by Azly Rahman
[Lecture notes of a recent speech given to Malaysian students in New York]
In this digital age of postmodernity, hypertextuality, alienation, and of chaos and complexity in which the historical march of capitalism has dictated the way nations think, it is becoming difficult for us to understand how the mind of a people work – unless we build a metaphysical chariot (like the one Krishna prepared for Arjuna in the battlefield of Kurusektra) to journey into it, through the eyes that will also bring us through their soul. At strategic points in that much the soul is corrupted by the material condition created by those who own the means of controlling the march of “progress” and the definition of “history”. At every epoch in the history of nations, there will be those who will be clueless of what they exist for and who they exist for; marginalized by those who have a better command of the art and science of social control and in the art of war.
I realize that the above sentences, for some, are dense and complex and require clarifications through simpler language; but like the monologue of Colonel Kurtz in Francis Ford Coppola’s classic, “Apocalypse Now,” we ought to try to understand the meaning of such a statement. Like James Joyce’s stream of consciousness, sentences may flow gracefully with intensity.
The subject of our inquiry is the Malay mind in this time of chaos and complexity, cynicism and uncertainty. These are the times that try the Malaysian soul and it is through cognitive science and the archeology of the mind, and through deep probing questions alone that one may accomplish the task of entering the mind of the Malay.
How do we do this?
Interpretations of what the Malay is – from the time of Frank Swettenham, Munsyi Abdullah, Tun Sri Lanang, the Sumatran Sufi scholars of ancient times, and others paid or unpaid writers of Malay history or from scribes who do not know the meaning of neutrality – all these are useful to a certain extend for us to understand what exactly the mind of the Malay.
Because we are rooted language and language constructs one Inner sensibility and determines how we construct our social reality and next, because we then use language to define how we create our economic condition, educate our tribe, govern each other, and work and play, we will need to define how the Malay mind works through the use of definitions.
But however we define what a Malay is, we will have linguistic difficulties and we will have problems determining from what and from whose historical perspective we are defining it.
Each definition of what a Malay is is contingent upon premises that are rooted in culture as some point and the Constitution in modern times. The world “Malay” is elusive, as argued by many a Malay and non-Malay cultural analysts trying to justify this or that rights and privileges. At every argument in history, conflict either bloody or bloodless may happen – because we are trapped in the prison-house of language. Only philosophy may free us from this shackle. Only by consistently attacking words and definition and demanding for their clarity may we be liberated. Connotations and denotations arise not only out of history but also out of the class divisions and antagonisms as a result of the evolution of who gets to own the tool of domination called “literacy”.
Malaysia has prepared herself to enter the Age of Deconstructionism in which in every sphere of our lives we are experiencing rupture and waning of affect; an age in which relationships have become meaningless and power is used to set fire to the voices in the wilderness. Consider these in we enter our very own “postmodern condition” wrought but the “cultural logic of our own brand of late capitalism”. We are experiencing rupture in our Judiciary, Executive, and Legislature. We know we want justice for all but we may have none. We know we want power to be executed the good of all, but we may have power concentrated in the few to let evil prevail. We want to be governed by the rule of law but we may end up seeing our lives governed by the iron fist of lawlessness.
How do we enter the Malay mind? What set of questions do we need? What will our metaphysical chariot look like? We need the following questions:
What is a Malay? Herein lies the need to consider the idea of “Constitutional versus cultural” aspect of the definition
What shapes the Malay mind? Herein lies the need to consider the idea “The Historical material condition”
How has history define Malay culture and consciousness? Herein lies the need to consider the idea of “social construction of reality”
How has economic condition create the Malay mind? Herein lies the need to consider the idea of “technology and culture”
How has globalization affect the consciousness of the Malays? Herein lies the need to consider the idea of “border crossings and heteroglossia”
How has modernization and hypermodernity shape the newer character of the Malay mind? Herein lies the need to consider the idea of “the neo-feudalistic cybernetic capitalistic Malay
Herein lies the beginning of the phase of self-reflection of the Malays as a people who has arrived at a historical juncture in which more and more rhetoric and words left undefined are used to construct the meaning of the word “Malay”.
