Of chopsticks and being Malaysian

"For example, the Chinese eat with chopsticks, they don't eat with their hands. They have not adopted the Malaysian way of eating food. They retained the chopstick which is an identity with China, not with Malaysia, and many other things."

Former prime minister (twice) Dr Mahathir Mohamad was reported to have said the above during a dialogue session at the launch of his new memoir 'Capturing Hope: The Struggle Continues for a New Malaysia'.

According to reports, he was giving an example of the so-called ‘challenges’ of assimilation in Malaysia and used the 'chopstick' to illustrate his point.

His take was met with immediate criticism, and rightfully so. Nearly 65 years since Malaya’s independence and 58 years since Malaysia’s formation, and yet an experienced politician like Mahathir can still question the ‘Malaysian-ness’ of Malaysian Chinese.

Even the basic premise of Mahathir’s argument is misconceived. Our nation was never conceived to move along the path of assimilation.

Special position

We have always held on to multi-culturalism. Unity in diversity is the approach that we have taken.

Mahathir at the launching of his book with Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali

That is why, even though we have a national language, our Federal Constitution also guarantees the right of other communities to preserve, learn and teach their respective mother tongues.

We have never asked, expected or demanded minority groups to abandon their languages or cultures and embrace that of the majority ethnic group.

Assimilation in the manner of our neighbours has been the path that we have taken for this country.

This guarantee that minorities may preserve and practise their culture, language and religion is as much a part of the Federal Constitution as is the oft-quoted special position of the Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak.

Article 153(1) of the Constitution is not just about the special position of Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak, but also on the legitimate interests of other communities.

We really should stop questioning the Malaysian identity of our fellow countrymen and women. We should have accepted, long ago, that all of us have a place under the Malaysian sun, regardless of race, religion, colour, creed or culture.

Yet here we are, still trapped in this polemic of who is a Malaysian, what a Malaysian should look like and what Malaysian culture should be. We are still talking about whether the use of utensils amounts to Malaysian culture or otherwise.

All the while, the world is moving forward at a frightening pace. Attempting to dictate what Malaysian culture should be is a futile effort; let Malaysian culture be what it is – a diverse mix of many different cultures. Is this not the basis for our tourism tagline, before ‘Malaysia: Truly Asia’?

Is this also not the basis of Mahathir’s ‘Vision 2020’, and subsequent ethos of successive prime ministers such as ‘1Malaysia’ and now ‘Keluarga Malaysia’?

Many Chinese Malaysians eat with their hands, many Malay Malaysians eat with chopsticks and many Kadazan or Iban Malaysians eat with forks and spoons.

‘Malaysian-ness’ has never been, and should never be, determined by the way one speaks, the way one dresses or the way one consumes food. - Mkini

This is a Facebook posting by former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, showing Mahathir using  chopsticks, as seen yesterday, Dec 13, 2021

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SYAHREDZAN JOHAN is a civil liberties lawyer and political secretary to Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.