, you become very complacent, what is know as a culture of complacency. You are contented, you are comfortable, you are in power, you become complacent which means you neglect the people because you are so confident you will win but that is not the worst thing, neglecting the people is bad but it’s not the worst thing. You become arrogant after awhile, you don’t really care, and you don’t just neglect people. You don’t care about them and it is part of becoming arrogant sometimes, you abuse power, you do the wrong things, you misuse your power and you become corrupt and you encourage corruption.
This has happened in a number of societies, all over the world, whether it is in the Global North or the Global South, this has happened. In Queensland in Australia, there is a famous case of fame, the political leader, the Prime Minister of the state who was in power for so long; he was totally complacent, arrogant and corrupt until of course he was voted out. Now the point I’m making is, friends, that corruption and arrogance put people off, people get angry, they turn against you and this is something which happened in the last election too. There was arrogance, there are instances of corruption, a lot of people had the impression that the ruling elite was not acting against the corrupt and against those who were arrogant and the ruling elite lost support. As an example, you take the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, not including Putrajaya and Labuan and all the rest. You know its amazing that the ruling elite, the Barisan Nasional leadership, they lost every seat except one in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur in the last election. Every seat they lost except one. Why? Because people were in a sense, fed up. They were angry, and I think this is the second challenge that confronts us which we cannot run away from.
Related to that, friends, is perhaps the third challenge. A lot of young people, somehow they feel that there is not enough freedom in the country, not enough freedom to criticise the elite, not enough freedom to fight against injustices, that’s how they feel, that is their feelings. It may not be true, it maybe a wrong perception but perceptions must be taken care of in any society because perceptions condition how people act and this perception has been one of the factors too, that there is not enough freedom, that there’s too much suppression, too much control. A lot of laws which people feel which go against the interest of the masses. They talked of Internal Security Act, the Sedition Act, the Police Act, the Publications Act, and all those acts. A lot of laws that curbed their rights, their freedom, so there is a certain sense of disillusion that has developed. Now what is the significance of all these, friends, is that these feelings, this negative feelings about the state amongst quite a lot of people, young people, people who are older, these feelings cut across ethnic lines which is why if you analysed the last election’s results, all communities, Malay, Chinese, Indians, all in the Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak were different but Malays, Chinese, Indians on the Peninsula, quite a lot of them turned against the ruling Barisan Nasional because of the 3 factors that I have talked about. Perceptions about freedom, perceptions about corruption and arrogance and the growing disparities of the have a lot and the have a little, it turned against the ruling coalition.
What is unfortunate is this that while different communities turned against the ruling establishment, each angry with the establishment for these and other reasons, unity among Malaysians, unity among the different communities has not improved as you can see in the last 2 years. In fact if you look at the actual situation, the gap between the communities has become wider. They are against the establishment, each in their own way, but among themselves and within a larger populist, we cannot say that ethnic relations have improved. In fact, there is a tendency for people to look at issues especially ethnic issues from very communal perspectives. Non ethnic is used but maybe different like when they talk about so and so being corrupt, they may all agree, Malays, Chinese and Indians, they may all agree on it, but when it comes to ethnic issues, issues connected lets say religion or language, or issues connected with the history of the country’s identity, you will find that the different communities are singing different tunes, they are not working together, there is a gap.
A number of issues that came up in the last 18, 19, 20 months but even in the past, it was like that, we were very polarized whenever it came to ethnic issues, the nation has been very polarized and this is the challenge that while people have become more aware of issues in the country, polarization has also become more serious. Ethnic religious polarization has become more serious especially in Peninsula Malaysia. I must add this because I know that Sabah and Sarawak’s situation is different but in Peninsula Malaysia the polarization are more serious and if I may say this, friends, the virus from Peninsula Malaysia may infect Sabah and Sarawak. Why? Because we are one country, people from Peninsula Malaysia come over and people from here go over there, they study there, they work there, they come back, they maybe infected by the same virus. This is the danger, so we have to be aware of this. Even though you may not be facing this problem today, be aware of this friends, that there is this virus, the communal virus as I have describe it in Peninsula Malaysia where almost every issue related to ethnicity is viewed from an ethnic prism, from a communal prism and that brings me to the third question.
