The state of being citizens

I REFER to the media controversy over Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran’s alleged labelling of Malays as pendatang or immigrant and the sometimes offensive reactions.

Every nation state distinguishes its citizens from immigrants, which is why citizenship documents and passports are so important. Allow me to make some observations about the nation state, beginning with some examples.

Before 1945 (or 1949 if you like), there was no nation of Indonesia. What existed were the territories known as the Dutch East Indies. Before 1947, there was no Pakistan, only a region within British India. Prior to 1957, there was no sovereign nation called Malaya, only the territories of the Federated and Unfederated Malay states and the Straits Settlements, and all were under British rule.

These territories were each administered separately and meant different things to different residents. They were not independent or sovereign nations. What was Tanah Melayu to some was part of British Malaya to others.

The Federation of Malaya came about as a result of independence negotiations between the British government and an alliance of leaders of the main communities resident in these territories at that time, and the formation of a popularly elected government that enabled the fledgling nation to conclude the negotiations for independence. This government was the result of elections won by the Alliance of race-based parties representing Malays, Chinese and Indians. Independence was not wrested from the British but rather granted by them when the conditions they set were met.

For good and practical reasons, the British government did not agree, and would never have agreed, to an independent Malaya that did not accept all residents as citizens. Thus, similar to Indonesia and Pakistan, Malaya was a nation born out of the will of the people resident in the relevant territories at that time. An essential part of that exercise was the definition and determination of who would be citizens, and those who qualified including ethnic Malays, Chinese, Indians and others thereby became Malayans.

Unfortunately, the teaching of false history has inculcated in some the notion that the Federation of Malaya and later the Federation of Malaysia was a continuation of Tanah Melayu. It is not. Malaya was a new nation made up of citizens equal before the law and subject to the Federal Constitution. The formation of Malaysia six years later in simple terms created yet another new nation that was also made up of citizens equal before the law and subject to a new federal constitution.

Unfortunately too, the dominant narrative among the country’s political and administrative leadership has for too long referenced large sections of Malaysians as pendatang. This must stop.

Furthermore, those who are guilty of this owe an apology to the many loyal Malaysians whom they insulted.

The much-maligned Human Resources Minister has made the new government’s biggest contribution to ordinary Malaysians to date, one that restores the fundamental human rights of millions despite the crude and rude attacks launched at him by interested parties cheered on by certain sections of the media.

Kulasegaran did this by restoring the right of every employee, whether Malay, Chinese, Indian or any other ethnicity, to take his or her employer to the Industrial Court without interference from a Cabinet minister.