This is my introductory paragraph to an article written by my friend, Ho Can Hao on the topic of identity he faced whilst being a Malaysian Chinese, which I think should be read by everyone. The essay was written originally in Mandarin. So, thank God theres an English translation! One of the great joyful things about life is having friends whom you can learn from. One can always be trapped within the four walls of her own mind and limits her vision to the experiences she faced. Thus, as I get to know more people, I get to break away from my four walls and know that, aside from issues affecting my life, there are actually many issues I have never heard of affecting the society. At times (most of the time, I think), it is necessary to consider the alternative view, the views youve never thought to be complex in order to view your experiences in a broader context and in turn, appreciate them. ____________________________________ Originally Posted by 何灿浩 What are Chinese Malaysians - We are Malaysians but not Malays, We are ethnically Chinese but not Chinese I am surprised that my first article in my university has had such a huge impact and has been widely forwarded. It dawned upon me that I should probably make good use of the impact and help everyone learn more about Chinese Malaysians as a whole. The following are my personal thoughts and reflect only my point of view. So my friends, please help forward this article; my fellow Malaysians, you could help me too; even if those who dont know me, if you think that there are merits to my article, you could help forward it too. Thank you! I) The Awkward Presence Scenario 1: When I first came to China, the first question people always asked me was, How do you speak Mandarin so well?, followed by, How long have you been in China and Have you learned Mandarin from a young age? Scenario 2: When I watched the 2001 International Chinese Debate Competition together with my fellow [Peking University] Chinese faculty debate team, one of the Malaya University debaters mentioned the Japanese Army in Nanjing massacred and raped Chinese women. My fellow student asked me, Do you guys [Chinese Malaysians] talk about Chinese women too? Ever since I set foot on China, I have come across such situations numerous times, and I have always wanted to write an article to tell the tale of the Chinese Malaysians. Its a very broad subject, so I could only elaborate on my personal experience and feeling in the writing. The Background Let start with a familiar historical backdrop. In the 1840s, China went into a period of chaos. A lot of Chinese wanted to escape, meanwhile the Western powers sourced coolies from China to Southeast Asia to serve their agenda. Hence, there was a diaspora of Chinese (especially those from Fujian and Guangdong) around the Southeast Asia region, including Malaysia. The Awkward Presence Even though how do you speak Mandarin so well may sound like a simple question, I have found it difficult to answer it. The simplest answer would be because my ancestors were Chinese, but people would then ask why are there so many Indonesians who cant speak Mandarin then? This is where things get complicated. Ever since their migration to Malaysia [Malaya], our predecessors have always placed utmost emphasis on Chinese Education. Through institutions like private schools and ancestral halls, their children were taught the Chinese classics such as Three Character Classic [by Laozi] and so on. Over time, they have also reformed the education in line with the reform in China. Back then, our predecessors still held themselves as Chinese, in fact out of the 72 heroes of the HuangHuaGang revolution, 29 of them were overseas Chinese. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, all overseas Chinese donated for the war. It was a famous overseas Chinese Chen Jiageng who established Xiamen University and Jimei University. There are many other examples [of overseas Chinese contributing to China] like these. Years after living in Malaya, our lives gradually took root on this land. In the Malayan context, we began to take interest in the local politics, and by collaboration with fellow Malays and Indians we fought for our independence from the British colonial government. On the other hand, the Chinese leader Zhou Enlai called for overseas Chinese to settle down in their current place of residence. But one thing stayed unchanged: we remained committed to giving education in our mother tongue. In Indonesia, as there has never been a united coalition of overseas Chinese, they can neither have Chinese names nor celebrate the Lunar New Year. In Singapore, a country which is widely perceived by China to have a strong inheritance of Chinese culture, the premier Lee Kuan Yew actively destroyed its Chinese education system and shut down Nanyang University, the only Chinese-medium university in Singapore. Its people were encouraged to learn English instead, thus presently most Singaporean Chineses mother tongue is English. Today, as China grows and the economic value of Chinese language increases tremendously, there is now a new wave of enthusiasm in learning Chinese language in Southeast Asia. Malaysia is the only exception in this new wave, as our predecessors have never considered the economic factor as the reason for learning Chinese language, instead the driving force behind the learning has always been for the [preservation of] ethnic culture. In Indonesia, as there has never been a united coalition of overseas Chinese, they can neither have Chinese names nor celebrate the Lunar New Year. In Singapore, a country which is widely perceived by China to have a strong inheritance of Chinese culture, the premier Lee Kuan Yew actively