KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul stated that Malaysia’s cultural diversity should be promoted as Malaysian culture rather than being associated with specific races.
He emphasised that efforts to strengthen the concept of Malaysianisation need to be driven collectively by the government, non-governmental organisations, and society.
“We have a lot of culture,“ he said during the Dialogue Programme with Leaders of the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.
“There are Chinese, Indian, Malay, and Sabah and Sarawak cultures, but what we need to do now is to Malaysianise these cultures so that they become Malaysian cultures.”
Using the dragon dance as an example, Johari noted that it deserves recognition as Malaysian heritage since it is now performed by various races.
“The dragon dance is indeed beautiful, and in Malaysia, we now have Indian and Malay children performing it,“ he added.
He suggested organising more educational and debate programmes to empower languages including Mandarin and Tamil as part of Malaysian culture.
Johari emphasised the importance of multilingualism among the younger generation to prepare for an increasingly challenging future.
“I would like to promote the idea that, if possible, Malaysian children speak four languages,“ he stated.
“Speak good Malay as the national language, speak good English as an international language and speak Mandarin well, as it is a business language, and why not speak Tamil.”
He also stressed that learning languages and cultures should not be politicised since it represents knowledge that benefits all citizens.
Johari added that these approaches need dynamic interpretation with a broad perspective to avoid falling behind globally. – Bernama
