Are you a Malaysian Chinese?
Or are you a Chinese Malaysian?
You see, many ethnic Chinese in Malaysia are a confused bunch. They don’t know whether to call themselves Chinese or Malaysian. And gwai lohs who visit Malaysia are always confused by them.
This is bad. Very bad. Why? Because this means that no one knows where their loyalty lies. No wonder many Malays hate us and distrust us.
If you ask me, I’d say I’m a Chinese Malaysian. ‘Chinese’ is what describes me. ‘Malaysian’ is who I am. This means that I am a Malaysian, but of Chinese ethinicity. Malaysia is my country, I grew up in Malaysia, and I am emotionally attached to Malaysia. I am concerned about what is happening here in Malaysia, not Taiwan or China (that’s the problem. Apasal asyik cakap pasal Taiwan & China aje?! Balik tiong sua lah lu!). It is my TANAH AIR.
An analogy: red apple. ‘Red’ = adjective; ‘apple’ = noun. ‘Red’ is what describes the noun, ‘apple’ is what that noun is.
Another analogy: Malay Chinese. Malay = adj; Chinese = noun. This would apply to a person whose ethnicity is Malay, but Chinese by heart. This could happen if his ancestors settled in China, adopted China as his country, grew up in China and is emotionally attached to China.
So, if you call yourself a Malaysian Chinese, that means you still have the immigrant mentality. But you keep demanding for all kinds of stuff from the Malaysian gahmen. Dude, you’ve got to realise that unless you start calling yourself a Malaysian, and start behaving like one… Then only would people start to give you what you deserve.
It’s Visit Malaysia Year 2007. If tourists ask, say you are Malaysian… a true-blue Malaysian.
Yours Sincerely,
the CInaMudahLupa (sarcasm alert: satire on ‘Melayu Mudah Lupa’).
This is a good article. I am a chinese, and dont know who hate who first, it’s just because the stupid ‘bumiputra’ term that cause so many problem. The bumiputra term let chinese and indian feel like we dont have the same standard as them, but lower then them, and we feel distrust by them too. If all Malaysian have the same opportunity, we wont hate them, and we will have the feeling like Malaysian.
i agree totally. we are all chinese malaysian. we are also all sons of the soil of this beautiful country. we must fight for a fair n equitable society.
I absolutely agree. I find it completely infuriating that 50 years after independence, we still have politicians making speeches completely in Mandarin or Tamil simply because their constituents don’t understand Malay. I find it ridiculous that even though we all have blue ICs, we insist on defending “Chinese education” at all costs, without any regard for Malaysian education.
It’s actually very sickening, if you ask me. While true blue Chinese Malaysians like the Straits Chinese have fought for true equality, most Chinese prefer to fight for equality in the sense that they can discriminate against Malays in the same way they discriminate against us. The end result is that we’ve given up so many of our rights, and for what? So we can say we defended petty issues like “Chinese education”.
It makes me want to throw up just as badly as those keris-waving morons.
iamyuanwu: I would hate to think that Chinese education is a petty issue. I myself is a product of Chinese education (national type Chinese primary) and I’m quite proud of it. But I think it’s time to change.
The Chinese Malaysians are very afraid of losing their(our) identity and culture. That’s the only they have left. And most of all, afraid of losing the quality of education. Many sekolah kebangsaan primary and sekolah menengah are seriously lacking in dedicated/motivated/inspiring teachers. That’s why the sudden surge of enrolment in SJK(C) Chinese primary schools in urban areas. Teachers in sekolah kebangsaan are known to be lazy. I’m not joking/slandering, these are words coming from the mouth of teachers.
I feel that unless education quality in SK school improves by a huge margin, the last thing Chinese Malaysian parents will do is to put their children in national type schools. Racial segregation is about to get worse.
I absolutely agree that in the vast majority of cases, all else being equal, vernacular schools provide a better education. However, as you imply, this is a separate issue from racila segregation – something many Chinese school proponents ignore. Why can’t we fight for a better public school system and racial integration? Why do we use poor education as an excuse to justify segregating our young from standard one?
As usual, I blame the whole political establishment, both government and opposition, for this. The government makes a show of not tolerating vernacular schools, but in reality it doesn’t mind them because it allows them to preserve a segregated society and inculcate a keris-waving culture in Malays and chauvinist culture in the Chinese. (Divide and rule, as usual.) Meanwhile, the opposition hammers away on this issue instead of rightly noting that we should be working towards dismantling barriers between the races, not heightening them.
BUMIPUTRA? That’s Sanscrit, man. “Bumi” is earth or land and “Putra” is son or prince. If the Melayu want to call themselves something special, they should invent their own terms – not use other people’s language. But seriously you are all right. The thing is not to fall into their trap. Simply remind them -politely – that you know their grandfather came from Java and they still speak Javanese at home and they have special rights because they have not caught up with you AND you hope they will do so in future. It is like a disabled sticker for parking. Say you are in no hurry because you still continue making a lot of money while they are struggling. Then you will see them squirm behind their bravado. Happy Lunar New Year.
iamyuanwu: We all know many (maybe not all) of their ancestors came from Java and what not. But reminding them that, is pointless and arguing for the sake of arguing. It’s good to know a bit of our family history to keep us grounded. But if we keep telling each other where our grandfathers are from… then no point lah to call ourselves Malaysians, kan?
