Essay On National Culture

National identity in a country and nations was represented by national culture. Culture has been defined in the simplest form as the way of life of a person. A country’s culture which including some of the knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, customs and traditions of local with the changing of the way of thinking and accumulate over years to agree upon and pass on to the next generation . After gaining the independence in 1957, the demographic landscape of Malaya changed from an ethnically homogenous society who shares the same cultural values to an ethnically heterogeneous one due to the acceptance of the Chinese and Indians as citizens of a new nation.(Husin 2012). The Malaysia government starts to introduce the National Cultural Policy in the year 1971 after the burst of few ethnic conflicts. In order to explain the changing of national cultural policy just to fit the nation in Malaysia, J.W.tollefson said: “National Culture is a way of constructing meaning which influences and organizes both our actions and our conceptions of ourselves, it also constructs identities by producing meanings about the nations” (Amy Tsui, James W. Tollefson 2007). During the middle of the 19th century, Chinese and Indian immigrants came to Malaya for the growth of colonial economic activities. We can trace the interaction between Chinese and Malay in most of the state in Malaya at that time with the harmony trading relationship with freedoms to practice ones cultural value. The critical division of opinion between Malay and Chinese was in critical condition with the ethnic riot eruption in the year 1969. This is due to the dissatisfaction towards special privilege granted to Malay by British policy of divide & rule for the freedom in economics ...

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...elief in God, Loyalty to King and Country, Honour of the Constitution, Sovereignty of the Law, Courtesy and Politeness (Malaysia 2008).The objectives of the National Culture Policy is to strengthen & preserve national unity and identity via culture. Besides that, the effort of national culture policy also undertaken for human life enhancing with social economics. To achieve the objectives, cultural policy should always treat Islam as an important element in national culture and always restore or protect the cultural foundations through joint research, development, education, development and cultural connections. The quality of regional art should be raised yet fulfil the social cultural needs. Encourage national awareness and Malaysian nationalism will establish effective communication will achieve the national cultural policy (Ministry of Tourism and Culture n.d.).