The Status and Future of Mainstream Malay Culture in the World

A. L. Samian

Abstract: Malay Culture is part of the world culture. Currently the Malay language is spoken by 350 million people and is considered as the fifth language of the world. Malay society writ large could be found throughout South East Asia, predominantly in Malaysia and Indonesia. Malay culture by and large is influenced by“others”since the Malay Archipelago was colonized throughout history. In this article, the author examines the current status and future of the Malay culture in light of globalization. It is argued that the sustainability of this culture depends on its ability to be a significant part of virtual reality.

Keywords: Malay culture; South East Asia; future; sustainability

1．Introduction

Malaysia is a multicultural country. Since its independence in 1957, there are three main ethnics in West Malaysia, i. e. , Malay（60%）, Chinese（25%）and Indian（8%）. In East Malaysia, the main ethnics are Iban, Kadazan-Dusun, Melanau and Bidayuh. There are also the natives of Malaysia which are known as orang asli. Since it is a multicultural country, there is a diverse mélange of different racial groups, not withstanding its variations by way of inter-marriages. There are always issues regarding unity, governance, sustainability and rights. The list of contestation of values, however, is not exhaustive.

In so far as unity is concerned, the paramount challenge is to ensure that despite the cultural differences, the warga negara or citizens could live together in a healthy manner. They must have the ability to share—sharing the difficulty as well as the wealth of developing the nation. This is no easy task because of the differences in values. One important step taken to overcome this challenge is promoting the Rukun Negara, or the National Principles, as the underpinning of national development. While we may not be able to unite strictly in the name of religion, we may be able to foster unity by sharing commonalities, similar values, that become the under grid of whatever national project that we might think of.

Unlike most modern countries in South East Asia, Malaysia has the most number of constitutional monarchs（nine altogether）. While generally they don't have the legislative power with exceptions of matters regarding religion, they become symbols of unity whereby one of them is elected to be the Yang Di Pertuan Agung, or The King of Malaysia, on rotational basis as agreed by the Council of Rulers. The King officiates the Parliament, bestowing it's royal legitimacy. Thus“Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara”or“Loyalty to the King and Nation”becomes one of the pillars of nation building. This brings us to the issues of governance.

The engine of growth in the public sector is the Malaysia Civil Service. With a staff of 1.3 million people serving a nation of 27 million, the civil service becomes the backbone of the government. It brings stability to the country in the sense that serving the country（kerajaan, as opposed to negara or state）is amounting to serving the King. The King then becomes the national symbol of unity and national ethos. Irrespective of what ethnicity one might belongs, they are the subjects of the King. So although the King does not have legislative power in the sense of a traditional kingdom, it endows a moral legitimacy to the elected representatives of the government, conferring them the right to implement the rule of the law, that is, the constitution. As a symbol of the status of the ruling monarch, the Prime Minister must take oath in front of the King before he is duly appointed as the Prime Minister of Malaysia. In short, the heart of governance, of serving the country, is in service of His Majesty Yang Di Pertuan Agong.

Religion is always an important part of culture in Malaysia since it is also a multi-religious country. While Islam is the official religion, the warganegara， citizens, could embrace and practice any religion that they prefer. 60% of the population are Muslims, around 20% are Buddhists and 10% are Christians. These are monotheistic religions. In view of these cultural zeitgeist, the foundation of Rukun Negara“To believe in God”, precedes“Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara”explicated earlier. So theoretically, to be a true Malaysians, each Malaysian must have a religion, any religion for that matter. As strange as it may sound, “Having a religion”is what unites Malaysians. Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and animists are, by and large, free to practice their religious beliefs. Multi-religiosity is then a critical component of Malaysian multiculturalism.（They are also multiculturalism that do not endorse religious belief in the sense that it does not require“believing in God”to be part of their doctrine of multiculturalism）.

Surely a society could not prosper in the absence of the rule of the law, be it the constitution of the state or any other form of social contracts, social sanctions included. In as much as we like to do good, there are many kinds and degrees of goodness. Paraphrasing Rousseau, “People like to do good, it is in judging what is good that they go wrong. ”In the event that consent is not achieved, the rule of the law is to be pursued. No one is above the law. Therefore complementing the“keluhuran perlembagaan”or“the sanctity of the constitution”in the National Principles is the“kedaulatan undang-undang”or“the sovereignity of the rule of the law”.

Last but certainly not the least of Malaysian National Principles are“Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan”, to wit, “Ethics and Etiquettes”. In the context of the National Principles, ethics and etiquettes mean the way we conduct ourselves, not so different from the Victorian concept of“the virtuoso”or the English“gentlemen”. Paraphrasing Martin Luther King Jr, “Morality cannot be legislated but behavior can be regulated. ”In tandem with the doctrine of the meaning, there is always a meaning in everything. Currently the government of Malaysia is embarking on the theme of‘moderation' which augurs well with the socio-politico-economics policies at the macro level or personal behavior at the micro level. The way forward is the way of moderation because it is by this way that we could attain a well balanced life, both the individual and the society as a whole.

