MALAYSIA actions beyond confines of law & social ethics

behaviour annoyed the supporters of governing coalition

 The Rukunegara or sometimes Rukun Negara is the
opposition predominantly Chinese, governing purely
Malaysian declaration of national philosophy.
Malay party
 Instituted by royal proclamation on Merdeka Day, 1970, in
 Effect:
a reaction to a race riot known as the May 13 incident
racial clash between Chinese & Malay
which occurred in 1969.
National Operation Council/NOC (MAGERAN) took
 The incident proved that Malaysian racial balance and
over country
stability at that time was fragile at best.
Special Peace & Development bodies formed
 Immediately thereafter, the Malaysian Government sought
Rukun Negara was formed
ways to foster unity amongvMalaysians.
 Function of the government:
 One of the methods used to encourage unity is the
formulate normative guidance & set of values for unity
Rukunegara.
 The word Rukunegara can refer to the whole declaration,
Hari Merdeka (Independence day)
the words after the preamble or the five principles alone.
 is a national day for commemorating the independence of
the Federation of Malaya from British Colonial rule in 1957.
13 May 1969 Incident
 Cause:
IMPLEMENTATION
misunderstanding in Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur when
• Rukun Negara has been printed on more than 850 million
Democratic Action Party won
products.
election
• A Rukun Negara Campaign was launched on the year 2010
supporters of opposition political party too enthusiastic in
to boost Malaysians’ awareness on the importance of the
celebration of party’s victory
national ideology.
 • It was also printed on a variety of products including on
toothpaste, rice packaging, parktickets, coffee packaging
and mineral water bottles.
• It is also a norm for primary and secondary public schools in
Malaysia to recite the pledge during a compulsory
assembly.
• Pledge reading is followed immediately after the singing of
the National Anthem, Negaraku.
• Rukun Negara could also be usually found behind the cover
of every exercise book that is typically used by primary and
secondary levels.
• The government also encourages schools to take part in
contests like Rukun Negara recital, essay writing and debate
to help them understand the meaning behind Rukun Negara
better.
INDONESIA
• In facing the need to pull together the diverse
archipelago, the future president Sukarno
promulgated Pancasilia as “Dasar Negara”.
(philosophy of Indonesian State)
• Sukarno’s version of Pancasilia (1945) was a
Fusion of socialism, nationalism, religiosity
and monotheism.
• On June 1, 1945, Sukarno gave a speech outlining
the Pancasila; the five guiding principles of the
Indonesian nation.
• Sukarno always stated that Pancasila was a
philosophy of Indonesian (indigenous) origin,
which he developed being inspired by
philosophical traditions in Indonesian history
• He had used the concept of Marhaenism to
create a common denominator for the masses in
the 1930s, so he used the Pancasila concept to
provide a basis for a unified, independent state.
• The Committee for Preparatory Work for
Indonesian Independence (BPUPKI) decided the
Pancasila as the official ideology of Indonesia.
• The committee endorsed Sukarno’s Pancasila
(politics) philosophy as the foundation of the
new state.
BPUPKI
• The committee for Preparatory Work for Indonesian
Independence (Indonesian: Badan Penyelidik Usaha
Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia) was an organization set
 up in March 1945 by the Japanese administration occupying
Indonesia.
SUHARTO’S PHILOSOPHY
• In Suharto’s hands, the philosophy of Pancasila underwent
the process of “indigenization”.
• All western elements subsumed within Pancasila since 1945
were eradicated systematically by some groups of Pancasila
philosophers, sponsored by Suharto through his Culture and
Education Department.
• He claimed that Pancasila’s five basic teachings were purely
Indonesian notions of indigenous origin.
• Suharto and the philosophers proved the teachings as
indigenous by exploring and finding out legacies (adat)
scattered out in provinces of Indonesia, such as adat social
structure, adat literary products, adat religious teachings
and adat ethics.
• They succeeded enormously and their findings were used by
Suharto to unite Indonesian people.
IMPLEMENTATION
• Inconsistency of Pancasila implementation is increasingly
found nowadays.
• Globalization and centralization also encourage these
inconsistencies.
• One form of inconsistencies is manifested in the growth of
ethnicity democracy in some areas in the country.
• Inconsistency of Pancasila implementation is increasingly
found nowadays.
• Globalization and centralization also encourage these
inconsistencies.
• One form of inconsistencies is manifested in the growth of
ethnicity democracy in some areas in the country.
• The introduction of liberal democracy
after Soeharto stepped down from 32 years of authoritarian
rule on May 1998 is like the opening of a Pandora Box that
enabled all sorts of social disease to come to Indonesia.
• Every people and organizations in Indonesia are free to
adopt all kinds of ideologies they want, whether they are
moderate, or extreme, fanatic, religious, tribal etc (except
Communism).
• As a result, the belief of the majority of the country's
population i.e the Religion of Islam, became the ideology of
many socio-political organizations.
• The adoption of religious ideology by extreme and fanatic
people has caused social conflicts in provinces of Maluku,
 and Central Sulawesi, also a series of suicide bombings of
innocent local and foreigners, in Jakarta and Bali.
• Moreover, indecisiveness and failure to enforce laws
against repetitive violent actions by fanatic organizations
like the FPI against Christians and Ahmadiyah, has made
those organizations more stronger, and weaken the
government.
THAILAND
• is a non-Western country where a firm state ideology based
on national political traditions has been developed to
counter the influx of Western liberalism.
• The official state ideology is clearly set forth in Article 45 of
the present constitution, which states that “No person shall
exercise his constitutional rights and liberties in a manner
adversely affecting the Nation, Religion, King and
Constitution.”
• the government maintains a steady output of pamphlets
and other publications to imbue this ideology into the
minds of the Thai people.
• “Nation” in this ideology is closely associated with
“Religion” and “King”, both of which are fundamental
elements in the traditional Thai Buddhist theory of kingship.
• the concept of “nation” in this ideology is different from
that in Western liberal nationalism
• Since the political reform of the absolute monarchy in 1932,
Thailand has had 17 constitutions and charters. Throughout
this time, the form of government has ranged from military
dictatorship to electoral democracy, but all governments
have acknowledged a hereditary monarch as the head of
state.
IDEOLOGICAL ISSUES
• First, the monarchy and the actions of the royal family are
strictly removed from any public debate, even if such
actions and the monarchy as an institution are politically
significant.
• Second, The official Thai state ideology of “Nation, Religion,
Monarchy” (chart satsana phramahakasat) sees people as
conformist subjects, not as responsible citizens.
• The third and last issue concerns the latent (and sometimes
manifest) conflict between monarchism and democracy that
has not been resolved since it occurred in 1932.
REPORTER: CHRISTIAN ERNEST C. BIAGTAN
GROUP 1 – POLITICAL IDEOLOGY AND POLITICS