Is TunM a Malay or a Mamak?

Focus Malaysia:

Is TunM a Malay or a Mamak?

BY VIRTUE of his grandfather Iskandar Kutty being an Indian who married a Malay, is twice former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad genetically a Mamak or a Malay?


This question would not have arisen had the nonagenarian not raised the question about the loyalty of the Chinese and Indians in Malaysia whose ancestral roots may go even more than Dr Mahathir’s two generations back.

The Peranakan Chinese, for example, have even deeper roots going back to the Malaccan sultanate.


The question about Dr Mahathir’s identity card is a matter of the court between him and UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi which will not be discussed in this article.

However, it must be stated that his seditious remarks made recently has mainly hurt the feelings of the Indian community.

His frequent punching bag

The Malaysian Chinese community have generally tolerated his babbling long enough over the past few decades. Instigating the Malays to label the DAP as “communists”, the former Langkawi MP has often used the Chinese as his punching bag whenever he tried to garner the support of the Malays.

Therefore, what he is saying now about the Indians and Chinese being disloyal to the country hardly disturbs the latter because it is already a well-acknowledged fact that the nonagenarian’s unfettered tongue spews toxic speeches.

Many leaders in the past, including the country’s statesman and Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman had warned UMNO against Dr Mahathir himself.

Much of what we know today about the political – rather than racial clashes in the May 13 incident – can be traced back to the poison letter written by Dr Mahathir himself. This instigated the Malays against the Tunku.

He should have been charged for sedition as his poison letter led to political clashes between the winners and losers of the third general election in 1969.

While there was fighting in the major cities, the entire country was still enjoying the peace and harmony. Malays and Chinese, for example, were looking out for each other.


Malay proclamation, really?

There is no doubt that he is attempting to do the same by instigating his former nemesis PAS to unseat Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Because of their own political agenda, PAS leaders including Tan Sri Hadi Awang are too quick to forget the Memali incident.

For this reason, former Sungai Benut MP Tawfik Ismail lambasted Dr Mahathir’s “Malay Proclamation” as nothing but “politics of convenience” while claiming that it is Dr Mahathir himself who has caused Malay disunity more than anyone else.

In this writer’s opinion, he has also destroyed the social fabrics of a multi-cultural Malaysia which will take years to heal.

Tawfik further described Dr Mahathir’s Malay unity as a “chimera, a mythical creature” made up of different parts of different creatures.”

Hence, this article brings into focus the question of who the author of Malay Dilemma really is – whether he is truly a Malay or as alleged by Tawfik, merely using the Malays for his own agenda.


No one can change ancestry

The late Michael Jackson

The late Michael Jackson is a good example of someone who tried to be white when he was born an African American.

Hence, no matter how Jackson tried to “bleach” himself, the former world-renowned American singer, songwriter and dancer will never be able to wipe off his ancestry. His siblings are great artists and well-loved by the American society for their music.

The Jacksons

The Oxford English dictionary describes a Mamak as respectfully “a person of Tamil Muslim origin or descent living in Malaysia and Singapore”.

Dr Mahathir’s ancestry can be traced to one Iskandar Kutty from Kerala, India. Iskandar was a Tamil Muslim who migrated to Malaya and later settled down in the country after marrying a local Malay woman Siti Hawa from Johor.

His son adopted the name Mohamad Iskandar with the name Kutty dropped. This is understandable as some Muslims may want to drop anything that sounds Hindu; however, in Malaysia, there are still a number of respected Kutty descendants who proudly keep the “family” name Kutty intact.

Among them are Dr Fazila Mohamed Kutty (Consultant Paediatrician & Neonatologist at the Avisena Women’s & Children’s Specialist Hospital), Dr Faridah Mydin Kutty (lecturer at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) and Professor Shamsul Rahman Mohamed Kutty (a lecturer at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS).

In most cultures, including the Malay culture, the ancestry follows the lineage of the fathers – never the mothers. In short, one can change the religion but the race remains unchanged.


Is Mahathir a Mamak then?

By lineage therefore, despite marrying a “pure” local Malay woman Wan Tempawan Wan Hanafi, Mohamad Iskandar remains a Mamak. There is no denial that he was the son of a migrant from India.

Today, Dr Mahathir should realise that by playing on racial and religious sentiments for his own political agenda would attract brickbats even from the Malays. This is a sign of him reaping what he sowed through the years – all the seeds of hatred that pitched one race against another.

To answer our question, Dr Mahathir is technically a Mamak but unlike most other Mamak in the country who are respectfully Indian Muslims and creating a niche in the restaurant business, he chose to destroy the social fabrics of this nation.


Constitutionally Malay

How then is Dr Mahathir considered a Malay? He is a Malay by definition of Federal Constitution that a Malay is someone who (a) is a Muslim, (b) speaks Malay, and (c) culturally a Malay.

Such a definition opens the floodgate for any new migrant whether Indonesian, Bangladeshi or Rohinya to claim himself/herself to be a Malay but neither the law nor the constitution can over-ride the power of the genes that determine our race.

Dr Mahathir should take the cue from Muhammad Ali. Unlike Michael Jackson, the world boxing sensation remained an African American even after converting to Islam and he never turned himself into a “white” figure.

For that, black is indeed beautiful. – Jan 23, 2024