Entering the postmodern Malay mind is a complex journey worth taking. It will be a journey like the poems of T.S. Elliot or Rilke. But to engineer this Copernican Revolution, we must take the first step.
Tepi jalan soronok untuk mata,tapi jalan pula tak elok untuk penguna.
I afraid your writing is too difficult for our boleh students, although we got many A’s in our SPM
I thought I understood the malay mind. I believe I still do. Its the minds of umnoputras that escape me all the time. If you told them of hazards that lie ahead, you would be warned not to interfere. You may even be told not to overstep into their privilege and could be wrongly reminded of our immigrant status.
Perhaps, their minds are so dense that peeks are simply aint possible. The density of mind is proof of a failed system. A system failed when it over-emphasises power and position and down-plays merit and capability. Imagine the concerntration of absolute power in the hands of those without merit or capability.
One more thing.
Obama has done well. America has made a fantastic decision. Good choice for them and the world. Americans created history again. Obama must be good and very very capable. Otherwise, he would not command the support of his party to run for president in the first place. I mean look, defeating Hilary Clinton is no small feat. The world is looking at him now for change. Expectations are high. Africans are especially thrilled for they have finally turned master.
But isnt he a lucky fella. He is actually a very very lucky man. Lucky because he was borned in america as a citizen of america. Imagine if he was borned in malaysia as a malaysian. He would be a mere second class citizen.
The minds of umnoputra would work to ensure that he remains so if he was a malaysian.
The so-called “warriors” of the Malay race are generally 2nd or 3rd generation immigrants who know what it is like to be an immigrant, and hence will do whatever is necessary to gain an advantage. People like the old mamak understand what it was like to be an Indian in India, and once he had the opportunity to exploit the situation in Bolehland at the expense of the other communities, he made full use of it. Sleepy Head must have heard the stories about life in China from his grandfather. Khir Toyo must have heard stories about life in Sumatra from his father.
All these people have filled in the vacuum left behind by the British, and they realised that the country’s original inhabitants – the real natives – are incapable or unwilling to fight for what was originally theirs. Now they have put their markers in the sand, and claim that the country is “rightfully” theirs. They now claim that they are the masters of the land.
Azly, do not try to assess the Malay mind. The Malay mind is nothing more than a mind shaped by repression and hardship in the original lands of Sumatra, India and China. This is the mind that instinctively requires control and obedience from the rest. This is the mind that has the fear of losing everything if it does not grab all that is in front of it today.
The Malay mind or the Malay brains are “under-utilized” commodities. They think that by declaring “ketuanan Melayu”, the race can be made superior but in fact it has the opposite effect. Making themselves “tuan” and “more superior” only allowed the others who have been supressed to work even harder and progress further. In relativity, the Malays themselves have further “deteriorated” with such actions.
And do not forget that the Chinese and Indian civilizations are some 5000-6000 years old whereas Malay civilization only took place during the Malacca sultanate which is just a couple of centuries ago. There is much to be caught up, especially based on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. Nature is fair and there is no short cut! So how can these people who are some ten times behind in terms of evolution ever become TUANs over those with more advanced brains?
In this region,Malay minds, at the very early stages(approx. 600 years ago), which is really pure and fine, has been conditioned by people who is well verse in the political science.
Shackled them using religion without giving them the opportunities to explore about life from the other angles. Other knowledges of the world is consider taboo and must be kept apart.
The political science masters says “Submit yourself and you are assure of a good afterlife”. At that time, it sounds good enough for them.
What the Malay missed is, one has to lead a life for oneself and family now before reaching the afterlife. For a chosen lifestyles, the survival skill very much needed. Being educated in order to gain knowledge is vital for survival. Continuous learning and diffentiating good from bad, will show a developing mind for the better chances of survival.
