A few weeks ago Ed Soo of Bangkung Restaurants invited IDEAS along with dozens of non-governmental, cultural and charitable bodies to join in his celebration of Malaysia Day in Jalan Bangkung, Bangsar. The sheer level of organisation required seemed daunting, but everything went swimmingly well on the first Malaysia Day to be celebrated as a federal holiday. As I mentioned in my speech to launch the festivities, so many familiar people and organisations were present. It was a remarkable confluence of Malaysians working independently of government towards causes they are passionate about: a microcosm of organised civil society.
IDEAS itself hosted two events. The first was a teatime chat with the descendants of Malaysia’s founding fathers, and the second was a Malaysia and Freedom dinner featuring Karim Raslan and Azran Osman-Rani.
The earlier event undoubtedly generated more public and media interest, as no one had ever before re-united the families of those directly responsible for the formation of our country. Indeed, history was made as the children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Fuad Stephens, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun VT Sambanthan and Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman came together to share views on their ancestors and the state of our country. (Tun Temenggong Jugah’s family, while being supportive of our event, were unable to attend.) Toh Puan Umasundari Sambanthan also graced Opus Bistro, relating a profound story of how Tunku Abdul Rahman didn’t sleep the night of the 10th Merdeka celebrations, because he was praying for the continued multiethnic merrymaking that had just occurred.
Of course, not everyone can be pleased: the celebration as a whole, and our afternoon event in particular, were criticised for being too elitist – “the descendants of the founding fathers do not represent the ordinary Malaysian”, someone complained. Firstly, that is a weird allegation considering the vast combined life experiences of our guests, which I doubt the accuser was familiar with. Secondly, that was not the point of the event. The point was to share memories and contemplate a better future, and if one listened to the discussion, the descendants actually spoke about freedom, justice, inclusion, acceptance and unity at every opportunity.
There is no winning with some people: they condemn as racist an organisation based on the perceived composition of its members, and they condemn as elitist an event based on the accents of its participants. As I have said before, IDEAS opposes racial and class politics all the same: both legitimise government assigning people as members of groups who are then treated differently by the state according to its own definitions; a perfect recipe for totalitarianism so well proven in world history for which individual liberty is the only real antidote.
But ignore the historical significance of the event if you want to. Even worse were those so mean-spirited as to condemn our event as a waste of time, claiming that the founding fathers were not the founding fathers at all. Frankly, if you are challenging the legitimacy of Malaysia’s founders, then you are by extension challenging the legitimacy of Malaysia itself. There are many events in history that would probably have happened regardless of the actors involved due to surrounding circumstances: the cultivation of rice, the invention of the wheel, the discovery of electricity. But the formation of Malaysia is not one of these things. The creation of Malaysia necessitated far-sighted, intelligent and hugely courageous leaders. That is what the Tunku and the late Tuns were.
That there are those who assume Malaysia would have existed without them is stark proof that we have failed to create a shared consciousness of our history. Still, what such dissidents were doing at an event to celebrate Malaysia Day is quite baffling: they should have joined the Bendera8 loonies in Jakarta.
There was at least some amusement to make up for their ignorance. Special Branch apparently sent a couple of officers to our chat and they seem apprehensive about what we are going to do with the footage captured by our official TV partner, Bernama TV. They have asked for the tapes; but we have told them that they won’t get them without a court warrant. No reply yet.
Anyway, the evening event was free of either variety of contrarian, because the superb Opus Private Room had a limited capacity that necessitated pre-booking. Karim and Azran were lucid, entertaining and very supportive of our mission.
Thank you to everyone who made both events such fun bundles of wit and enlightenment!
8 Benteng Demokrasi Rakyat, an Indonesian anti-Malaysia group