It is because of the situation, friends, the government has committed itself to the 1Malaysia concept because of the ethnic situation in the country, more than anything else, the leadership of the present 6th Prime Minister, Dato Seri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak. His leadership has come up openly said we are committed to 1Malaysia to bring in everyone together. From Sabah and Sarawak, together with people in the Peninsula, within the Peninsula, Malays, Indian, Chinese, Eurasians and other communities, we have to bring them in together. That is the essential philosophy of 1Malaysia, it is the idea of togetherness, bringing people together, and that’s what it is. Making them feel that they are one, that they are part of the same large Malaysian family. That is what it is all about. It is founded upon the constitution, within the framework of the Malaysian Constitution; it is guided by the Rukun Negara, it is directed towards Wawasan 2020. All these 3 documents which are part of our history, the Constitution, Rukun Negara, Wawasan 2020, they are part of 1Malaysia. This is something very important that we should understand, they are part of the evolution of the Malaysian nation, they are milestones in the evolution of the Malaysian nation and for that reason we must understand these documents well.
So that’s what 1Malaysia is, it is an attempt to breach our differences, it is an attempt to overcome prejudices and stereotypes, it is an attempt most of all to ensure fairness and justice to each and every Malaysian regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, their cultural backgrounds, their religious backgrounds. It is to ensure fairness and justice to everyone because we realized that the essence of harmony in a multi-religious society is fairness and justice. That is what it is, you have to be fair, you have to be just and people must feel that the state and the other influential segment of the society, that they are fair and just to everyone, this is the essence of 1Malaysia. In our foundation, the 1Malaysia Foundation (Yayasan 1Malaysia) is committed to this goal. In doing what we can as citizens to strengthen 1Malaysia. We are not part of the government which is why Dato Idris who was part of the Board of Trustees at the beginning, once he became a minister, he had to leave our Board of Trustees, he was part of the founding group of 1Malaysia Foundation, but though we are out of the structure of the government, we are committed to this national goal, we see it as a national goal. Not just associated with the government, not just associated with one man, with the Prime Minister, we see this as a national goal. As a philosophy that should motivate the entire nation, everyone as a culmination of the Constitution, Rukun Negara and our quest for 2020. This is what it is. So 1Malaysia is an attempt to galvanise the nation, to mobilize our people, to ensure that we crystallize as a nation. That is very important, that’s the challenge and this is what we are trying to do, to bring about greater unity in Malaysia.
What would be the roles of youth? Since I am not that familiar with youth in Sarawak, let me talk about youth in general in Malaysia. One, I would like to suggest if I may in all humility, that the first most important characteristic of youth should be their ability, their desire, their passion for knowledge, that is what we want. For our future Malaysia, that is united, harmonious, where there is freedom and justice for everyone, this is a vital prerequisite. A passion for knowledge, to know about your own society, its history, its background and all other things that we discussed in the beginning, you must have that passion for knowledge. Tremendous curiosity, you want to know, a passion for knowledge. I mention that because I know as someone who has spent most of my life teaching, interacting with young people, that intellectual curiosity, that passion for knowledge is not a characteristic of the young people in our country. It is not a characteristic of young people because it is not the characteristics of the older ones, that’s the reason because the earlier generation has no passion for knowledge. You know at one time, a UNESCO survey showed that the average Malaysian reads only 1 ½ pages of serious material in a year. It just shows how little commitment that we have to knowledge, that has to change. We have to understand our nation well and that includes Sabah and Sarawak. You know how little people in Peninsula Malaysia know about Sabah and Sarawak? This is just amazing, sometimes they even tell you things like, “Oh, you are going overseas when you go to Sabah and Sarawak.” That’s the mentality; they know so little about your rivers, your mountains, your beautiful sites here, the middle class and upper class that I am familiar with, they know much more about England and France and other countries than about Sabah and Sarawak and likewise, I think Sabah and Sarawak, they maybe people who don’t know much about Peninsula Malaysia, so knowledge is important.