It is still up to the Malays to realise that being human, one has a thinking and judging skill. The decision made will affect one’s life. Each individual is only responsible for its own decision made. If the decision affects others, then further consideration is needed.
Good or bad results, the person who made them, shall bear the consequences, the fruit of success or the suffering that entails that decision
The mind is ever developing to please the senses. As time goes by, it is adapting to the new environment but the fundamental of right or wrong still belong to an individual to judge for themselves.
un
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said yesterday the written reply he had made to a question in Parliament that the police beat base in Lorong Haji Taib had been closed for security reasons was “not accurate and clear”.
The home minister said the reason the beat base was closed was because the owner of the land wanted it back, and not for security and health reasons.
Syed Hamid said residents, however, could still rely on the Chow Kit police station, which had 10 policemen and four patrol cars.
“I would like to stress here that the written reply I made in Parliament on the closure of the beat base was not accurate and clear.
WHY OUR COUNTRY HAS SUCH DONKEY TO BE OUR MINISTER…..
HE SAID THE LETTER HE WROTE WAS “NOT ACCURATE AND CLEAR” WHY IN THE FIRST PLACE HE WROTE SUCH LETTER??
Yahoo!!! RPK to be released today at 4pm! Long live patriot YM RPK!!!
the arguments that Malay minds are evolutionary inferior or Indian or Chinese are superior because of a longer history is plain bullshit and an insult to Charles Darwin.
What is happening to the Malaysian society in general are selfish leaders who are misleading the common folk and blinding their eyes and numbing their minds to fill their pockets.
Got nothing to do with race or culture or genes whatsoever.
The same corrupt practices are even worse and wide-spread in China and India even now. But these countries are large and problems don’t surface that early especially if the top leadership is competent and makes an effort in curbing the problem.
It is actually the same racial overtones and narrow-minded of the common Malaysian that caused all the problems today.
Before pointing your fingers at others and accusing of being backwards or “evolutionarily inferior”, please scrutinize your own behaviors and that by pointing fingers we are nothing but the worst kind of hypocrite.
I am Chinese by the way but I am damn pissed off when so-called Chinese supremacist tout the so-called glorious history of ancient china and the strength of the Chinese diaspora. This is exactly the same class of shit as the Ketuanan Melayu that the same persons criticize.
Same shit but just different gaps.
Before asking others to repent, please change your behaviors and thinking first.
Well, I believed those malay who always talking about their privileges ”Ketuanan Melayu” and can not accept fair competition in term of education, business are those from the weak group of people and harp on the protection policies to survive. Just imagine if the Government not going to adsorb those inferior graduate and what is going to happen to them?
Anyway, the privilege on “Ketuanan Melayu” or implementation of NEP will not last forever. I anticipated by 2015 (another 7 years from now) the whole Malaysia will in disaster state due to the following:
1) Implementation of NEP adopted by the present BN for Malay will chase away all the investor and FDI thus reducing the revenue for the country. This can be observed for the past 10 years since 1995, do you noticed that Thailand has overtake us in term of economy.
2) More useless graduate produce by the university will burden the Government in long run thus provide more subsidies to these people to survive. Just imagine that the present surplus of 500,000 thousand of government employee and add another 500,000 thousand by year 2015. I think the figure to subsidies can be quantified.
3) PETRONAS reduce their output or crude oil price going down or the world has invented to use electric vehicle. Just cannot imagine if PETRONAS run dry at anytime and all the revenue for the government will become Zero. Can you imagine what will happen to Malaysia now if without the petrol?
4) Brain drain – More non bumi will migrate when the local university practice double standard entry requirement. This will reduce the revenue to the government in term of business profit and income tax to this professional.
We just can understand why those people talk about “Ketuanan Melayu” or privilege if the whole system prevents the country from going forward?
So, just wait till 2015 and all the NEP policy will automatically be abolished due to unable to sustain the subsidies anymore by the G thus open up the economy accordance the Investor terms and conditions to attract FDI.
