DANGEROUS CONCEPTS

The emotions being fanned by certain words and concepts have the potential of  being blown into raging fires if we don’t douse them early enough.  The people orchestrating the sparks of nationalism on both sides of the political divide see it fit to use language (verbal and non-verbal) to stoke extremist sentiments in the name of loyalty to king and country.

The matter is becoming serious enough for Malaysians who seek peace and moderation to speak up with a stronger and more united voice. People who articulate national aspirations must use the right communication strategies to achieve the greatest good for their country. There is the necessity of employing language which is non-provocative and neutral to put in place the discourse of peace, conscience and reason.  There is the need to use new terms to replace those that are being exploited to arouse  unsavoury sentiments.

There’s no doubt that certain concepts derived from the nation’s history are now being brandished acquiring new meanings in their modern contexts of use. Cross-lingual translation  has added cultural meaning to what the words denote or refer to, loading some concepts with more meaning than they originally had.

English nouns like “immigrant”  which refers to “a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country”; and “dominance” which denotes “power and influence over others” (The Oxford Dictionary), have a way of expanding their semantic fields when they are translated into the Malay words “pendatang”  and “ketuanan”. In English it would not be offensive to refer to one’s ancestors as immigrants. Recent arrivals of Hispanics in America or Pakistanis in the United Kingdom are referred to as immigrants.

In Malaysia, however, the Malay word  “pendatang” is fast becoming a taboo as race politics sows the seeds of interracial discontent and politicians hurl racial insults and challenge one another’s ancestries. Forgotten is the historical fact that our forefathers  – Malays, Chinese, Indians and others- came to this land in waves of migration over many centuries. The original settlers were the indigenous tribes who inhabited the hinterland.   

By the same token, the historically accurate fact of Malay political dominance ( in the early days of the Melaka Sultanate right through to the fight for independence from British colonial rule) is being overshadowed by arguments of commercial dominance and equal political participation. Insecurities arising from the questioning of status and privileges are encouraging a retaliation of sorts in the use of the culturally-loaded word “ketuanan” to suggest Malay racial supremacy while the more semantically accurate term “kekuasaan” has not been used. This in itself contradicts the notion of 1 Malaysia founded on the egalitarian principles of societal fairness and justice.

Even the idea that there was a deep understanding and careful bargaining among the ethnic leaders in the run-up to independence  is being whittled away as scholars and lay persons split hairs over the notion of a “social contract”.  The efforts of the founding fathers of  Merdeka to come up with a written Federal Constitution that intricately defines and describes every aspect of the new nation’s life are being trivialised as they quibble over words and concepts.

In order to prevent the prolification of these unproductive and circular discourses,  more public platforms platforms must be established offering reasoned arguments and concilliatory engagements whether in our own immediate networks or among the larger community. They must be visible and audible enough to douse the flames of hate and bigotry being spread by the new-order political exhibitionists disguised as citizen groups.

Unless Malaysians learn to use language with greater care and accuracy, there is the danger that what we say or write will instigate social unrest. Until we learn to articulate our thoughts and ideas peacably, peace and unity will elude us.