Common identity and

Culture for Malaysia

 Malaysia is indeed a nation of diversity
in unity where various ethnic groups
live together to strive for peace,
success and harmony.
Common identity and
Culture for Malaysia
 These ethnic groups are strikingly
different in aspects like religion,
culture and lifestyle.
 For example, most Malays are
Muslims, most Chinese are Buddhists,
and most Indians are Hindus.
Common identity and
Culture for Malaysia
 They also differ in their cultural
practices and taboos.
 The majority of Malays, for instance,
still hold tightly to Islamic teachings
and traditional ways of life especially
in celebrating newborns, weddings,
and death rituals.
Common identity and
Culture for Malaysia
 As for the Chinese, it is important that
the whole family meet during New
Year's Eve.
 Chinese Lantern Festival
 Hungry Ghost Festival
Common identity and
Culture for Malaysia
 Indians in Malaysia show their piety
and faith in their religion through the
ceremonial practices of thaipusam.
 This is the time when Indians carry
'kavadi' (a kind of ritual piercing) to
repent their sins.
Common identity and
Culture for Malaysia
 In relation to this scenario, events
organised throughout the year in
Malaysia are aimed to foster unity and
multicultural understanding among the
people.
Common identity and
Culture for Malaysia
 Other than events; festivals, language
and culture also reflect the unity
among Malaysians.
Common identity and
Culture for Malaysia
 This effort towards multicultural
awareness is not only become the
responsibility of the government, but
also business corporations and
universities.
Common identity and
Culture for Malaysia
 At universities, for instance, efforts are
made to ensure that students are
constantly exposed and infiltrated with
ideas about multicultural
understanding and diversity awareness
through courses, student community
projects and classroom activities.
Common identity and
Culture for Malaysia
 In real life, multiethnic work
environments usually promote co-
operation and teamwork during daily
interactions.
Quote
“True Malaysians not born,
but made”
Importance of preserving
our culture and heritage
 In the Ninth Plan, the development of
culture, arts and heritage will be given
greater emphasis.
Importance of preserving
our culture and heritage
 This is in line with the National Mission
of developing human capital who are
not only knowledge-driven and
economically competitive, but also
imbued with a progressive outlook and
good values, including positive cultural
values.
Importance of preserving
our culture and heritage
 The appreciation of culture, arts and
heritage will be enhanced as part of a
larger nation-building agenda, in
helping to build awareness of a
common history and heritage, as well
as of a shared future and destiny for
all Malaysians.
Importance of preserving
our culture and heritage
National Unity
 Recognizing that an appreciation of and
respect for the culture of the various ethnic
groups in Malaysia is an important part of
forging a unique Malaysian identity, the
cultural and religious festivals of the major
ethnic groups in Malaysia continued to be
celebrated at the national level.
Importance of preserving
our culture and heritage
 In this regard, the Government organized
Malaysian Open Houses to celebrate
festivals such as Hari Raya Aidilfitri ,the
Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Christmas,
Gawai andTadau Kaamatan .
 These celebrations reflected the spirit of
national unity and harmony in multi-cultural
Malaysia.
The forging of national
identity
 A clear national identity which is
embraced by all communities in the
country is the prerequisite for national
unity to become a reality.
The forging of national
identity
 Forging a national identity within the
context of a multicultural society is not
an enviable task.
 It takes a careful balancing act of
integrating unique sub-national
cultures with a set of shared national
culture.
The forging of national
identity
 The process of nation building and the
effort to build a consensus on national
unity cannot be decreed or regulated
through policy intervention alone.
The forging of national
identity
 It must be carefully nurtured and the
condition of equal political, economic
and social rights must exist to ensure
that national unity is founded on a
broad acceptance of a national identity
and sense of belonging.
Socio-economic

 On the socio-economic environment,

the government can adopt less divisive
policies by focusing on class
differences instead of clear ethnic
divisions.
Socio-economic

 Hence, it is timely that the

government recognizes that the
identification of an ethnic group to an
economic activity is no longer visible.
Socio-economic

 Efforts to eradicate poverty, empower

the poor, redistribute wealth et cetera
should focus instead on class
differences, between the haves and
have-nots and not between the
bumiputeras and non-bumiputeras
dichotomy alone.
Education System

 We need to reassess our education

system to find out if it is playing a
positive role in our nation building
process.
 The education system should not
breed divisions or create dichotomies
either ethnicity, gender, religion or any
other discriminatory aspects.
Education System

 Instead, it should teach students

about the richness of our diversity and
the benefits of living and cooperating
as one community
Questions

 List the good and the bad Malaysian

habits