So far I have elaborated the principles underlying multicultural Malaysia. The more detailed question is, what is the status and the future of the mainstream Malay culture in light of the national philosophy of holistic development and the wave of globalization？

2．The Malays

It is not easy to define what a Malaysian Malay is. Interracial marriage notwithstanding, Malays in neighboring Indonesia include the sub ethnic groups of Minangkabau, Bugis, Batak, Sunda etcetra irrespective of their religious beliefs. Malays are legally defined in Malaysia as those who are born in this country, a Muslim and lead a culturally Malay life,（food, lifestyle, language, etc.）It is obvious that this definition could not be applied to the Malay of Indonesia, Sri Langka, South Africa, Singapore and Philliphines. Evidently throughout history, Animism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity had made inroad into the Malay Society. For the purpose of the this paper, I will use the current Malaysian definition, i. e. , practicing the Malay culture, Muslim and speaking the Malay language while acknowledging the importance of other religious world views in shaping the Malay psychic. Ultimately, the reality is that all of us are part and parcel of the greater single family of humanity and are related by kinship.

Historically speaking, the ancient Malays believe that they are the subjects of the descendants of Alexander the Great. According to the two most important historical manuscripts, the 1612thSulalatus Salatin（Geneology of the Kings）, and Tuhfat al-nafis（Significant Endeavor）（1872）. The Malay Kingdom in the Malay Archipelago begins from the King Raja Sri Tri Buana governing Palembang, Indonesia including pre historic Temasik（modern day Singapore）. This is the origin of the Malay Kingdom, which was temporarily shaken after the downfall of Kota Melaka in the reign of Sultan Mahmud, to the Portuguese（1511-1641）. The Dutch replaced the Portuguese until 1824 before the colonial British“new imperialism”outmaneuvered the Dutch to generally govern the Malay Peninsula（1874-1946）interspersed with the Japanese occupation of the second world war（1941-1945）, and again later, back to the British until the independence of Malaysia in 1957. There are other foreign forces such as the Siamese and Chinese. Interestingly China, at the time of Admiral Zheng He（Cheng Ho,1371-1433）, visited Malacca around 1414 with a massive fleet of twenty eight thousand people, sort of a floating palace, but it was not with an imperialist agenda, unlike the Western super powers, to the extent that the Sultan of Malacca（Sultan Mansur Shah）was married to one of the Princess of China by the name of Hang Li Po（Hang Liu）in 1459. So in this brief historical exegesis for the period under review, it is clear that the Malays in peninsula Malaya have engaged, at both the macro and micro levels, all kinds of European and Asian cultures. These interactions, which occured in the time of war and peace, shapes the present day Malay society in Malaysia. What is more, as a democratic country upholding the constitutional monarchy, Malaysia is governed by the majority ethnic groups which are the Malays. Accordingly in our assessment of the status and future of their culture, we have to examine the significant values which they subscribe.

3．Malay Values

Principles that we live by shape our values. Values are beliefs that guide us in our decisions, be it personal, societal, organizational, professional, public（as opposed to personal）, in the cognitive, affective, sensory and spiritual domain. In addition to the national values underdetermined by the national code discussed earlier, values embraced by the Malays can further be gauged from their proverbs（peribahasa）in the Malay language, which is their mother tongue（bahasa ibunda）. I am taking the philosophical position here that it is not possible to think in the absence of language and thus language determine values.

First and foremost, the Malays believe in religion as the overriding principle, as a regulative principle, as entrenched in the maxim“hidup bersendi adat, adat bersendi syarak”. “Adat”in the Malay culture refers to the accepted normative behavior of the individual and society. There are four kinds of adat. Adat nan sebeno adat（the law of nature）, adat nan diadatkan（the proposed norms）, adat nan teradat（the agreed norms）and adat istiadat（ceremonies, rites, festivals）. Underlying the construction of these norms is the Malays deep seated belief that man proposes, God disposes, or in other words, man has the innate propensity to create but ultimately it is The Divine that make it possible.

Man acts of creativity—air setitik jadikan lautan（From a drop of water we create the sea）and tanah segengam jadikan gunung（From a handful of earth we create a mountain）show the need to create from the two basic elements of the cosmos-earth and water（the absence of air and fire）. It is the earth that needs to be recreated. “Created”implies“extension”, a kind of Descartesian extension. The extension of water—that is from a drop to an ocean, requires not a meagre theoretical and practical creativity. It is the destiny of man to create. The worthiness of a man lies in his ability to create. Hence, again, from“alam terkembang jadi guru”（phenomena of nature be your teacher）, they have the traditional code of value：

Penakik pisau diraut

Seludang jadikan nyiru

Cacang kayu jadikan ukiran

Air setitik jadikan lautan

Tanah sekepal jadikan gunung

Not everything is absolute. Relativism has its space and time, spatial and temporal value. The Malays are pragmatic in the sense that：

Di mana pokok bergulung di sana cendawan tumbuh

Di mana ranting dipatah di sana air disauk

Di mana bumi dipijak di sana langit dijunjung

Di mana negeri diduduk di sana adat dipakai

In other words, in the hierarchy of values, Malays believe that relativism is part of the cosmos and to be relativistic is“to live according to the teaching of nature”.

