The Role of Writers in Nation Building and Nationhood as analysed from Salleh Ben Joned’s Writings.Paper Presented at ICOSH 2007 Seminar at UKM3rd International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities

Fouzia Hassan AbdullahCentre of Language Studies and LinguisticsFaculty of Social Sciences and HumanitiesThe National University of MalaysiaUKM –Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Introduction and background

In a country such as Malaysia when contrasting ethnicity, culture and religion engage and contest socio-cultural and political space and place, the evolution of nationhood needs to be studied within the discourses culture and ideological context. Since the majority of the nation is the Malays, it is therefore significant that Malay discourses by the Malays be studied in any forms of language. This is so, as the impact of the Malays as the administrators have influential voice in the power relationships of the ruling body.

Apart from engaging with institutional discourse, it is also important to study the discourses of ‘dissenting’ or ‘deviant’ voices in Malay Community. One significant such voice belongs to Salleh Ben Joned. Salleh is a versatile writer and his writings can be found in various genres. This research focuses on his essays and poems that touch on issues of ‘nationalism’, nationhood’ and ‘nation building’ contextualised through the Malaysian experience in nation building.

The writings As I Please by Salleh Ben Joned officially started in March 6, 1991, and were supposed to be a regular featured column. Unfortunately they later progressed to be occasional write- ups in a literary column in the New Straits Times newspaper publications from 1991 to 1993. As I Please is Salleh’s second book. His first book published was a bilingual collection of poems, Sajak-Sajak Saleh: Poems Sacred and Profane in 1987 and was followed by his book Nothing is Sacred, comprising of are a collection of his writings, some of which are a compilation of his earlier writings in As I Please and is published in 2003. This paper attempts to look at the role of writers through a selected writings by Salleh Ben Joned in As I Please(1994) and Nothing Is Sacred (2003).

1

The Nation

Nations are not naturally occurring phenomenon (McLeod, John. 2000: 68). Undoubtedly though, the issues are eminent in the modern world today and are influential in social and political organisations and they play a significant role in the world politics and in the international arena. The world today is demarcated by borders according to the positioning of sovereign states of nations. Nations are basically fabrications and constructions perceived in the minds of ‘man’. Furthermore, nations are like buildings that can both rise or fall and disintegrate.(McLeod, John. 2000:68).

Benedict Anderson propounds that the nation is an ‘imagined political community’ (Verso, 1983: 6. Taken from McLeod. 2000:68). Anderson states that it is imagined because some of the members of the community might never come into contact with each other in reality’. However, in the minds of ‘each’ lives the image of the communion as they imagined themselves to be a part of a greater collective. Thus, Malaysians as a nation may never come face to face or experience direct encounter with a ‘member’ of the nation who is distant or has no circumstances for the encounter, and is hence ‘imagined’.

From ‘The Penguin Dictionary of International Relations’ written by Graham Evans and Jeffrey Newham in 1998, the term ‘nation’ refers to a social collectivity, each member sharing: a sense of common identity, a history, a language, ethnic or racial origins, religion, a common economic life, a geographical location and a political base. The word ‘nation’ is derived from the Latin verb ‘nasci’- to be born. Almost everyone belongs to a particular nation. Furthermore, Abdul Rahman Embong (2003) states that it is the shared destiny that binds together people and not only other elements such as the sharing of the same socio-political space. Nation lives in the people’s psyche and is passed down to the descendents. The traditional ‘identity markers’ identify the historical and political processes which establish what tracts are taken to symbolize kinship, how successful they are in being taken as such in competing with other identities, and under what conditions they gain political significance” (Geertz 1963, Shils 1957, Smith 1885, Van der Benghe 1981).

The nation is a western idea (McLeod. 2000: 104). Partha Chatterjee in his book Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World (Zed, 1986; McLeod 2000:104) states that, the nation originates in the west as the result of the European ‘Enlightenment’ with it a pursuit for liberty and progress.

2

Nation, Nationalism and Nation building

The term ‘Nationalism’, as explained in The Penguin Dictionary of International Relations by Evans and Newham (1998: 346 - 349), has two related senses, firstly in ideology and secondly in terms of sentiment. In the first instance, nationalism pursues a behavioural entity of the nation. In the second instance, ‘Nationalism’ is a sentiment of loyalty towards the nation, which is shared by people. Cohesive elements are provided by language, religion, shared historical experiences, physical congruity and others. (Evans and Newham. 1998).According to Benedict Anderson in Imagined Communities, a prominent feature of a nation is the standardisation of one unitary language (McLeod. 2000: 72).

