Malaysia roots in multiculturalism and it is formed by three major races, Malay, Chinese and Indians, plus some ethnic minorities. We have learned to how to respect and live in multiculturalism for decades since our independence from the British Empire in 1957 and formally formed Malaysia with Sabah and Sarawak in 1963. Although the majority of Malaysian are Muslim, still all races are living harmoniously for decades. Malaysia has its all to become the most liberal and democratic Islamic country in the world.
We have an interesting education system. Whenever I share how the education during my time with my friends here in the UK, they are always amazed how this works. Look, when I was in primary school, I learned everything in Chinese apart from the Malay and English language studies because I went to a Chinese public school. Then when I was in the secondary school, I learned everything in Malay. And later when I was in University, I learned everything in dual language, English and Malay. My education experiences literally shock my friends here as they wonder how this could work. Simple, this is our culture. We have the same syllabus but different delivery. Ha! And because of this, I am proficient in three languages, Chinese, Malay, and English. I have no problem picking up a new language, given the sufficient time to learn as I am used to this environment. I have been trained since my early years to be flexible and adaptable to different languages. After living abroad for years, I would say this is the most competitive uniqueness of Malaysians. I can still recalled the time when I was doing my PhD in a UK University where some of my friends are from the middle east, and I felt welcomed in their community because as a Malaysian, I understand the Islamic norms. Same with my Chinese speaking friends from mainland China and Taiwan, just because I speak the language and understand some Chinese literature to a certain extent.
All and all, I feel that for a new Malaysia to progress (after the historic election on 09 May 2018 where we changed the government for the very first time) to be a great nation in the world, we somehow have to be a Malaysian. By that saying, the Malaysian values are being respectful to each other, being selfless and not keep playing the race card (unfortunately some of the political parties still do in Malaysia), and really appreciate the uniqueness being a Malaysian.
