How We Can Promote Unity, Solidarity, Peace and Progress in Malaysia Through the Understanding of History and Effective Implementation of Our National Philosophy?

How we can promote unity, solidarity, peace and progress in Malaysia through the understanding of history and effective implementation of our national philosophy? The very first step is we have to understand all the information about the national philosophy of our own country very well.

What is our national philosophy? In Malaysia, the nationals called it as “Rukunnegara” which means the national principle in English. Our national philosophy was enacted on August 31, 1970, Merdeka Day, due to the May 13 incident developed. The incident refers to the Sino-Malay sectarian violence in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which reportedly started on 13 May 1963. The incident proved at that time that Malaysian racial balance and stability was weak and the incident took a heavy toll of lives. Once the incident has began, the Malaysian try to seek ways to promote unity between the various races in Malaysia. Rukunnegara is one of the methods that used to foster unity.

The incident of ethnic riot on May 13th 1969 had chocked the society and government. The national unity which has thought to be solid resulted by the social contract among the three major races which is Malay, Chinese and Indian during the formulation of the national constitution clearly specified as temporary and superficial. It had failed to embed trait of sustainable tolerance among the people.

The instant action taken after the May 13th 1969 incident was declaring emergency for the entire country. Upon the advice of the first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, Yang Di-Pertuan Agong declared emergency officially on the 16th May of 1969. With the declaration, the governments’ parliamentary system was suspended and the national movement council (MAGERAN) was established. The general election of the year had been delayed. Upon the proposal from the prime minister, the deputy prime minister of that time, Tunku Abdul Razak was appointed as the chairman of the council. The tasks of MAGERAN including improve peacefulness, uphold the faithfulness towards national laws and rules as well as foster a harmonious environment and trusts among the ethnics. Still, the people were separated due to some factors such as ancestry, religion and occupation factors. The government figured out that the aims of the country was to build a society with strong unity, just liberal and progressive. So, some efforts need to be taken were based on the specific basic principles like loyalty to king and country, respect and preserve the constitution and obey to national laws and regulations. Therefore, the Rukun Negara was created and it was declared as the national philosophy by Yang Di-Pertuan Agong on the 31st August of 1970, the 13th anniversary of independent day.

Rukunnegara is aspired to express Malaysian citizens with values of democratic, scientific, progressive and unity as well as open-mindedness toward a varieties way of life of different races. This can be attained by achieving