destroyed its Chinese education system and shut down Nanyang University, the only Chinese-medium university in Singapore. Its people were encouraged to learn English instead, thus presently most Singaporean Chineses mother tongue is English. Today, as China grows and the economic value of Chinese language increases tremendously, there is now a new wave of enthusiasm in learning Chinese language in Southeast Asia. Malaysia is the only exception in this new wave, as our predecessors have never considered the economic factor as the reason for learning Chinese language, instead the driving force behind the learning has always been for the [preservation of] ethnic culture. Does that mean that Chinese Malaysians have never been hindered by its government? Of course they have been, in fact the hindrance has been severe. The ultimate goal of Malaysian Education is to establish the Malay language as the only medium of instruction, in other words Chinese-medium and Tamil-medium secondary and primary schools are all going to be abolished sooner or later. In the 1960s, the Malaysian government stipulated that only schools with Malay language as the medium of instruction were eligible for government subsidy, therefore a large number of Chinese secondary schools reformed and turned into government schools [SMK in Malay]. During then, our sages including the representative Mr. Lin Lian Yu maintained that learning mother tongue is the basic human right of all ethnicity; if we were not to get a single cent of subsidy, we would then establish private secondary schools. The Chinese education system has henceforth been preserved and systematized in the form of Chinese primary schools, private secondary schools and colleges. They even established an examination system called Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) which is recognized in many famous international institutions but not Malaysian universities. Many of us were admitted to Beida (Peking University) with this certificate. Throughout the whole process, our sages sacrificed their blood, sweat and tears, Mr. Lin Lian Yus citizenship was revoked, a lot of people were detained by the Malaysian government, and countless people supported the independent [private] secondary schools with their hard-earned money. In China, no one knows all these. In fact, it is not only the case in China, I believe that people around the world do not know all these, no one knows the soul of Chinese [pardon the literal translation] Mr. Lin, no one knew how Chinese Malaysians fought for the rights for mother tongue education with their blood, sweat and tears. Hence, it strikes me as a huge irony when my Chinese coursemates ask me Why could you speak Mandarin. Also, when my Chinese coursemate asked me why do you also speak of Chinese women [in the context of Nanjing massacre], as irrational as it might be, I got riled up. When the Japanese army invaded China, why did the Chinese Malaysians donate money to the cause? When tragedies befell Myanmar and Sichuan in the same year, Chinese Malaysians donated much more for the latter, after all these do we have no rights to call ourselves the Chinese race? When I went to the literature section of Beida Library, I was overwhelmed by the myriads of categories such as American literature and Indian literature. When I saw Singaporean literature but not Malaysian literature, I was swept by a wave of desolation and irony. We bathed our blood in the Chinese wars, established a complete Chinese education system and set up a comprehensive Malaysian Chinese literature, but yet, here in China, the home of Chinese culture, all our efforts were not recognised. It was Singapore, the country that closed down Nanyang University, that is now thought to preserve the Chinese culture better due to their stronger economic mettle. Such is our awkwardness. We fought for the preservation of the Chinese culture, but we are not accepted by our own government, and no one outside the country knows about the fight. We are nobody everywhere. This is our first form of presence – an awkward presence. II) The Independent Presence The other way of saying independent presence is isolated presence. The term Chinese Malaysian implies that we are Malaysians, but we are not Malays (its a huge misconception among my Chinese friends); we are ethnically Chinese but we are not Chinese. Hence we are a unique collection with a unique culture in this world. There is an obvious difference between us and other Malaysians such as Indians [Indian Malaysians] and Malays. In the sea of darker skin colours, not only do we differ by our yellow skins, we are also different in our language and culture. However, all of us get along very well in our daily lives. The Malays are very easy-going people, the racial conflicts are all instigated by the government. Malaysians as a whole are heavily influenced by the Malay ethnic, and this has been the ground of many of our commonalities, and this is what set us apart from the Chinese. The most obvious difference is in our speech. First and foremost in terms of accent, my friends always say When we look at you we cant tell whether you are from overseas, but as soon as you speak we know it immediately. In debate competitions, my Malaysian accent is even more prominent. To put it simply, Malaysian accents is a combination of Cantonese accent and Hokkien accent, there is less rolling of the tongue, less neutral tone (I think), less suffix of –er, and an overall flatter intonation. Secondly, for vocabulary, apart from the standard Chinese vocabulary, we combine a variety of dialects, Malay words, English words, and suffixes such as lah, loh, hor and so on. If you are interested, look up Malaysia vs China in