by Prof. Dr. Mohamad Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi
I wish to comment on the move by certain individuals who wish to suggest that the name “Islam’ should not be used for any political party. I wish to argue in this essay that not only the names Islam, Christian, Hindu, Buddha be spared from use in a political party but also the names of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan etc. also be banned from use in such organisations.
I will argue that in order to foster racial and cultural harmony in this country, these names must not be used for any organization that can contest in the General Election but these names can be used for other organizations such as clubs, societies and educational institutions. However, as I will explain, there should be some control of curriculum and student enrolment with respect to educational institutions such as universities, colleges and schools.
It does not take a genius to assumed that certain individuals who have asked for the name of Islam be eliminated may not have nation building in mind or the interest of preserving Islam, but simply to throw the political party PAS in disarray and play the ‘extremist’ card to the public. As a seasoned observer of Malaysian politics, I can smell a scheme from a mile away.
To be fair, PAS, as a political party, has grown from a narrow minded entity to a liberal stand that is winning the hearts and minds of not only moderate Malays but more importantly it is winning the non-Malays in droves with it’s stand on many controversial religious issue.
For the first time in the history of Malaysian politics, the non-Malays are ready to put PAS along with its political partners to walk into Putrajaya with style and confidence. This has put some fears on some irresponsible ‘friends’ of the ruling parties because their demonising efforts to scare non-Malays and non-Muslims of their version of the ‘extremist PAS’ have run out of steam.
Having established that I know the political scenario and origin of the intention, I am taking advantage of the suggestion by extending the argument to the question of the relevance of religious and race based names on political parties.
The four political parties that has race and religious based names are, as we know, PAS for the Islamic Party of Malaysia, UMNO or the United Malay National Organisation, MCA, the Malaysian Chinese Association and MIC, the Malaysian Indian Association.
To be fair to all these important and mainstream political parties, they have all contributed significantly and positively to the construction of the idea of ‘Malaysia’.
When Malaysia was born it was natural for UMNO, MCA and MIC to protect the interests of each race as the socio-economic disparity created by the colonialist would be disastrous to this country in the long run.
The early UMNO under the first two prime ministers were most important in setting the tone for DEB or the New Economic Policy that saw Malays rise to economic and social equality. I believe, regardless of what some quarters might argue, from my personal observation, the Malays are already ‘there’.
I am confident of my career and my children’s future as Malays and Muslims in this country not because of Mahathir, Badawi or Najib, but because of Tun Abd. Razak and Tunku Abdul Rahman. These were the real heroes of Muslims and Malays who set the first foundation stones for racial equality through education and economic strength.
Likewise, the Chinese and Indians within their own race based parties of MCA and MIC had worked hard to ensure that their race were protected from extremism of any kind and serve as a balancing act whilst the Malays struggled hard to redefine their modern identity.
For that matter, PAS can be considered as instrumental in saving Islam from merely becoming a ritual or traditional belief system but soared high not only as a philosophy of governing a state or a nation but also to be generous among the populace of non-Muslim in its moderate outlook.
To my mind, all these political parties have best served the nation and the time has come for us to move on to a different discourse of nation building. All things change and no one political party can claim ‘dulu, kini dan selamanya’ forever.
To do so would be to be blasphemous against Islam as only Allah The Most High is Everlasting. We have all heard of the saying ‘overstaying your welcome’ and also ‘overkill’ and the Malay phrase ‘buat baik berpada-pada’. We have to move on. We MUST move on.
I am NOT suggesting the total elimination of the spirit of UMNO, MCA, MIC and PAS but I am asking, for the sake of my children and grand children, that these organisations change their status to NGO’s or socio-cultural institutions to help Malays, Chinese, Indians and Muslims in any way they can.
Let NO political party use any religion or race in their party name. Their manifesto must be all encompassing in outlook and philosophy and their membership must be from of all races. In this way we will avoid the existence of Parti Keristian Se Malaysia fighting against Parti Buddha Se Malaysia.
We shall avoid race politics altogether with parties subscribing to such words as Parti Sosialis, Liberalis, Konservatif, Demokratis and whatever else that would indicate a view towards better organisation of man.
Does this mean that I am confining Islam and religious values or discussion outside of Parliament? NO!! By all means bring in your religious and even race based concern in Parliament but be open and liberal in presentation as well as civil in argument.
One must accept, after a good debate, what is good for all and not just scriptural literalist interpretation. I know enough about Islam that it is a religion that can work with anyone who has the universal concept of goodness in their hearts.
Now I wish to dwell with the concept of race based or religious educational institutions. I am referring to the Islamic Religious Schools, the Chinese and Indian Vernacular Schools and one of the biggest universities in the world UiTM.
Again, with the same respect and argument as before, the creation of these institutions in the early formation of Malaysia was crucial and essential to the survival of the heritage and tradition of each race and religion. All these organisations have proved their worth time and again and thus, it is now time to move on.
Even we cannot keep eating the same food or perform the same work rituals for the rest of our lives. Health and Motivation Gurus have asked us to embrace change and if we do not, we will be subjecting ourselves to a much lower quality of life in the long run. Do I mean that we should SHUT down all these institutions? Again…NO!!!
