The so-called 'bone' is the fact that, unique in Malaysia among other SE Asian countries, the Chinese citizens still (publicly/openly) retain their Chinese names and are allowed vernacular schools, as are the Indians.
This is an undeniable fact and thus, if a Chinese places much value on these two issues, that of being able to publicly/openly use his/her Chinese name and study at or have his/her child or children study at vernacular schools, then he/she is lucky to be born in Malaya/Malaysia.
One could even argue that in SE Asian countries, such a situation could be considered a rare privilege.
But should the Chinese be 'grateful' to the UMNO-led government for such privileges, as the 'bone' of contention aims to suggest?
In order to answer this complex and vexing question, let's examine and compare Malaya/Malaysia with two neighbouring countries, Thailand and Indonesia, where in both, almost every Chinese citizens have (let's call it) indigenous names or native names.
Take for example Indonesia - famous names like badminton legend Rudy Hartono and fellow badminton greats like Alan Budikusuma, Chandra Wijaya, Christian Hadinata, Ferry Sonneville, Hendra Setiawan, Hendrawan, Hermawan Susantro, Johan Wahjudi, Muljadi, Ronald Susilo, Susi Susanti, Tjun Tjun and Tony Gunawan are (were) all as Chinese as Liem Swie King*, Tan Joe Hok and Eng Hian.
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| Rudy Hartono Kurniawan or Liang Hailiang (梁海量) |
* I am not sure why Liem Swie King was so named as he was the only son of Ng Thian Poo and Oei See Moi which meant he ought to have the surname Ng.
At the age of 18, in order to be accepted in the national team and received government instructions (presumably coaching) he adopt the name of Guntur which still doesn't explain why he ended up as Liem Swie King, a name which doesn't reflect his sire's surname nor the mandatory practice of Indonesian Chinese to have indigenous names.
Strangely enough, both his sisters were named in typical Indonesian style as Megah Inawati and Megah Idawati. Both played for Indonesia in the 1965 Uber Cup.
The Liem Swie King mystery certainly bears further investigation, wakakaka.
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| Liem Swie King today once the leaping 'Smash King' of badminton |
The reason why Chinese Indonesians were (I think no longer 'are') required to have indigenous names was due to a Suharto anti-Chinese edict.
In 1965 Suharto, then a Major-General and a very powerful one as Panglima Kostrad (Strategic Command) because Kostrad held direct operational control of the army and special forces, used the excuse of Gestapu to seize power.
[Gestapu is an Indonesian acronym referring to the alleged Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) plot to seize power on Gerakan 30 September, one which started with the murder of 6 army generals and the dumping of their corpses into a well at a place called Lubang Buaya].
Many suspected and still suspect it was a CIA sponsored coup d'etat to prevent communist domination of Indonesia at a time during the Cold War, but the Indonesian Communist Party members were slaughtered in their hundreds of thousands, if not in the million. There is still lingering suspicion of who (other than the alleged PKI) had actually murdered the 6 military generals to provide Suharto with grounds to take power through a military move against not only PKI but also Sukarno.
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| USA's fave son in the 60's? |
Anyway, when he became president his government implemented legislation which were viewed as anti-Chinese in Indonesia. One of these was the 127/U/Kep/12/1966 which mandated that ethnic Chinese living in Indonesia take up Indonesian-sounding names in place of their Chinese monikers. Chinese Indonesians as a minority were powerless to oppose Suharto's new law.
Suharto and his officials had also wrongly but deliberately accused Chinese Indonesians as supporters of PKI, the Indonesian Communist Party. Their sinister aim was to extort unofficial taxes from wealthy Chinese for the latter to be 'protected' from anti-Chinese pogroms.
Thirty one years later, when he was under political threat from a then-popular Megawati Sukarnoputri, riots broke out throughout Indonesia particularly in Medan, Jakarta etc which were targeted at the local Chinese, but blamed on Megawati's party. Naturally in the re-held elections, he won. His son-in-law Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto was also Panglima Kostrad. Coincidence?
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| Prabowo Subianto During the 1998 riots I saw him on Aus TV stating he would look after 'our people' Hmmm? |
So the Chinese Indonesians (in 1967) sucked on that and adopted western names as first names (eg. Hannah wakakaka, and Helen wakakaka) and Javanese or Sundanese names as surnames. However, all these didn't protect them in the 1998 nation-wide riots against the Chinese, where the riots were actually 'used' to discredit Megawati's political party.
Aiyah, when those Indon pribumis fought against each other, they used the Chinamen and Chinawomen as convenient surrogate targets to pass the message to Indons that the 'other party' was not reliable or credible. Sounds familiar?
Anyway, Chinese Indonesians have never dropped their Chinese names but (except for a few) kept them in secret. I know because when I was studying in Jakarta I knew many Chinese Indonesian sweeties who revealed their Chinese names to me but only after knowing I was a Chinese Malaysian.
Even when adopting Javanese or Sundanese surnames, the Chinese somehow squeezed in their Chinese surname, though in this practice, there was no standardization. For example those with the 3000+ year old surname of 林 or Lim (in Hokkien as most Chinese Indons were/are Hokkiens) or Lin (in Mandarin) or Lam (in Cantonese) would use Limanto or Halim, etc.
Some who were far more ingenious even used the old Javanese 'wana' (forest) to depict the Chinese 林 (also forest) and then added the male-suffix 'ndi' to come out with Wanandi. Imagine our Wanandi Kit Siang, wakakaka or to sound more native, Wanandi Siang ;-).
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| Bapak Wanandi Siang? Pak bisa menjadi PM, ya? wakakaka |
Not to leave out the equally old and well-known Chinese surname of 陳 or Tan (in Hokkien), or Chen (in Mandarin) or Chan (in Cantonese), those Chinese Indonesians with that surname adopted Sutanto as their family name.
