Indonesian(Bugis, Javanese,...),Thai... Malaysians? Preservation of language and cultural identities?

Preservation of language and cultural identity is always important - Malays in Malaysia are from various different ethnic groups, and the different groups have distinct language and cultural identity...Kelantanese Malay, Trengganu Malay,...and various other Malay of Indonesian, Thai or Filipina ethnicity, not to forget Arabic, Chinese, Indian descent even...somehow, we do not hear much about the statistics of these different ethnic groups ...which would be intereting. Likewise Indians and Chinese also have different ethnic groupings - Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, Malayalee, Telugu...

Well, of late there has been many news stories about 'BUGIS' in Malaysia? 

Are there not only Malays in Malaysia? 

Well, we perused the internet, and what is revealed is that there are many other Indonesian ethnic groups in Malaysia - but then why do we not have statistics about these, who really will be the Indonesian Malaysians ...just like the Chinese Malaysians and the Indian Malaysians?

Are there original Malays of Malaysia, or are they all migrants from Indonesia or elsewhere? 

In fact, logically speaking, given the proximity of Malaysia to Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines, there would really also be a lot of Thai Malaysians, Indonesian Malaysians and even Filipino Malaysians - but how come, there has not been statistics of these different ethnic groups, many of who also do have their own language and culture...which, really should be acknowledged, preserved and recognized as part of Malaysia's rich cultural diversity?

In fact, historically Malaysia is now the home of a lot of people coming from very different nations and/or cultures...from Arabs, Europeans, Chinese, etc ...

The Bugis people are acclaimed sea traders and legendary warriors from Indonesia. They first came to Malaysia in the 16th century and settled in various parts of Malaysia in the states of Johor, Selangor, and Pulau Pinang.- Population ini Malaysia - 141,000 - Buginese in Malaysia . Although, Wikipedia says there are about 300,000 Bugis in Malaysia.

Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, Angkola, and Mandailing^[4] which are related groups with distinct languages and customs (adat). - According to Wikipedia, there are about 30,000 in Malaysia

Minangkabau people (Minangkabau: Urang Minang; Indonesian: Suku Minang; Jawi: اورڠ مينڠ), also known as Minang, is an ethnic group indigenous to the Minangkabau Highlands of West Sumatra, Indonesia. The Minangkabau are the largest matrilineal society in the world, with property, family name and land passing down from mother to daughter,^[5] while religious and political affairs are the responsibility of men, although some women also play important roles in these areas. This custom is called Lareh Bodi Caniago and is known as Adat perpatih in Malaysia. Today 4.2 million Minangs live in the homeland of West Sumatra, while about 60% of the people are scattered throughout many Indonesian and Malay Peninsular cities and towns.According to Wikipedia, there are about 913,000 Minangkabau people in Malaysia

Javanese - With approximately 100 million people (as of 2011), they form the largest ethnic group in Indonesia. They are predominantly located in the central to eastern parts of the island. There are also significant numbers of people of Javanese descent in most provinces of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Suriname, Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands. The Javanese ethnic group has many sub-groups, such as the Mataram, Cirebonese, Osing, Tenggerese, Samin, Naganese, Banyumasan, etc.According to Wikipedia, there are about 649,000 Javanese people in Malaysia.

Our Malaysian Federal Constitution provides for special treatment for Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak. The term 'Bumiputra', a term created by the UMNO-BN government is very vague... does it include others that were not accorded special privilege by the Federal Constitution... who are these other people who are now considered 'Bumiputra'? 

153  Reservation of quotas in respect of services, permits, etc., for Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak.(Federal Constitution)

(1) It shall be the responsibility of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to safeguard the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities in accordance with the provisions of this Article.

(2) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, but subject to the provisions of Article 40 and of this Article, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall exercise his functions under this Constitution and federal law in such manner as may be necessary to safeguard the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak of such proportion as he may deem reasonable of positions in the public service (other than the public service of a State) and of scholarships, exhibitions and other similar educational or training privileges or special facilities given or accorded by the Federal Government and, when any permit or licence for the operation of any trade or business is required by federal law, then, subject to the provisions of that law and this Article, of such permits and licences.

(3) The Yang di-Pertuan Agong may, in order to ensure in accordance with Clause (2) the reservation to Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak of positions in the public service and of scholarships, exhibitions and other educational or training privileges or special facilities, give such general directions as may be required for that purpose to any Commission to which Part X applies or to any authority charged with responsibility for the grant of such scholarships, exhibitions or other educational or training privileges or special facilities; and the Commission or authority shall duly comply with the directions.

(4) In exercising his functions under this Constitution and federal law in accordance with Clauses (1) to (3) the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall not deprive any person of any public office held by him or of the continuance of any scholarship, exhibition or other educational or training privileges or special facilities enjoyed by him.

(5) This Article does not derogate from the provisions of Article 136.

(6) Where by existing federal law a permit or licence is required for the operation of any trade or business the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may exercise his functions under that law in such manner, or give such general directions to any authority charged under that law with the grant of such permits or licences, as may be required to ensure the reservation of such proportion of such permits or licences for Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may deem reasonable; and the authority shall duly comply with the directions.

(7) Nothing in this Article shall operate to deprive or authorise the deprivation of any person of any right, privilege, permit or licence accrued to or enjoyed or held by him or to authorise a refusal to renew to any person any such permit or licence or a refusal to grant to the heirs, successors or assigns of a person any permit or licence when the renewal or grant might reasonably be expected in the ordinary course of events.

