Speaking to FMT, Mohd Faizal Musa, a research fellow at University Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Malay World and Civilisation Institute, said he agreed with Umno treasurer Salleh Said Keruak that overseas Malays were successful people. He was referring to an article Salleh recently posted on his blog.

Faizal, who uses the pen name Faisal Tehrani, said diasporic Malays had been able to “achieve great things” because they were free from the shackles of feudalism and did not have to worry about “trivial legalistic matters” in their observance of Islam.

“This does not mean that Malays in the diaspora do not think about what is halal and haram, but they are not burdened by Islamic departments and institutions the way our local Malays are,” he said.

In explaining the feudal mindset, he cited the late sociologist Syed Hussein Alatas, who, in a 1968 essay, listed the following characteristics of Malay feudalism:

• There was a wide gulf between the common people and the aristocracy;
• Political power was in the hands of the elite and passed down to the descendants of this elite class;
• The common people had to work the land for the benefit of the ruling class;
• The ruling class enjoyed full immunity from the law;
• Those in power had the right to do anything they pleased, including the right to deny the common people their needs;
• Those in power determined who should benefit from the produce of the land;
• There was a class of warriors, whose function was to protect the ruling class;
• Power and its functions were not equitably distributed.

Faizal noted Syed Hussein’s contention that remnants of feudalism remained with the Malays even after Malaysia became independent from Britain.

Faizal also said Malays who were domiciled in western countries, besides being free from the feudal mindset, could compete in a fair environment. “There is no cronyism or nepotism,” he said. “Diasporic Malays also have the right to make their own decisions and are not forced to follow the demands of those in power.”