In an article by Ding Choo Ming, ‘Perpaduan Kaum dan Toleransi Agama di Malaysia’ published in the journal, ‘Pemikir’ no. 41, the July-September 2005, Ming stated that Syed Husin (1976:53) expounds that; at present day, the mass media and education have eminent role in the dissemination of information and knowledge as to promote understanding and tolerance among the multi-ethnic groups that co-exist in Malaysia. As to the eminent role of writers in exploring and forging sentiments of nationalism, in nation building and nationhood could be seen in Salleh’s article. Salleh expounds this fact in his article ‘The Spectre of ‘Corporate-Lit’ from As I Please and ‘A.Samad Ismail-The Man and his Myth’ from Nothing Is Sacred. In both of them, Salleh stresses the importance of the media and writers in the development and nation building of the country.

As Ding (2005) points out in his article, Mahathir Mohamad (1991) had quoted:

…the need for Malaysia to be fully developed by the year 2020 in terms of national unity and social cohesion in terms of social justice and political stability. A fully developed Malaysia must be a unique nation, with a confident Malaysian society, infused by strong moral and ethical values, living in a society that is democratic, liberal and tolerant, caring, economically just and equitable progressive and prosperous and in full possession of economy that is competitive, dynamic and resilient.

According to Claudia Derichs (1999), the Malaysian situation and context are ever changing and undergoing modification throughout its process of adjustment with the world at large globally and the situations at home. Nation building is affected by globalisation; the structural paraphernalia that accompanies the process and various other factors. She questions the resilience of the nation as whole, as sovereign political actors amongst the other actors. The concept of nation is constantly challenged, entrenched in an ongoing struggle for adaptation and revival, which might affect the concept of nation, reshaping and reinterpreting it.

3

Nations can exist with or without a distinct political identity, such as in the case of the Jewish nation during the diasporas, where the Jews were dispersed throughout the world without a land to call their own. They can also exist without common cultural, linguistic, religious or ethnic components, for example the Indian nation. However, usually there is a strong sense of collective belonging, a common identity and unity. On occasions, these basic ingredients are mixed, hence making ‘nation building’ important as a vital ingredient in acting as agent of cohesion (Evans and Newham.1998: 343).

The existence of the nation-state, which includes Malaysia that secured a state first before forming a nation, is a dominant political entity of the modern world. In retrospective, it is a comparatively recent phenomenon with the historical history of the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire and the emergence of the centralised state. The fusion of the ‘nation’ and ‘state’ post-dated the process of centralisation and saw the emergence of the ‘nation’ in the nineteenth century. It was during this period, the formation of boundaries of state, jurisdiction and the characteristics elements that made up ‘nationhood’ took place. Nevertheless, the ‘nation-state’ and the ‘nation’ itself is an artificial construct and have exhibited variant problems in retaining its status and concept (Evans and Newham 1998: 344). There are various examples of emerging new nations and the crumbling of nations considered as stable, such as the Somalia, Rwanda and Bosnia and the ‘Ninety eighty-nine’ (1989) event that saw the collapse of the communist system of states in Eastern Europe with the merging of the two halves of Germany (Evans and Newham1998: 373). Hence, history should serve as a lesson to be learned.

National Integration.

Jayum A. Jawan (2003:161) views that the term integration and unity are almost synonymous and interchangeable. It refers to the fusion or unification of parts to constitute a whole. In considering the Malaysian scenario, it is the process of making whole out of the many parts of the multi ethnic components. The end product of the process, the ‘wholeness’ could then be considered as ‘unity’. The process of realising a ‘nation’ in the consciousness of its citizen is a vital process and construct that is still currently underway. The efforts of creating nationhood and nation building are highly complex and are challenged with the many agents (Evans and Newham, 1998: 9) that a nation encounters internally at ‘home’ such as immigration, policies, ethnic rivalry and tensions, as well as externally at the ‘international level’ such as ‘intermestic’ affairs (Evans and Newham, 1998: 258), international political economy, trade and others. In the Malaysian context, many terms were used to describe the pluralistic, multi-cultured society. Amongst them are the ‘salad bowl’, ‘the jig saw’ and the coining of the phrase ‘Malaysia Truly Asia’. To policy makers, Malaysia do not practice ‘assimilation’ as practiced by some other countries with multi ethnic, plural society, but implements ‘integration’. ‘National Integration’ has become a national agenda in Malaysia.