Baidu for more examples. However, I maintain that our biggest difference goes deeper than our speech, in fact it lies within our minds. There was once Xu Yifeng, one of our seniors in Chinese faculty was discussing a debate title with us a group of international student debaters. He lamented that if he were to discuss any title with the Chinese students, the third yardstick of argument was bound to be which is better for the development of the socialist ideal. When we look at the curriculum of the Chinese students, the syllabus on Mao Zedongs thoughts, Deng Xiaopings thoughts, military theory and so on are so unfamiliar to us. The split between capitalism and socialism in the post cold-war era has totally set us apart in terms of our ideologies. Putting this thought aside, even though we both inherit the Chinese culture, the form of inheritance in both places have been vastly different. In China, most people are atheists nowadays. However, in Malaysia a lot of people have different faiths such as the 18 Arahats, the Goddess of Mercy, Lord Guan Yu, Ji Gong, Qitian Tasheng etc. Not only do we have a lot of temples, we also preserved a large number of ancestral halls and clan associations, and they have played important roles in the Chinese Malaysian community. As I am fairly familiar with the modern Chinese history, the observations above was not very surprising to me. What was the most shocking for me was the liberalisation of the Chinese people. Inside and outside the university grounds, lovers could be seen hugging and kissing everywhere, and this is totally unlike the China that I used to imagine. Of course there are liberal people in my place, but I am fairly certain that in general Chinese Malaysians are more conservative than the Chinese (at least judging from people in my hometown). Besides, a lot of Chinese Malaysians would concur that there are lots of academic freaks among Chinese students, and in general Chinese are more hardworking than Chinese Malaysians. There is stiff competition amongst Chinese, so all my coursemates are heroes and victors in the high school exams, and their spirit, commitment and dedication are absolutely admirable. In comparison, Malaysians are lazier, more inclined to do things for their own enjoyment, and enjoy their lives. Therefore when we are having fun, we tend to become more undignified and loud. We are neither Malays nor Chinese, in some degrees we are the metaphorical mixed-blood, which is probably why we sometimes feel lonely. However, this is probably our unique advantage: we inherit the rich Chinese culture, but we also grow up in an environment that allows for relatively more freedom of speech, freedom and multitude of thoughts. Therefore, even though Chinese Malaysians might seem isolated in this world, if I were given the chance to choose again, I am still willing to be born in Malaysia, and be one of Malaysias Chinese people. III) The Tragic Presence As the saying goes the sharpest sword is ground from the harshest stone, the fragrance of the plum flower comes after the bitterest cold. This saying is embodied perfectly in Malaysians. In the past, Malays, Chinese and Indians united in their fight for the nations independence, but as the Malays came to dominate the local politics (note: my criticism for the Malays are only targeted towards the politicians), the influence of Chinese and Indians diminished over time. At first the Malay language is made the only official language. Then, the ultimate goal of the Malaysian education was to make Malay language the only medium of instruction in schools. The biggest turning point in history was the May 13 incident in the 1960s. As the Chinese are more hardworking in general, they became richer than other ethnics, and this has increased the tension between different ethnics. Driven by their power struggles, some politicians instigated the Malays to kill the Chinese. Therefore, the second Prime Minister Tun Razak declared a state of emergency, and he then rose to power and announced a series of unfair laws. In economy, 30% of all employees of corporations must consist of indigenous people (in other words, Malays and a minority of other indigenous ethnics). In terms of education, there is a quota system in universities, a certain proportion of places in universities must be filled by the indigenous people. Besides, the oppression of Chinese education intensified, and amongst the biggest incident was the reform incident, that is, all schools that do not use Malay language as the medium of instruction would not get any subsidy from the government. Amidst the oppression, Chinese Malaysians continued to prosper and mature. As described in the first chapter, we established a complete Chinese education system and produced talents in various fields. Some of the famous celebrities such as Fish Leong, Gary Chaw, Michael Wong are all Chinese Malaysians; the now ubiquitous USB drive was invented by Malaysias Pan Jianzhong; in international Chinese debate competitions, the Malaysian team is a force to be reckoned with and is known for its sharp debating style. Most of the 10 richest Malaysians are Chinese Malaysians too. This is where the tragic reality comes to the fore. Does it matter that a lot of talents are produced by independent schools established solely by Chinese Malaysians? Even though most institutions in the world accept the UEC, the Malaysian government does not recognise it! Does it matter that the Malaya University is well renowned in international debate competitions? The government-controlled Malaya University once tried to stop their debaters from joining the competition! People like Fish Leong and Pan Jianzhong were even more pathetic, most people thought they