The second very important characteristic is this, it is character. Knowledge is important but as someone once said, and this was Thomas Jefferson, one of the famous Americans, he once said, “The first principle is to have a caring heart and then you have a good head.” In other words, knowledge is important, I told you how important it is but character to my mind, is also very important, perhaps more important. Be disciplined, be caring, be compassionate and be a person of integrity, it is very important. Integrity, I find is again one of those attributes that is in short supply in our country. You know I sit in the Board of Directors in the Institute of Integrity Malaysia, and one of the things that we discovered in a survey was that, 36% of university students were prepared to accept a bribe if given a chance. My word, I thought to myself, what a high percentage. This was a survey done amongst students, of course it is like any sample survey, it has its defects but nonetheless 36% are quite happy to accept bribes if given a chance compared to housewives, civil servants, and other categories. We were shocked. I think this is something we have to change. Integrity has to become a very important principle, hold on to your principles, however difficult it may be. Sometimes you may have to postpone achieving one of your ideals, one of your principles, that’s understandable. Sometimes you may have to make compromises here and there but remain devoted to certain principles that are what is important, remain devoted because you have to be realistic sometimes, you have to think of the terrain, you have to think of the landscape but remain committed to certain values and principles, it is very important. That’s character. Be disciplined, be compassionate, have integrity.
Thirdly, I think it is equally important, friends, for us to see issues of right and wrong outside communal prisms, that’s very important. Don’t just look at right and wrong in terms of one’s own community because that I think is one of the great drawbacks of our society. Everyone wants to be an ethnic champion, they see things merely of their own growth but they fail to see it affects the other communities, how it impacts upon the other that is equally important. Look at your own community by all means, yes, understand the feelings of your own community but more importantly understand how it impacts upon others because every issue has an impact upon someone else. Try to understand that. See the right and wrong outside the communal framework; don’t use ethnic lenses all the while, try to use a Malaysian lens, that is very important and that brings me to the fourth characteristic.
Be a genuine bridge builder that I think is very important. Reach out to one another. Malaysia has very few bridge builders, we have a lot of ethnic heroes as I said awhile ago, and we don’t have enough bridge builders in Malaysia. A bridge builder is someone who understands his own community but also understands other people and tries to bring them together, not just understanding each other but try and bring them together which is what the bridge does, a bridge connects, a bridge links, we have to link people, we have to become bridge builders. Your generation, I hope and I pray will produce many more bridge builders than my generation has done. We have failed to do it in that respect, we have really failed to do it. We need bridge builders.
Last of all, number 5, try to join multi ethnic groups where you have to work with people who are not of your own culture, not of your own religion, that I think will be something very positive. Try to join multi ethnic groups as much as you can. If there isn’t a group you like, set up a new group, bring people of other communities, have friends from other communities. I know in Peninsula Malaysia, this is the sort of message that resonates with people because we regard this as a challenge. In Sabah and Sarawak, this may not be a challenge because naturally you mixed quite well but nonetheless, try to strengthen the multi ethnic fabric in Malaysia.
I want to conclude by saying, friends that Sarawak has a unique role to play. Why? Because Sarawak is one of the most multi ethnic, multi cultural, multi religious state in Malaysia but more than that, you are a state that has succeeded to a great extent. You have maintained a high degree of harmony over a period of time. We know that from time to time there have been political crisis in Sarawak as in other states but what is unique about Sarawak is this, you have not had ethnic tensions as such, and that I think is very remarkable and you are an example to the rest of us. When we talk about the legacy of freedom and harmony, living behind this legacy, we know that there is at least one state in Malaysia, your state Sarawak, where that seed has found rich soil and that seed is now growing, it is becoming a sturdy plant. I think it is remarkable, it is an achievement. I pray that will remain so for all time that you will be an example to the rest of us and 1Malaysia will succeed because of Sarawak. Thank you.
