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(P/S: Please don’t give any harsh words to me. This is just a mere opinion. Respect my opinion and I’ll respect yours.)
Who are we, Malay actually?
Malay, The Definition
According to my Wordweb, Malay is ‘a member of a people inhabiting the northern Malay Peninsula and Malaysia and parts of the western Malay Archipelago’. That means all residents of Malaysia are Malays, even the Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and so on.
According to Perlembagaan (if I’m not mistaken, correct me if I’m wrong), Malays are the indigenous Muslim residents in Malaysia. And by that, Chinese Muslims can be considered as Malays. (And that is one of the reasons why some people say turning to Islam means becoming Malays)
Malay, The Origin
Where do we originate from? Peninsula Malaysia? Not quite right.
Malays actually come from various backgrounds. Some are from the Javanese, some from Chinese and so on. So, we are multibackground people coming together forming a new race called The Malays.
Isn’t it absurd that we call ourselves the people who inhibits Malaysia originally? (This is one of the claims that is made by the non-Bumi regarding equality of races in Malaysia)
Malay, The Culture
Look at us, our culture. Do you really think it reflects us?
Do you realise how some of our culture actually reflects the Indians? This may be because of the fact that we assimilate with their culture during 1400+ era when traders from Indians come to Tanah Melayu. We even followed their religion as well.
Then, come the traders from Arab and once again, our culture was altered. We now follow the Arabs and most of us become Muslims. Yet, the elements of Hinduism are still exist in some of our culture.
We actually have none of our own culture. And now, the elements of the West are coming into our culture and don’t be surprised if in the next decades, our culture reflects the Western culture.
Malay, The Language
Bahasa Melayu has been altered in so many ways. Comparing to Arabic Language in which Al-Quran is the main reference for the language, Bahasa Melayu actually has no reference at all!
Same as the culture, Bahasa Melayu took several words from the Indians and the Arabs. And now, there are only few original words of Bahasa Melayu left that even I don’t know. (They say some of it are batu and kayu but who knows)
Again, look at the current Bahasa Melayu. It is being altered again, and the Kamus Dewan is now putting English words in it.
(And now, the new policy of teaching Maths and Sciences in English makes our Bahasa Melayu dissappearing much and much more. Probably, one day Bahasa Melayu will dissappear.)
Malay, The Religion
Currently, Malays call themselves as Muslims. Long ago, they are not. They are Hindus and even when they call themselves Muslims, there are still left some Hinduism in them.
A quick example. During the Kesultanan Melayu Melaka, Sultan (the King) are so called reflects the image of the God. Not just that, all directions from Sultan are considered the directions from God.
Now, they are Malays who are Christians and they call themselves as Malays no matter what. But are they? Because according to Perlembagaan they are not.
Then, are Malays a type of race or is it a religion? And seriously, I dislike when some lecturers in the musolla stated something like this, “Orang Melayu jugak yang buat dosa ni!”. Why can’t they rephrase it into Muslims because not all Malays are Muslims and not all Muslims are Malays.
Your Judgement
Are you proud to be a Malay? Am I? I won’t answer that question anyway.
But, I guess whatever it is, it is better for us to follow the way of Islam.
Because, no matter what race we are, as long as we are Muslims we are brothers and sisters anyway.