By Luqman Johan

I claim that most of us don’t know Rukun Negara. Now this claim might sound sensitive or even controversial, but rest assured I am not here to question anybody’s sense of patriotism or allegiance. In fact, I am not even here to talk about Malaysians or Malaysian people. Of course, most if not all of us have memories of Monday assembly where we would gather at school, stand, and pledge Rukun Negara with our teachers and fellow schoolmates. However, did you know that as kids, we would only recite half of Ikrar Rukun Negara. It’s true. The 5 Principles that you and I and all Malaysians know to heart are actually only half of the whole thing. Confused? This is an article about Rukun Negara and come this Malaysia Day, it may be a good time to brush up on our national philosophy.

Rukun Negara loosely translates to National Pillars. Ikrar Rukun Negara is the text script we recite when we are pledging the Rukun Negara. When we recite Ikrar Rukun Negara we usually only recite the second half of the whole script. Fundamentally, Rukun Negara actually consists of two distinct parts, there are the 5 principles that we all know to heart, but prior to that, there are also the 5 objectives or ambitions, the cita-cita. Remember the line “untuk mencapai cita-cita tersebut…”, cita-cita tersebut translates to “the aforementioned ambitions”. Ironically however, these are the exact 5 ambitions that we never actually mention. So what are these 5 ambitions you may ask?

According to the official website of the Government of Malaysia, these ambitions are:

1. Achieving closer unity among the entire community.
2. Preserving a democratic way of life.
3. Creating a just society where the country's prosperity can be enjoyed together fairly and equitably.
4. Forming a liberal attitude towards the rich and diverse cultural traditions, and;
5. Building a progressive society that will use modern science and technology.

Considering that these are the ambitions that the five principles aim toward, it’s kind of crazy that we never really acknowledge them. It’s sort of like driving a car with a six cylinder engine (well in this case five), but with no direction or destination. Maybe that’s why we tend to feel lost amidst everything that’s going on in our country.

Looking closer at these ambitions however, it’s easy to say that there’s nothing really that we don’t already know. I mean, elements like unity, justice, and democracy are already elements that we ironically should already be achieving today, so what’s the big fuss? I hear you mumble under your breath. Well, to an extent, I agree, moral values written in this way does seem vague, general and perhaps meaningless against the backdrop of what’s actually happening in our country today. However, it’s important to understand that these ambitions were formulated when the world was a very different place. Concepts like parliamentary democracy, and nationalistic racial unity were still fairly new. So contextualizing these ambitions within today’s understanding and standard of unity, justice, and democracy would of course paint a diluted picture. “So how different was the world at the time?” you may ask. Well, let's contextualize one of these ambitions to get a real scale of what they mean.

Number 1. Achieving closer unity among the entire community.

While unity is something we take for granted today, we tend to forget that there was a time in our country when we were disunited and remorse prevailed. Unity was inscribed in the Rukun Negara as the first ambition, which speaks to the virtue that in whatever we do, unity is the direction. Rukun Negara was proclaimed on the 31st of August 1970, against the backdrop of what was the racial riot of 13th May 1969. And while the number of deaths caused by the riot varies between sources, it can’t be denied that there was a time in our history where people who called themselves Malaysians took arms against other Malaysians for simply being of a different race. Lives were lost. People died. We all know that unity is important but understanding the psychology of the racial riot, we must also recognise that we are vulnerable to our deepest insecurities, and that we are at the mercy of our biases and our frustrations which prevail in our identity and in our political beliefs. So unity must not remain a concept, because in practice, as long as we are humans with natural psychological idiosyncrasies, unity means having the patience, compassion, and empathy to regulate our emotions and lift ourselves beyond said insecurities to see the world from the other side.

Another fact worth recognizing, is that as horrid as it was, the May 31st riot happened as an implication of actions that were fully within the bounds of democratic practices and the rule of law. It was the aftermath of the 1969 General Election and the proceeding election celebrations, nothing illegal. This illustrates that the prerequisite to a safe and operable electoral democracy is a sufficient sense of unity among the people. Hence why unity is foremost in the 5 ambitions. Alas, as much as we can rule of law may govern the bounds of physical action, it is very much less effective in governing the bounds of our psychology and political ideas.

Rukun Negara is the heartbeat of the Malaysian civilization and as we celebrate 69 years of independence, let us all remember those of us Malaysians who lost their lives in 1969. As we weather through another tumultuous election season in the coming months, let the five ambitions and the five principles of Rukun Negara be our guiding light. This Malaysia day, let’s take a moment to remember that, as a country, we don’t need to have everything figured out, all we have to do is get a grip on ourselves and remember that whatever they say, we are Malaysia. I am Malaysia. Thank you.