AS we celebrate Merdeka, we often reflect on what makes Malaysia unique. We speak proudly of our multicultural, multireligious and multiethnic society.
We celebrate our food, festivals, languages and traditions and often describe our diversity as one of our greatest national assets. But do we really know one another?
Many of us take our own culture for granted. The way we think, perceive and behave towards others is shaped by what we have learned – consciously and unconsciously – from our families, communities and the environments in which we grew up.
Culture is, therefore, largely learned or “caught”, rather than formally taught. We absorb values, beliefs, assumptions, communication styles and ways of relating to others without necessarily being aware that they are cultural. This raises an important question: Should culture be taught as a subject in Malaysia?
I believe it should. What should we teach? Cultural literacy should go beyond knowing the names of different ethnic groups, their food, clothing, languages and festivals. These are the visible or overt aspects of culture.
We also need to understand the less visible dimensions – the values, beliefs, assumptions, perceptions and worldviews that influence why people behave as they do.
For example, how many Malaysians know why Muslims perform ablution before prayer? Why Chinese Malaysians visit the graves of their ancestors during Cheng Beng? Why some Indian women wear a coloured dot on their forehead?
More importantly, do we understand the meaning behind these practices rather than simply observing them? When we do not understand the cultural meaning behind a practice, it is easy for ignorance to become stereotyping, misunderstanding or even ridicule.
We have all encountered insensitive or racist remarks about the practices of another ethnic or religious group.
Such comments often arise not necessarily from deliberate malice but from ignorance and a lack of cultural understanding.
Teaching culture will help Malaysians understand why people relate to their environment, to God and to one another in particular ways. It should also help us understand ourselves.
Before we can effectively relate to people who are different from us, we need to recognise our own cultural programming: the values and assumptions we have internalised while growing up.
Why does cultural competence matter?
Living in a multicultural country does not automatically make us culturally competent. We may live, work and study alongside people from different ethnic and religious backgrounds without genuinely understanding them.
Tolerance is a useful starting point but Malaysia needs to move beyond merely tolerating differences. We need to develop the curiosity and confidence to ask, listen, learn and appreciate.
Cultural competence enables us to function effectively at three levels:
Intracultural competence is the ability to understand and navigate differences within our own cultural group. No culture is homogeneous. Malaysians within the same ethnic, religious or cultural group may differ according to generation, gender, education, region, socioeconomic background and personal experience.
Intercultural competence is the ability to relate respectfully and effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds within Malaysia. It enables us to recognise differences without immediately judging them through the lens of our own culture.
Cross-cultural competence extends this ability across national and cultural boundaries, equipping Malaysians to work and communicate effectively in an increasingly globalised world.
These competencies are no longer optional. They are essential for leadership, education, business, diplomacy, teamwork and nation-building. Our diversity should not merely be something we manage. It should be something we learn to leverage.
When we understand our differences, we can find areas of commonality, build trust and create opportunities to synergise our different perspectives and experiences. Our diversity can become a source of creativity, resilience and innovation rather than division.
How should culture be taught?
Cultural literacy has to begin at home. Parents are a child’s first cultural teachers. Through their words and actions, they transmit values, norms and beliefs.
Parents can encourage children not only to understand their own cultural traditions but also to be curious about the practices of friends from different ethnic and religious backgrounds.
More importantly, parents must role-model respect for Malaysia’s diversity. Schools, colleges and universities then have an important responsibility to deepen this learning.
Culture should be taught systematically and progressively – not simply as information about festivals and customs but also through concepts, theories, models and experiential learning.
Students can explore their own childhood experiences, examine how their values were shaped, interview people from other cultural backgrounds, participate in cultural activities and reflect on assumptions they may have taken for granted.
They should learn not only what people do but why they do it. Such learning can develop empathy, curiosity, critical thinking and the ability to suspend judgement. It can also help young Malaysians recognise that no culture has a monopoly on what is right, good or superior.
A Merdeka imperative
As Malaysians, we have inherited an extraordinary cultural tapestry. But diversity by itself does not guarantee harmony. We need the competence to navigate our diversity.
This Merdeka, perhaps we should ask ourselves not only whether we know about one another but also whether we know how to relate to one another.
Our strength as a nation lies not simply in having many cultures but in our ability to understand, respect and connect across them.
Culture, therefore, should not remain something we merely “catch” while growing up. It should be consciously taught, thoughtfully learned and actively practised.
If we begin at home and strengthen this learning through our education system, we can raise a generation of Malaysians who are confident in their own cultural identities, curious about others, sensitive to differences and capable of building meaningful relationships across cultural boundaries.
That, to me, is an important part of what Merdeka should mean: not merely living together but also learning how to live well together. Our diversity is our inheritance. Cultural competence is how we turn that inheritance into our national strength.
Dr Asma Abdullah is an interculturalist and coach-mentor. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
