Cover not available

Article published In: Language Problems and Language Planning
Vol. 41:1 (2017) ► pp.46–65

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

State contestations in constructions of 1Malaysia

Saying it different to different people

 | Taylor’s University, Malaysia
 | University of Malaya, Malaysia
Published online: 20 July 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lplp.41.1.03var
Abstract
This article seeks to contribute to the existing body of knowledge about the relationship between political discourse and national identity. 1Malaysia, introduced in 2009 by Malaysia’s then newly appointed 6th Prime Minister Najib Razak, was greeted with expectation and concern by various segments of the Malaysian population. For some, it signalled a new inclusiveness that was to change the discourse on belonging. For others, it raised concerns about changes to the status quo of ethnic issues. Given the varying responses of society to the concept of 1Malaysia, an examination of different texts through the critical paradigm of CDA provide useful insights into how the public sphere has attempted to construct this notion. Therefore, this paper critically examines the Prime Minister’s early speeches as well as relevant chapters of the socioeconomic agenda, the 10th Malaysia Plan, to identify the referential and predicational strategies employed in characterising 1Malaysia. The findings suggest a notion of unity that appears to address varying issues.
Abstrak
Artikel ini akan menyumbang kepada himpunan ilmu pengetahuan yang sedia ada tentang hubungan di antara wacana politik dan identiti kenegaraan. Konsep 1Malaysia diperkenalkan pada tahun 2009 oleh Perdana Menteri yang keenam Najib Razak. Pelbagai segmen masyarakat di Malaysia telah menyambutnya dengan penuh harapan tetapi juga dengan kebimbangan. Konsep ini menggambarkan inisiatif masyarakat inklusif baru dan akan mengubah wacana tentang kekitaan. Namun, bagi sesetengah pihak, ia menimbulkan kebimbangan mengenai perubahan kepada status quo dari segi isu-isu etnik. Memandangkan terdapat respon yang pelbagai terhadap konsep 1Malaysia ini, satu kajian terhadap teks yang berbeza melalui pendekatan analisis wacana kritikal (CDA) adalah perlu untuk memberi pemahaman yang mendalam bagaimana masyarakat umum telah cuba untuk membina idea ini. Kertas ini mengkaji ucapan awal Perdana Menteri dan juga bab-bab yang berkaitan dalam Rancangan Malaysia ke-10 untuk mengenal pasti strategi referential dan predicational yang telah diterapkan dalam wacana untuk menghuraikan konsep 1Malaysia. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa aspek perpaduan digunakan untuk menangani isu-isu yang berbeza-beza.
Resumo
La artikolo celas kontribui al la ekzistantaj scioj pri la rilato inter politika diskurso kaj nacia identeco. La koncepto de 1Malajzio prezentita en 2009 de la tiam nove nomita sesa ĉefministro Najib Razak renkontis esperon kaj konsternon flanke de diversaj eroj de la enloĝantaro malajzia. Al iuj personoj ĝi signalis novan inkluzivemon kiu ŝanĝis la diskurson de aparteno. Al aliaj personoj ĝi levis maltrankviliĝon pri la jam ekzistanta situacio rilate etnajn demandojn. Konsiderante la diversajn sociajn respondojn al la koncepto de 1Malajzio, ekzamenado de diversaj tekstoj tra la kritika paradigmo de kritika diskurs-analizo (angle: CDA) liveras utilajn enrigardojn al la maniero laŭ kiu la publika sfero klopodis konstrui la nocion. Sekve, tiu ĉi studo kritike ekzamenas la fruajn paroladojn de la ĉefministro kaj ankaŭ laŭtemajn ĉapitrojn de la sociekonomia tagordo, la Deka Plano Malajzio, por identigi la referencajn kaj antaŭsupozajn strategiojn uzatajn por karakterizi 1Malajzion. La konstatoj sugestas nocion de unueco kiu ŝajnas fronti diversajn demandojn.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Ethnic categories in Malaysia
  • Society’s contestations of state-led identity formation
  • Anticipating 1Malaysia
    • Opinion-editorials of a state-owned media
    • The new economic model (NEM)
  • Data, theory and method
  • Discussion on findings
  • Prime minister Najib Razak’s speeches
  • Emphasising difference or ethnic identity
  • Conclusion: 1Malaysia as a signifier of unity and change
  • Notes
  • References
References (29)
References
