Musa Hitam: Malays still lack confidence
(Malaysian Mirror) – Former deputy prime minister Musa Hitam said although the Malays could be regarded as an educated and mature community with many of them being professionals, generally they still lack confidence in their own capabilities, Bernama reported.
“I realise this shortcoming and we still have a long way to go. But if our psychology and mentality are still negative coupled with the ‘cannot do’ excuse, then it’ll be difficult for us to progress further,” he said in his acceptance speech after receiving an honorary doctorate in Government and Politics from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM).
He was conferred the honorary PhD by UiTM chancellor, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin at the first session of the university’s 71st convocation, here, on Thursday.
Musa said the negative mentality clearly showed when Malay thinkers and proponents kept saying things like “habislah Melayu” (finish lah the Malays) and “apalah nak jadi pada Melayu?” (what will happen to the Malays?” when faced with national issues.
The solution suggested was “ketuanan Melayu” (Malay supremacy), but modern history had proven that the master race concept had failed, especially when faced with competition from those with a high level of knowledge and expertise in various fields, and are advance in science and technology, he said.
“To me, if we are looking for a slogan, “keterasan Melayu” (Malay vanguard) is a better and more suitable choice,” he said.
Not afraid to compete
In his speech, Musa also recalled a question-and-answer session in the 1960’s where a University Malaya student urged that the special rights of the Malays be preserved under the Federal Constitution.
“While I stated that the special rights were already stipulated in the Federal Constitution, I challenged the young Malays then by saying that the Malays ought to feel ashamed if they were forever given a special position in whatever field just because they were Malays,” he further recalled.
Musa said he had waited long for Malays to proudly say that they were successful because they were capable and qualified and not afaid to compete with anyone. “Alhamdulillah, the time has already come,” he added.
He also told the graduands not to make demands based on emotions and sentiments, but their knowledge, qualifications, capabilities, confidence and faith.
Musa said UiTM had played an important role in giving full meaning to the nation’s independence and thanked the university for conferring him the honorary doctorate.
