Bulat Air Kerana Pembetung, Bulat Manusia Kerana Muafakat

Malaysia ialah sebuah persekutuan yang dibentuk daripada 13 buah negeri-negeri yang bersekutu di bawah naungan Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong; di mana rakyatnya terdiri daripada berbagai kaum yang mengamalkan pelbagai budaya, tradisi dan nilai yang berbeza.

Sebelum terbentuknya Persekutuan Tanah Melayu pada tahun 1957, rakyat negeri-negeri di Tanah Melayu bersatu padu untuk bangun menentang Malayan Union, di atas satu asas perjuangan iaitu ingin bebas daripada cengkaman kuasa luar.

Menjelang kemerdekaan, Baginda Raja-raja Melayu dan orang Melayu sebagai rakyat Raja telah bermurah hati menerima dengan tangan terbuka imigran Cina dan India sebagai rakyat Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, dengan syarat-syarat menurut Kontrak Sosial sepertimana yang telah dipersetujui oleh semua pihak yang terbabit.

Perkara asas ini telah berkali-kali dijelaskan oleh tokoh sejarah ulung negara, Profesor Emeritus Tan Sri Khoo Kay Kim.

Demi keadilan dan sebagai timbal balik di atas kemurahan hati orang-orang Melayu serta untuk menjamin hak kaum-kaum lain, maka semua kaum telah bersetuju dengan satu Kontrak Sosial yang telah diterjemahkan kepada beberapa peruntukan di dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Menyentuh hal ini, pada tahun 1965 Tun V.T. Sambanthan yang ketika itu berjawatan Menteri Tenaga, Telekom dan Pos telah berkata bahawa orang Melayu sangat pemurah dan bersopan-santun sehingga, “cukup murah hati untuk melonggarkan undang-undang kewarganegaraan negara ini”.

Hal yang sama juga disuarakan oleh bekas Menteri Kewangan Malaysia, Tun Tan Siew Sin pada 30hb April 1969 dan kerana itu beliau berjanji bahawa orang-orang Cina dan India akan terus menyokong usaha kerajaan memelihara kedudukan istimewa orang-orang Melayu.

Bak kata orang-orang tua, orang berbudi, kita berbahasa itulah cara permuafakatan nenek moyang kita dalam membina negara ini.

Tetapi malangnya, kurang dua minggu selepas itu tercetus pula insiden berdarah 13 Mei 1969, sebuah tragedi hitam rusuhan kaum yang sehingga kini masih menghantui kehidupan sebahagian rakyat Malaysia yang celik sejarah.

Bagi yang buta sejarah, mereka gagal melihat realiti dan mendakwa ianya hanyalah cerita retorik.

Untuk mengelakkan kejadian yang sama, maka kerajaan merangka Rukun Negara, iaitu ideologi kebangsaan bertujuan untuk menyatupadukan seluruh rakyat tanpa mengira kaum.

Namun kini, kerap kedengaran suara-suara sumbang yang mempertikaikan apa yang telah dipersetujui di dalam Kontrak Sosial serta apa yang telah termaktub di dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Mereka bersikap biadab dan mempertikaikan kedudukan istimewa orang Melayu dan Bumiputera; serta ada yang mahukan Perkara 153 dipinda.

Agama Islam iaitu agama bagi Persekutuan dan Raja-Raja Melayu yang menjadi tonggak kepada prinsip negara sering dihina dan diperlekehkan.

Ada pula yang buta sejarah dan dengan jahilnya menuduh orang-orang Melayu adalah pendatang.

Bagi saya, tuduhan biadab ini merupakan satu penghinaan terhadap Baginda Raja-raja Melayu memandangkan orang Melayu merupakan rakyat Raja.

Hayatilah sejarah negara dalam membina perpaduan sesama kita.

Tun V.T. Sambanthan pada 1hb Jun 1965, mengatakan bahawa orang-orang Cina dan India yang dahulunya adalah imigran tanpa negara, tidak diterima di Asia khasnya Asia Timur di mana orang India tidak diterima di Ceylon dan Burma manakala orang Cina pula tidak diterima di Thailand, Vietnam dan Kemboja; namun di Tanah Melayu, mereka diterima oleh orang-orang Melayu seperti saudara sendiri.

Ambillah iktibar daripada kata-kata bijaksana nenek moyang kita dahulu yang telah membina negara ini.

Kita harus sedar bahawa perpaduan rakyat tidak akan terbina di atas kejahilan dan dan sikap mementingkan diri.