Alatas, S. H. (1977). The Myth of the Lazy Native. London: Frank Cass.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Anderson, B. (2006) Imagined Communities. London: Verso.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ariffin, Omar. (2009). The Struggle for Ethnic Unity in Malaya after the Second World War. In T. G. Lim, A. Gomes and Azly Rahman (eds). Multiethnic Malaysia: Past, Present and Future. Petaling Jaya: SIRDGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, G. (2005) The Rough and Rosy Road: Sites of Contestation in Malaysia’s Shackled Media Industry. Pacific Affairs Vol. 78, No. 1 Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cheah, B. K. (2005). Ethnicity in the Making of Malaysia. In G. Wang, (ed). Nation-Building: Five Southeast Asian Histories. Singapore: Institute of South East Asian Studies.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2000) New Labour, New Language? London: RoutledgeGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fairclough & Wodak (1997) Critical Discourse Analysis. In Teun Van Dijk (ed.). Discourse as Social Interaction. London: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fairclough, N. (1995) Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. Harlow: Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Foucault, M (1972) The Archaeology of Knowledge. London: RoutledgeGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gomez, E. T. (2013). Nurturing Bimiputera Captial: SNEs, entrepreneurship and the New Economic Policy. In E. T. Gomez and J. Saravanamuttu (Eds.), The New Economic Policy in Malaysia: Affirmative action, ethnic in equalities and social justice. Petaling Jaya: SIRD.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gramsci, A. (1971) Selections from the Prison Notebooks. Trans. By Q. Hoare and J. N. Smith. New York: International PublishersGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hirschman, C. (1987). The Meaning and Measurement of Ethnicity in Malaysia: An Analysis of Census Classifications. The Journal of Asian Studies, 46(3), 555–582. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mandal, S. (2004). Transethnic Solidarities. In E. T. Gomez (ed). The State of Malaysia: Ethnicity, equity and reform. London: RoutledgeGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maznah Mohamad (2009). Politics of the NEP and Ethnic Relations in Malaysia. In T. G. Lim, A. Gomes & Azly Rahman (eds). Multiethnic Malaysia: Past, Present and Future. SIRD: Petaling Jaya.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nagarajan, S. (2009). Marginalisation and Ethnic Relations. In T. G. Lim, A. Gomes & Azly Rahman. (eds). Multiethnic Malaysia: Past, Present and Future. SIRD: Petaling Jaya.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pepinsky, T. (2009). The 2008 Malaysian Elections: An End to Ethnic Politics? Journal of East Asian Studies, 9(1), 87–120. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ragayah, Mat Zin (2013). The New Economic Policy and Poverty Eradication in Malaysia. In E. T. Gomez & J. Saravanamuttu (eds). The New Economic Policy in Malaysia: Affirmative Action, Ethnic Inequalities and Social Justice. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reisigl, M. and Wodak, R. (2009) “The Discourse Historical Approach (DHA)” in R. Wodak and M. Meyer (eds). Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis. 2nd ed. London: SageGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2001) Discourse and Discrimination. London: RoutledgeGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ricento, T. (2003). The Discursive Construction of Americanism. Discourse and Society. 14(5), 611–637. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rusaslina, Idrus (2013). Left Behind: The Orang Asli Under the New Economic Policy. In E. T. Gomez & J. Saravanamuttu (eds). The New Economic Policy in Malaysia: Affirmative Action, Ethnic Inequalities and Social Justice. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shamsul, A. B. (2001). “A History of an Identity, an Identity of a History: The Idea and Practice of ‘Malayness’ in Malaysia Reconsidered”. Journal of Asian Studies, 32(3), 355–366.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Simpson & Mayr (2010). Language and Power. Routledge. LondonGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smith, A. (1986). The Ethnic Origins of Nations. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stockwell, T. (2005). Forging Malaysia and Singapore. In G. Wang (ed). Nation-Building: Five Southeast Asian Histories. Singapore: Institute of South East Asian Studies.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van Dijk, T. A. (2003). Critical discourse analysis. The handbook of discourse analysis, 181, 352.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Varghese M. & Kamila Ghazali. (2014). Talking ‘Race’ Through 1Malaysia in Editorials: A Critical Discourse Analysis. Journal of Language and Politics 13(3), 453–472. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wodak, R., de Cillia, R., Reisigl, M., & Liebhart, K. (2009). The Discursive Construction of National Identity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University PressGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue