so Chinese want to take Malaysia ?
On Apr 10, 8:37 am, pluto <pl...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Case in point is the common mistake to ascribe the success of overseas
> Chinese in Malaysia and elsewhere to the supposedly superior Con****ian
> values. Were that to be the case, one would expect China to be a super
> power and have ...
> <http://www.bakrimusa.com/archives/towards-a-competitive-malaysia-52>
>
> << Abdullah Badawi As "Practise Prime Minister
> Towards A Competitive Malaysia #52
> Chapter 8: Culture Counts (Cont'd)
>
> Recent Malay Cultural Transformations
>
> Societies vary in their receptiveness to change and new ideas. Some
adapt
> easily, others more resistant. Culture plays a major role. Without
inferring any
> value judgment, the adjective most associated with the first is
progressive; the
> second, conservative.
>
> There is reluctance to attribute the fate of society to culture. We risk
using
> culture as an excuse for everything and being trapped by cultural
determinism.
> The other temptation would be to rank cultures, with some being superior
and
> others, by definition, inferior. Of course the successful cultures would
have
> the bragging rights. Today, Western culture is dominant, and not
surprisingly
> Westerners feel compelled to lecture the rest of the world on the
superiority of
> their values and norms. A few centuries earlier it was the Chinese who
felt that
> they had nothing to learn from the barbarians beyond.
>
> Lest we forget, when Europe was still stuck in the Dark Ages, Muslim
physicians
> and astronomers were pondering and exploring the world within and
beyond. I do
> not know whether those Muslim scholars and philosophers were consumed
with
> smugly lecturing the rest of the world on the supposed superiority of
Muslim
> values, but Europe eagerly learned from them.
>
> When you have to tell the world how superior your values or cultures
are,
> chances are they are anything but. While those in the West today are
busy
> trumpeting the supposed superiority of Western values, they conveniently
forget
> the debt the West owes to earlier civilizations.
>
> When discussing the role of culture in Malaysia, an immediate problem
crops up.
> With its many cultures, we have to define carefully the population
sub-group.
> Another mistake would be to automatically ascribe the cultural values
and traits
> of a particular group to its racial heritage.
>
> Case in point is the common mistake to ascribe the success of overseas
Chinese
> in Malaysia and elsewhere to the supposedly superior Con****ian values.
Were that
> to be the case, one would expect China to be a super power and have
something to
> teach the world. Instead China is only now emerging from its shell. In
truth,
> Malaysian Chinese, like other immigrants to Malaysia and elsewhere, are
a
> self-selected group. Their ancestors had a decidedly different
worldview, that
> is, their fate lies in their own hands and not with the local warlords
or the
> mighty emperor in the distant capital. Those early Chinese coolies in
Malaysia
> had more in common with the Irish and Italian immigrants to America than
with
> their kin they left behind on the mainland.
>
> To return to my earlier story, those early Chinese who left their
homeland
> shared the same traits as farmer Ahmad, while those they left behind
were like
> farmer Bakar. It is those values--their willingness to try something
new, and the
> belief that their future lies in their on hands and not with some remote
power
> elsewhere--which they inculcate in their children that account for their
success.
> That is their cultural contribution, not some mysterious Con****ian or
biological
> trait. To be sure, the pro****tion of Chinese who left China--the
Ahmads--was tiny,
> the vast majority were the Bakars who chose to remain on the mainland.
>
> The environmental stimulus that precipitated the coolies' personal and
> subsequent cultural transformation was the appalling conditions in their
> homeland, for the Irish, the potato famine. It is no more rational to
ascribe
> the success of the Kennedys and other Irish Americans to their
"superior" Gaelic
> heritage than it is to ascribe "superior" Con****ian values to explain
the
> success of overseas Chinese. Britain's colonization of Malaysia was
transforming
> for Malays, triggering our own cultural mutation. Colonialism ended
slavery and
> brought modern education. The colonialists also brought something else.
They saw
> in feudal Malay culture a reflection of their old medieval Britain with
its
> lords and nobles. The Brits turned Malay society into a jungle version
of
> medieval England. Malay nobles and sultans became even more entrenched
and
> enamored with their titles and palaces. Malay m***** further ingrained
in
> themselves that their fate depended not on their wits rather on
ingratiating
> themselves to their lord and sultans.