4

The Role of Writers in Nation building and Nationhood

In the past, feelings of unity and connectedness were elicited and aroused by anti-colonialism movements (Mc Leod, J.2000:75) or against a common perceived ‘enemy’.Furthermore, Frantz Fanon wrote about the constructions of national consciousness in anti colonialism struggles. These themes were covered in his books, ‘The Wretched of The Earth’ in a chapter on ‘The National Culture’ in pages 166-99 of the penguin classics 1967 translation, as pointed out by Mc Leod (2000: 84). Fanon emphasised the eminent responsibility of the writers and intellectuals in forging the national consciousness of the people.

According to Fanon, the initiation of colonial resistance in the formation of a national culture could be traced in three phases, the first being the ‘unqualified assimilation’, the second phase he terms it as ‘turns backwards’ and the third phase as ‘fighting phase’. In the first phase, of ‘unqualified assimilation’ there are attempts at copying the dominant trends in the literature of the colonising power. In this phase, the cultural traditions of the colonised nation are ignored or marginalised as the native intellectual or writer aspires to reproduce the culture of the colonisers. Hence, the writers and intellectuals are identifying more with the colonising power than the effects of colonialism. The second phase known as ‘falls back’ marks the falling back and reminiscence phase of writers towards the cultural worth of the indigenous or colonised people before the colonisation. Steps are taken to champion, cherish, revive and revitalise the cultural traditions. And in the third phase or the third phase, the ‘fighting phase’, the native intellectual or writer as he terms it, will be directly involved in the people’s struggles against colonialism. Measures are taken at reinterpretation of the traditional culture; modifications of narrations are part of the efforts at forging national consciousness (Mc Leod, J. 2000: 87). Salleh in his article, ‘In Memoriam Isako San’ (Salleh. 1994: 136) pointed out that there were Malaysian writers such as the late ‘Pak Sako’ or Ishak Haji Muhammad who wrote novels such as ‘Putera Gunung Tahan’ that was satirical and ridicules the colonisers in a subtle way, showing the third phase of what Fanon termed as the ‘fighting phase’.

On the subject of the importance and the role of writers, Salleh (1994:150) in his article ‘The Spectre of ‘Corporate-Lit’ from his As I Please collections pointed out to the ideas and words of Mahathir Mohamed in relation to idea of ‘Malaysia Incorporated’. Mahathir espouses that everyone should be involved in development and nation building. He advises the writers to actively participate in nation building agenda by producing writings that should inspire the masses.

5

Abdul Rahman Embong (2003) touches on the issues of independence and decolonisation that involves material development, which should also include the development of national language, culture and literature. As proposed by Fanon, literature plays an important part in the construction of a national consciousness (McLeod 2000: 91). Thus, in the Malaysian context, literature in its many forms and genres contribute to the efforts of constructing a nation. Furthermore, Abdul Rahman Embong in his abstract, Language, Nationhood and Globalisation: The Case of Malaysia reveals that English is a global language spoken by 450 million people. It is the language of the Anglo Saxon in Britain, the United States and other areas. It is undoubtedly the language of learning, of science and technology, of tourism, ICT, diplomacy, trade and commerce and various other services. Therefore, it is indispensable and should not be cast aside. Hence, the nationalistic fervour of using the ‘national Language’ should not be fanatically pursued but should be pragmatically exercised.

As an extension to the idea of nation, nationhood, nation building and nationalism, Abdul Rahman Embong in his book ‘Negara-bangsa’ (2006: 57) advocates Anderson’s theory. Anderson states that a ‘nation’ is the product and is born out of the birth of ‘Capitalism’, especially ‘print capitalism’ that enables the dissemination ,development and spread of the imagination and subjective awareness in raising the feelings of ‘togetherness’, ‘belongingness’ and the inclusive ‘we’, in the bond of similar shared fate. Thus, ‘print capitalism’ in whatever forms, or generated forms should be wisely utilised to forge nation building and nationhood.

