In 1963 the British colonies of Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah joined from what of then would be called Malaysia. Singapore joined Malaysia, although there were a lot of problems with the majority of the population being Chinese. Because of that, tensions grew stronger and two years after the connection Singapore was kicked out of the federation. Tensions between Malay people and people from Singapore still exist (Ars, 2001).
The Malaysian and Singaporean governments have been involved in a range of disputes and disagreements which have tested the relations between the two countries. There has been a long list of issues: the railway, airspace, water supply, pension funds of Malaysians working in Singapore, land reclamation, Singapore's treatment of its Malay minority, and more.
There have been some territorial or border disputes which the International Court of Justice had to decide on. “There is a great deal of cross-border traffic, with an estimated 200,000 Malaysians commuting daily or weekly to jobs in Singapore, and Singaporeans going to Malaysia for entertainment and tourism. Malaysian Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) procedures are completed at the Tanjung Pagar railway station in central Singapore on land owned by the Malaysian railroad. On August 1, 1998, Singapore moved its CIQ facilities to the Woodlands, closer to the Malaysian border. Malaysia refused to move its CIQ facilities, so that rail passengers must undergo two inspections at two locations. Though the incident strained relations between the two governments, visits between Malaysian and Singapore were unaffected.” (Haron, 1998)
Malaysia provides Singapore with about half its water. In the past, Singapore has been cut off of that supply of water because Malaysia needed more water because of the draught. There have been disputes on the price of water as well (the most recent in 2003). Malaysia wanted to renegotiate the price which was agreed on in the 1920s. “Singapore accused Malaysia of changing its stance in negotiations over issues such as water prices, border crossing locations and military airspace by handing out booklets. Malaysia replied with a $526,000 ad campaign accusing Singapore of soiling Malaysia's reputation by spreading misconceptions over the spat” (US Water news, 2003).
Although there is quite some struggle between the two governments, you hardly notice the problems in daily life. Asking several people about their opinions about Singapore gives the idea that there aren’t any problems between the people. Singapore is seen as nothing special by Malaysians though. They only thing they see better in Singapore is the clubbing scene.
Sunday, 8 November 2009
The struggle between different Cultures in Malaysia
Malaysia knows a lot of different cultures. The (Soenitic) Islam is the official religion; Islamic people (mostly Malays) represent just a little over half of the population. The constitution gives the Islam a preference: the Malaysian leader is an Islamic religious leader, Islamic religion education is obliged at state schools, Islamic people have their own jurisdictional system and pay special taxes. There even is a special Muslim police force which tries to check up on Muslims so they don’t drink or misbehave in public. The Chinese are supporters of Confucianism, Buddhism or Taoism. Most Indian people support Hinduism. Six percent of the population is Christian. The different tribes at Sarawak and Sabah support animistic religions.
Overall, the people live in harmony but the various races mostly mix among themselves. There is some degree of tension for mostly Chinese due to the feeling of being discriminated. Education and language is one of the most visible signs of the problem of struggles. Most Chinese and Indians send their children to Mandarin- and Tamil-language schools while the Malays attend national institutions.
The struggle between Chinese and Malays came to a sad explosion and led to the race riots in 1969. Hundreds of people were killed, houses were burnt and stores were plundered. A state of emergency was called out for the next two years. After the riots the government tried to restore the delay of the Malays by introducing the ‘bumiputra’ (princes of the country) politics. Chinese still have to pay more taxes, have more trouble getting loans, it’s harder for them to get into state universities etc. Although these problems still exist, I haven’t seen any conflicts between the Chinese and Malays. There are some struggles: Some Chinese people told us to stay away from the Indian restaurants, because they were supposed to be unhygienic. Some Indian people said the same about Chinese restaurants. Malaysians say that Malays are lazy. I have had some experiences that confirmed that statement. Several times when entering a shop the cashiers were sleeping on the counter. When you wanted to pay you actually had to wake them up. Besides that, you could find sleeping Malays everywhere in the shade.
There is a difference between the Malaysians and Malays. Some Malays have very humble jobs. Examples I came across were people at toilets who would hand you towels after washing your hands, people who cleaned the pavement in front of our office even when it was raining, and people at malls who would dry your umbrella with a towel when it was raining outside. So that’s where you could see that some Malay people really were worse off than others.
