Malaysian Malaysia facts for kids

The idea of "Malaysian Malaysia" was first used in the 1960s. It was a slogan for a group of political parties called the Malaysian Solidarity Convention. This group was led by Lee Kuan Yew from the People's Action Party (PAP). They were against the ruling Alliance Party.

Lee Kuan Yew agreed that Malays had special rights, as mentioned in Article 153 of the Federal Constitution. This article allows for special opportunities for Malays and other native people in things like government jobs, scholarships, and business licenses. However, he disagreed with the Alliance Party's way of helping Malays. He believed that special rights alone would not solve poverty for all Malays.

For example, in Singapore, the government also helps Malays as native people. They provide free education for everyone from primary school to university. This shows a different way to support a community.

Historically, Malays and other native people in Malaysia faced challenges during British colonial rule. The British brought in many Chinese and Indian workers for mines and plantations. This was because Malays often preferred to stay in their traditional villages, farming and fishing. This led to many Malays not being part of the new economic activities.

Both the Singapore and Malaysian governments wanted to improve the economic situation of Malays. But they had different ideas on how to do it. Lee Kuan Yew supported leaders like Tunku Abdul Rahman who wanted a slow move towards politics that wasn't based on race. However, he worried that some other leaders were using Malay special rights to divide people by race.

Lee believed that giving special business licenses only to a few Malays would mostly help rich Malay families. He thought that Malay farmers could be helped more through better education and by improving their farms. He argued that focusing only on creating a "Malay capitalist class" would make the gap between rich and poor Malays wider. It could also cause problems between different ethnic groups.

Some politicians, called 'ultras' by Lee Kuan Yew, thought Malays still made up most of the voters. But after Malaysia was formed, the population was more balanced. Malays, Chinese, and Indians, along with others, were more evenly spread out. Also, Singapore, Sabah, and Sarawak had many seats in Parliament. Because of this, Lee Kuan Yew brought together parties from these areas. They used "Malaysian Malaysia" as a slogan to promote unity over race-based politics.

In 1965, Singapore left Malaysia. After this, special help for Malays was made stronger through policies like the New Economic Policy. Some people saw these policies as unfair to other Malaysian citizens. They felt it promoted the idea of ketuanan Melayu (Malay leadership). The phrase "Malaysian Malaysia" means that Malaysia should be for all its citizens, not just one ethnic group. It was a call for fairness and equality for everyone.

What is "Malaysian Malaysia"?

The phrase "Malaysian Malaysia" is strongly linked to Lee Kuan Yew. He was the leader of the People's Action Party (PAP) from Singapore. He often spoke out against economic policies based on race.

Lee believed that focusing on race was not the best way to manage the economy. He agreed that Malays needed economic help. However, he thought that a race-based approach would not fairly share wealth among all rural Malays. He pointed out that anyone could become a Malay by following Islam and Malay customs. This meant that not all Malays were originally from Malaya.

He argued that it was wrong for one ethnic group to think they were more Malaysian than others. He believed that using special rights as a main way to help would create problems. It could lead to separation between different groups and benefit only a few rich Malay families. Lee still supported helping native Malays. But he felt it was wrong to blame non-Malays to gain Malay support. He believed Malaysia's population was more balanced than before.

How the Idea Was Seen

The "Malaysian Malaysia" campaign was not popular with the Malaysian government. They believed that during colonial times, Malays had to accept many immigrants. They felt that these immigrants and their families should see their presence as a privilege, not a right. They argued that the arrival of immigrants had negatively affected the rights of Malays.

However, both the ruling Alliance Party and the PAP wanted Malaysia to become one united nation. They just had different ideas on how fast and what to focus on. The Alliance Party focused on culture, hoping non-Malays would adopt Malay customs and language to build a national identity. The PAP focused on the economy, aiming to help Malays compete through good economic policies. Both agreed on important things like the national language and the special position of Malays. Their main difference was about how quickly these changes should happen.

Some politicians in the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) felt "Malaysian Malaysia" threatened the special position of Malays. They saw Lee Kuan Yew as a troublemaker. The moderate Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, was worried. He thought the campaign would cause problems because he believed Malays were not ready to compete without their special privileges. Because of these disagreements, Singapore left Malaysia in 1965.

"Malaysian Malaysia" Today

In 1999, the idea of "Malaysian Malaysia" came up again. Lim Kit Siang from the Democratic Action Party (DAP) called for a new campaign. The acting UMNO Youth Chief, Hishamuddin Hussein, warned against it. He said the issue was settled when Malaysia became independent.

Lim argued that "Malaysian Malaysia" was similar to the government's own idea of Bangsa Malaysia (Malaysian nation). Some people noted that Hishamuddin's grandfather, Dato' Onn Jaafar, who founded UMNO, had left the party because he wanted to remove special privileges for Malays.

In 2006, a leader from Johor, Abdul Ghani Othman, linked "Malaysian Malaysia" to Bangsa Malaysia. He suggested it was a threat to Malay privileges. However, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak disagreed. He said Bangsa Malaysia does not question the special rights of Malays.

In 2023, an UMNO leader, Nur Jazlan Mohamed, asked the DAP to remove the "Malaysian Malaysia" slogan from its rules. This happened while UMNO and DAP were part of the same government.

The 1Malaysia Concept

1Malaysia or One Malaysia is an idea introduced by Malaysia's sixth prime minister, Najib Razak, in 2009. Its main slogan is "People First; Performance Now."

Najib Razak explained 1Malaysia as: "We stand, we think and act as a Malaysia race. And we take actions based on the needs of all ethnic groups in our country." While 1Malaysia still respects Article 153 of the Constitution, it also strongly focuses on protecting the rights of non-Malays. The goal of 1Malaysia is to bring all citizens together, no matter their race, without changing their individual ethnic identities.