Another example of Chinese cultural ingenuity would be for the even older surname of 張 or Teoh (in Hokkien) or Zhang (in Mandarin) or Cheung (in Cantonese), where its new Indon-styled surname would be Sutiono or Thiono. The Indons spelled Teoh (or Teo) as Tio, presumably in accordance with Dutch-European styled spelling.
Hmmm, come to think of it, I wonder whether Liem Swie King adopted his name as such because he wanted to incorporate his family surname of Ng, though it still doesn't explain why or how the Indonesian government permitted what has been basically a Chinese sounding name?
It was/is the same in Thailand when King Rama VI required the Chinese in Thailand who wished to be citizens to adopt a Thai surname. Mind, the Thai Chinese were subjected to the King's demand much earlier than the Indon Chinese were to Suharto's 1967 presidential edict, as King Rama VI reigned from 1910.
King Rama VI's intention was to minimize racial tensions between native Thais and Chinese Thais. Thus he was far more noble, benevolent and successful in his intention than the Suharto regime's sinister objective, one of persecution against the Chinese which included extorting so-called 'taxes' from rich Chinese businessmen through threats of pogroms being inflicted upon them, but which didn't save the Chinese from such a 'special' anti-Chinese pogrom in 1998.
The Thai Chinese did (much earlier than) what their Indonesian counterparts did, that was, to either incorporate or disguise their Chinese surnames into their new Thai surnames.
A few even had their surnames conferred by the Thai monarch, as was the case for former PM Abhisit Vejjajiva's great grandfather whose Chinese surname was Yuan (袁) and who was King Rama VI's Pubic Health Minister. The royal conferred surname of Vejjajiva means 'medical profession'. Abhisit's father was also a Public Health Minister in 1991 under the military junta which seized power in that year.
Some Thai PMs with full or partial Chinese blood were/are:
But in the two cases of Thailand and Indonesia, the Chinese forced to adopt native or indigenous surnames experienced the following circumstances:
(a) royal demand or military-empowered presidential decree
(b) there was basically a lack of democratic process
(c) the Chinese were minorities - about 10 to now 14 % in Thailand (now 9 million which is more than Malaysia's 7 million) and around 2 to 3% in Indonesia
(d) most important of all, the indigenous names were not religiously linked or tied to a religion.
By contrast, in Malaya (then Malaysia) the Chinese were not compelled to take up indigenous surnames because:
(a) as part of Malaya gaining its independence from Britain, the British overlords extracted agreement from the Malay leaders some safeguards and rights for the non-Malays
(b) Malaya has a British-styled Constitution, Westminster parliamentary system and basically a legal system inherited from the British system, which would have prevented, nay, prohibited such cultural proselytization
(c) The Chinese were not minorities where the British viewed their participation in the independence of Malaya as vital and a pre-condition to British agreement to granting independence to Malaya
(d) without British colonialism, would there have been a nation called Malaya, let alone Malaysia? There certainly were a number of Malay Sultanates but no nation-state as we live in today.
(e) in Malaya, dare we say there was no indigenous name independent of the Arabic or Quranic names which the Malays have adopted, though subsequently with the formation of Malaysia, Sabahan and Sarawakian indigenous names became available.
My uncle who was a military officer told me of a forum in which the issue of Indonesian and Thai enforced surnames for their Chinese citizens was brought up. He cheekily said he was quite willing to adopt a Malaysian indigenous surname like, just as an example, Rudy Harmocko or even Johnny Ningkan, if there was such a royal edict requiring that of Malaysian Chinese.
The adjudicator for the forum (of about 15 participations in his group), a Malay army colonel, was astonished by his suggestion and asked him to truly confirm that he was willing to do so. My uncle replied he was, but (cheekily I suppose) stated he expected everyone in the forum to do likewise, that was, adopt a Malaysian indigenous surname which was not linked to a foreign language (he was insinuating Middle-Eastern names like the ones held by Mahathir).
He related that every Malay in the forum caught his message and most including the adjudicator smilingly admitted that was rather revealing, implying they hadn't thought of their own names as not indigenous.
I wonder how many Malaysians including Malays would adopt Malaysian indigenous names of, say, Ningkan, Jugah, Kitingan, Dompok, Kedit, Ujai, Sailin, Sinoronggoh, Kurutok, Lontugi, Linggotu, Osong, Gampalid, Tupuloh, Derin, Ampalus?
Chinese have not been adverse to adopting non-Chinese names. I am not referring to Christians like Teresa Kok, Hannah Yeoh or Tony Pua. There are non-Christian Chinese who are Buddhists, Confucianists, Taoists or even atheists who have western personal names. I wonder whether Miss Muppet is Buddhist wakakaka.
Once I knew a Malacca sweetie, a very staunch Buddhist but who possesses (on her birth cert and IC) the rather English-Christian name of Abigail, wakakaka.
When I was growing up, my cousin, another staunch Buddhist, encouraged me to adopt a Buddhist first name, in the manner that Christian Penangites did with their Peter, John and Matthew. He offered me Ananda, Aniruddha or Sariputra. Alas, already infused with atheistic values I politely declined but today I have often wondered whether I should have adopted the last (Sariputra) as I might possibly pass myself off as a bumiputra, not for the NEP privileges but for 'improved friendship' with Malay sweeties, wakakaka.
But no Chinese can beat the Hong Kong Chinese for imagination in the adoption of unique first names. On a site which discussed western names Hongkies have adopted, I saw Hitler Wong, Gummy Choi, Winky Cheung, Milky Tam, Chlorine Shum, Power Lau, Natalis Chan, Tats Yeung, Bondy Chau, Solar Yim, Sicily Pang, Jelly Au.
Wonder whether Mr Hitler Wong would be able to get a visa to visit Israel or the USA, wakakaka. But I sure love the 'Chlorine' that Shum had chosen, wakakaka.
