Goh
KOTA KINABALU: The time has come for Malaysian Chinese community to change their mindset (especially in view of the fact that they constitute only 20% of the country’s total population), in order to better participate in nation building, said Tan Sri T.C Goh, president of The Federation Of Chinese Associations Of Malaysia (Huazong).
To better illustrate his point, he pointed out that as the second largest ethnic group in the country, many issues facing the Chinese community are essentially problems of the nation; hence, they should not be viewed with a parochial mindset and be simply categorised and dealt with as ‘Chinese community issues’, or worse, being ignored by the relevant authorities.
“After many decades of co-existence and blending in with other communities in the country, Malaysian Chinese community have established formidable networking in various arenas, political arena included, hence they should be able to play a bigger and more influential role in nation building,” he said during an exclusive interview with the Chinese Weekly, over the weekend.
He opined that with Malaysian Chinese population steadily declining over the years, they should adopt a new mindset, wisdom and strategies.
“Just like how politicians of Jews ethnicity in America played a significant role in American politics,” he said.
Goh also acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic and domestic political turmoil in the past one year had essentially rendered the Chinese community feeling both frustrated and helpless.
An ex-police officer who had served in the police force for 12 years, before venturing into the corporate world, Goh also pointed out the fallacy of some Malaysian politicians for thinking that issues affecting the Chinese community can be easily resolved, when in actual fact not so easy, especially those involving sensitive or controversial policies.
“Often, these issues can’t just be resolved with an order or instruction passed down from above as, under our government system, government officers of various ranking have different jurisdictions and powers.
“Hence, the Chinese community must have some basic knowledge of our government system, so as not to over simplify some of the issues affecting them or, to simply categorise them as ‘Chinese community problems’,” he elaborated.
Touching on the Chinese community organizations, while acknowledging that they were playing a role in uniting the community, he nonetheless observed that in the recent years, there had emerged some business-related organizations who were more focused towards pooling economic resources of Chinese community.
He also expressed hope that Huazong could reactivate one of its major annual events – the Malaysian Chinese Cultural Festival, this year. Due to Covid-19 pandemic, this major cultural event was cancelled last year.
Goh who is also president of the Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS), further noted that likewise, the association had to cancel its annual International Dragon Boat Race due to the pandemic.
The event was one of its two major annual cultural events besides the Chinese New Year Carnival.
Despite being a Chinese cultural sport event, the Dragon Boat Race was especially well-received and participated by other ethnic communities, the Bajau community especially.
Besides preserving the Chinese tradition of celebrating the annual Duanwu Dumpling Festival to commemorate the patriotic Chinese poet, Qu Yuan, the colourful and fun-filled event also attracted international participants from China, Brunei, Philippines, Australia, neighbouring Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia. The event was traditionally officiated at by the Head of State, in the presence of his consort and members of the State Cabinet led by the Chief Minister.
Goh also noted that under his leadership, Huazong has set a new trend emphasizing the use of bilingual i.e. Chinese and Malay languages, while speaking during its official events. Besides this, Huazong also intends to invite youths from non Chinese communities to partake in its major events.
He acknowledged that the bilingual policy was part of his efforts to assure the non-Chinese communities that Chinese organizations are not an ‘extremist group’, besides making them ‘feeling at home’ while attending its events.
Besides this, Huazong would continue to conduct courtesy calls on various government departments and agencies to establish and to maintain a good rapport with them, as well as to provide necessary feedback in regards to issues affecting Chinese community.
Goh also acknowledged that although he was born in Melaka and had his police cadet training in Kuala Lumpur, he nonetheless set up his family and business in Sabah, and was vastly impressed with and influenced by Sabah’s exemplary racial harmony and tolerance.