Appreciating Unity in Malaysia 

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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