Correction will take place after the weak policies has taken effect for the past 30 years to subsidies and foresee the new generation of “Malay” will suffer if they are still depend on “tongkat“ to survive.
This blog has made it so academic to understand a Malay mind.
Anyway, the recent March 8 election results tell us that more Malays can think “deeply” and independently and are no more blind followers.
In the first place, I dont think the writer is a Malay, even though he spotted a malay name.
Secondly, it is just his wishful thinking of trying to understand a Malay. To make it looks good, he used so many modern and up to date terminology. So… is he an intelect!
Therfore it is better to respond to what Godfather said. But then, I dont know how the immigrants from China, India or Sumatra build up a new culture, a new lingo and so on, like the Malays. May be, during their mingration days, they were subdued by some alien on the way. As such a new kind of race was developed. This new race was then called themselve as Malays! Happy dreaming, Godfather!
“All these people have filled in the vacuum left behind by the British, and they realised that the country’s original inhabitants – the real natives – are incapable or unwilling to fight for what was originally theirs. Now they have put their markers in the sand, and claim that the country is “rightfully” theirs. They now claim that they are the masters of the land.
Azly, do not try to assess the Malay mind. The Malay mind is nothing more than a mind shaped by repression and hardship in the original lands of Sumatra, India and China. This is the mind that instinctively requires control and obedience from the rest. This is the mind that has the fear of losing everything if it does not grab all that is in front of it today.”
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‘Shafiee Apdal must have heard stories about life in Southern Philiphine from his father……..’
Godfather…i agree with you on this…..and it is not happening only in semenanjung, Sabah,Sarawak experienced the same……
i do feel sorry for those who ‘lupa asal usul’…..
bush says:”4)Brain drain – More non bumi will migrate when the local university practice double standard entry requirement. This will reduce the revenue to the government in term of business profit and income tax to this professional”
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is already happend now…….and there’ll be more to migrate out fr malaysia……..
They are making themselves into “protected species” by maintaining the NEP and ketuanan Melayu. Perhaps it is time this species applied to the World Wildlife Fund for a protection order just like the Giant Pandas of China!!!!!
The malay mind is simple as far as UMNO is concern.esp. the majority of the kampong folks.Don’t teach them to fish but to continously offer them a fish.This dependency has been going on for more than 50 years.Resson being UMNO staying in power over the same period.The NEP is meant for all the malays but UMNO leaders are smart.They only teach their cronies/umnoputra warlords to fish and get all the best quality and quantity of all the fish and only leave some spoil ones or bilish to the majority of their kampong folks I sincerely hope our majority malay friends,who are honest and humble to think rationally about this rotten treatment by their so-called leaders championing for your religion,race king and country .IN fact UMNO past and present leaders only champion for themselves ..
When the readers here are slamming BN and UMNO (which I have been doing as well), I am just thinking that how many of us really understand the fears in Malays. We insist that they are so and so due to the manipulations of the racist politicians, but the fact is do we really go to them and try to the comprehend the actual reasons lying underneath?
1. This blog has made it so academic to understand a Malay mind.Anyway, the recent March 8 election results tell us that more Malays can think “deeply” and independently and are no more blind followers.- Said Alikim.
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Election result don’t really prove anything because the rotten NEP policies still need to be implemented to “protect” or provide “tongkat’ and majority Malay mind set still cannot accept fair competition in this country which include engaging a capable leader from other race and open up the university for fair entry requirement and 30% business equity.
They want position but cannot take accountability if anything goes wrong (Malay mind) and want paper qualification but not willing to have the same entry requirement to university. So the majority mindset stills the same if these policies still exist.
I think you forgot one quotation Azly.
From the movie “Blazing Saddles”, when Hedley Lamarr had impressed his sidekick Taggart with a stream of purple prose:
“God darnit, Mr. Lamarr, you use your tongue prettier than a twenty dollar whore.”