>
> That trait persists today. Witness the toadying comments by
intellectuals,
> ministers, and editors on the Prime Minister and leaders of the day. To
them,
> their Prime Minister and sultans are always donned in samping sutra
(silk
> ***merbund), never in sarong pelekat (cotton wraparound) even when they
are
> covered in bark loincloth.
>
> The most pressing issue Tunku Abdul Rahman faced as Prime Minister was
to come
> up with a list of appropriate civil titles and honors! The old man idled
his
> time researching ancient Malay literature to find just the right titles.
He
> agonized over the details of attire and finery these new latter-day
jungle
> knights and nobles should wear. Today, when leaders elsewhere are busy
preparing
> their county for the increasingly competitive world, Malaysians are busy
> awarding each other these elaborate feudal honorifics and admiring
themselves in
> their intricate court attire.
>
> There was yet another transforming moment for Malays under the British,
when
> they overreached to make Malaysia (or Malaya, as it was then called) a
dominion.
> This time they grossly underestimated the political shrewdness of
Malays. Up
> till then the British viewed Malays as an apathetic lot politically, not
in the
> least interested in running their country. They left that to the British
and
> their proxies, the sultans and nobilities. Malays, the Brits concluded,
were
> content with carefree living in their villages under the gentle swaying
fronds
> of their favorite coconut tree. The sultans and nobles too were a
malleable
> bunch, easily swayed by the British. Their price was also modest: silly
medieval
> titles like the knighthood of some ancient English order and a piddling
pension.
> That was enough to persuade them to give up their sovereignty. The
British,
> having understood the Malay psyche very well, played on the pride of the
> sultans.
>
> When the Malay m***** found out that their sultans were being hoodwinked
or more
> correctly, cheaply bought, they reacted. With stunning effectiveness,
and led by
> capable and farsighted leaders like the late Datuk Onn, Malays rebelled
and
> successfully derailed that Malayan Union plan. The British knew much
about Malay
> culture and psyche, and wisely reminded themselves that the word amok is
> afterall a Malay word. The surprise was how easily the mighty British
> capitulated to the demands of the newly awakened Malay m*****.
>
> A byproduct of that transforming event was that Malays became
irretrievably
> hooked on politics, the refined form as well as the less savory variety.
Who
> would have predicted these brown-skinned natives whom the Brits
condescendingly
> referred to as "nature's gentlemen" would become political rebel rousers
and
> successfully take on the powerful colonialists? Less than a generation
later,
> Malays have become so obsessed with politics that they cannot get away
from it.
> Today, Malays who are successful in fields other than politics and could
have
> made a significant contribution in their chosen profession, willingly
give that
> up to dabble in silly politics.
>
> A friend of mine who in the 1980s headed one of the biggest private
medical
> clinics in the country then gave all that up in chasing his political
dream.
> Unfortunately, after backing the wrong horse in a critical race, he
found
> himself sidelined. As for his former clinics, well, what could have been
the
> promising nucleus for a Malaysian Mayo Clinic, complete with its own
hospital
> and possibly medical and nursing schools, were now in tatters. In
chasing his
> political ambition, he forgot that he could have achieved an even bigger
dream
> had he held on to his profession. To balance my account, I too rooted
for him. I
> saw in him another brilliant young doctor, perhaps someone to eventually
replace
> the other charismatic one who was then leading the country.
>
> Politics still devour many promising young Malays. I now look anxiously
at
> another successful Malay professional, who though still in his forties
> successfully created Malaysia's largest legal firm, with branches
abroad. His is
> the only one to have such a presence. Despite that, this young man, like
so many
> other promising Malay professionals and businessmen, is being seduced by
> politics. Alas his political foray too does not look promising. Another,
a
> neurosurgeon no less, a handful of Malays to be so qualified, dabbled in
> opposition politics and was soundly routed.
>
> These instances serve to reaffirm the assertion that cultural values can
indeed
> be changed, often suddenly and in very transforming manner.
>
> Next: Economic Culture
>
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