Rafidah: All citizens should identify themselves as Malaysians first

KUALA LUMPUR: All citizens regardless of race should identify themselves as Malaysians first to show that their top loyalty is to the country, said former Cabinet Minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz (pic).

She said no one would lose their racial identities by declaring themselves as Malaysians first.

“Be Malaysian first, and while we are also proud to be a successful Malay, Chinese or Iban as it’s our heritage, we are more proud being citizens of our country, right?” Rafidah asked her audience when delivering a public lecture at Universiti Malaya on Saturday.

In her lecture, titled “The Role of Education in the Development of Youth Towards Nation-Building,” the long serving International Trade and Industry Minister spoke on a number of topics including cultivating loyalty to the country.

 

“Let’s be frank about this, loyalty to country comes first.

“Many of you here are Malays and proud of your racial identity and so am I, but I am a Malaysian first,” she said.

Rafidah said there was nothing wrong in proclaiming our national identity.

“I am proud to be a Malaysian of the Malay stock. Some of your great grandparents came from China, my great grandparents came from Sumatra, but I don’t care from where, because I am a Malaysian.”

“Why you want to emphasise your Malay-ness, your Chinese-ness, your Indian-ness?”

Rafidah, who currently serves as AirAsia X Bhd chairman, said she realised that identifying as Malaysian first was something which was politically-objectionable to some people.

“I know politically some people don’t want it, but when they say I’m a Malay first, where is their country, the entitiy known as Tanah Melayu is no more, we are in Malaysia now.

“And the reason we have Malaysia is because we recognise that this land belongs to a whole nation of diverse people, Sabah and Sarawak together.”