are Taiwanese! Pan said that if he stayed in Malaysia, he wouldnt have had the same achievement. That is because in Malaysia, the room for career development is limited for the Chinese Malaysians, they can neither contribute to the country nor realise their own dreams, so what other choices are there except to pursue their career overseas? The Chinese Malaysians have matured, but their maturation has had nothing to do with the government. Our government is so generous, when the whole world is trying to absorb talents, they continue to turn a blind eye at the outpour of the local talents! While Malaysia is trying to attract talents from overseas, try and find out how many Malaysians are currently working in Singapore! When our Prime Minister was once visiting a Singaporean hospital, more than half of the people there greeted him with the Malay language. What an irony! Initially I wanted to name the third chapter The Proud Presence, but I then changed it to tragic. Indeed we have a lot of proud achievements, but when we intend to contribute to our homeland we are kept out by the unfair policies. Malaysia is such a treasure land, it is free from natural disasters, endowed with abundant natural resource, rich and varied cultures, and it is located at a strategic spot on the Earth. If we have good governance, it would not be difficult for us to join the rank of developed countries. On the contrary, Singapore does not have much natural resource and land, but now Malaysians could only see Malaysia become Singapores hinterland, as the country that was separated from Malaysia become more prosperous and developed over time! Its such an indescribable and complex feeling. Calling it tragic would be more apt, I reckon. Post script Some people might be surprised that I have always seen myself as a Chinese. From a young age my reading consisted of Journey to the West, Outlaws of the Marsh, Romance of Three Kingdoms, Generals of the Yang Clan and Yue Fei Biography. The most influential book I have ever read was probably a serial comic of Chinese history. In my little mind, I conjured the imagery of rolling dusts and knights on their steads. When I grew up a little more, I read History of Chinese, Chinese Fables, and I flip through Three Hundred Tang Poems occasionally. Back then, I really thought I was a Chinese, and that my cultural root would connect me with the people in China. Therefore, it has always been my dream to return to China. I have always thought English is unimportant because I was going to China, therefore I never learned it properly. I didnt even try to learn the Malay language, in fact I often joked about doing badly in Malay language. You could call me stubborn. I thought it is only necessary to learn essential things. In my second year in senior level, I finally learned about the importance of English as my vision widened, so I tried to catch up in a hurry and managed to build up basic proficiency, though I am still far from being good at it. On the other hand, I remained reluctant to learn the Malay language, in my UEC I got a pathetic B6 grade and I joked about it. Last September I finally came to China to study my favourite Chinese subject in the best university in China. It seemed like a dream come true. However, after coming here, for the first time I felt deeply that I am a Malaysian after all. For the first time I felt that I might even be patriotic to Malaysia. Growing up in my homeland has left such an indelible mark in my life, through my accents, mentality and so on. Even though I might be the most Chinese minority of Malaysians, even though I get along with my Chinese classmates very well, I could still feel our profound differences. No matter what, if you are a foreigner in China, you could only be a foreigner. So where should I go from here? This is what I have been thinking about all semester. I wrote the three chapters above in my search through my perplexed state. I tried to search the identity of the Chinese Malaysians, the identity of myself, and then decide where I want to be from here. It is my personal view that no matter if you stay in China or go to the West, you are bound to receive a biased information from a single viewpoint, and it would be difficult to know the world in its entirety. Besides, if you stay in China, you might only be an awkward, isolated individual. If you go to the West, you would be even more isolated as you live amongst people with entirely different mindset, in fact you might even be ostracized by them. I will probably still return to Malaysia, despite the oppression and the difficulty to realise my own potential. However, it might be possible for me to use my vote to exert that miniscule pressure on the National Coalition [BN], do what I like, and be a happy person. My income will probably be low, but even if I do not lead an affluent life, even if it is difficult to fulfill my potential, as long as I could live in my familiar homeland, together with my beloved people, isnt that what we would call a blissful life? A sheet of paper with absurd writing, and a bout of sour tears, All say that the author is an idiot, But who would know what he really feels? Edit: I just found out that Malaysian Chinese is actually more commonly used than Chinese Malaysian. I wrote Chinese Malaysian because its the usual order for many other similar cases e.g. African American. ___________________________________ *only after copying the essay to my status box then I realize how incredibly long the essay is. Hahaha. But it surely doesnt feel lengthy while I was reading it. Good writing does that, people!
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 00:59:02 +0000
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