Malaysian Culture

Harmony within diversity must be nurtured and cherished. Within Malaysian society there is a Malay culture, a Chinese culture, an Indian culture, a Eurasian culture, along with the cultures of the indigenous groups of the peninsula and north Borneo. A unified Malaysian culture is something only emerging in the country. The important social distinction in the emergent national culture is between Malay and non-Malay, represented by two groups: the Malay elite that dominates the country 's politics, and the largely Chinese middle class whose prosperous lifestyle leads Malaysia 's shift to a consumer society. The two groups mostly live in the urban areas of the Malay Peninsula 's west coast, and their sometimes competing, sometimes parallel

Cultural or civilization communities of common identity may be, for the time being or forever, a mission impossible if they are to take the form of large and all-embracing international organizations. They, however, can serve as a topical theme for us to discuss on this inter-civilization dialogue forum or other multicultural gatherings. In a sense, without inter-civilization dialogue, there can be no cultural coexistence. And without cultural coexistence, there can be no international coexistence and global harmony. That is why we must keep working for inter-civilization dialogue and for closer and lasting friendship and cooperation among all of us. Civilization equality, culture complementarity, mutual respect, mutual understanding, confidence building and cooperation by all - this is the right way for world development and the ideal state of human harmony and coexistence. Inter-culture dialogue requires deeper exploration and greater promotion of all cultural resources. In large numbers of cultures, we can find a treasure house of profound cultural and civilization sediments, which can provide us with endless sources of inspiration and reference for our endeavor to build a harmonious world. I hereby call upon all of you to work together to tap and use this cultural treasure

No one can deny that in either inter-civilization conflicts or inter-civilization dialogues of the past, religion played a crucial role, particularly in decisions bearing on war and peace. Religion, as the spiritual resource and mental articulation of mankind, is often regarded as a symbol of peoples ' cultural or civilization identity and continuity and occupies a pivotal place in many countries ' social life as their most representative characters. Given this, it is imperative for us to help religion play a more positive role for world peace by turning it into key force in preventing wars and stopping conflicts. Improved communication and increased understanding among different religions can help countries, ethnicities and other social groupings to turn sword into ploughshare and achieve reconciliation and peace. But we must also be vigilant enough to keep religious misunderstanding or strife from escalating into ethnic conflict, political crisis or even war. Therefore, we must bring religion into inter-civilization dialogue, giving it a greater role to play in promoting ethnic reconciliation and international cooperation, and encouraging it to expand the constructive dialogues it has involved in with a view to nurturing a better atmosphere of friendship and peace in the world. Here in China, religion has played a positive role in the development of the country 's new culture. The history of China 's reform and opening up coincides with the golden period of harmony and