Some Malays are pretty racist: Someone wrote a message on a wall on the toilet in a mall in Sabah addressed to tourists. It said that all those really black people (meaning Indian labourer workers) were not real Malays and were giving the Malays a bad name. But overall people do live in harmony and it’s very nice to see some of the Malay, the Chinese, and the Indian culture.
I had the privilege of being in Malaysia at their 50th independence day: Merdeka. It was an awesome national party, and people of different races were celebrating together. I have been at the Merdeka stadium. That stadium was especially built for the occasion of independence, where Malaysia's first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, declared Malaya's independence in front of a massive crowd. And now every year that moment is relived with a huge parade were thousands watch and enjoy an amazing and impressive show of hundreds of dancers and soldiers. At the end of the speech 31 August 1957 Tunku Abdul Rahman shouted ‘Merdeka’ three times. When that happened now, fireworks were shot in the air and everybody went wild. I believe the feeling is a bit like celebrating New Years Eve, where you count down in to the New Year and party when the New Year starts. The whole of Malaysia was decorated in August with the ‘Jalur Gemilang’: the national flag. You could see the flags literally everywhere: hanging from windows, painted on walls, cars decorated with hundreds of flags, placemats in restaurants and so much more. The Malaysians are proud of their country.
Overall, the people live in harmony but the various races mostly mix among themselves. There is some degree of tension for mostly Chinese due to the feeling of being discriminated. Education and language is one of the most visible signs of the problem of struggles. Most Chinese and Indians send their children to Mandarin- and Tamil-language schools while the Malays attend national institutions.
The struggle between Chinese and Malays came to a sad explosion and led to the race riots in 1969. Hundreds of people were killed, houses were burnt and stores were plundered. A state of emergency was called out for the next two years. After the riots the government tried to restore the delay of the Malays by introducing the ‘bumiputra’ (princes of the country) politics. Chinese still have to pay more taxes, have more trouble getting loans, it’s harder for them to get into state universities etc. Although these problems still exist, I haven’t seen any conflicts between the Chinese and Malays. There are some struggles: Some Chinese people told us to stay away from the Indian restaurants, because they were supposed to be unhygienic. Some Indian people said the same about Chinese restaurants. Malaysians say that Malays are lazy. I have had some experiences that confirmed that statement. Several times when entering a shop the cashiers were sleeping on the counter. When you wanted to pay you actually had to wake them up. Besides that, you could find sleeping Malays everywhere in the shade.
There is a difference between the Malaysians and Malays. Some Malays have very humble jobs. Examples I came across were people at toilets who would hand you towels after washing your hands, people who cleaned the pavement in front of our office even when it was raining, and people at malls who would dry your umbrella with a towel when it was raining outside. So that’s where you could see that some Malay people really were worse off than others.
Some Malays are pretty racist: Someone wrote a message on a wall on the toilet in a mall in Sabah addressed to tourists. It said that all those really black people (meaning Indian labourer workers) were not real Malays and were giving the Malays a bad name. But overall people do live in harmony and it’s very nice to see some of the Malay, the Chinese, and the Indian culture.
I had the privilege of being in Malaysia at their 50th independence day: Merdeka. It was an awesome national party, and people of different races were celebrating together. I have been at the Merdeka stadium. That stadium was especially built for the occasion of independence, where Malaysia's first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, declared Malaya's independence in front of a massive crowd. And now every year that moment is relived with a huge parade were thousands watch and enjoy an amazing and impressive show of hundreds of dancers and soldiers. At the end of the speech 31 August 1957 Tunku Abdul Rahman shouted ‘Merdeka’ three times. When that happened now, fireworks were shot in the air and everybody went wild. I believe the feeling is a bit like celebrating New Years Eve, where you count down in to the New Year and party when the New Year starts. The whole of Malaysia was decorated in August with the ‘Jalur Gemilang’: the national flag. You could see the flags literally everywhere: hanging from windows, painted on walls, cars decorated with hundreds of flags, placemats in restaurants and so much more. The Malaysians are proud of their country.
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