Apa lagi Tionghua mahu?

Star Online - The palace factor in Johor politics (extracts):

Johoreans have wholeheartedly embraced the Bangsa Johor concept promoted by him.

“It gives them a sense of belonging and pride. The Sultan understands his state and his people. He has gone to every corner of the state to meet his subjects; he sits and eats with them,” said political risk analyst Amir Fareed Rahim.

The Chinese, said Amir, loved it too because it meant people were not segregated into class or race. It also gave the Chinese a sense that as Johoreans, they were regarded as equals.

“The Sultan is concerned about stability. He does not want politics to affect religious tolerance in our state. He wants Johor to be harmonious and continue to grow,” said Datuk Tey Kim Chai, president of the Tiong Hua Federation of Johor.

The Johor royal family, said writer and political commentator Eddin Khoo, had become a unifier for Johoreans.

No, this post is NOT about His Majesty Sultan of Johor, Malaysian politics, least of all the Gelang Patah incumbent, or the coming combat à mort (deathmatch) in Ayer Hitam.

It's about a lexical mystery, regarding the use of the word Tionghua in Malaysia as read above in ... president of the Tiong Hua Federation of Johor.

Tionghua is written as 中华 (simplified Chinese) or 中華 (traditional Chinese). In Mandarin the word is pronounced as zhōnghua where zhōng (or tiong) means 'middle' but signifies China (from Zhōngguó or Tiongkok or Middle Kingdom), whilst hua (or hwa) literally means 'glorious' (correct me if I am wrong here) but generally refers to the Chinese race. 

Whilst in the past (approximately 20 years ago or more) the Bahasa word for Chinese in Malaysia was Cina (modern Malay spelling) or China (earlier Malay spelling), the Indonesians had long used the word Tionghua (older spelling 'Tionghwa' or as used in Indonesia as per Dutch-influenced spelling, Tionghoa).

baju tradisi Tionghoa

Thus one who lived in Malaysia at least 20 years ago (eg. kaytee, wakakaka) would have expected something along this line, namely, ... president of the Chinese Federation of Johor or ... Presiden Persekutuan Cina Negeri Johor, but the change of term from Cina to Tionghua has obviously taken place sometime in the last 20 years or so.

I am not sure how that happened but according to lexicon experts, the word Cina (or China) has derogatory imputation (racist slurring) thus that could possibly be one reason for the lexical migration, namely, to address modern sensitivity.

Does apa lagi Tionghua mahu sound less racist than apa lagi Cina mahu?

Wakakaka.

"If more proof is needed of the role of Chinese racism in the 13th GE, the demonstrations accusing BN of fraud and cheating in the elections, despite being organised by Anwar and PKR, are largely attended by Chinese, especially the young."

"Within the country and abroad, Chinese youths wearing black shirts and masks made up most of the demonstrators. Usually Malays make up the majority of the demonstrators."

"The lack of respect for the national flag was shown by Chinese young people in Taiwan holding it upside down. Although DAP and PKR participated in these demos, PAS members were noticeably absent."

"In fact PAS leaders dissociated themselves from the agitation to overthrow the government through street demos ala Arab Spring. The protests seem to be mainly a Chinese affair.”- Mahathir in his blog