By Anwardi Jamil
In the constitution, the Malays are given a definition.
Article 160 of the Federal Constitution defines the Malays as someone born to a
Malaysian citizen who professes to be a Muslim, habitually speaks the Malay
language, adheres to Malay customs and is domiciled in Malaysia.
As simplistic as it maybe, are the Malays of Malaysia today a
mirror of what was defined in the constitution? One may argue that the true
Malays are found in the kampungs, so where does that leave us the urban Malays.
Are we comfortable being who we are? Are we confident of our heritage? Do we even protect the Malayness that
our forefathers took centuries to define?
Who controls and shapes the Malay image in the country - the
kampung folks or the urban Malays in the corridors of power?
Ask any urban Malay – do they send their children to silat
classes? Do they tell their children to take up Malay dance classes? Do they
buy books about local Malay legends and folklore? Do they use peribahasa
Melayu to describe events and explain them to their children?
I would be surprised if any of them say yes.
In my opinion, urban Malays, who I feel controls the future
of the Malay-ness of the Malays, are far from being Malays as stated in the
Constitution.
How so? Let’s just look at the situation the Malays are in
today.
Check out the Malays in the civil service. They only wear
batik shirts only on Thursdays, not because they want to, but because they are
ordered to. Batik to many would be too formal and too ‘belia’ to be worn
anywhere else or at any time.
Wearing the baju Melayu is a ‘maybe’ outfit for
most Malay on Fridays and a must during festivities like Hari Raya and
weddings. It used to be the daily wear of any Malay. How many Malays are brave
or confident enough to wear the kain pelekat when visiting the
Malls?
In the corporate world, the executive Malays are more
comfortable conversing in English, not because they want to, but because they
believe that the non-Malays do not speak Malay fluently to carry on a fluent
conversation. Yet, when they give presentations to the government departments, they
scurry to polish their Bahasa Malaysia speech and delivery.
As Muslims, the Malays are also guilty to let Arabian
culture and traditions replace theirs. The jubbah and the serban, synonymous with
Arabic identity are replacing the songkok and baju Melayu. The Arabic
kaftan is also now a preferred outfit to by the Malay ladies who once used to
look like a million dollars wearing the kebaya. So much so, that the kebaya
may soon be associated more as the traditional outfit of the Nyonyas than that
of the Malay women.
Whilst the Indians protect their Bharatanatyam with such
jealousy from being tarnished or even diluted, our dances have gone the other
way. Answer me this, where can one go, for example, to see the beautiful classic
Asyik
dance performance today?
Recently in a Raya musical programme, whilst a singer was
delivering a traditional Malay Raya song, she was accompanied by dancers who
were wearing baju Melayu with sneakers and baseball caps fusing the joget with
breakdancing. How low has the Malay culture gone down to?
Why are we so scared now to even use the keris as a symbol
of Malay-ness? Is it wrong to be confident and proud of one’s own race, culture
and traditions of which the keris is one of its most significant symbols? How
many Malays today under the age of 30 even know the names of the various parts
and aspects of the keris? Do they know what parts are referred to as the hulu,
the bilah,
the pendongkok,
the cicak, the sampir, the lok and the mata? Therefore, who is to blame when others can easily criticise
the Malays when they use the keris as part and parcel of one’s own culture, and
no one comes forward to defend it? We are even timid when defending our culture
against the Indonesians who keep claiming intellectual rights to Malay culture
like the batik, the dances we have, the cuisine and even our language, accusing
us as ‘malings’ (thieves) of their culture and traditions.
How many of us Malays even talk about pusaka these days? How
many would find it difficult to ‘mematekkan diri’ when speaking to
Royalty? I mean, do you think it is okay to use ‘aku’ and ‘saya’,
or worse, you and I, when talking to Royalty?
It is really strange to me, why we as Malays are so willing
to assimilate the traditions and cultures of others whilst diluting our own? Aren’t we
proud of our traditions? Aren’t we worried that within two generations, the
Malay heritage and traditions may be lost forever, only to be found in
museums, books and documentaries?
Whilst there is a concerted effort to protect the sanctity
of the Bahasa Malaysia language that has taken centuries to be perfected, I am
disappointed not to see much effort to truly instil the love for Malay culture
and traditions within the younger generation of the Malay society. I understand that cultures need to move
with the times and evolve, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t jealously
protect our own cultures with the passion (that) the Balinese, the Japanese,
the Indians, the Arabs and the Africans show for theirs.
The love for culture, especially our own should be instilled
during the primary school days. Children (of all races) should be taught to love batik
painting, tarian Melayu, lagu Melayu asli, perbalas pantun, main gasing, silat,
wayang kulit, bangsawan and many other disappearing traditions. Only then could
we protect it (Malay culture) with confidence.
If we fail, then the definition of the Malays as set out in
the Federal Constitution becomes a grey area, because we will not fit into the Clause that says we are adhering and practicing Malay customs.
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