Malaya not a continuation of Tanah Melayu

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 citizen from the immigrant or the pendatang. That is why citizenship documents and passports are so important. Allow me to make some observations about the nation-state, beginning with examples.

For example, prior to 1945 (or 1949 if you like), there was no nation of Indonesia, rather the territories were known as the Dutch East Indies. Prior to 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, all under British colonial rule.

These territories were each administered separately and meant different things to different residents. They did not comprise an independent sovereign nation or 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 at that time and the formation of a popularly-elected government that enabled the fledgeling nation to conclude the negotiations.

This government was the result of elections won by the Alliance comprising race-based parties representing the Malays, Chinese and Indians.

Independence was not wrested from the British, but rather granted by them when conditions they set were met.

For good and practical reasons, the British government did not, 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 and thereby became Malayans included ethnic Malays, Chinese, Indians, etc.

Unfortunately, the teaching of false history has inculcated in some the notion that the Federation of Malaya and later the Federation of Malaysia were a continuation of Tanah Melayu. They are 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, one that included the territories of the former Malaya, 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, which must stop. -Mkini