Prof Faidz (right) presenting a
souvenir to Prof Shamsul (left)
UTAR Tun Tan Cheng Lock Centre for Social and Policy
Studies (TCLC) organised a public lecture titled
Menghayati Kesepaduan di Malaysia:
Antara Kefahaman dan Amalan on 13 June 2022 as part of the TCLC Public
Lecture Series. Invited to conduct
the talk was the venerable and distinguished Prof Ulung Datuk Dr Shamsul
Amri Baharuddin, the unity advisor to the Ministry of National Unity and the
founding director of the Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA), Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). The talk was held both physically and virtually
at UTAR Sungai Long Campus and via Zoom.
The talk was also graced by the attendance of UTAR
Board of Trustees Member Emeritus Prof Dato’ Dr Tan Chong Tin, UTAR Council
Members Tan Sri Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn and Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Chor Chee
Heung, UTAR Vice President for R&D and Commercialisation Prof Ts Dr Faidz
bin Abd Rahman, Head of Institute of Social Economic Research (ISER) of
Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TAR UMT) Dr Yap
Hon Lun and UKM Institute of Ethnic Studies Associate Senior Fellow Assoc
Prof Dr Chang Peng Kee.
The talk kicked off with a welcome speech by Prof
Faidz, who said, “I would like to thank Prof Shamsul for taking the time to
deliver a public lecture titled
Menghayati Kesepaduan di Malaysia: Antara Kefahaman dan Amalan. Prof
Shamsul is a well-respected academic and professor in Malaysia, and he also
specialises in both social science and social anthropology.” He added, “I
hope all the participants will learn something from this lecture. I have no
doubt that the topics discussed will be beneficial to everyone present
here.” He then presented a souvenir to Prof Shamsul as a token of
appreciation. It was followed by a photography session.
Prof Faidz welcoming Prof Shamsul to
UTAR
After the souvenir presentation and photography
sessions, Prof Shamsul began his lecture. “It is imperative to know about
the current global crises such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the school
shootings in the United States. Even though Malaysia is not involved in
these crises, we have to understand how and where Malaysia fits into all
these; for instance, how the country is affected,” said Prof Shamsul.
Speaking of Unity (Perpaduan), he
stated, “Unity is not a problem; it is a social reality. It is also one of
the three tools used in social science to understand who and what we are in
this country, alongside cohesion (Kesepaduan)
and Reconciliation (Penyatupaduan).”
Prof Shamsul giving the lecture
Next, Prof Shamsul explained in detail the three
tools, “In Malaysia, we are only able to achieve cohesion thus far as there
are still moments of differences between our countrymen. This is because
Malaysians typically agree to agree (consensus), or they agree to disagree
(contradictions). This shows that absolute unity is still impossible to
achieve because there are differences of opinions among Malaysians when it
comes to certain topics such as ethnicity, religion, social class and many
more.” He noted, “We manage cohesion using social deficits to the path of
reconciliation. To do so, we must build a
Tapak Integrasi, which is a space
(physical and abstract) where people of all races and ethnicity can come
together to peacefully discuss solutions to problems. There are three
principles to build this Tapak Integrasi, which are Bargaining, Negotiation and Mediation.”
The lecture ended with short Q&A and refreshment
sessions.
The participants listening to Prof Shamsul attentively
Front row, from left: Prof Faidz and Prof Shamsul with participants
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