Malays like communal life more compared to Westerners. The proverbs bukit sama didaki, lurah sama dituruni, lautan sama direnangi, and terendam sama basah, terapung sama hanyut, terampai sama kering, berat sama dipikul, ringan sama dijinjing point to the significance of togetherness. It is perfectly natural“to treat others as you wish to be treated”on the moral ground that all men are created equal.

The problem is, with some of these universal values and with the advent of globalization that all of us are currently facing, how would the Malay mainstream culture fare? Is it sustainable or will it be overshadowed, and worst still, eliminated, by Western culture？

4．The Impact of Globalization

Malay culture is part of world culture. In the advent of globalization, or rather the ongoing Westernization which is happening at an unprecedented scale in front of our very eyes, people benchmark everything globally everyday. With the ubiquity of the internet, people are more aware of similarities and differences, on the meaning about being human, on the definition of success and failures, justice and injustice, the down trodden and the nouveau rich. An offshoot of globalization is what I called“internetism”, for a lack of better word. Under the Kuhnian paradigm of Cartesian mechanical philosophy, the world is mechanically connected like a clock; in internetism, the world is digitally connected. What is more, epistemologically speaking, our knowledge is digitally constructed; what is mirrored is more real than what is. The internet is now neither a tool nor a technology-it is more than that. “Internetism”is a paradigm by itself. We don't really exist unless we exist in the internet.

“Internetism”（as distinguished from the internet as a mere technology）has significantly shaped the future of the mainstream Malay Cultures. I have elaborated the status of the Malay Cultures in the aforementioned paragraph. Obviously there are similarities with other cultures. In more specific term, no human being likes to be mistreated. Thus the value of“treating others like yourself to be treated”is quite trans culture, quite homogenous, and universally acceptable. The same goes with the value of“togetherness”, in facing difficulty and in ease, in defeat and in victory. Values such as equal distribution of wealth,（berat sama dipikul, ringan sama dijinjing）certainly bodes well with humanity writ large. Equality in hardship has a global appeal. Whether the good is the vision of God, self realization, pleasure, the object of positive interest or axiological pluralism, people globally are in the pursuit of the The Good. Irrespective of our theories of moral value, whether it is consequences or intention which is more fundamental, we want to be moral rather than immoral. Regardless of our persuasion of what moral knowledge is, whether it is skepticism, relativism, scientism …, globally we are concerned about the importance of moral knowledge- that it is imperative for any human being to acquire moral knowledge and to be morally correct.

All of the above point to the significance of universal values. Cultural norms that are shared by humanity will, more often than not, survive better than those norms that are subscribed only by a particular culture. For example, gender discrimination has less chance of global acceptability compared to competency. A person is hired more so because of his ability than his or her sexuality. A culture with the norms of promoting competency has a better future than one that promotes gender before anything else. Ditto for Malay mainstream culture.

In the case of multicultural Malaysia, those common values shared by the different ethnicities will prevail in the sense that it will be more nationally and globally acceptable. Most of these values are subsumed under“professional values”or rather“professional ethics”—punctuality, integrity, honesty and credibility in addition to effectiveness and trustworthiness. These common values that are embedded in the Malay culture will enhance the sustainability of the latter. Values that are localized to geographical and climatic parameters, for example kinds of food, textiles and fashions, which are by and large seasonally defined, will ensure the enduring differences of a particular culture. In so far as these values could complement those universal Malay values, the future of the Malay culture is bright. Otherwise, under the wave of globalization，Malay culture in particular will lose its malayness in lieu of the western global values.

5．Conclusion

In conclusion, I submit that the destiny of mainstream Malay culture by and large depend on the Malays themselves. They have to chart their own future. They were colonized by the Portuguese, Dutch, British and Japanese and yet they still exist. It is more challenging to live as a colony, under the imperial power, than under the pervasive Westernization if we look it from the perspective of governance and accessibility to our natural resources. If we examine further from the angle of trans-national globalization, it is even more difficult today because everything is connected globally everyday with the internet. For cultural and practical purposes, nothing is inaccessible anymore. Our thoughts are no longer very privy to us. A better option is to ensure that the virtual is the real, that what is real must exist in the virtual; there must be“cultural thinking in the virtual”or rather“cultural thinking on line”. The best scenario is to have our own virtual reality. In short, Malay culture, with all its strength and weakness, uniqueness and similarities, differences and commonalities, must be available on line. If this could be done, then the status, development and future of the Malay Culture is as good as any.