Kerajaan Dominan Melayu? Ini Kata Pemimpin India dan Cina

Saya bangga dengan semangat perpaduan pemimpin kita yang terdahulu yang jujur dalam persahabatan tanpa batas perkauman.

Saya orang Melayu; walaupun saya berdarah campuran, saya berjiwa Melayu dan bangga menjadi seorang Melayu.

Sila baca: A Tribute to My Chinese Heritage

Di bawah merupakan tulisan saya yang pernah saya tulis pada tahun 2016 dahulu mengenai kata-kata pemimpin-pemimpin kita terdahulu yang berbangsa Cina dan India tentang orang Melayu.

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Malaysia is a country of many races, ethnics, cultures, and languages.

But despite of the variety of races and religions of its people, there is only one race and one religion that is mentioned in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia which is the supreme law of the Federation; that is Malay and Islam.

The Article 3(1) of the Federation Constitution of Malaysia states that Islam is the religion of the Federation while the Article 153 of the Federal Constitution wrote about the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities.

Article 152 states that the Bahasa Melayu or the Malay language is the national language of Malaysia.

Not only “Malay” is specifically mentioned in the supreme law but the Federal Constitution also gives the interpretation of the Malays.

The Article 160(2) of the Federal Constitution:

 “Malay” means a person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, conforms to Malay custom 

So, that makes the Malays of Malaysia so unique, for it is the only race in this whole world that is legally bound to a religion, which is Islam, the religion of the Federation.

Islam, the Malay language and the special position of the Malays are not only protected by the Federal Constitution but are also protected by the Section 3(1)(f) of the Sedition Act of Malaysia, which protects the four sensitive issues: 

1. Article 153: Special Rights For The Malays
2. Article 152: Malay As The National Language
3. Part III: of the Citizenship Rights
4. Article 181: Rights, Status, Sovereignty Of The Malay Rulers

In respond to critiques regarding the Article 153, our great forefathers, Tun V. T. Sambanthan and Tun Tan Siew Sin said that the Malays are very charitable, polite and “generous enough to relax the citizenship laws of this country”.

If the Malays were not generous, the Chinese and Indians who were immigrants at the time, would not be given the citizenship of this country and therefore became stateless people.

Article 153 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia was based on the Social Contract where the Malays and the Malay Rulers agreed to accept the immigrant races to become citizens of Malaysia.

In the contract, it was agreed that while the immigrant races were given citizenship, the Malays who are the subjects of the Malay Rulers must be given special position.

The great Malay Rulers of nine Malay Kingdoms had sacrificed their own absolute powers over their own sovereign countries to unite into the Federation of Malaya, which later becomes Malaysia with the addition of Sabah and Sarawak.

With the motto, “Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu” or “Unity is Strength”, the Malay states becomes a Federation and is now a great country.

A Tribute to My Chinese Heritage

The above beautiful piece of art portrays wild orchids with Chinese characters “幽兰”, which means “orchid”, is hung on the wall of our living room.

It was a gift for my mother by our Chinese friend saying that it will bring us ‘ong’; but my father had it hung at that particular spot because it is indeed a very beautiful gift.

I am a Malay and I am very proud to be one; the beautiful Chinese piece of art with the Chinese characters in our living room does not make me less of a Malay.

I cannot read Mandarin, but thanks to our dear family friend, Aunty Helen Ang, we are able to understand what the Chinese characters say; and as orchids in the Chinese culture symbolises wealth and fortune, I guess it does have something to do with ‘ong’.

People often remarked that neither my parents, my siblings nor I have the typical Malay looks, even though both of my parents are Malay; I think it is the result of our mixed bloodlines.

My maternal grandfather is a Malay with Peranakan Chinese and Middle-Eastern ancestries along the family bloodlines while my maternal grandmother came from Chinese bloodline.

While my paternal grandfather is a Malay, my paternal grandmother is a Malay with some Siamese and Middle-Eastern bloodlines.

I come from a family with a very rich history especially from the lineage of my maternal grandfather where Tun Zain Indera of Tersat, who came from the lineage of the Sultanate of Johor-Riau was my 8th great-grandfather; my great-grandfather, Haji Awang Omar bin Dato’ Mata Mata Tua Yusof was the younger brother of Dato’ Seri Amar Diraja Haji Ngah Mohamad bin Dato’ Mata Mata Tua Yusof.

As I am very proud of my maternal grandfather’s ancestry, I am also proud of my Chinese ancestry.

My maternal great-grandfather, Hj. Ya’acob Abdullah Al-Yunani whom we affectionately called Appa was a Chinese Muslim and his Chinese name was Tung Foo Piew.