Sometimes I don’t understand, why this kind of posting appeared in this blog? An article written by a Malay and responded mostly by non Malays. What is LKS’s actual intention?
I used to browse Pro BN blogs but never ever come across tghis kind of topic. I’m still waiting for posting releated to nepotism and cronyism which is hardly to be found in this blog. Believe or not nepotism and cronyism are not listed in any of those categories. Why? The answer is obvious….
CHANGE will come eventually. It is just a question of WHEN?
The Malays (especially the Umnoputras ) have a king-sized inferiority complex. No doubt about that. Therefore, they have to coin the disgusting phrase “Malay Supremacy” just like “White Supremacy” as one would associate it with the Ku Klux Klan.
In reality, it is only a figment of their imagination. Let the Umnoputras send representatives to America, Europe, India, China, Japan and elsewhere and proclaim that “Malay Supremacy” is very much alive in Malaysia and may well spread to the other lands.
If they are a superior race, they would be very well advanced in social order, science, technology and other fields of developments and achievements. They will be recognized as such by other people around the world.
Or is it just xenophobia on their part? If you look at history, all those who practised this “black art of deceit” and follow this path are eventually relegated to the dustbin of history.
All men are created equal, why should the Malay be supreme as they thought for themselves.
No homo spaiens have the divine right to declare that they are superior over others. By declaring that, he is bring the race to destruction and backwardness, dependent on crutches forever.
They feel proud of the crutches, but to others depending on crutches and hiding behind the declaration is demeaning, downtrodden, abhoring, vomitting…..
drago2008,
If they are truly a superior race,they wouldn’t call a tumpangnaut a cosmonaut .They would have built a launch site,a launch vehicle,set up a control centre in PutraJaya and a telemetry tracking and command centre to track the journey of our Bolehnaut from start to finish.They can’t of course butPAR they would still insist that our tumpangnaut is a cosmonaut and get the Russian to confirm that.Of course the Russian would comply having pocketed USD20 million
correction: \They can’t of course but they ……………………..Russian to confirm that.\.
an American family friend of mine who married my Malaysian auntie uttered ‘bullshit!’ to what he called ‘ridiculous’ bumiputra discounts on this and that (properties, etc.) and some quotas..yet the country claims fairness and equality..d point is, foreigners see no difference between colours and races back in their country, often surprised to see malaysia in such bias, in this already rapid-developing era.
hereby, i wonder how we can grow, how can we grow in such a non-competitive environment(many being spoon-fed)…and some of us, of course it’s competitive for us, why? because we have no special privlieges, being denied higher education just because there are too many poor results first-class citizens’ being admitted to local higher education institutions..
i have lost trust and respect in this country’s government, but my faith holds strong as i hope and pray for a better future for malaysia.
ktteokt ,
Based on the quality of your writing and the reflection it has left upon yourself, it is you probably you who have the inferior mind. A supposedly `superior’ mind would not have written all the `sampah’ that you have.
And to those who are unshamedly bashing the Malays, have you ever cared to actually understand the real Malay mind? Don’t just assume you know everything and talk without understanding the root causes of how things and events have developed they way they have.
Let’s not disparage others. If we are honest and true to our learnings and teachings, we should accept that all men are created equal before God. Aren’t we God’s children and are equal before Him?
On this note, we would be both hypocritical and hypercritical in our judgment and demeanor – traits which we abhor and criticize – if we continue to take a negative stance against one another. Let’s not do unto others what we do not wish others do unto us.
I believe we should at least try to be fair minded.
A race is not inferior to another. Just because they have a different passage through time and history does not make them any inferior to any other. Likewise, it is not becoming of us to look down upon a poor family in comparison to a rich one. Given the opportunity, the poor one would someday achieve prosperity as well. Just like any race – if the opportunity to improve presents itself and is taken advantage of, it will be at par with the rest.