Dude, don’t do that. Please don’t do that. You are aggravating the problem. Many Malays has this distorted view that all Chinese Malaysians are rich, or richer than they are… even if they are more well to do than we are. We need to let them know we worked hard to survive. Let them know that if they work hard, without this yayasan or that agensi to support them, they can be as ‘rich’ as they want to.
You have a HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR too! Gong Hei…Gong Hei!
Anyone can do a 2 year course in Australia or NZ in something simple like hairdressing, cooking (yes!, accounting or something else and then MIGRATE if they can speak English,have good character and are preferably under 30. No need for a degree.Send a brief email about yourself,education,etc to: “easymigration@iprimus.com.au” that is run by ex-Malaysian. No fee for the assessment. No discrimination on race, sex or gender(yes, pondans are ok), no compulsory tudung or songkok,no morals police,and plenty of sunshine, democracy, freedom and oodles of money when working part time to pay for the 2 year course. After PR, if no job, Govt will give you money to survive (Malaysians don’t need it as all are hardworking and speak English here anyway). Oh yes, very good beer and even Malays allowed to drink. Everybody here is an Australia-putra!
huh…
there are so many topics discuss about this…
i don’t know when all these thing will stop..
when will all malaysian live harmonise for real????
i can’t hide the truth tah im a malay…
and…
i really feel sad for all these thing…….
insulting each other…
that so stupid…
Thats because justice and equality is not achieved. Thats why so much frustration
Malaysia will only harmonize if people recognize that the Malays are also pendatang asing. We must enthrone an orang asli and let him rule.
Chinese people doesn’t help malay business…. But malay people helping chinese business… Think about it!
i can’t hide the truth tah im a malay… that so stupid… “Comment by whoever — August 6, 2007 @ 5:12 pm ”
HI, I myself working at Gov say us stupid, you the one stupid. MP say something to decrease rasuah rite? now is wat year oredy wanna wait until he went to sleep at more special bed?
I am chinese BTW Gov really suck got potential worker WHO WORK XXX2-XXX6 Didnt USE!!, BUT ask same race. AND TELL YOU THE TRUE HE have NO EXP WORKING in IT n he jus report in can go to traveling.**(He come out of Electrical Eng but no diploma coz he didnt finish his Diploma from Gov Schcool) HE REACHED OTHER PLACE ALWAYS ASK MY SKILL AND ETC SOLVING PROB. 1thing, I always remind HIM Officer (Mohd Mxxrxj) and also (Mohd Kxxsxi) they say will. Until now haven touch out of office thank you Malay!!! I will continue study Degree In Programming. Seem got skill also not use in Gov Better use up time look at SG, AU, US where is more good for living.
***while they didnt ask me? Not same blood? or not same at all??
It doesnt matter if its Chinese Malaysian or Malaysian Chinese.
Because we are all Chinese, and bloody Ahmad Ismail see us as immigrants!
haih,T^T
how cum cant hv the same standard with them??
haih, we 3 big race berganding bahu to archieve merdeka 1 ba.. but now..
lets say recently matter la,
see wad they did to us
say wad chinese n indian do not hav the qualification to apply the scholarship??
we juz pinjam tinggal nia?
LOLZZZZZ,den wat the hell of the reason tat us co-operating to get merdeka???
spm 13A1 cant defeat no A..
aka
spm 13A1 no chance to in uni…
wad the hell going on with dis society..blinded ah?all talented ppl are covered with selfish action of ‘them’ ,trying to help self race
tats why our country will slow develop .
owh,, oni talk nia .. still hurting mi x3
i m sry for those who viewed my comment, ps:if u angry
i jus wanna send it out my expression
i m juz 16..
hehe.. but still.. x3×3.. haih..
I am a Malaysian Chinese, not a Chinese Malaysian!
It is a fact we are not equal in this country as some claim that they are “more dominant” than others although their religion teaches them equality, impartiality, fairness etc….which they have chosen to forget to practise in real life.
So long there is no equality, Malaysian Chinese is what we should call ourselves.
Being a product of Chinese education, i resent those who blame racial polarisation on Chinese schools, ignoring that fact that there are so much equality in our country which is the main culprit of disunity and distrust.
I’m working in government owned company but “run” by chinese bcoz the heads are mostly chinese so the subordinates are mostly chinese although it’s a government owned company. Now i see, being the majority tells me all. There are lazy chinese also, alwayz chit chat during working hours, punch out cun2 at 5 o’clock, ular also got, dunno how to work also got (this surprises me coz i tot chinese are alwayz “pandai”. This makes me very sad, coz i really look up on this race. They should show me good examples and not keep on gossiping about melayu malas… So if chinese rules Malaysia, are going to be like Malay? eeemmm i have seen that in my company…they are prone to have tolerance with their own people. I’m not chinese neither malay but would like to see all of us live as malaysian….. pls people!!!
