Muhibbah. Merdeka.

These are words that I grew up with. It was virtually impossible for us to move from Merdeka to Muhibbah and from Merdeka to Maju. That was the first ten years that I remember of my school days - “Majulah Malaysia”. The concept still stays in my mind.

It’s the amazing fact that as Malaysians we are a nation that is clearly defined, purely by the geography and the concept of a nation as opposed to racial, religious and cultural barriers or parameters. Hence the only thing that makes a Malaysian, Malaysian has always been in my mind, his affinity for the land, of his birthplace, his love and his loyalty for the soil that we have all grown up on and learnt to love.

Malaysia has been a safe harbour for the various people who have populated this place. There are the various Chinese, races from the Chinese Mainland. Remember that at the time they came over that there was no China to speak of. And they themselves came from different lands, be it from Ghuangzhou, from Hainan, from Fookien – these were different nations. So to construe that there was one China that populated Malaysia is by itself wrong.  Same thing applies to the Indians, because when they came over, there was no India per se. At that time it consisted of 500 different princely states. And this applies also to the influx of Malays from various parts of the Indonesian archipelago – Sulawesi, Molukas, Java, Sumatera, Lombok, Banda and so on. Each bringing with them a whole different cultural heritage. But none of these nations existed when Malaysia was being formed as its own set. So the definition of us in the form that we are looking at today which is the Indian, Chinese and Malay context is by itself wrong because none of these existed when these people reached our soil. We are a conglomeration of people who came together because we were seeking new frontiers, facing new challenges, people who dared to be different and on arriving on this soil of hospitable safe harbour of the peninsula, we then basically became sons of the soil. If one were to look back historically for instance during the Larut War from 1861 to 1874 between the Gee Hin and the Hai San, who were on two different opposing factions,this was traditional going right back to the Malacca sultanate. There wasn’t a Chinese Malaysia, a Malay or Indian polarisation of any kind in our history. If Kedah waged a war in Kelantan or Pahang, there were Chinese on both sides just as there were Malays or Indians on both sides.

To be proud of this cultural heritage is to be proud of the fact that we have interwoven from this myriad of different humanity, into a fabric that is not only strong as hem but also smooth as silk and versatile.  This fabric is now Malaysia today; our own red, white, blue and yellow. Our own corner of the planet which we call home is not just about being proud of being 50 years old because we were a nation long before the flag was hoisted. We are proud to have single-handedly proven that despite the differences that we have brought to this land, we have learned to celebrate the similarities. In Malaysia you can see the unison of men which gives hope for the rest of the planet. Not only are we a melting pot per se, we are in fact a smelting pot. There is a term in Sanskrit called “panchaloga” which is the coming together of five different rare metals - gold, silver, copper, brass and iron – the “panchaloga” is supposedly a metal which was greatly revered in ancient times for its strength, for the fact that it never corroded.

For the intrinsic beauty and purity of Malaysia, we have created our own smelting pot. We have created our own brand, our precious metal. And we celebrate this oneness on this coming 31st August 2007 – we are a nation from which hope is reborn for the planet. It’s a gift we have received and fostered that we today present to the rest of the human race. Let us all be Malaysia. It is not about Malaysia for the Malaysians anymore. Let the world be Malaysia.
Salam Merdeka!

Warm regards,
Dato’ Vijay Eswaran