Appa told us about how his father, Hj. Abdullah Sulaiman Al-Yunani sailed from Kwantung or Guangdong in the 19th century to start a business and a new life in the Tanah Melayu.

What makes me really proud about my Chinese ancestors is that despite coming from a different country with a different culture and traditions, they managed to assimilate with the local Malay community around them.

Appa said that it did not take a long time for his parents to able to speak Malay and for his father to learn to read and write in the Jawi scripture.

Appa wore his baju Melayu with ‘kain pelikat’ and ate Malay food but he also loved the Chinese style soups, noodles and tofu which we also do enjoy regularly in our home.

And despite being proud of his Chinese heritage to the end of his life, Appa spoke fluent Malay, practised the Malay custom and proudly called himself a Malay, as he met all the criteria to become a Malay as stated in the Article 160 of the Federal Constitutions.

Appa who called Tanah Melayu his homeland was happy to assimilate and had a very high respect for the Malays and was thankful to be accepted in this country as he knew life in China used to be hard, which was the reason why his parents risked their lives sailing to Tanah Melayu in seeking for a brighter future of their children.

And I am also proud to learn from my mother’s uncle that a great statesman, Tun Tan Siew Sin who was a former Minister of Finance was a distant relative of ours from my maternal grandfather’s side of the family; and that our ancestors came in the same boat to Tanah Melayu long, long time ago.

It is the respect and love for our country as well as for our fellow citizens and obeying the laws of the land that makes us a very special nation.

Please click the photos for larger images:

Related articles:

• My Great Grand Father Passed Away
• My Great Grand Father’s Burial

A Kadir Jasin and the Raja-Raja Melayu

A well known writer, A Kadir Jasin, recently wrote an article in his blog, The Scribe, entitled “Tea With The Emperor Anyone?”, writing about the Emperor of Japan as well as Her Majesty the Queen of England.

He discussed about the two monarchs and the importance of the royal institutions to their respective countries and wrapping up with the allocated expenses for each monarchs as compared to the population and the GDP of the countries.

At the end of the article, he wrote:

In the 21^st century world, the UK and Japan models are probably the most acceptable for countries still keeping the system of monarchy.

Is A Kadir Jasin implying that the constitutional monarchy system practised in Malaysia is unacceptable because we have nine Royal Malay Rulers?

It seems that this is in line with what he wrote two months ago, suggesting that our system of monarchy should be reviewed and reformed.

Now, let us look back at the history of our country, for by looking at history, we’ll be able to have a better understanding of our monarchy system. 

It is very important to understand that the country we now know as Malaysia was not formed out of thin air.

Long before Malaysia was formed, there were various sovereign and independent Malay kingdoms flourished in the Malay Peninsula, each with its own Royal Malay Ruler or Raja-Raja Melayu who had absolute power over his kingdom.

In order to avoid the independent Malay kingdoms from being colonised by the British under what was called the Malayan Union, all the nine Raja-Raja Melayu had sacrificed their absolute power over their respective kingdoms, to form a new and stronger country together with Pulau Pinang and Melaka under the name of the Federation of Malaya or Persekutuan Tanah Melayu.

Hence, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu and later, Malaysia was formed out of the sacrifices made by the nine Raja-Raja Melayu.

Without their sacrifices, there would be no federation called Persekutuan Tanah Melayu and later a new country named Malaysia but instead, there would now be various small different sovereign and independent countries in the Malay Peninsula, each with its own Royal Malay Rulers.

So, is it fair for us to erase the history and the sacrifices made by the nine Raja-Raja Melayu, as if the Malay kingdoms and their Raja-Raja Melayu which is actually the integral part in the formation of the new country named Malaysia, had never been part of the country’s history?

The duties of the nine Raja-Raja Melayu as the head of States and the DYMM Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the Supreme Head of the Federation are very important in maintaining the stability of our country as we are now a country of many races, ethnics, cultures, and languages after the Malays and the Raja-Raja Melayu agreed to accept the stateless immigrant races to become citizens based on the Social Contract during our independent.

In fact, our great forefathers, Tun V. T. Sambanthan and Tun Tan Siew Sin had said that the Malays are very charitable, polite and “generous enough to relax the citizenship laws of this country”.

In order to protect certain provisions of the Federal Constitution, namely those pertaining to the status of the Rulers, the special privileges of the Malays and Bumiputra, the status of the Bahasa Melayu as the national language and on matters regarding Islam as the religion of the Federation, the consents of the Raja-Raja Melayu must be sought in order for a law, bill or convention on the matters to be sign, rectified or before any amendments to be made.

