Race to the top

By admin-s On Feb 28, 2014

(MMO) – History is used (or abused) to provide justifications for the creation and maintenance of policies that treat people according to pre-set racial categories: for in this conception ethnic identity is no longer something that you realise for yourself, but something that the government declares you to be.

Tan Sri Joseph Kurup’s proposal to delete race from official forms is not new. It was discussed in the government in 2009 and I commented on it then, explaining how I became increasingly conscious of others’ reaction to my race as I grew up (I was like one of the boys portrayed in Yasmin Ahmad’s Petronas Merdeka 2007 advert) and why I was uncomfortable when asked to fill in my ethnicity ostensibly for the purposes of “monitoring discrimination” in the UK.

Generally, I have observed three broad attitudes towards race by Malaysians (of all ethnicities).

First are those who are indifferent or even disdainful about ethnicity. They try to go through life without expressing their own ethnicity, and never judge others on account of their skin colour.

In current parlance, they might say that they are Malaysian first and their ethnicity last. Indeed they may resist — perhaps react with hostility to — questions about what race they are, and might be despised by others of the same ethnic background as “traitors to their race”.

Second are those for whom ethnicity is an important personal source of identity. I believe everyone’s family histories can provide many useful lessons.

For example, I am inspired by my Minangkabau forebears who pioneered federalism and democracy, and by my Arab ancestor who sailed from the Hadhramaut to Negri Sembilan in the 19th century, and by my Terengganu great-grandfather’s staunch defence of his land.

These aren’t just stories of individuals: they represent wider political, economic and cultural movements which were interwoven with ethnic identities. Other people’s stories are just as compelling, and collectively, they enrich our society today because we can all share in them. I have no problem being “Malaysian first”, but there are many sources of identity and there should be no shame in wanting to express those as well.

Third are those for whom the concept of race exists to determine one’s place in society. They believe everyone must have an identifiable race because it is the only way to determine one’s appropriate relationship with others — and in particular, one’s relationship with the state.

And history is used (or abused) to provide justifications for the creation and maintenance of policies that treat people according to pre-set racial categories: for in this conception ethnic identity is no longer something that you realise for yourself, but something that the government declares you to be. Thus, it is futile for a Malaysian to tick lain-lain and write “Minang” or “Bugis”, though Indonesians would understand the distinction very clearly.

In the current debate following Kurup’s suggestion, it’s clear those in the third category who vehemently oppose the removal of race from official forms, because such an act would attack the very core of their worldview.