Other historical examples of the role of writers in nationalism efforts towards nation building and nationhood could be seen from evidences such as quoted by Mohd Safar in his book (2004:213)where he cited a few examples of articles by Warta Negara and Utusan Melayu in their role as catalyst for the unification of the Malays and the call for action. In its 18 October 1945 article in Utusan Melayu newspaper, which was a citation from Warta Negara:

Sekarang sudahlah masanya orang-orang Melayu bangun dari kelekaan itu. Raja-raja, orang-orang besar dan pemimpin dan ketua-ketua Melayu sudahlah wajib keluar memimpin orangramai menyatukan semangat, menyatukan faham, menyatukan pendirian Melayu. Kuat Raja kerana rakyat, kuat rakyat kerana Raja haruslah dijadikan panduan.

Translated by the researcher as:

The time has now arrived for the Malay people to awake from their stupor. It is the compulsion for the Kings, nobilities, leaders and heads of the Malays to come out and lead the people, to unify the spirits and understanding, and unify the stance of the Malays. The strength of the Kings lies in the people and the strength of the people lies in the strength of the King should be used as a guide.

6

From Salleh Ben Joned’s article, ‘A Samad Ismail- The Man and his Myth’(1987) from his book Nothing Is Sacred, the role, tribulations and contentious issues of a writer in nation building could be seen. Extracts from his article:

At one time, he was Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the New Straits Times Group. Then he disappeared from public view for a number of years, during that time, he was guest of the Government at detention Camp-the third such experience in his long eventful career. Now, one is told, he is the NST’s Editorial Adviser- a position that is almost as difficult to define as the man himself. (Salleh. 2003: 345)

One could decipher that the number of years that A. Samad Ismail had disappeared was due to the fact that he was detained, probably due to certain writings or acts that were deemed to be dangerous to the national security. Writers as Salleh pointed out in some of his articles practice self-censorship, before they are censored by the authorities or stern actions are taken against them, as in the case of A. Samad Ismail and other contentious writers. In addition, the Printing Presses and Publications Acts, The Official Secrets Acts, The Internal Security Act and the Seditious Publications (Prohibition) ordinance further impede and restrict the complete freedom of writers to give voice to their thoughts. The Constitution further inhibits the complete freedom of expression in view of national security.

Under article 149 of the Constitution of Malaysia, Part XI- ‘SPECIAL POWERS AGAINST SUBVERSION, ORGANISED VIOLENCE, AND ACTS AND CRIMES PREJUDICIAL TO THE PUBLIC AND EMERGENCY POWERS’, it is clearly sated that:Article number: 149

149. (1) If an act of parliament recites that action has been taken or threatened by any substantial body of persons, whether inside or outside the Federation -

o (a) to cause, or to cause a substantial number of citizens to fear, organised violence against persons or property; or

o (b) to excite disaffection against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or any Government in the Federation; or

o (c) to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or other classes of the population likely to cause violence; or

o (d) to procure the alteration, otherwise than by lawful means, of anything by law established; or

o (e) which is prejudicial to the maintenance or the functioning of any supply or service to the public or any class of the public in the Federation or any part thereof; or

o (f) which is prejudicial to public order in, or the security of, the Federation or any part thereof,

7

any provision of that law designed to stop or prevent that action is valid notwithstanding that it is inconsistent with any of the provisions of Article 5, 9, 10 or 13, or would apart from this Article be outside the legislative power of Parliament; and Article 79 shall not apply to a Bill for such an Act or any amendment to such a Bill.

Thus, many writers are careful in self censorship as not to unnecessarily warrant legal action taken against them in cases of inciting and instigating acts of violence, or promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between the races or other classes of the population or any of the above.

On the subject of the role of the prolific yet enigmatic writer in nationalistic movements and nation building, A. Samad Ismail, Salleh wrote that:

Pak Samad’s career as a journalist and political activist has been colourful enough to generate tales with which legends are made. Adibah Amin, in her pithy well-written piece, feels compelled to talk in terms of ‘the man and his myth’. The ‘myths’ has somehow to do with his days in Singapore in the 40s and 50s. ‘Nobody’ says Adibah, ‘knew precisely what it was he has been doing in the south, but it had given him an aura that caused many to regard him with a mixture of awe and uneasiness’.

