An old post of Tai Zee Kin about Islam and Chinese. I may want to talk about the subject too one day, and I would like to keep this here for reference.
------------------------------------------------
Tai Zee Kin
Friday thought.
An interesting conversation i had with an acquaintant briefly. She is a Chinese-Malaysian, and wasnt close to me until recently. We talked about 'islamisation'.
She was of the opinion, that when Muslim migrants arrived in US or Europe, they should adhere and assimilate to the culture of US and Europe, and adopt the latters' value system.
She said, the reason Muslims (i think she was refering particularly to Syrians) migrated to Europe, or the West, was they were fleeing from the system of their home country- and went on to explain how middle eastern countries merged religion with governance.
"They were feeing from the very system that they used to subscribed to, and are now making demands from the country they now seeking refuge, to allow the implementation of the same legacy and system, that failed them back in their home country."
I narrowed down her view into "demanding the allowance of a system and legacy, which failed them in their home country in the first place, in the country they flee to."
Ok a can of worms is thus opened. We argued from various angles, including the way she defined 'systems' and 'failure'. Dont worry we have all those covered and we couldnt agree on anything in definite terms.
One Analogy i drew however, was on chinese Malaysian migration between 1890-1930. The influx was a result of our ancestors fleeing from a 'failed system' in china. Who would in their right mind migrate to a foreign land in huge influx, if their own home country was fully functional?
And i asked her, using her argument, shouldnt the chinese immigrants back then (our grand and great grandparents) stop demanding for an implementation of a system that failed them, and triggered them to migrate ; and adhere, assimilate, and adopt to the value systems of the land they migrated to?
She denied that such demand was made.
I disagreed with her, citing example of chinese vernacular education, chinese press, chinese associations, chinese cultures and tradition. We literally brought the whole system, and rebuilt them here piece by piece, block by block. Even when demanding for citizenship lateron, we did not give in any of these legacies.
They came to Malaya, took advantage of the tolerating system here that allowed them to flood in, and took advantage of the system here that allowed them to implement their legacies.
How is that different from Syrians who demanded the implementation of their legacies in, say Germany or France? How different were our ancestors, to syrian Muslims who wanted, (hypothetically) state funded Arab vernacular schools, nationwide Arabic and islamic newspaper, Islamic guilds, associations, etc?
Sometimes we keep judging other human beings as if they different. Human are all the same. We want what we think is the best for us, and we put in effort (through negotiation, protest, demand, talks, discourses) to obtain them. I insisted on telling my friend to distinguish how different were the actions of Syrian Muslims (purported by her) in the western worlds where they seeked refuge, from our migrant ancestors?
She tried her best but i remained unsatisfied. There is only one salient difference. The Western world did not concede to the migrants' demands. The native Malayans however, compromised and gave our migrant ancestors rights to carry and practice with them here, their legacies.
For that, i am eternally grateful, and shall educate my next generation to appreciate such unprecedented generosity, just like how my forefathers educated me. My great grandmother, and grandmother repeatedly told me this : but for such generosity, we would have been the real 'pariah' of the streets, unwanted by our homeland, and unwelcomed in the new land - and shall have no choice but to assimilate, like their fellow counterparts in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos etc. What differentiated out situation here, from the chinese counterparts in those countries? The answer is none but one : the Malays.
Copy and paste: 2/4/2020 - 8 Syaaban 1441H : 4.57 am
1 comment:
test
Post a Comment