I have personally come across Helium Lam, Bendix Lau, Xerox Chan, Neon Shiu, etc.
My hats off to them for breaking away from the influence of traditional British colonialism, wakakaka.
Before I end, do you know that the Thai King of the Thonburi Kingdom, Somdet Phra Chao Taksin (reigned 1767 - 1782) had a Chinese father with the surname of 鄭 or Teh (in Hokkien; spelt Tay in Singapore) or Zheng (in Mandarin).
Another example of Chinese cultural ingenuity would be for the even older surname of 張 or Teoh (in Hokkien) or Zhang (in Mandarin) or Cheung (in Cantonese), where its new Indon-styled surname would be Sutiono or Thiono. The Indons spelled Teoh (or Teo) as Tio, presumably in accordance with Dutch-European styled spelling.
Hmmm, come to think of it, I wonder whether Liem Swie King adopted his name as such because he wanted to incorporate his family surname of Ng, though it still doesn't explain why or how the Indonesian government permitted what has been basically a Chinese sounding name?
It was/is the same in Thailand when King Rama VI required the Chinese in Thailand who wished to be citizens to adopt a Thai surname. Mind, the Thai Chinese were subjected to the King's demand much earlier than the Indon Chinese were to Suharto's 1967 presidential edict, as King Rama VI reigned from 1910.
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| King Rama VI |
King Rama VI's intention was to minimize racial tensions between native Thais and Chinese Thais. Thus he was far more noble, benevolent and successful in his intention than the Suharto regime's sinister objective, one of persecution against the Chinese which included extorting so-called 'taxes' from rich Chinese businessmen through threats of pogroms being inflicted upon them, but which didn't save the Chinese from such a 'special' anti-Chinese pogrom in 1998.
The Thai Chinese did (much earlier than) what their Indonesian counterparts did, that was, to either incorporate or disguise their Chinese surnames into their new Thai surnames.
A few even had their surnames conferred by the Thai monarch, as was the case for former PM Abhisit Vejjajiva's great grandfather whose Chinese surname was Yuan (袁) and who was King Rama VI's Pubic Health Minister. The royal conferred surname of Vejjajiva means 'medical profession'. Abhisit's father was also a Public Health Minister in 1991 under the military junta which seized power in that year.
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| leng chai former Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva |
Some Thai PMs with full or partial Chinese blood were/are:
- Phraya Manopakorn Nititada
- Phraya Phahon Phonphayuhasena
- Plaek Phibunsongkhram
- Pridi Banomyong
- Thawal Thamrong Navaswadhi
- Pote Sarasin
- Tanin Kraivixien
- Chatichai Choonhavan
- Anand Panyarachun
- Suchinda Kraprayoon
- Chuan Leekpai
- Banharn Silpa-archa
- Chavalit Yongchaiyudh
- Thaksin Shinawatra
- Samak Sundaravej
- Abhisit Vejjajiva
- Yingluck Shinawatra
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| Yingluck Shinawatra "A smile that could launch a thousand ships" see how many know what my paraphrased description means? wakakaka |
But in the two cases of Thailand and Indonesia, the Chinese forced to adopt native or indigenous surnames experienced the following circumstances:
(a) royal demand or military-empowered presidential decree
(b) there was basically a lack of democratic process
(c) the Chinese were minorities - about 10 to now 14 % in Thailand (now 9 million which is more than Malaysia's 7 million) and around 2 to 3% in Indonesia
(d) most important of all, the indigenous names were not religiously linked or tied to a religion.
By contrast, in Malaya (then Malaysia) the Chinese were not compelled to take up indigenous surnames because:
(a) as part of Malaya gaining its independence from Britain, the British overlords extracted agreement from the Malay leaders some safeguards and rights for the non-Malays
(b) Malaya has a British-styled Constitution, Westminster parliamentary system and basically a legal system inherited from the British system, which would have prevented, nay, prohibited such cultural proselytization
(c) The Chinese were not minorities where the British viewed their participation in the independence of Malaya as vital and a pre-condition to British agreement to granting independence to Malaya
(d) without British colonialism, would there have been a nation called Malaya, let alone Malaysia? There certainly were a number of Malay Sultanates but no nation-state as we live in today.
(e) in Malaya, dare we say there was no indigenous name independent of the Arabic or Quranic names which the Malays have adopted, though subsequently with the formation of Malaysia, Sabahan and Sarawakian indigenous names became available.
My uncle who was a military officer told me of a forum in which the issue of Indonesian and Thai enforced surnames for their Chinese citizens was brought up. He cheekily said he was quite willing to adopt a Malaysian indigenous surname like, just as an example, Rudy Harmocko or even Johnny Ningkan, if there was such a royal edict requiring that of Malaysian Chinese.
The adjudicator for the forum (of about 15 participations in his group), a Malay army colonel, was astonished by his suggestion and asked him to truly confirm that he was willing to do so. My uncle replied he was, but (cheekily I suppose) stated he expected everyone in the forum to do likewise, that was, adopt a Malaysian indigenous surname which was not linked to a foreign language (he was insinuating Middle-Eastern names like the ones held by Mahathir).
He related that every Malay in the forum caught his message and most including the adjudicator smilingly admitted that was rather revealing, implying they hadn't thought of their own names as not indigenous.
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| Tan Sri Datuk Amar Stephen Kalong Nongkan of mixed Chinese-Iban heritage Chinese name is Mok Teck Boon (same surname as kaytee's, wakakaka) |
I wonder how many Malaysians including Malays would adopt Malaysian indigenous names of, say, Ningkan, Jugah, Kitingan, Dompok, Kedit, Ujai, Sailin, Sinoronggoh, Kurutok, Lontugi, Linggotu, Osong, Gampalid, Tupuloh, Derin, Ampalus?