It wasn’t just the gun-running- a romantic episode that probably had more colour than substance in terms of the impact of his action on society, or its implications for his subsequent career. It had more to do with his relationship with the left-wing forces in Singapore and the role he played in the Utusan Melayu -, in the late 40s and 50s, the one newspaper that was fighting the cause of anti-colonialism and nationalism with passion and conviction. And A. Samad Ismail as Deputy Editor and the real mover behind the paper was inseparable from it. “A. Samad Ismail was Utusan and Utusan was A. Samad Ismail.”…it was the influence of the man and the newspaper that cut across ethnic boundaries…

Evidence of Samad’s skill and far-sightedness as an organiser and political strategist can be further gleaned from Ahmad Sebi’s account of the way he made use of his position as Editor of Utusan in the Sixties to build a network of agents and ‘informers’ all over the country. This network kept him informed about the changing feelings of the people and enabled him, in Ahmad Sebi’s words , ‘to be two steps ahead of the situation’.

(Salleh. 2003: 348 – 349)

It could be seen, that the writer A.Samad Said manifests Fanon’s third phase of the anti-colonialism movements, that of the ‘fighting phase’, where the writer is directly involved in the resistance against colonialism.

8

Many Malaysian writers are a bit weary of what they write lest they overstep the parameters. In his article ‘Testing the Parameters’, Salleh writes about the ‘parameters’ that bounds the writers. Here, ‘parameters’ are signified by ‘limits’, ‘boundary’, ‘standard’, and ‘condition’. Salleh writes:

We all know that our censorship laws are very stringent. But, while hoping (and fighting?) for greater liberalism, it’s not impossible to learn to live with them while we have to, You should be amazed what can be done within the existing restrictions. It’s up to the writers and publishers to exploit the limited freedom that exists. In other words to ‘test the parameters’-or the perimeter of the permissible.

Salleh further wrote in the same article:

Self-censorship is a universal disease, but I believe its local manifestation is quite peculiar, very ‘Malaysian’ in an unflattering sense of the word. And what’s more, it’s becoming quite insidious. Those infected with this disease don’t always realise it; even when they do, they try to pretend that it’s unavoidable or unjustifiable. One can understand the self-censorship if the ‘integrity’ of the writer’s periok nasi (rice bowl) is at stake. But when it isn’t and yet he censors himself, one questions not so much his moral integrity as his intelligence.

(Salleh. 1994: 51)

As with regards to loyalty, affiliation and nationalism in terms of the national agenda, one of it being the relegation of Bahasa Melayu/ Bahasa Malaysia as the national language, and the allegiance to the fraternity of the ‘Malay/Bumiputera’ brotherhood dilemma afflict a certain section of the Malaysian writers. In his article ‘The (Malay) Malaysian Writer’s Dilemma’ (January 1992) in his As I Please, Salleh states that:

An intelligent and morally sensitive Malaysian of Malay origin to whom self-respect and the dream of the brotherhood of man are as vital as the air he breathes is not an enviable creature in the age of the NEP (New Economic Policy). The Government’s attempt to get his fellow Malays out of the ‘Malay Dilemma’ has put him in a new one- the Bumi Dilemma.

(Salleh. 1994: 47)

The ‘Bumi Dilemma’ afflicts only a tiny minority among the Bumiputeras…The vast majority of Malaysian writers of Malay origin are, I believe, untroubled in any serious way by the question of audience. They just know who constitutes their audience, and they don’t have the slightest doubts about it. One sometimes gets the feeling that they deeply believe and rather like it that things will remain unchanged, the solidity of their audience guaranteed, written into the Constitution….the issue of loyalty (Salleh. 1994 : 48)

9

But in this country, ‘loyalty’ is a very difficult business. And if, like me, you happen to be a writer somewhat alienated by your education from the dominant values of your ethnic kind, a writer who stubbornly persists in trying to see through and beyond the inherited blinkers of race and religion, what you call ‘loyalty to truth and beauty, justice and freedom’ can be considered a betrayal.

(Salleh. 1994:49)

The question of loyalty based on ethnicity, in a multi-cultured plural society that is endeavouring towards nation building and nationhood is a very sensitive issue. As Salleh aptly puts across ,

What is wrong with kebudayaan rojak? Malaysians like rojak. It’s good for them. Unity in diversity is certainly better for the vitality of our cultural life than the imposition of an artificially conceived national culture through legislation. A loving culture, as everyone knows, grows naturally; it cannot be programmed or legislated according to abstract recipe.

(Salleh. 1994: 57)

Abdul Rahman Embong in his book Negara-bangsa pointed out to difficulty in attaining nationhood through premeditated and planned intentions. He states that there exist a marked predicament in attaining a fashioned ‘nation of intent’ rather than the nation that arises from the political reality of the world (Abdul Rahman Embong. 2006: 60).

