Posts Tagged Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia has entered the fifty first year of its existence. This has been a half-century of determination, progress and keeping a fine balance between the diverse communities, races and cultures in the country. But Malaysia achieved successes against all odds.

True that it confronts issues of ethnic and religious tension and the side effects of controlled politics. However, prosperity assures that most of the citizens find a stake in national unity and the country’s future!

I am a little allergic to the magnified tales of tensions in the country especially by a media that we know is neither fair nor benign. Which country of the world is free of internal schisms and struggles? Fifty years is too early to assess that. Or is it the case that this rapid success without reliance on the Western prescriptions and defying the post-colonial clientelism is at play. Inverse racism of sorts. Hope I am wrong…

Or is it that there is a Muslim majority which by definition (in the global propaganda) raises alarm bells? Maybe the images of women with scarves participating in the economic and political life of the country upsets all the stereotypes about women’s “subjugation” by Islam. Many things irk the masters of stereotyping and branding agents of a new imperialism.

It is also a country that welcomes its tourists and makes sure that they enjoy their stay, Islamism notwithstanding. It also challenges the highlights of a recently independent ‘developing’ country: poverty, low levels of education, crumbling infrastructure, crime and dependence?

Unfortunately it is true that tensions in the society and calls for an “Islamic” society dilute its attempts to maintain ethnic harmony and channelise national resources to sustain gains already made. But like many Malaysians, I share the optimism and wish the country and its people the best.

Happy Independence Day – I love Malaysia (truly Asia!).

Postscript: My optimism on Malaysia in an older piece.

Muslim societies can learn from the plurality of race and religions in Malaysia says Raza Rumi

A few days spent in Malaysia are enough to dispel many myths about Muslim intolerance that are projected and reinforced by Western media and pop culture. An economic miracle of the 1980s, branded as the Asian tiger and vision personified by the iron-man Mahathir, Malaysia is a heart-warming testament to plurality and co-existence within the Islamic framework. Malaysia’s 25 million strong population – modest by Pakistani standards – is a baffling mix of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Ibans and Kadazandusuns, among others.While the Malays constitute a marginal majority (over 50 per cent) of the total population and practice Islam quite seriously, the other groups enjoy full freedom to believe and live according to their own faiths.
Kuala Lumpur’s landscape is dotted with mosques, temples and churches and there seems to be little tension. Admittedly, economic progress over the last two decades underwrites much of this success; yet this cannot be attributed to economic reasons alone. Leadership has played a vital role in instilling the sense of national pride and vision among all the races and religions in Malaysia. The country gained independence a decade after Pakistan and was poorer than most developing countries, yet Mahathir’s twenty-year rule transformed the former British colony and increased levels of prosperity beyond belief. Its economic development aside, Malaysia’s recent cultural development carries important lessons for Muslim states and societies.
Surprisingly, little is said in the Muslim world about the Malaysian practice of Islam. Calls for levying jizya in Pakistan on non-Muslims are all too common. One only has to see how many Christian and other minority professionals have emigrated to the West to realise the loss of diversity and human capital that Pakistan has suffered. In Malaysia, the societal contributions of Christians, Buddhists and Hindus are accepted. (more…)