How could we do such a terrible thing! They all must exist and even fully supported by all Malaysians. But all they have to change is simply to look upon themselves as Cultural entities that invite others who are not of the same race or religion to participate in understanding and appreciating the Islamic Culture, the Chinese or Indian civilization and the Malay World view and Adab. This is the change.
I can imagine UiTM becoming an International University of Malay Civillization. The doors of the university will be open to all who wish to immerse in the Malay Adab or values while pursuing engineering, social or art courses. Each student MUST take a few courses in Malay Civilization and of course the beautiful Malay Language. Each student must also abide to the modesty and values of whatever the university specify.
I can see that for the next 50 years the New UiTM will still have an 80% Malay majority but they have been able to educate 20% non-Malays about the values of the Malay cultural entity. In this, I am following in the footsteps of the International Islamic University of Malaysia where each non-Muslim student is required to take simple Arabic and Islamic Civilizational courses.
The non-Muslim students are also required to observe an attire regulation based on a moderate Islamic value system as with the English saying ‘When in Rome…’ .
I would also love to see the formation of the International University of Chinese Civilization and the International University of Hindu or Indian Civilization. Again the same rules would apply where students are required to take specific civilizational and language courses. Is this not beautiful? We can walk into the different worlds of attire, food, architecture and rituals in the Chinese, Indian, Malay or Islamic culture. Of course, the Christians and Buddhists can also do the same.
I have no qualms in sending my children and grand children to these institutions. I sent one to IIUM and one to TAR College. My third daughter does not want to go to IIUM because the dress code for Muslim females are a bit too restrictive for her taste. My wife and I let her choose University Tun Abdul Razak (now UTeM). The young must find their own way in the New Malaysia. We have created a solid race and religious based foundation. Now it is time to let the young fly to find their own new Malaysian identity.
If we believe that racial harmony is important, then we must, at least, think of the suggestions above. We should start anew after the next election. I do not suggest that the political parties change their names and manifestoes now but certainly we must think about the future.
As I write this essay, I am looking at my eldest child who is now 9 month pregnant with my first grandson (so the doctor say…!) I wonder, when he is 21 years old, will he still be faced with the same race based discussion and religious intolerance that had plagued us in the past AND is still plaguing us NOW. If we do not change, then I personally think that UMNO was right. We might be doing this ‘dulu, kini dan selamanya’.
A New Malaysia for Young Malaysians
I wish to dwell with the concept of race based or religious educational institutions. I am referring to the Islamic Religious Schools, the Chinese and Indian Vernacular Schools and one of the biggest universities in the world Universiti Teknologi MARA or UiTM.
Again, with the same respect and argument as before, the creation of these institutions in the early formation of Malaysia was crucial and essential to the survival of the heritage and tradition of each race and religion. All these organisations have proved their worth time and again and thus, it is now time to move on.
Even we cannot keep eating the same food or perform the same work rituals for the rest of our lives. Health and Motivation Gurus have asked us to embrace change and if we do not, we will be subjecting ourselves to a much lower quality of life in the long run.
Do I mean that we should SHUT down all these institutions? NO!
How could we do such a terrible thing! They all must exist and even fully supported by all Malaysians. But all they have to change is simply to look upon themselves as cultural entities that invite others who are not of the same race or religion to participate in understanding and appreciating the Islamic Culture, the Chinese or Indian civilization and the Malay World view and Adab. This is the change.
I can imagine UiTM becoming an International University of Malay Civillization. The doors of the university will be open to all who wish to immerse in the Malay Adab or values while pursuing engineering, social or art courses. Each student MUST take a few courses in Malay Civilization and of course the beautiful Malay Language. Each student must also abide to the modesty and values of whatever the university specify.
I can see that for the next 50 years the New UiTM will still have an 80% Malay majority but they have been able to educate 20% non-Malays about the values of the Malay cultural entity.
In this, I am following in the footsteps of the International Islamic University of Malaysia where each non-Muslim student is required to take simple Arabic and Islamic Civilizational courses. The non-Muslim students are also required to observe an attire regulation based on a moderate Islamic value system as with the English saying ‘When in Rome…’ .
I would also love to see the formation of the International University of Chinese Civilization and the International University of Hindu or Indian Civilization. Again the same rules would apply where students are required to take specific civilizational and language courses. Is this not beautiful?
We can walk into the different worlds of attire, food, architecture and rituals in the Chinese, Indian, Malay or Islamic culture. Of course, the Christians and Buddhists can also do the same.
I have no qualms in sending my children and grand children to these institutions. I sent one to IIUM and one to TAR College. My third daughter does not want to go to IIUM because the dress code for Muslim females are a bit too restrictive for her taste. My wife and I let her choose University Tun Abdul Razak (now UTeM).
The young must find their own way in the New Malaysia. We have created a solid race and religious based foundation. Now it is time to let the young fly to find their own new Malaysian identity. -The Rocket
* The column is the work of the attributed contributor and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of The Rocket.
