There are two theories as to their origins, one is they came from the Hoabinh area of Indochina and the other is they originated from South China.
To the general public, Syed Husin Ali is the former deputy president of PKR. To me, he will always be Prof Syed Husin Ali, the respectable bespectacled professor who I first encountered when I was an undergraduate in Universiti Malaya.
I never failed to make time to attend his public forum, seminars and talks. He was not my lecturer, but his ideas have definitely made an impact on my thought process.
Prof Syed’s book, ‘The Malays – Their Problem and Future’ was first launched in 1978. I can still remember the book which was green in colour – and I still have it with me. I found the book intriguing and very informative to understand the history of the Malays.
When they released a revision of the book in 2008, I was perhaps one of the first to go out to buy it and read it again.
It is very important that we understand the history and we agree to the historical foundation of this country. One of the most important historical foundations that we should not argue over is about who are the Malays and about this land that used to be called Tanah Melayu.
I find that there is a handful of Malaysians who seem adamant at insisting that this country was not sired from the Malay polity and that the Malays are not the legitimate natives of the land.
Who are the Malays?