Man’s problems are mostly caused by their very own attitudes and handling of affairs. Those in position to manipulate and influence, if left to their own irresponsible devices and left unchecked, are prone to commit blunders and crimes which would have dire repercussions on others.
As such, the need for responsible, accountable, honest, sincere, diligent, clear-minded, and objective individuals to lead the nation or, for that matter, just any organization. Integrity cannot be over-emphasised.
Qualities which are needed to do a job must be ever present if success is the aim. Otherwise, whatever we wish for would remain just an illusion and dream.
Let’s not belittle anybody, just as we do not wish others to belittle us. Given the opportunity and through sincere and honest hard work, we too, just like anybody else, would like to and could achieve success and results we wished for.
Come on guys, stop the bickering and, instead, commit yourselves to contribute your part to the development of the country you are so concerned about. What use is it to criticise for the sake of criticising without suggesting solutions and act to better society?
One can start by becoming a better person and citizen. We should extend our hands to others if they need one. We should embrace others to prove that true brotherhood exists in our land. Let’s abolish animosity and prejudice among us. Let’s be true to ourselves, else we would be just another hypocrite which we accuse and suspect others to be.
Abdullah hopes Obama’s election will bring positive changes to the world….(The Sun)
Well, the world will surely change somehow but definitely not in Malaysia due to it’s die hard Supremacist mindset. The ruling gomen will never learn and simply can’t. We will be where we are now for the next 200 years if this Supremacist mentality is still breeding like parasites…!
Malay mind? What about the Indonesian mind? Aren’t they supposed to be the same, given the fact they more or less speak the same language? But as we can see, they don’t exactly behave the same way. How is that?
Before one can proceed to examine the “mind” of another, one should first of all qualify oneself. It has nothing to do with certificates and paper qualifications obtained from any institutions of learning per se. However, if one has the necessary formal training to develop a keen eye coupled with actual life experiences with the said grouping whose “mind” is under scrutiny, it augurs well for the intention. Still the examination must be exhaustive and extensive to be of any value or validity. Anything less would be superficial or at best “indicative”.
One could be excused for commenting on the characteristics of individuals based on their actions and speeches. But to extend that comment ( based on the individuals concerned ) to their ethnic group would not be fair and justified.
If we are referring to a certain individual’s conduct and capability, it should not be said that others from his clans would behave or have capabilities similar to his/hers.
The sense of fairness and justice depend on the individual’s mental make-up and very much hinges on his upbringing, value system and environmental influence. Society at large has a role too in this aspect.
The point here is we have to be clear of our objectives, i.e. whether we are judging an individual or making an exhaustive study into an ethnic grouping’s social-cultural-belief system which influence their sum total mentality and mindset and attitude.
True, and somehow people tend to generalize when things are going in an adverse way. I thought one have to be more mature, fair, critical when making statements meticulously.
More intellectually worthy posts are much better than blind bashes. By bashing an ethnic and not the directing the political elites formed by the culprist/cronies/umnoputra/racists/whatever-you-wanna-name-it, one is only being a racist himself, and not helping the course at all.
Herein lies the problem. Nobody really understands.
It must be pointed out that according to Darwin, the FITTEST survives, not the smartest, nor the most civilized.
Like it or not, it is a fact that the Malays are far fitter (notably on the political frontier) than the Chinese or Indians on this land called Malaysia.
If you have seen how a pack hyenas overpower a tiger, it is easy to explain why the Tang Dynasty, a time in history when the ancient Chinese civilization reached its prime, eventually perished in the hands of those regarded as “inferior”.
Apart from constantly upgrading themselves to stay competitive and work closely with the Malays (forget about the corrupted UMNOputras), how far do you think the Malaysian Chinese and Indians can go in uplifting their status and protecting their rights as nationals?
Salam Azly
Are you trying to make a bloody simple piece of essay a piece of literature for us to read? Please write it in plain English and do away with all the jargons. We do not need to know how “powderful” your English is. I don’t really know what you are trying to say here.
Kasim