Raja Nazrin: Avoid radical views

Bangi: The Raja Muda of Perak warned Malaysians against taking their ideals to the extreme, saying such views would be the undoing of the Malays.

Raja Dr Nazrin Shah said there had been radical efforts recently to "change the recipe" of the social contract which played an important role in Malay unity.

He said clauses in the Federal Constitution on Islam, Malay rulers, Malay customs, Bahasa Malaysia and the race‘s special position constituted the ingredients that made the Malays strong.

"Today, there are radical efforts by those who do not understand the purpose (of the social contract) who want to change this recipe.

"The survival of the Malays as a race depends on several factors that have till this day given them identity in the form of religion, language and culture, a country and government on the principles of the monarchy.

"It is bad for the Malays when there are efforts to do away with tradition and tear down the Malay institution.

"The race‘s survival will be severely threatened when traditions and institutions are no longer respected and viewed as the anti-thesis to rational, modern and scientific thought," he said when launching the book, The Malays, at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia yesterday.

The book was written by University of Melbourne don Prof Anthony Milner.

Raja Nazrin said globalisation and the country‘s current political dynamics had brought Malays to the crossroads where they could face the possibility of extinction if they lost their traditions.

He said it was also likely the Malays would "survive, become stronger and be respected and recognised as a race to be reckoned with globally".

Raja Nazrin stressed that no great civilisation could have been built without appreciating, recognising and continuing with past cultures and traditions that gave a country its identity.

He said it was this "social memory" -- the collective experience and knowledge of a people -- that was the main building block of a nation‘s identity.

Citing China as an example of a nation which had evolved and gone through major cultural revolution, he said it had still held on to its culture and traditions.

"From a country with an emperor, it has become a communist country; but its social memory and memory of Chinese culture have not been lost." Joseph Sipalan.

Source: http://www.nst.com (March 11^th, 2009)

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