The big enigma and question is ‘where to from here’? Writers do have their role to play in nation building, and forging a nation. Yet, vocal writers or writers who challenges the ‘parameters’ will have to deal with censorship and various inhibitors for their ‘voice’ to be heard. In a United nations Paper by the General Assembly, OBV/555,PI/1714 on the subject of ‘Press Freedom Event’s theme: Media, Development, Poverty Eradication’; Speakers urge governments to reaffirm commitment to ‘Freedom of Expression’. Shashi Tharoor, Under Secretary –General for Communications and Public Information stresses on the fact that free press is not only an essential human right, but the foundation of all democratic societies. He said that media possessed great power and that journalism kindle dialogue that liberates societies to function effectively, by speaking truth to power and exposing injustices. He urged all governments to reaffirm their commitment to the right to ‘seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’ as set out in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, with freedom comes responsibility and Sahashi Tharoor wishes to emphasise that ‘Media should not be vehicles for incitement or degradation, or for spreading hatred.’ There is a need to strike a balance between press freedom and responsible reporting, and all writers should likewise practice this.

10

Let us think out of the box and be more creative and innovative. Neo-colonialism in the form of culture brought about by music, songs, movies, fashion, food and western ideologies (especially American culture) have infiltrated into our lives and into our subconscious. These cultures have slowly eroded our Eastern culture; have fused with our culture, to give birth to hybrids and mutants. What have fanon to say about this new form of colonialism? What have you to say about it?

When speaking about writers, there are many variants of writers; script writers, journalists, novelist, columnist, reporter…and the list goes on. They should use their talents, ingenuities to capture the hearts and minds of the people, to mould a nation, to strive for their aspired identity against the neo colonialism. Writers could play their part in nation building and influence their audience through the lyrics that exist in songs, through advertisements, through messages in films, through blogs on the internet,…through…... and so on and so forth…… The secret is in understanding human nature, steps taken through historical incidences and lessons, through creativity and innovations.

References:

Abdul Rahman Embong. 2003. Language, Nationhood and Globalization. The Case of Malaysia. Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS). Bangi: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Publishers

Abdul Rahman Embong. 2003.Language and Nationhood: Confronting New Realities.

International Conference Solls. INTEC. 03. 16-18 Dec. 2003. Bangi

Abdul Rahman Embong. 2006. Second Edition. Negara Bangsa. Bangi: Penerbit

Universiy Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Evans, G and Newham, J. 1998. The Penguin Dictionary of INTERNATIONAL

RELATIONS. England: Penguin Books.

Jayum, A.Jawan. 2003. Malayan Politics and Government. Shah Alam: Karishma

Publications Sdn. Bhd.

McLeod. 2000. Beginning Postcolonialism. Manchester. U.K: Manchester

University Press.

Ming, Ding Choo.‘Perpaduan Kaum dan Toleransi Agama di Malaysia’ published in the

11

journal, ‘Pemikir’ no. 41, the July-September 2005

Mohd. Safar Hashim. 1996 ( 3rd Ed. 2004). Akhbar dan Kuasa: Perkembangan Sistem

Akhbar di Malaysia Sejak 1806. Penerbit Universiti Malaya: Kuala Lumpur

Salleh Ben Joned. 1994. As I Please. London : Skoob Books Publications.

Salleh Ben Joned. 2003. Nothing Is Sacred. Petaling Jaya: Maya Press.

Internet Sources:

Constitution of Malaysiahttp://confinder.richmond.edu/local_malaysia.html

Cultural Imperialism.

http: //en. Wikipedia.org/wiki/cultural_imperialism

Malaysia.http://www.state.gov/dvl/hrrpt/1999/295.htm

Manipulation of Identities Towards And Beyond the nation: An Asian Perspective (1)

By Serge Thion. Remodelling Broken Images by S. Thion

http:// www.abbc 2.com/totus/1981-1990/157 cbrokim 2.html

Nationbuilding in Malaysia under Conditions of Globalization by Claudia Derichs

http:// www.uni duisburg.essen.de/d/paper 25.pdf

Suara Reformasi. Bil 5:6 November 1998 (m.s. 2)http://members.tripod.com/tinta warisan/bil 5_2.htm

The Nationalism Project. http:// www.nationalism project.org/what.htm.

12