Chinese have not been adverse to adopting non-Chinese names. I am not referring to Christians like Teresa Kok, Hannah Yeoh or Tony Pua. There are non-Christian Chinese who are Buddhists, Confucianists, Taoists or even atheists who have western personal names. I wonder whether Miss Muppet is Buddhist wakakaka.
Once I knew a Malacca sweetie, a very staunch Buddhist but who possesses (on her birth cert and IC) the rather English-Christian name of Abigail, wakakaka.
When I was growing up, my cousin, another staunch Buddhist, encouraged me to adopt a Buddhist first name, in the manner that Christian Penangites did with their Peter, John and Matthew. He offered me Ananda, Aniruddha or Sariputra. Alas, already infused with atheistic values I politely declined but today I have often wondered whether I should have adopted the last (Sariputra) as I might possibly pass myself off as a bumiputra, not for the NEP privileges but for 'improved friendship' with Malay sweeties, wakakaka.
But no Chinese can beat the Hong Kong Chinese for imagination in the adoption of unique first names. On a site which discussed western names Hongkies have adopted, I saw Hitler Wong, Gummy Choi, Winky Cheung, Milky Tam, Chlorine Shum, Power Lau, Natalis Chan, Tats Yeung, Bondy Chau, Solar Yim, Sicily Pang, Jelly Au.
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| What about a name like Sweetie or Munchie? wakakaka |
Wonder whether Mr Hitler Wong would be able to get a visa to visit Israel or the USA, wakakaka. But I sure love the 'Chlorine' that Shum had chosen, wakakaka.
I have personally come across Helium Lam, Bendix Lau, Xerox Chan, Neon Shiu, etc.
My hats off to them for breaking away from the influence of traditional British colonialism, wakakaka.
Before I end, do you know that the Thai King of the Thonburi Kingdom, Somdet Phra Chao Taksin (reigned 1767 - 1782) had a Chinese father with the surname of 鄭 or Teh (in Hokkien; spelt Tay in Singapore) or Zheng (in Mandarin).
He is today recognized for his warrior role in liberating Thailand from Burmese control, unifying Thailand and for his respectful care for his royal predecessors (which he himself wasn't to enjoy as we'll soon see), and given the title of 'The Great'.
He was also a great linguist and could speak fluently (apart from Thai) Chinese, Annamese (Vietnamese?) and several Indian languages.
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| King Taksin |
Taksin was the only King of the Thonburi Kingdom because he was murdered by his childhood matey and military general, Phrabat Somdet Phra Buddha Yodfa Chuloke, who then seized the Thai throne, reigned as Rama I and founded the Chakri dynasty which lasted until today where the present King of Thailand is Rama IX.
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| King Rama I |
The mother of Rama I was half-Chinese, thus he was like his murdered predecessor, King Taksin The Great, of mixed Thai-Chinese blood.
It seems to me that there could be a danger in forcing Chinese to drop their Chinese names for indigenous ones as the terrible Chinese may work their way up the ladder of power unnoticed, wakakaka.
Your last sentence is the best punchline so far this week in the Chinaman series and in reply to the comments.
ReplyDeleteWonder what Ms. Muppet will think? The devilish work of the red bean DAPsters to blend as Satu Bangsa (or was Satu pushed by someone else? Wakakakaka).
For certain, the sword is two-edged, it will mean that we assimilate an Malay identity and to Malay society minus the religion and culture by virtue of using a name.
Why didn't Tun M have the political will to remove the vernacular schools or adopt Indonesian names like Suharto? Wakakaka.. maybe KTee broke into the man's thoughts... this means everyone with a Malay or bumiputra sounding name can join UMNO too...
A rose by any other name smells just as sweet... Heck, no vernacular in Thailand, Singapore or Indonesia, so what? Like you say, life still goes on and in fact, the Chinese move forward faster on the new track.
In Malaysia, its simple... give a better alternative when we want to remove vernacular schools (even Malay parents are crying for this). The present system sucks. Second, keep the special status of Malays but lead the country in the right path rather than promoting the underseige mentality.
The most needed law this moment is an anti-racist law so that we can keep in check the delicate balance we so cherish.
Hang Li Poh had married Sultan Mansur Shah. Some people said that from the DNA test, Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekiu and Hang Lekir were of Chinese origins.
ReplyDeleteThe five Hangs were believed to be the escorts of Hang Li Poh brought by Admiral Zeng He, a Muslim, to Melaka. They had to be taught the Malay language.
But Prof KKK said Hang Li Poh and all the five Hangs were a mere myth... if not it can be used to debunk the 'Ketuanan Melayu'.
It seems to me that Hang Mok Kaytee is a good sounding indigenous name too... wakaka
kaytee Mokanto? wakakaka, or instead of the Javanese surname, a Sundanese one like Mokanti ;-)
Delete"Mokanto" in Cantonese means informer... wakakakaka...
Deletetwo decades n the chinese will be pm of malaysia for a long long time.try it out umno.
ReplyDeleteDatu Anwar Ktemoc sounds really sexy....
ReplyDeleteAnwar is too Arabic - what about Sri Ananda Wijaya kaytee Mokrahji? wakakaka
DeleteSurnames are very important to the Chinese. Given names are flexible. Plenty of "Banana" Chinese are known by Western given names, and some eve have Japanese style given names.
ReplyDeleteYes, by all means.
ReplyDeleteWhy stop at names? Food, our attire, hobbies, hairdo etc should ideally go indigenous. Religion?
All Australians are aborigines! How nice.
Peace for the world! WAKAKAKA
KT...after reading this posting, the Malay ultras pushing hard for assimilation would think twice....why allow the Chinese to blend in with them so seamlessly to eventually become the Rulers/PMs and Top Dogs by virtue of being smarter and more savvy than the indigenous races ? Now they would rather have the Chinese migrate out and bring in droves of Banglas, Indos, Burmese and Pakis etc to ultimately make the country having at least 95% malays, wa ka ka ka.