More importantly, it is the constitutional duty of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong to “at all time protect the Religion of Islam”, as stated in the oath of office of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, or the Article 37(1); the text is written in Part I and III of the Fourth Schedule of the Federal Constitution.

Therefore, there is no doubt that our Raja-Raja Melayu have an extremely valuable roles in maintaining the stability of our country as the Raja-Raja Melayu hold the people of Malaysia together and rise above politics and political parties.

Daulat Tuanku!

Related Post:

1. The Malays of Malaysia – The Unique, Generous Race
2. Dr. Khoo Kay Kim: Malaya For The Malays (Video)
3. Kebenaran Di Sebalik Sejarah Penubuhan Persekutuan Malaysia

The Malays of Malaysia – The Unique, Generous Race

Malaysia is a country of many races, ethnics, cultures, and languages.

But despite of the variety of races and religions of its people, there is only one race and one religion that is mentioned in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia which is the supreme law of the Federation; that is Malay and Islam.

The Article 3(1) of the Federation Constitution of Malaysia states that Islam is the religion of the Federation while the Article 153 of the Federal Constitution wrote about the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities.

Article 152 states that the Bahasa Melayu or the Malay language is the national language of Malaysia.

Not only “Malay” is specifically mentioned in the supreme law but the Federal Constitution also gives the interpretation of the Malays.

The Article 160(2) of the Federal Constitution:

 “Malay” means a person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, conforms to Malay custom 

So, that makes the Malays of Malaysia so unique, for it is the only race in this whole world that is legally bound to a religion, which is Islam, the religion of the Federation.

Islam, the Malay language and the special position of the Malays are not only protected by the Federal Constitution but are also protected by the Section 3(1)(f) of the Sedition Act of Malaysia, which protects the four sensitive issues: 

1. Article 153: Special Rights For The Malays
2. Article 152: Malay As The National Language
3. Part III: of the Citizenship Rights
4. Article 181: Rights, Status, Sovereignty Of The Malay Rulers

In respond to critiques regarding the Article 153, our great forefathers, Tun V. T. Sambanthan and Tun Tan Siew Sin said that the Malays are very charitable, polite and “generous enough to relax the citizenship laws of this country”.

If the Malays were not generous, the Chinese and Indians who were immigrants at the time, would not be given the citizenship of this country and therefore became stateless people.

Article 153 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia was based on the Social Contract where the Malays and the Malay Rulers agreed to accept the immigrant races to become citizens of Malaysia.

In the contract, it was agreed that while the immigrant races were given citizenship, the Malays who are the subjects of the Malay Rulers must be given special position.

The great Malay Rulers of nine Malay Kingdoms had sacrificed their own absolute powers over their own sovereign countries to unite into the Federation of Malaya, which later becomes Malaysia with the addition of Sabah and Sarawak.

With the motto, “Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu” or “Unity is Strength”, the Malay states becomes a Federation and is now a great country.

Maintaining Racial Harmony In Malaysia

Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu at Padang Merbok, Sept. 16, 2015. Photo credit to sejarahmelayu.blogspot.my

Yesterday, was a big day for the Malays, when the city of Kuala Lumpur was flooded by “baju merah” to mark their support for the legitimately elected government after the “baju kuning” of illegal Bersih 4 demonstration claimed that they are the voices of the nation.

The rally was a great success despite the instigation made by people whose idea about human rights and freedom of speech is, ‘it is our right to organise a rally to bash the government, Article 3(1) and Article 153 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia’ but ‘it is racist to organise a rally to support the government, Article 3(1) and Article 153 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.’

I am proud of my country and do not want the sovereignty of my country to be ‘invaded’ by foreign powers and ideologies. 

Our country has always been peaceful apart from the racial riot of 13 May 1969 that killed a lot of innocent people that was started by people who are selfish and do not respect the Federal Constitution.

To protect the stability of our country and to avoid such tragedy, the government then amended the Akta Hasutan. 

Now the people who call themselves as human right activists are again questioning some Articles in our Federal Constitution and want the Akta Hasutan to be abolished.

And they are the people who are behind the Bersih illegal demonstration.

They call the Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu racist because the participants are the Malays and bumiputeras but Bersih 4 is not racist because 90% of the participants were Chinese!

Are they being fair when they demand their rights but deny the rights of others?

We must learn from history and learn to respect each others’ rights to maintain racial harmony and we can start from listening to what had been said by our great forefathers: