Historian claims ‘Bangsa Malaysia’ erodes racial identities, especially the Malays
(MMO) – The use of the “Bangsa Malaysia” slogan to foster national unity could instead erode racial identities, especially for the Malay people, a local historian has claimed.
Utusan Malaysia reported Ikatan Arkeologi Malaysia history researcher and writer Zaharah Sulaiman saying the slogan can be interpreted to mean combining all ethnic and racial identities into one, and adding that it was a loss as it could result in a race being swallowed up by history.
“The slogan itself is not based on any solid evidence and fact, compared to Malay history obtained via extensive research,” she was quoted saying during a talk on the origins of the Malays at Wisma Perundingan Melayu here yesterday.
The Bangsa Malaysia concept and slogan was mooted by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his first tenure as prime minister from 1981 to 2003, where he sought to promote cultural inclusivity and a national identity for multicultural Malaysia. The idea was for Malaysians to identify as one nation, speak Bahasa Malaysia and accept the Federal Constitution.
In Zaharah’s view, the Bangsa Malaysia slogan was created in the shortest time for short-term goals without consideration for the future.
“Continued use of the slogan will see the racial identities including our beloved Malay identity which our ancestors handed down to us over tens of thousands of years, will simply disappear like that.”