ReplyDeleteYou left an important point. The British created the mess (division of race) but don't want to handle it. They refused to give British citizenship and thus force it upon tanah melayu/ Malaya as it was then known.
ReplyDeleteBut most Chinese don't get this. Lks dap etc have always argued that its racist not to put Malaysian first. Anything smells of Malay rights or culture is racists. (Can give many examples). But dap has no qualm in separating our youngs by race for the sake of Chinese culture. What is this? They don't put Malaysian first so by definition they're racist. Dap and lks are racist. But what turn many people off is when they justify racism chauvinistically by defending only selective race mother tounge and culture. Hypocrite betul.
Ps. If you had gone deeper, if there's assimilation race will not be an issue. Malays have always accepted other races as Malays as long as they practice Islam and speaks Malay. So many examples. You know why? By Islam there's a brotherhood already.
My uncles (and my late father) were British citizens, but they didn't take it up, preferring to remain in Penang after 1957 as Malayan, so don't blame the British. Besides, it was a collective Malay, Chinese and Indian group which requested independence from the British. Please don't twist the truth.
DeleteDAP has always promoted Malaysian first so you mustn't be untruthful. DAP in fact has never promoted nor represented only the Chinese. OTOH, UMNO has always promoted Malays only, while its crony MCA and MIC have respectively promoted its own ethnic group, to an extent where they (MCA/MIC leaders) benefited themselves through the cronyism.
DAP supports vernacular education as a human rights issue but without ignoring Bahasa as the national and official language. DAP recognizes and accepts Bahasa as the language of Malaysia but also promotes the concept that every Malaysia has a right to pursue study of any language he/she chooses, in accordance with his/her constitutional rights. Again, please do not be untruthful.
I'm for assimilation but never under the cloud of mandated religion. Non-Malay Malaysians should be allowed freedom of religion. This is why assimilation in Thailand and to some extent in Indonesia has been unsuccessful because there is no compulsion in religion in their assimilation programs, where one can be an Indon and at the same time a Christian or a Hindu or a Buddhist or a Muslim. Likewise in Thailand.
But can we ever be that in Malaysia? You have already answered this question, that Malays will only accept assimilation under Islam, and that is why we fail and will continue failing while the Thais and Indons succeed. But then, UMNO has never supported assimilation.
typo correction to one sentence - re sentence "This is why assimilation in Thailand and to some extent in Indonesia has been unsuccessful because there is no compulsion in religion in their assimilation programs" it should be 'successful' and not 'unsuccessful'
DeleteThere is no such human rights allowing separation of our youngs by race. My children have no non Malay friends. I've done human rights. A government policy separating our youngs by race is antithesis to human rights. Who gave you the right to deprive my children of befriending in school of friends from other races?
DeleteFurther the argument of human rights is highly hypocritical. There are many ethnics (more than 30) with different ethnic mother tounge. Dap never fought for more than 30 types of schools. Why? Coz we will be segregated. All this fight based on mother tounge and language is hypocritical and a cloak to defend racism.
Further your uncle being offered citizenship does not negate the fact that British simply refused citizenship to offer all those migrants (at that time) British citizenship. It does not negate the fact that Malaya was forced to give citizenship as part of settlement for independence.
DeleteOn assimilation, there is a contradiction when one believes in assimilation as well as separation of our youngs by race. By living separately (having different schools eg), speak differently, working only with own race, it can hardly be called assimilation. When Chinese in Indonesia speaks school and wear similarly, the majority can't see the difference in appearance. All are Indonesians. Thus religion is up to them. Here in Malaysia the Chinese wants to maintain all this yet argue pretentiously they dont and think Malays don't see it.
Ps On umno, Non Muslims bumi are accepted as part of umno. I didn't mention umno but Malays but think your statement on umno is erroneous.
'British simply refused citizenship to offer all those migrants (at that time) British citizenship. It does not negate the fact that Malaya was forced to give citizenship as part of settlement for independence.'
DeleteThis is a LIE!!!!
British did give citizen to all her legalised inhabitants under her Dominion. That accounted for KT's uncle's citizenship.
The key word HERE is British Dominion. Malaya was part of the British Dominion, so was NOT a separate country.
When Malaya was formed, it's the effort all the races inhabited in Malays. In fact, truth to be told MCA was the 1st to called for independent (Read yr history!!!).
The citizenship given to all the Chinese/Indian Malayan was a AGREED part of the deal for British to allow Malaya to become independent.
There is NO Quid pro quo as claimed by u &/or umno ultras that that Malaya was forced to give citizenship as part of settlement for independence.
This is a MYTH perpetuated by bigots.
Ellese, national type schools have pathetic standards (and also racist principals). Your children can socialize with the nons outside school. You cannot simply suppress the rights of nons to study at a school of their own choosing just to cater to your children's social requirements.
DeleteThe Chinese started their schools which is OPEN TO ALL<\ unlike Mara and UiTM. Malays and Indians are attending such Chinese schools because of the excellent standards and caring teachers.
Ellese,
DeleteAwak datang sini bising bising buat apa?
Jawablah pasal Sekolah Agama dan Kolej MARA.
HYPOCRITE!
Ellese,
DeleteMake the national type school secular and improve the quality of the education system and many nons will willingly put their children in these schools. Religious education should be on your own time.
'Ps. If you had gone deeper, if there's assimilation race will not be an issue. Malays have always accepted other races as Malays as long as they practice Islam and speaks Malay. So many examples. You know why? By Islam there's a brotherhood already.'