(8) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, where by any federal law any permit or licence is required for the operation of any trade or business, that law may provide for the reservation of a proportion of such permits or licences for Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak; but no such law shall for the purpose of ensuring such a reservation -

(a) deprive or authorise the deprivation of any person of any right, privilege, permit or licence accrued to or enjoyed or held by him; or
(b) authorise a refusal to renew to any person any such permit or licence or a refusal to grant to the heirs, successors or assigns of any person any permit or licence when the renewal or grant might in accordance with the other provisions of the law reasonably be expected in the ordinary course of events, or prevent any person from transferring together with his business any transferable licence to operate that business; or
(c) where no permit or licence was previously required for the operation of the trade or business, authorise a refusal to grant a permit or licence to any person for the operation of any trade or business which immediately before the coming into force of the law he had been bona fide carrying on, or authorise a refusal subsequently to renew to any such person any permit or licence, or a refusal to grant to the heirs, successors or assigns of any such person any such permit or licence when the renewal or grant might in accordance with the other provisions of that law reasonably be expected in the ordinary course of events.

(8A) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, where in any University, College and other educational institution providing education after Malaysian Certificate of Education or its equivalent, the number of places offered by the authority responsible for the management of the University, College or such educational institution to candidates for any course of study is less than the number of candidates qualified for such places, it shall be lawful for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong by virtue of this Article to give such directions to the authority as may be required to ensure the reservation of such proportion of such places for Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may deem reasonable; and the authority shall duly comply with the directions.

(9) Nothing in this Article shall empower Parliament to restrict business or trade solely for the purpose of reservations for Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak.

(9A) In this Article the expression "natives" in relation to the State of Sabah or Sarawak shall have the meaning assigned to it in Article 161A.

(10) The Constitution of the State of any Ruler may make provision corresponding (with the necessary modifications) to the provisions of this Article.

BUMIPUTRA - Well, do the Opposition parties also accept this term that has been created by the UMNO-BN? Note, at present there is no legal definition as to who are these Bumiputras...

The UMNO-BN has created a lot of terminologies by way of policy - but sadly, the Opposition seems to have simply accepted...terms like 'Vision 2020'...and now TN50? 

Lumping Malays, natives of Sabah and Sarawak...and possibly others into one grouping called 'Bumiputra' also can bring about possible discrimination amongst the beneficiary groups of special privilege provided by the Federal Constitution? 

If we were to look at a Sarawakian ethnic group like the Penan or Iban - are they getting the same amount(or same percentage) of benefit/privilege as accorded by the larger groups like the Malay?

For example, if 90 percent of Malay students/young people benefited by getting scholarships and even civil service employment? Has 90% of Iban, Kadazan, Penan, etc...students/young persons also managed to get more or less the same benefits? 

Of course, in my opinion, benefits should flow first to the poorest...to uplift their individual/family socio economic condition...no use if just a few Malays (and/or natives of Sabah and Sarawak) are taking the benefits - the scholarships, civil service positions, permits/licences, etc ...A rich Malay, who gain his wealth, by reason of the 'special privilege' will likely not be sharing his/her wealth equitably with other individual and families of Malays - the hope that this 'sharing' will happen is little...

"MY MONEY" - why should I share with others in the community? Well, for this we have taxation - the more you earn, the more you are taxed...and all taxation monies goes into the common coffers of Malaysia for the benefit of all Malaysians. Should we increase the taxation of the RICH? 

After 60 years, it is disturbing to hear that there are still a lot of poor Malays and/or other natives of Sabah and Sarawak - I would take this as a failure of the UMNO-BN government? BR1M figures highlight the number of persons and families in Malaysia that are not earning sufficiently that still needs some form of government assistance. If we had crime statistics especially of poverty related crimes - theft, robbery, snatch thieves, 'drug trafficking',...it will help us appreciate whether the poor are increasing or not...but now the UMNO-BN government stopped giving us these figures...only a 'crime index' - which is not very helpful..

Malaysia is truly a multi ethnic...multi-cultural....multi-religious country...and Najib started talking about 1Malaysia...and maybe it is time that we promote and adopt this concept...

We have one category of persons that required socio-economic upliftment, as provided for in the Federal Constitution  (Article 153),

and the other category should just be Malaysian citizens...

Now, should we really consider abolishing this term 'BUMIPUTRA', which really is an UMNO-BN creation...or, if we want to keep it, then it must be clearly defined, and maybe should be incorporated into the Federal Constitution..???

 

160  Interpretation

"Malay" means a person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, conforms to Malay custom and -

(a) was before Merdeka Day born in the Federation or in Singapore or born of parents one of whom was born in the Federation or in Singapore, or is on that day domiciled in the Federation or in Singapore; or
(b) is the issue of such a person;

 
 
161A  Special position of natives of States of Sabah and Sarawak.

(6) In this article "native" means -

(a) in relation to Sarawak, a person who is a citizen and either belongs to one of the races specified in Clause (7) as indigenous to the State or is of mixed blood deriving exclusively from those races; and
(b) in relation to Sabah, a person who is a citizen, is the child or grandchild of a person of a race indigenous to Sabah, and was born (whether on or after Malaysia Day or not) either in Sabah or to a father domiciled in Sabah at the time of the birth.

(7) The races to be treated for the purposes of the DEFINITION of "native" in Clause (6) as indigenous to Sarawak are the Bukitans, Bisayahs, Dusuns, Sea Dayaks, Land Dayaks, Kadayans, Kalabits, Kayans, Kenyahs (including Sabups and Sipengs), Kajangs (including Sekapans, Kejamans, Lahanans, Punans, Tanjongs and Kanowits), Lugats, Lisums, Malays, Melanos, Muruts, Penans, Sians, Tagals, Tabuns and Ukits.

There really must be efforts to preserve the languages and the cultures of the various different ethnic groups in Malaysia..