Reflections from Malaysia

October 12, 2002

Malaysia, the Malay Peninsula between Thailand and Singapore and Sarawak and Sabah on the island of North Borneo, is the most diverse country we have visited so far. It was said by a governor of Penang in the early 1800’s that, “There is not, probably, any part of the world where there is so small a space, so many different people assembled together, or so great a variety of languages spoken.” Today, 58% of the population is Malay and other indigenous peoples, nearly 30% Chinese, about 10% of Indian descent from India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Malays are nearly all Muslim; the Chinese are mainly Buddhist, the Indians Hindu, and there are also significant percentages of traditional indigenous religions, and Christians. Even though they are barely a majority, Muslims hold the key leadership positions in the country, with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir one of the longest reigning national leaders in the world.

Our timing couldn’t have been better for our visit here. Not only were we able to witness firsthand the many ways in which the diverse peoples who make up this multiethnic nation interact and get along on an everyday basis, we were also able to read the current news in the local papers from their perspective and speak with the people about how they perceive their own and global concerns.

Along the streets, and in the shops of Penang, it appeared that Malays, Chinese, Indians, and others work well together. This may be due largely to the economic measures that were designed and implemented to balance things out between the ethnic groups. Ethnic conflict may have been reduced on one level, but in speaking with an Indian man it became evident that there are still some underlying tensions between the peoples of Malaysia, especially since Dr Mahathir declared Malaysia a Muslim nation about a year ago.

The day we arrived, two articles on the front page of the Malay English newspaper caught my eye. About the terror suspect to be deported to the U.S., who is a student at the International Islamic University here and whose passport has been revoked, the Deputy Prime Minister said it was a straightforward case. Dr Mahathir elaborated, saying Malaysia will carry out its own investigation to determine if the student was a terrorist as claimed by the U.S. “We have to know whether the person is guilty or not and what are the rights of the Americans in demanding an extradition. We have to study all these carefully. We do things based on the laws.” Sounds reasonable enough. We’ll see…

Another headline read, “Dr Mahathir: Removing Saddam will not solve terrorism issue.” In a one-hour dialogue in his office, with 40 international and local media fellows attending the East Asia Economic Summit in Kuala Lumpur, he maintained that the root causes of terrorism must be found to eradicate it. In his case, in Malaysia, it meant giving about one million Chinese residents their citizenship when they felt they didn’t have a stake in the country 47 years ago after it gained its independence. He also said Bush should listen to the views of the international community in tackling terrorism.

On a trip to Langkawi Island, part of 99 beautiful, tropical islands just south of the Thai border, we were introduced not only to its natural wonders and rich cultural heritage, but also up close to its inland rainforest.

After our three-hour trek through this jungle, where we were shown the medicinal use of many plants, I spoke with one of our guides, a Malay Muslim, about these currents events. He was very clear and direct in pointing out that within Islam, there are great differences. Even in a Muslim nation, there are Muslim extremists. The Malaysian government has previously had to deal with Muslim terrorists in its own country.

Malaysia is a fascinating, highly intriguing country, with many contrasts. There is no better way to learn what a country, a people, a culture, is really like than being in it, and hearing from the people themselves.