English 
Malay By: Sabah Reform Initiatives (SARI)
Organisation/ Individual: Sabah Reform Initiatives (SARI)
Policy Code: 1A Bangsa Malaysia
Problem Statement and Current Policy:
The concept of Bangsa Malaysia still judged as vague, although flexible, and elastic concept that allows adjustment to new situations. The party-based, ethnic-based, and religious-based concepts and model of bangsa still solid that shaped and constructed the national character of the country since independence.
Value(s) and Belief:
Being multicultural, multiethnic, and multireligious, the country’s have a strong foundation as microcosm of the world.
Proposal of Solution and Call for Action:
The Bangsa Malaysia should be reshaped and reconstructed into a country-based (negara-based) by taking its values and norms from different ethnic beliefs, that contain a multiculturalism concept of bangsa as a foundation that contribute to the reshaping. The policy and concept should be changed into “MALAYSIANESS”, not “ETHNICNESS” based from one ethnic (the so-called majority) that is still being used today. National Commission for Malaysianess can be created to conduct countrywide programs and introduce the programs too to the different agencies of the government so the staffs would understand. Basically, take and gathered all the necessary values from different ethnicities to set up programs and modules.
Additional information:
1. As I understand, Vision 2020 is industrialization-centred and 1Malaysia is services-centred. Both didn’t swim deep to the core values (e.g. socio-cultural) as the foundation to achieve industrialization and services. 2. I thought of putting “Malaysianess” or “Kebangsaan Malaysia” as a concept because the country is a multicultural society that has a mix of socio-cultural elements. 3. The socio-cultural elements of different ethnicities here are varied in values, which can be treated as the rare, primordial, and inherent gems to speak of in Malaysia. These gems are what people understood as agama, bangsa dan tanah air (negara). 4. Eventually, this trifiber concept became the very soul of nationalism in the country. However, it became a single and ethno-centric interpretation based on one ethnic that was formed from different tribes of Southeast Asia and other ethnic who became Muslims. And then became the core concept of “Malayness” translated as “Kebangsaan Melayu”. Historically, this was conceptualized before Sabah and Sarawak became components of the current country, Malaysia. And the understanding didn’t change and develop until today. 5. The word agama wasn’t defined specifically, because it is automatically understood as Islam, which is supposedly referred to as any agama, according to different ethnicities. Because prior to the coming of Islam, agama as a term has been used to refer to any religion from the context of different ethnicities. 6. Next is bangsa. Bangsa is basically a group of different families and different ethnics, and then later became an equivalent to a “nation” in English. 7. Another is tanah air or negara, a country or a place where people are living or inhabiting regardless of ethnicity and religion prior to the establishment of the political negara-bangsa (nation-state). So, socio-culturally this trifiber has been in the psyche of any ethnicity in this country prior to the modern country, Malaysia. 8. What is needed to be done is to update the distribution of this trifiber agama, bangsa dan negara into a more inclusive based from socio-cultural, that has primordially existed in the different ethnics, not the currently limited meaning according to political views. Islam and Bahasa Melayu (Malaysia) can always be the components of the country’s nationalism stipulated in the Federal Constitution. The Constitutional Kings as the guardians of all and special position of bumiputera can be maintained, but the core values should also be looking at the most vulnerable ones, in any ethnics. In this case, Malaysianess defines the core values taken from different socio-cultural and needs of all ethnicities in the country based on this trifiber. 9. I cannot put the exact contrast to Malaysianess (Kebangsaan Malaysia) with the Vision 2020 or 1Malaysia, but to look at the trifiber agama, bangsa dan negara where the core values came from different ethnic from a primordial time before became the slogan of one group of ethnic in the country until today. 10. With this, I am asking friends to help make this concept whole, solid, and round. This can be immature for the time being, but it can be developed from the trifiber that I mentioned to extract socio-cultural values to make Malaysianess relevant to the modern necessity of the country.