No one race, in terms of our nation's modern or current history, has absolute claim to this blessed country. If emotions and sentiments are subjective inaccurate measurements, then allow the objectivity of the science of archeology and history speak the truth concerning Malaysia.
The original settlers of this beautiful country are the small pockets of indigenous tribes of hunter-gatherers who seemingly held on to a stone-age way of life. Over several thousands years, this land was occasionally populated by various people from the surrounding region.
They came here as miners, traders, adventure seekers and founders of kingdoms. None never really claiming original stake to the land but merely becoming her adopted children. It is not us that own the country.
Malaysia has been around long before any of our forefathers stepped unto its shores. We are merely, as mentioned earlier, her adopted children who was welcomed into her home as outsiders but eventually growing to love her as our home.
In terms of ancient literature, such as that of the acclaimed Mahabharata and Purana's, Malaysia was a place well known almost 2,000 years ago. The country went by the name of Malaya-dvipa connoting a land surrounded by water or an island or as some may claim, Survanabumi, the fabled ancient Land of Gold. If this was true, then the record may have spoken of a time in pre-history when sea levels were 5 meters above present levels.
Fact is that the ancient Indians had known of this blessed land and most likely came here as miners to mine for gold. There are ancient mines scattered throughout the country that suggest this. There are even strange looking 'iron' implements known as 'tulang mawas' or bone of a giant local bigfoot thought to be used by the miners.
Then, there is the state of the northern state of Kedah. The name is derived from the Indian word of Kaddaram which means black smelting pot. A term most likely derived from ore smelting. The only vestige linking the ancient Indians to the name was the discovery of the ruins of a large Hindu complex in the Bujang Valley. There are also references in text that refer to the coming of the Guptas and Cholas, ancient Hindu kingdoms that once held sway of the entire region.
Interestingly enough, the state of Negeri Sembilan or State of Nine neighbouring Malacca, may have derived its name from ancient Hindu origins. The name of the state was taken to represent a nine-petal Lotus flower, a common symbol in ancient Hinduism. This nine-petal Lotus is said to represent the make up of universe with its centre being the centre of the universe. There is also the kingdom of Langkasuka whose location has yet to be discovered kingdom.
Loads of Sanskrit words and ancient Indian customs had been incorporated as part of the vocabulary and traditions of subsequent local kingdoms established by settlers from neighbouring Indonesia.
Of the ancient Chinese, they were said to have learned the art of smelting tin and iron to produce bronze about 5,000 years ago. Interestingly enough, there is not much tin in mainland China and the largest known tin deposit are found in Malaysia. Even till this day, we are known as the world's largest tin producers. Names of the east coast states have Chinese sounding characters to described them, connoting their ancient past. There is also the lost kingdom of Red Earth Land described by the Chinese to have existed about 1,500 years ago. The location of the kingdom, as with Langkasuka, have remained a mystery.
Then there is the Malays, whose origins if traced lead back to neighboring Indonesia. It is undeniable that the Indonesians are amongst the numerous of immigrants to have settled here over the centuries. The successive waves of Indonesians can be traced historically. The earliest were most likely the Minankabaus, Javanese, Achinese and Bugis whose concentration of descendants are found in several states.
For goodness sake, even the founder of the first Malay Sultanate Empire in Malacca in the 1400s was an immigrant from Sumatra, Indonesian named Parameswara or in in short, an Indonesian immigrant or 'pendatang'. So let's get it straight one more time as it tend to tickle my funny bone thinking of it.....the founder of one of the greatest empire in the land that gave us 'adat Melayu Melaka' and Islam was in fact an immigrant whose nick named would have sounded more like Param rather than the typical Malay name of Abu, Ahmad or Ali.
Perhaps the last great waves of immigrants came about in the late 1800s to the 1920s with the influx of Indians and Chinese migrants brought here by the British. They came here hoping to find a new life as road builders, tending and tapping rubber at the rubber plantations, miners farmers and traders. The very roads were use were built by the Indian 'coolies' and rubber tyres used to drive on it were tapped by them too. Even the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur owed its rise to tin, a commodity that were mined by the Chinese migrants. (The famous Chinese Caption Yap Ah Loy, who is said to have been responsible developing the mining community, had in fact, lived as a common miner in Malacca but ended up making it big in Kuala Lumpur by sheer chance)
The last major wave of Indonesians occurred during the the 1980s when the country opened its doors to Indonesian migrant workers. At the height, it was estimated that there were over a million of them working and residing here. So much so, that the Indonesians, both entering as legal workers or otherwise, had helped shaped part of the local society. Some even established their own respective communities and even ousted the local Malays from their petty businesses in Kuala Lumpur. Prior to the 1980s, no one would have thought that 'kretek' (cloved cigarettes) and 'dangdut' would become accepted vocabulary.
As mentioned earlier, we, the Malays, Chinese, Indians and Eurasians can't truly claim exclusive birth right as offspring's of this land. Our forefathers arrived here to find a better life and decided to stay and call this land their home. It is not us who have adopted the land but rather the land adopting us as her children.
One of the biggest problem and challenge faced by us today, as a nation, is racial in nature. I strongly believe that it could be solve if all accept the reality of science and history and come to an understanding that all of us ended up here as 'immigrants'.
Any one of us, apart from the indigenous tribes, who claim that they had been here since time in memorial and own the country, only delude themselves to the truth.
To none I wish Ill But To All I Wish Peace and Love.