DeleteAssimilation is about insignificant minority blend into majority, In Malaysia, it is extremely difficult as chinese is significant minority. But no matter what races, blending into each other is a good thing, not only chinese/indian into malay, malay into chinese indian too should be supported. While I do not see there is a problem with chinese/indian assimilated into malay (having islam as religion, speak bahasa) but i do see a lot of obstacle for malay to blend into other races, there is no religion freedom for malay. Also speaking on vernacular school, those school do not prohibit your children from entering it, unlike sekolah agama or Mara, UiTM. Is an added advantage for your kid to be able to speak mandarin, so why abolished it. Vernacular school is not dividing the nation as long as they taught bahasa and english in their curriculum, they are no way close to 'racist'. I also have chinese friend that are from sekolah kebangsaan. It just a matter of choice whether you want your kid to equip one more language skill. If you see your kid not making any chinese friend, feel unbalance about it, send your kid to chinese school, a lot of open minded malay starting to do so too.
'Ps. If you had gone deeper, if there's assimilation race will not be an issue. Malays have always accepted other races as Malays as long as they practice Islam and speaks Malay. So many examples. You know why? By Islam there's a brotherhood already.'
DeleteAssimilation is about insignificant minority blend into majority, In Malaysia, it is extremely difficult as chinese is significant minority. But no matter what races, blending into each other is a good thing, not only chinese/indian into malay, malay into chinese indian too should be supported. While I do not see there is a problem with chinese/indian assimilated into malay (having islam as religion, speak bahasa) but i do see a lot of obstacle for malay to blend into other races, there is no religion freedom for malay. Also speaking on vernacular school, those school do not prohibit your children from entering it, unlike sekolah agama or Mara, UiTM. Is an added advantage for your kid to be able to speak mandarin, so why abolished it. Vernacular school is not dividing the nation as long as they taught bahasa and english in their curriculum, they are no way close to 'racist'. I also have chinese friend that are from sekolah kebangsaan. It just a matter of choice whether you want your kid to equip one more language skill. If you see your kid not making any chinese friend, feel unbalance about it, send your kid to chinese school, a lot of open minded malay starting to do so too.
Have always wondered whether the Chinese can survive without BN and vise versa..in the economic sense.doubt they will starve...who needs who more...or are both indispensable to each other? or not ? a large part of the chinese community in this country has been going about doing business amongst themselves for so long and thriving.. just have to walkabout pasar malams ,and the chinese food courts ,bak kut teh stalls not withstanding..to the SMIs and importers n exporters..and even listed Cos. esp doing business wf the east Asian side. truth be told , they are already successfully doing so , with but a small percentage of inter business dealings with the other communities. if the chinese equation were taken out of Malaysia , really curious as to how UMNO/BN would fare?
ReplyDeleteEllese A10:15 pm, June 26, 2013:
ReplyDelete"Malays have always accepted other races as Malays as long as they practice Islam and speaks Malay. So many examples. You know why? By Islam there's a brotherhood already. "
I like how you say it so casually, as if forcing others to convert to your religion before "accepting" them is just another casual thing, like picking up another dress.
So much for "no compulsion in Islam" and "islam advocates equality". I guess in your eyes, as long as someone is not Islam, they are not an equal or "fully accepted". Way to look down on the orang asli, christian Malays in borneo and Indonesia. In other words, Muslims from Pakistan, Rohingnya etc who might cause trouble are accepted with open arms?
Is there such a word as religion-ist?
-jenny
Jenny,
DeleteI've never written about compulsion but its you who said so. So you justify yourself with such assertion.
Its a fact that there are many Chinese whom we Malay regard as brothers since they convert to Islam. You know this as well. No one forcing anyone to masuk Islam. Its a counter argument to many who says they cannot be Malay.
Further your argument on equality are wholly false. Everyone who practice a religion must believe their religion is better than the rest. They believe they are on the right course. Your argument on equality doesn't make sense. If all religion are equal why have religion?
No no religion-ist but got "narrow-mind bigot"
DeleteAND, when and was it ever that Ellese were denoted as an Islamic name. Ellese can accept her own non-Islamic name but has objection to others being non- Islamic. This might be called a personal identity confusion.
How on earth can such a confused person give public advice on what is halal or otherwise?
KT, your timely article on Rudd & Anwar must have provoked some realignment of Aussie Labor gravitational forces with the extremely swift ascension of Rudd to the top of the food chain last night.
DeleteMy friends tell me KuLi might initiate a similar gravitational realignment but I cannot see this happening at all in Tanah Air kita.
Anyway, congratulations on a well-timed article.
Haha..anon 7:18 am....I was quite blown off when who but Mr Rudd suddenly appeared on the tv screen, very smug-looking after his victory, giving false praise to the lady :) Yes, part of all this must be due to KT's timely article having dealt some sort of extreme force for his change of fortune !
DeleteThat Ellese....Jenny cakap lain, dia reply yang lain...so typical of him....cannot even grasp the issue in discussion and yet tundered on ever so nauseatingly, so smugly, so bigoted-ly. It seemed there's a malay phrase Bodoh Sombong or something like that...?
DeleteDear KT,
ReplyDeleteLikewise as Ellese, I would like to put the blame on the British.
The truth of the matter is that our land was formerly known as “Tanah Melayu”. That’s the reason why we still have the Malay Sultans until today. We were indeed ruled by the British for more than a hundred years. Thus, I think Ellese is correct when he said “The British created the mess (division of race) but don't want to handle it.”
I would support my point with this statement from Lord Cromer: “England was prepared to grant political freedom to all her possessions as soon as a generation imbued through English culture were ready to take over, but under no circumstances would the British for a single moment tolerate an independent Islamic state”. [Please refer to Cromer in ‘Modern Egypt’ Volume 11 (London & New York: Macmillan 1908) Pg 565]
Lord Cromer was absolutely correct. Some of our leaders who went to England to study, “merely continued the development philosophy of the former colonial powers and shared its biases and prejudices”. This was pointed out by Shaharuddin Ma’aruf.
