On the use of the pendatang label
Gan Ping Sieu
The latest debate on the pendatang issue, sparked by a now-suspended Gerakan delegate during the party’s National Delegates Conference over the weekend, is unproductive and does not merit further discussion. If prolonged, this topic only serves to divide us further at a time when we need to stay united to face more pressing national issues.
For Malaysians to debate with fellow Malaysians, who among us is a pendatang, is a pseudo debate. Doing so would only serve the interests of bigots and extremists who are out to fan racial sentiments and confuse the public for political ends. If there is any pendatang issue that we ought to be concerned about, it should be about attempts by illegal immigrants, migrant workers and their children to become Malaysian citizens or have already become so.
Pendatang must be read in the context of citizenship. The concept of citizenship arises when one has a legal duty to seek approval to be a citizen in a nation state or a defined sovereign territory. It is
therefore legally correct to label anyone who has been granted citizenship, either by the Sultanates, the British colonial masters or the Malaya/ Malaysian government as pendatang, but it is unacceptable to label their descendents as one. As an illustration, the ancestors of Straits-born baba nyonya who migrated to Tanah Melayu during the Malacca Sultanate era were pendatang, but the question of whether the baba nyonyas are pendatang or not now do not arise. Instead, labelling them as pendatang is nothing but silly.
In fact, the grandparents of many of today’s Malays, as well as the Chinese and Indians in this country, acquired their citizenship in Malaya or Malaysia by applying to the then governing authorities. They were pendatang but NOT their children who were born Malaysians. Therefore, it is legally and conceptually wrong for Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin, the former Information Minister and now Malay rights champion, to choose to call himself a pendatang in his Oct 19 2014 blog posting (as his father had Indian blood and his mother was from Arab lineage). Such a proposition has inadvertently fanned the sentiments of right wing groups.
From a historical context, the bulk of our ancestors settled down in Tanah Melayu or Malaya at different historical eras as pendatang. They crossed treacherous seas, and covered vast expanse of land in search for a better life. We are only treating our ancestors with contempt if we continue to squabble over who among us are pendatang and in the process, squander the opportunity to grow and build this land which our forefathers had made tremendous sacrifice to migrate to for the sake of their descendents — that is us.
Media statement by Centre for a Better Tomorrow (CENBET) co-president Gan Ping Sieu
