Factors That After Independence

After Independence
One of the contributing factors of ethnic tension after independence of Malaysia could be seen as a trial and error of policies made by the government in an effort to fill in the gaps between ethnic groups. Some impacts of policies such as the Education Act of 1961 and New Economic Policy will be mentioned below.
The Education Act of 1961 was the result of the growth of Chinese secondary schools resulting from the laissez faire policy implemented by the British that allowed the Chinese to set up primary and secondary schools. (Santhiram R. Raman, February- April 2010) The purpose of the act was to give an ultimatum to all secondary schools to use English and Malay as their medium of instruction. Failure to do so will lead
In my personal opinion, I feel that the root cause of all this is the mentality of the people. Although the government may mean well for the safety and welfare for the Malays, the government is not teaching us to grow. This narrow mentality of Malays that was present even before independence was pillowed when socioeconomic imbalance arose. The problem is when Malays have been too comfortable knowing that the government will always be there to support. And yet, when given the opportunity, wastes it away. This constant struggle to keep to the status quo and enforce this on other ethnic groups is not what true democracy is fighting for. And through this divide and rule policy that was instilled in Malaysia, British has successfully left its imprint to separate Malaysians from being truly Malaysian. I feel that these policies made throughout time for the benefit of Malays have made them utterly dependent on the government. Even now in public universities, Malays are constantly being spoon fed by lecturers and teachers when we are actually in truth more than capable of being just like other races that had to strive to be where they are. It is as if the Malays are not capable to be great citizens if not for the support of the government. It may be the problem doesn’t resolve because we never really had to struggle to be where we are. And without friction and struggle, we cannot grow. I myself as a Malay Malaysian am very disappointed with myself and my own race. Other races had to thrive to be where they are. The solution I would give is to accomplish what both the Razak Report and the New Economic Policy was meant to do in the end: A Deadline. (Ministry of Education, 1956) A gradual strip down of policies such as ethnic quota system and preferential policy because that would wake up the Malays from being too comfortable. The only thing that separates us from being Malaysians