Malaysia free essay sample

Malaysia has been recognized by the world as a model for other plural societies. The concept of ‘unity in diversity’ is always insisted by the leaders. The concept is now supported with the ‘1 Malaysia’ concept which is introduced by the current Prime Minister. The Malaysian government is always put efforts to ensure the unity among the people because the unity is very important for national unity. The national unity will ensure the country’s prosperity and the prosperity will create national integration. The unity and integration is the ultimate aim of development. Unity can be defined as a process of forming a national identity among various groups that have differences in beliefs, cultures, customs, politics, social, economic functions and location into a political entity. WHAT ARE THE OBSTACLES THAT FACED BY THE GOV. IN IMPOSTING UNITY ON ITS CITIZEN? Achieving national integration is not an easy task, but efforts must go on. We will write a custom essay sample on Malaysia or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This is due to the existence of economic, social, cultural, residential and world view among the people. Therefore, the Malaysian government since the independence of the country has put endless efforts towards achieving the national integration. In general, there are three main obstacles that the country has to face and resolve. They are prejudice and, communalism Prejudice Do you know what prejudice is? It refers to the attitude towards others based on evidences which is not concrete and might be wrong. In Malaysia context, this kind of pre-judgmental attitude still exists among races even though much positive information is provided. Racism Communalism refers to the attitude of favouring one’s own ethnic group. This kind of feeling is also prevalent in Malaysia. For example, the political parties that exist in Malaysia are still on ethnic base. The national ideology has five principles: (i)Belief in God (ii)Loyalty to King and Country (iii)Nobleness of the Constitution (iv)Sovereignty of the Law (v)Courtesy and Decency In general, the objectives of the national ideology are: (i)To achieve a greater unity among the people (ii)To maintain democratic way of life National Service Develop a young generation who are patriotic and with love and devotion for their country Enhance unity among the multi-racial communities in the country New Economic Policy (NEP) NEP is an economic approach by the government. It was introduced in 1970 after the racial riot of 13 May 1969. The main reason that caused the riot is due to economic reason in which there was wide economic gap between the races especially between the Malays and Chinese. The NEP is considered as an economic development and national unity programme in a multiracial society. Thus, the NEP was introduced to demolish the economic gap between people in rural and town area. If we look in depth, there was imbalance of wealth distribution between the races and people that have been mentioned above. Besides that, before the riot of 1969 up to the NEP, races were identified through their economic function. For example, the Chinese were recognized as merchants and businessmen because they dominated the economic activities, the Malays as farmers because they lived in rural areas and the Indians as estate labours because they lived in estates. Based on this situation, the NEP was created as such with two-pronged aim: * To reduce and eradicate poverty by increasing income and job opportunities to all citizens without looking at their races * To restructure communities in order to reduce and erase the identification of races through economic function National Education Policy Since independence, many educational reports have been implemented in order to unite and integrate the people. During the British colonial, they did not have a clear education policy. They allowed education to develop into four separated streams which were based on ethnicity – English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil. Each of the streams had its own objectives, syllabus (normally taken from their country of origin), teaching standards. The Chinese for example, used Chinese language as the medium of instruction and children were exposed to the history of China. Malayan history was totally excluded from the syllabus likewise the Tamil school. This happened because of the divide and rule policy of the British who did not want to see the people united. In their eyes, when people united, all races would against them. After the defeat of Japanese in the World War II, the British came back to rule the country. The local leaders put onto them pressure to streamline the education system in order to promote racial unity. Promoting the use of national language In the Main Provisions of the Constitution, Malay language is made as the national language of the country. It is used to promote unity among the people. Few proverbs have been created to promote unity through the national language such as ‘Language is the Soul of the Nation’ (Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa) and ‘Language Unite the nation’ (Bahasa Menyatukan Bangsa). To be able to communicate and interact harmoniously between different races, Malaysians are also encouraged to learn and to speak the languages of other races in the country from young age. Political parties alliance The seriousness of the government to ensure the unity can be seen from the early stage of the ‘birth’ of Malaysia. Leaders in the past such as TAR and the others fought so hard to get the independence of Malaysia. The leaders from the major three races i. e Malays, Chinese and Indians had taken initiative to form alliance among the political parties that represent those three races. As a result, National Front (Barisan National) that is an alliance between UMNO, MIC and MCA was established in 1951. Till today, the Barisan National even won the 13th General Election! IN YOUR OPINION, HOW UNITY CAN BE INTERGRATED INTO US MALAYSIANS? In my opinion, since unity is the backbone of the stability of our country, it must be urged that unity must be integrated by all the citizens of Malaysia. National unity can be integrated through the practice of equal rights. Like what Abraham Lincoln said, all men are equal before the law. When this act is carried out, the majority and minority races will receive equal treatment in any form of help that is being given out. If it fails to carry out, unsatisfactory and anger will be felt by the â€Å"discriminated† groups and consequently, racial issues will happened and disrupt the country’s development. National unity in Malaysia is definitely important as a country cannot progress without the co-operation of the people in the country. On the other hand, the government should impose heavier punishments on those people who are executing their unruly acts which are connected to hate and racism. Punishments like jail him for trying to disrupt the peace in the country should be imposed on those wrongdoers. It is essential for this action to be carried out because once these punishments are being executed; people who are attempting to carry out their future plans will think twice before they do it. The moment these acts of nonsense cease, peace will once again be in our beloved homeland. Another way to integrate national unity in our country is by having politically stable country. The political groups in our country recently are being very competitive to form the government instead of having the people’s welfare at heart. Political parties in our land should be more concerned about the citizens’ trials and tribulations that they are facing every day. By doing that, not only the political party will contribute hugely to the integration of national unity, but it will also gain the trust of the citizens to elect the particular party to represent them as a nation. The particular party should also put their heart and soul into this as national unity is the backbone to our country’s stability and integrity. Last but not least, national unity can be achieved when parents and guardians play their parts as role models and not turn a blind eye towards this epidemic that is plaguing most countries. Guardians and parents should never criticize people of other races in front of their children. According to a study made by child experts, children usually follow the characteristics and attitude of their parents or guardians. This is the main reason why parents and guardians should always be an example to their children so that when their children grow up, they will no longer have the mentality that their ethnicity is always above the other races when it comes to studies, sports or personal abilities. CONCLUSION It is not a doubt that national unity is very important in our country. The importance of creating and maintaining unity and integration cannot be compromised. National unity and integration is vital for Malaysian if they want to live in peace and harmony. It is the one and only thing that keeps all of us bound together, allowing us to live with one another in peace and harmony. National unity is, of course, possible and achievable but it can only be obtained step by step. As it goes by the saying, Rome wan’t built in a day. Therefore, we should all work together for a better Malaysia.