The organisers of this Seminar, to be held on Sept 17) are to be commended on the selection of this topic, particularly because of its relevance and meaning to national integration and national unity.

But while the seminar is being held during this momentous period celebrating our achievements in unity on the anniversary of Merdeka, at the same time, there is some concern that forces of social disunity may be threatening the stability of the nation.

It is therefore imperative that the seminar should focus on causal factors undermining stability and suggest remedies in overcoming them through working towards a more just and equitable society.

In all humility therefore the seminar should demand an outcome that sets the stage for the preparation of a ‘blue print’ for national integration and national unity. We are stakeholders and must ensure that all citizens are empowered to claim their human rights to redress the balance of power that create imbalances and injustices leading to political instability. This is what Abraham Lincoln reportedly pointed out - ‘You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man’s initiative and independence’.

Without being audacious, and with the greatest of respect however, this seminar like most others by definition, cannot deliberate and arrive at a consensus for a ‘blue print’ based on theoretical frameworks and practical realities. Therefore I am taking the liberty of submitting a brief outline to humbly suggest the kinds of issues and questions that might be taken up for the ‘blue print’ by the seminar.

A ‘just ideology’ put simply, means a fair system of ideas and principles that form the basis of the political, economic and social systems found normally in a modern democratic society. In a multiethnic democratic society a just ideology is a necessary condition to facilitate the process of integration to achieve national unity and political stability.

In this way, I have turned the adage of ‘where there is a will there is a way’ on its head to read ‘where there is a way there is a will’ and it will be argued that national integration and national unity can be achieved and promulgated through a just ideology emphasizing empowerment by providing ‘the way’.

The objective is to show that living in a multi-ethnic society is a continuing learning process of assessing and exploiting the strength of diversity in maximizing the benefits of the different cultures for national unity.

Central to this concept is the notion of empowerment in avenues to build capability and capacity to strengthen the position of the respective groups in achieving a level playing field. The objective is to ascertain the politico-economic and social status of the different strata of all ethnic groups and offer a helping hand to specific groups to achieve meritocracy where necessary. Accordingly, affirmative action policies will be necessary as long as there are poor and marginalised groups unable to compete on equal terms and the promotion of meritocracy therefore must take structural social inequalities into consideration.

The purpose is to show that the promulgation of a just ideology through empowerment depends on the nature and structure of a society over a period of time. Broadly speaking, societal structures of ‘simple’ indigenous societies have generated and conditioned its inhabitants to vastly different types of cultural patters of behaviour compared to ‘complex’ societies.

Accordingly, the literature has identified the evolution in this pattern of the respective relationships as that of moving from ‘status’ in ‘simple societies’ to ‘contact’ in ‘complex’ societies.

It will be argued that empowerment towards a more just ideology is greatly enhanced where a society generates a culture of flexibility in access to political power emphasizing, inter alia, the accommodation of ‘class’ rather than ‘race’ interests

It can be shown that the social history of Malaysia is an ‘ideal-typical’ case study for promoting a more just ideology in the attainment of national integration and unity.

A study of our history from the sociological perspective will show that our multi-ethnic society has evolved and developed from and through divergent routes. Taking as a starting point the Baba-Chinese of Malacca, we can see that there was both integration and assimilation between the Malays and Chinese. Not only did they do business together but created a common language to make this possible. Indeed, they married and together formed the Baba-Chinese community some descendents of whom are still with us today.

The Malays as the indigenous people existed through a form of government in the feudal mode. This was the basis on which British colonial capitalism was introduced along with treaty obligations to safeguard and protect the interests of the Malays. But the indigenous subsistence economy was almost totally undermined, which together with the introduction of the nexus of a cash economy linked to political power, more or less saw the Malays being impoverished in their own home land.

Subsequent colonial policies in education and skills training were discriminatory against Malay interests as well as opportunities for upward social mobility to the modern sector of the economy was also thwarted.

The Chinese came to work in this country as indentured coolies under conditions where they were severely socially and economically exploited. They quickly realized the need to establish social institutions to pool their limited resources, and were successful in forming a variety of self-help organizations based on ethnic group formations, resulting in being able to survive not only as the fittest, but on the ‘cheapest’.

The Indians were also indentured coolies but their entire existence was bound by the condition of what has been described as ‘internal colonialism’.

Not only did they suffer the social depravation of the overall colonial system itself but the further exploitation at every turn of the plantation (estate) system.

It is hoped that the seminar will consider the above as the first step towards electing a panel to oversee the formulation of an adequate ‘blue print’- urgently.

Should the preliminary guideline submitted as above be accepted by the seminar, I feel certain that those nominated to constitute this panel would be deemed to have the capacity and capability to deliver.