So people, before we criticize others, look up for a big mirror. The answers are within ourselves….
Wa setuju dengan orgasli. Pls. read and read our history….don’t talk about ur confusion about Bumi or whatsoever IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THEM. By the way, I always love Mandarin to be second language to all my kids.
Last from me, pls also read Wikipedia about Chinese-medium school. Malaysia is the only country which the majority is not Chinese, but allowed to have Chinese-medium school. Hello…bersyukurlah (be thankful). Mana ada Malay-medium school? Hmm…think about it okay! Jangan tau komplen saja….
I’m not purely Malay or Chinese, but I think the mixture-blood keep reminding me to be thankful to stay in Malaysia-NOT IN CHINA.
olang asli:
What talk you? I didn’t mention anything about me being confused about Bumi/Bumiputras/Bumi status/etc. I wasn’t even talking bad about the Bumiputras. I was ranting about the Chinese Malaysians still having the migrant mentality.
“Hmm…think about it okay!”: Oi, the normal ’sekolah kebangsaan’ is not Malay medium school kah? If not, what language do they use? Tagalog? French?
What is there to be “thankful to stay in Malaysia-NOT IN CHINA”?!
I have no emotional attachment to China, and I don’t give much thoughts about China. And this is an INSULT to many Chinese Malaysians in many ways:
- Even though their families are born and bred here, they don’t actually deserve to be here?
- Are you saying that they don’t love their country Malaysia?
- Are you saying that they are not Malaysian enough?
Don’t come preach to me about “bersyukurlah” or not. I love may country Malaysia a lot. You should “bersyukurlah” that I have continued to love my country, despite what the racist gahmen have been doing.
iamyuanwu:
stop it yuan wu! no one dislike chinese being here in Malaysia. we love this multiracial country but look at the bright side, u already get what u want but no doubt not 100%. we cant have 100% as this is multiracial country. we also to give n take especially with other races in this country.if we go to china i dont think the china government will treat us this way. minta ini minta itu, long time already “kena sembelih” lor but not in Malaysia. we still accept u as one of us….i know u will say “phui”….if u think like that sampai mati pun yr anger never ending lor..
orgasli dude,
It’s as if we are arguing with each other on totally different issues. This is hilarious in a weird way. I apologise if I sounded harsh, because I feel as if I am being insulted as not being Malaysian enough.
I’m sure I got what I want. But Malaysia have so much room for improvement & so much potential that I couldn’t help but feel disappointed by various gahmen policies & discriminatory practices and the stupid mentality that certain people have. The point of the post was to lament the mentality of certain Chinese Malaysians… still behaving like immigrants.
Multiracial is not a excuse for the cacat-ness of our country right now. In fact, multiracial should be a great benefit or catalyst for us to achieve what we are meant to achieve! If I can’t get 100%, can I at least ask for 90-95%?
This is our country. Of course I want to minta ini minta itu so that it can improve. If we don’t demand excellence from the gahmen/people/nation, macam mana nak improve kan? Then the country will forever be in mediocrity.
I still don’t understand why you keep bringing up ‘being in China’ thing. I don’t give much thought about how China gahmen will treat us… simply because China not my tanah air. It’s not HOME, you see. So I can’t really compare. I just wish that HOME could be a much better place…
There’s no wrong in asking the country to improve and treat its people fairly.
You sounded like you’re content with the current situation in Malaysia. I guess you’re around the age of 50? =) You probably believe that we have come a long way since independence/British rule… and that we should be happy for the ‘peace‘ and ‘tolerance‘ we are ‘enjoying‘ now.
iamyuanwu:
there u r, truely malaysian! i know what u mean…living and working in chinese environment, i totally understand what u want. even like us also striving hard to get what we want in live…most of us r not like what u think. there r those who r lazy n waiting for the gahmen aids, but i dont want that. if we r able to compete, so let us compete. nowadays there r so many chinese working in the gahmen n mostly in high posts. so many YBs already. that’s their duties to channel yr desire. i see DAP, MCA and GERAKAN are very vocal n i really admire this. they speak their minds. i bet the malays are listening with fears also. u see, in my area which is chinese majority, the roads, churches, temples, playgrounds n so on are so goooood compared to other areas. that is because they are vocal n “lo so” = fussy. well we get to enjoy it too…no one treat u badly, it’s juz yr feeling. the malays are soft-hearted people. no matter how worst u think about them, they wont “crucify” you. they have “BIG PROBLEMS” with their own people and their leaders r having hard times to cleanse these. wait till i become PM, then i’ll give u a fair bites…hahaha but this is a long journey for Malaysia…it takes hundred years for Obama to become the 1st black president…they went thru slavery, killing, double standard by the whites. i want to see purely Malaysia where all races are equal one day. dont take too long like US but we should start from here… respecting each other, give n take…i apologise u in the name of lord…PEACE
correction…yr apology is accepted in the name of LORD…
Fuck all this bullshit , jiu hu lang