Those who label Malays as “pendatang” or immigrants to Malaysia are misinformed and “biadap” (rude), Malay Civilisation Department (Adab) chairman Tan Sri Yusof Hitam said today.
The scholar said the idea that Malays had migrated to Malaysia just like the Chinese and Indians contradicted history that says the Malays were indigenous inhabitants of Malaysia and the surrounding archipelago since more than 60,000 years ago.
“It is not only wrong for people to call Malays ‘pendatang’ but I would also view it as ‘biadap,’” Yusof told a press conference on Adab’s planned seminar on the history of Malay civilisation and indigenous democracy, to be held on November 19 and 20.
The Adab chairman, a scholar, also dismissed the theory that proto-Malays migrated from the Yunnan province in China, saying the idea was still being debated within academic circles.
He insisted that Malays have been indigenous inhabitants of Malaysia, which was then a part of the Malay archipelago or realm known as the “Nusantara” since 64,000 years ago.
“DNA and all that is still debatable, but the Malays have developed its own system of rule and society here since 64,000 years ago,” he said.
Yusof also noted that a study conducted by local varsities and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) ascertained that the DNA of the various Malay ethnicities were unique to this region and not similar to that of the Chinese.
According to a Wikipedia entry, the theory of proto-Malays originating from Yunnan is supported by R.H Geldern, J.H.C Kern, J.R Foster, J.R Logen, Slametmuljana and Asmah Haji Omar.
It is said that the proto-Malay (Melayu asli) who first arrived possessed agricultural skills, while the second wave Deutero Malay (mixed blood) who joined in around 1,500 BC and dwelled along the coastlines had advanced fishery skills.
This idea, however, have been contested by local scholars.
On October 19, a Johor Gerakan delegate, Tan Lai Soon, told his party’s national conference that Umno supporters, who had in the past referred to the country’s ethnic Chinese as immigrants, did not realise that the Malays also did not originate from Malaysia.
The statement sparked uproar among Malay rights groups who subsequently lodge police reports against the Gerakan member.
The party later suspended Tan.
Today, Adab vice-chairman Datuk Sofian Ahmad said he hoped those who question the origin of the Malays, such as Tan, would attend the November 19 seminar on Malay civilisation.
“It is people like this who should attend. Not just Malays. Because they don’t understand history so we can’t really fault them even if we want to,” he told the same press conference.
Yusof said the seminar will extensively cover topics about the origin of the Malays and its polity.
He expressed hope that such seminars would help not just the non-Malays, but the Malays to understand their lineage and history.
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