In addition, we cannot deny it, that most of us, be it Malay, Chinese, Indians and others who were/are educated overseas, generally, look down and ridicule the NON-Western cultures, history and worldviews. Yours truly inclusive I guess. By the way, there are some Malays/Muslims who drink whisky and brandy, eat ham and bacon and speak impeccable English… wakaka
“Malays have always accepted other races as Malays as long as they practice Islam and speaks Malay. So many examples. You know why? By Islam there's a brotherhood already”. True and I would subscribe to that statement by Ellese.
However, “Let there be no compulsion in religion” as said in the Qur’an, re The Heifer: Verse 256. It may be said the fact that when the creator of all wisdom and the most benevolent of the merciful, God Almighty Himself has allowed or forbidden something, this should be the greatest intellectual argument in support of it. Such a strong argument in relation to which no man-made reason and argument can stand any comparison.
hasan
Know yr truth history lah.
DeleteB4 the British came to colonise Malaya, there was never a place known as 'Tanah Melayu'.
The Portuguese never mentioned it. Neither the Dutch!
As to the story of '..the reason why we still have the Malay Sultans until today.', u should ask yrself about that deep-rooted feudalistic nature, reinforced further by years of umno BTN-ized propaganda of only umno could defend the Raja-raja Melayu, which was/is the moored symbol of ketuanan that the British mastered to subjugated the Malay Malayan.
Imagine how simple it is to control a high & mighty crony, who in turn manage hundreds of feudalistic slaves.
The Indians in the sub-continent had faced it & disbanded the system. So r the Chinese under the Communist.
When r u going to release u people from this chain of the feudalism???
The Malays have been here for more than 500 years. Did you not read about Tome Pires, a Portuguese who had lived in Melaka for about three years, and who in 1515 said “Dan yang sebenarnya Muhammad akan dimusnahkan, dan tidak dapat dielakkan dia akan dimusnahkan !!”
DeleteSo, from your write, you are saying that we should get rid of genealogical monarchy and replace it with meritocracy aristocrats (the politicians)? I would like to know what is your stand on the constitutional monarchy in Britain?
hasan
'The Malays have been here for more than 500 years.'
DeleteU mean the Orang Asal/Asli, don't u?
The 'Malays' that u r indirectly meant is only a creation of the Fed Constitution. This group of people is new immigrants, just like the Nons!
BTW, what u'd quoted from Tome Pires, is 2nd hand heresay. Tom Pires's 'The Suma Oriental' was written in Portuguese NOT in Malay/Indonesian/Hindus. Do better than that, next time.
As for yr last question, u should known that Prophet Mohd had said that no man is better than the others, we all stand on the same ground. So what bull is yr concept of genealogical monarchy and replace it with meritocracy aristocrats (the politicians)?
For that matter, the British Queen should go the way of the dinosaur. Its just that the pomies r too good to milk her for tourist money & other pageantry incomes. What the British govt gets from this source is more than what they spent in maintaining her. Unlike the ones in Malaysia, which is a black hole for taxpayer's money & national morality.
Sorry mate, I cannot see even a suggestion of something good in your write, unlike in poison-pen letter in which the poison consists precisely of a small germ of truth for me to think about. Thanks mate.
Deletehasan
Hassan:
Delete"“Malays have always accepted other races as Malays as long as they practice Islam and speaks Malay. So many examples. You know why? By Islam there's a brotherhood already”. True and I would subscribe to that statement by Ellese. "
The main problem I have with that statement, is that it prioritises someone just by religion alone. I have read comments by someone who said that giving out citizenships freely in Sabah was no big deal, because it was to increase the number of Muslims in Malsysia!
Just like the gov turns a blind eye to many illegal immigrants from Indonesia and Pakistan, for example. And these same ppl are then granted bumiputera rights.
Personally, I'd evaluate a person only by his character, not by whatever religion he professes. There can be bad Muslims, good Christian or even good atheists. Just like the extremists in Middle East. Just like the Christians and Inquisition in the past. Just like the rampant corruption by our so-called Muslim leaders.
Just because someone proclaims himself a Muslim/Christian/Hindu/whatever doesn't make him/her a good person in my book unless I know his character.
-jenny
Jenny,
DeleteI think Ellese has mentioned about the Muslim Brotherhood or in Islam we call it “Ikhwan al Muslimun”. Islam is not a political faith. Islam addresses itself more to the community rather than to the individual per se. A true representation of Muslim brotherhood is not to attack Christians or Nons but asked them to join hands in confronting the tragedy of human evil.
Islam is not Malay and Malay is not necessarily Islam. To investigate Islam according to the topography of politics is bound merely to discover hatreds for the Malays. This is because politics have colonized and exploited the illegal immigrants into new Malays which were/are seen as a direct challenge to Nons and its political domination.
My comment on Ellese’s write is angled to the religious and physical dimensions and not politics. However, contemporary political events and objectivity will always took the upper hand over religious belief and faith. Thus, the mere fact of being Malay or Chinese has profound political consequences.
Nevertheless, you can take comfort that most Malays are not trouble makers. Most of them join hands with the Nons in confronting corruption and racism. Cheers.
-hasan
Correction... 'Modern Egypt" Volume 11 should be read as Volume II (or Volume 2)
ReplyDeletehasan
Meaningless to an atheist!
DeleteIt is a not a problem or an issue. A forced belief/faith is no religion.
Deletewhy and how hokkien, cantonese, hakka, khek, teowchew & the rest from china and tamils and punjabis from india 'migrated' to malaya, siam and indonesia? were there tin mines and rubber plantations in indonesia and siam? what were the circumstances that caused 'the great migration' to malaya especially?. no doubt there were baba & nyonya, mamak, arab already settled in malaya before british occupation.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't be surprised that U never passed any history test in school?
