In The Malay Dilemma, Tun Dr.

Mahathir Mohamad examines the make-up of the

Malays and the problem of racial harmony in Malaysia. The book explains the causes for the
13 May 1969 riots in Kuala Lumpur. He also argues that the Malays are the rightful owners
of Malaya.
In contrast to Malay Dilemma, Malaysian now are more keen and confident to join
and participate in doing various business despite the different races the have. For example, in
economic wise, Malaysian are always ahead especially the youngsters who want to become
entrepreneurs and they have strategies to improve their talent in various fields. They also
interact with each other when doing business. In comparison to Malay dilemma mentioned by
Dr Mahathir, when the government underestimated both potential between Malays and non-
Malay such as only Chinese were interested in business to improve their economy while
Malays only interested to become government servant. This kind of mentality has changed
the concept of understanding between Malays and non-Malay from the beginning.
Now, most Malaysian has a high level of thinking of their own opinion as time passes
towards modernisation. Instead of being judgemental to the surrounding, they are very open-
minded. For instance, in term of marriage, or to be exact, mix marriage, where marriage
between malay-chinese, malay-indian, indian-chinese and other races in Malaysia is now
common and received good response from people. In addition, they support this kind of
marriage and they still have good relationship among their families even after their marriage.
With that, they also can experience different culture of both sides. For example, Malays can
celebrate Chinese New Year while Chinese can celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri. However, as
mentioned in Malay dilemma, Malay only focused on marriage within the same race.
Besides, before Independence, many outsiders came to Tanah Melayu and they made
changes and came up with rules and strategies to dominate the land and economy. The
Malays kept their trust to the outsiders and ended up being their servant. The conflict between
Malay and Chinese became worse as these outsiders controlled the Malay politic and between
races. Hence, this conflict had caused a difficulty in involvement with other countries after
Independence especially among Malay because of the fear that they had faced previously. But
in contrast with the past where Malaysia is one of urbanisation country, Malaysian are ready
to challenge themselves to cooperate with other countries, welcoming them for tourism,
business, sport, government contract, or any big events that are related with the economy in
Malaysia to achieve their mission.
Despite the different ethnicity, religion and culture, we can prove that with tolerance,
Malaysians can feel valued and respected, and there is room for every person, each with their
own ideas, thoughts and dreams. This is why Malaysia is rated as one of the most liveable
countries in the world recently. Any rational Malaysian will agree that tolerance is vital for us
because it is the formula for peace. In fact, it is the only way to achieve unity in our diversity.
Malaysians should respect the religions of one another to ensure their own religion is
respected. Festivals celebrated together by the people in the country such as Christmas was a
manifestation that Malaysians, despite their different religious beliefs could respect the
religions of others. One Malaysia is the latest concept that came up by the new Prime
Minister that can benefit the country in terms of living in peace and harmony, learning others
culture and stabilizing the politic climate. The Malaysian should practice this concept in their
daily life in order to become as an advance country.

Education should be provided to everyone despite the different races. The higher
authorities should not be biased to people. They should be fair with the low and high
educators so that everyone receive the same amount of equality. Job opportunities should also
be given to all different races in Malaysia. Other than that, another way to maintain the peace
and harmony is, say what you mean, and mean what you say. Healthy communication is a
key element in keeping peace and harmony in Malaysia. By having a good communication, it
can eliminate being misunderstood, and prevent stressful situations. Saying what you want
not only gives you a sense of peace, you also earn respect from others when they know you
are true to your word.
In conclusion, though the government of Malaysia gives the right to equality to all its
citizens to ensure complete harmony among them, there have been several instances where
the peace has been disrupted due to different social, political and economic reasons. The
government alone cannot responsible for maintaining peace and harmony in the country.
Each one of us should take it as our responsibility to nurture feelings of brotherhood with
fellow citizens.