Deletemalaysian school? even if someone failed in the test, it doesn't make him/her ignorant of the past events. learn history and understand why things happened and since nasi sudah jadi bubur, let's live on geography. we can't choose our parents but we can determine how and what our offsprings be like. cheers!
ReplyDelete“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Winston Churchill
DeleteGeorge Santayana, not Winston CHurchill
DeleteThanks, KT.
Deletefailing the test and failing to learn and understand are two different things. malayan/malaysian history has many versions. anyway why shd malays adopt native names like ningkan, jugah and what have you since they have their own such as melati, seroja, bawang putih, bawang merah, hitam, puteh, delima and many more. but the problem is most malays want to be arabs. muslim javanese still maintain their native names which don't make them less muslim.
Delete"Most Malays want to be Arabs" ?
DeleteYesterday morning at the hotel breakfast, I exchanged pleasantries with what looked like a typical middle-class Chinese family who could be from anywhere in Malaysia or perhaps Singapore.
ReplyDeleteI spoke to them first in Mandarin, but they didn't comprehend. Not that unusual, there are Chinese Malaysians who are non-Mandarin speakers. I switched to English, which they were fluent in, but with an unusual accent. Only when the kids spoke to their parents in Bahasa Indonesia then it became obvious where they were from.
So they are completely assimilated from a language point of view - their children have Bahasa Indonesia as their First or home language.
Both husband and wife were obviously ethnic Chinese, and the family's lifestyle, dressing and outlook are more similar to Malaysian Chinese , not typically native Indonesian.
So they haven't lost their ethnic and cultural identity, but have basically lost the language.
How much of cultural identity is also lost when you lose the language ? As an English-educated Banana ( I attended Chinese classes much later as an adult), I realised that culture is heavily bound with language, and large parts of a community's culture is inaccessible unless you are fluent in the language.
Just a bit of social observation from my travels around the country.
Besides language, religion plays a very important role in shaping one's culture. For instance, a Muslim Chinese may be known as Riduan Teh Bin Addullah. Which means he has no Chinese name. His children may even drop the family surname.
DeleteMuslims in China, who preceded Muslims in Malaya/Indonesia by more than 500 years, have just Chinese names (I'm sure Allah swt knows they are Muslims without their need for a 'bin Abdullah' or any Arabic name).
DeleteThe famous Hsing I (Xinyi quan martial arts) master, Ma Xueli, was a Muslim.
And so was Admiral Zheng He who visited Malacca - see http://bolehtalk.blogspot.com.au/2007/03/bend-ethnic-belief-bin-bin-abdullah.html
Actually the Muslim Hui people have both a Chinese name and a Muslim name. Based on old imperial edicts, their public names must be Chinese, but they all privately retained their Muslim names, which are Arabic-based.
DeleteMa , a common name among the Hui, is an alias for Muhammad.
The system is akin to the law in Indonesia, where all the Chinese had to be known by Indonesian (Malay) formal names, but within the family, many were given personal Chinese names.
Apparently I had Hui ancestors, but when the family moved to Malaya (at the time) they ceased to be Muslims and blended into the wider Chinese community.
I love Hui people, especially this one http://fashioncentral.asia/celebrities-profiles/jj-jia/attachment/jj-jia-hot-chinese-model-12/ wakakaka
DeleteIt's Chinese tradition to bury the dead. Owing to Buddhism influnce, more are cremated nowadays.
DeleteLao Tze, founder of Taoism (Daoism), when asked how he wished to be buried after his death, replied (words to the effect): "If you bury my corpse, the maggots will eat it, if you leave my corpse unburied, the birds (vultures) will have it. It makes no difference to me; after all I'll then be dead."
DeleteOne of a few exceptions.
DeleteWah...Muslim Hui like that ah ?
DeleteI'm used to thinking Hui women cover their hair and wear baggy, conservative dress....and any guy wanting to marry them have to "potong"...wakakakaka...
here's another one, Cecila Liu Shishi
Deletephotos of her - https://www.google.com.au/search?q=Cecilia+Liu+Shi+Shi&rlz=1C1ASUT_enAU467AU469&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=NUTNUYL_LoSikQX1rYGYAQ&ved=0CE0QsAQ&biw=1366&bih=574
Liu Duo, Miss Chia World 2006 is another Hui hottie. She's tall at 178 cm.
Deletehttp://chinese10.com/models/Liu-Duo.html
Don't get too excited...most of the Hui sweeties look like this....
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HuiChineseMuslim3.jpg
I think the Chinese are immensely a practical people. But others have also not been spared. For example in Malaysia, many Sikhs had to follow the Indian practice of including their father's name after their personal name. It made sense because South Indians largely did not use or have surnames. Their style allowed them to trace their ancestors. Later - after 1940s - Malaysian Sikhs in some cases reverted to using their surnames in birth certificates and other documents (although in other cases the father's name was also included to satisfy the clerks in Registration Department).
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is that some Sikh converts (sometimes from Hinduism) adopted Jat surnames. I do not know what the reason is but it has been suggested it helped them as the Jats are the aristocracy of Sikhism. Incidentally Jats are a race that defeated Alexander the Great's army in Bahawalpur (in the Punjab).
In the West, Sikhs who have intermarried use their surnames in the Western style i.e. the wife adopts the husband's family name after marriage.
Hi, how about the surname ooi (Hokkien)
ReplyDeleteCan you suggest some indonesian names?
黃 (Huang) = Duthch-spelt Oei, Oey, Ng, Wie = in Indon are Darwis, Wienathan, Wibowo, Widiatmo, Wijaya, Widjaja, Winata, Widodo, Winoto, Willy, Wiryo, Wirya, Wiraatmadja, Winarto, Witoelar, Winardi, Wibisono, Wiryono, Wiranata, Wiyono, Wijono, Wuisan, Wijanarko
DeleteI think the Chinese Indons played on the 'Wi' (as in the Dutch spelt Wie for Ooi)