AS Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was born 100 years ago, the chances that there are documents that will be able to prove his ethnicity and ancestry in a conclusive manner is very low. I doubt one even had such a document as a birth certificate or passport back then.
At that time, I imagine that if one wanted to come to India from Malaysia or vice versa, one just had to take a boat and go there. The need to provide any travel documents did not arise.
If one’s wife gave birth to a child during that era, I doubt one had to notify anyone other than one’s relatives. The colonial government that ruled at the time probably had little to no interest in issuing birth certificates to anyone born in the country.
Currently, Dr Mahathir is suing Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for claiming that his actual name was “Mahathir a/l Iskandar Kutty” in court.
People outside of the country will not understand why making such a big fuss about the matter but to Malaysians, we know that Dr Mahathir has taken so much umbrage towards Zahid’s claim because this implies that he is actually Indian – not Malay – as he claims.
In his court case, the twice former premier has given some evidence to prove that he is a “pure Malay” contrary to what Zahid claims. However, I find that the evidence offered by Dr Mahathir has quite a number of potholes in it.
For one, according to him, his other siblings used “bin” or “binti Mohamad Iskandar” while his is “bin Mohamad”. Somehow, I find the idea that you have a different “bin” or “binti” from your siblings to be very odd.
Breaking tradition
How did that happen? Surely it couldn’t have been something accidental. If you already have nine of your elder brothers and sisters setting the precedent of putting a “bin” or “binti Mohamad Iskandar” in their name, why would you decide to break tradition?
As it is extremely unlikely that his parents or siblings are the ones who wanted him to name himself in a way that will make him different from them, it must have been him himself who had done so.
Why did he deliberately name himself in a way that distanced himself from his family and his father especially?
I also find his explanation, that his father’s name was Mohamad while it was his grandfather that was called Iskandar to be equally odd because if this is the case, then why did his nine elder siblings call themselves “bin” and “binti Iskandar”? Weren’t they aware that it was their grandfather who is called Iskandar?
Although there are no records as to whether it was his grandfather or great-grandfather that came to Malaysia from Kerala, Dr Mahathir said he is sure that his father’s name is “Mohamad bin Iskandar” and that his father was “registered as a pure Malay”.
Who was it that registered his father as a “pure Malay” in the late 1800s when his father was born? Why were they going around registering people as pure Malays or pure Chinese or what not at that time?
Also, for his father to be registered as a “pure Malay” as Dr Mahathir claims, then his grandfather must also have been recognised as a Malay because racial identity follows the patrilineal line.
If Dr Mahathir himself acknowledges that either his great grandfather or grandfather came from India, then how can he claim that his father is a “pure Malay”?
Similarly, if his father cannot possibly be “pure Malay”, then how can he claim to be a “Malay by birth” even if his father had taken a Malay wife?
Maybe it would have been possible for Dr Mahathir to claim that he is a Malay after the Federal Constitution was ratified on account of the definition of a Malay via Article 160 but the constitution was not ratified until 1957.
However, Dr Mahathir was born in 1925. In 1925, your race is the race of your father. So, from the time he was born until he was 32 years of age in 1957, how could Dr Mahathir have been a “Malay by birth” when neither his father, grandfather or great grandfather have been Malays.
If doubts were to arise about your race, the one that should be attesting for your race is your own relatives.
If someone were to say that you are of a different race than what you claim, then it is your uncles, aunties, cousins, nephews, nieces, grandfather, grandmother and grand uncles that you should bring forward to bear witness to your race.
Of all people, they are the ones that can clear any doubts about your ancestry by saying something to the tune of: “I’m his cousin, niece or nephew, and I’m of such-and-such race. Being of such and such race, I shall bear witness that he’s also of the same race as me on account of him being my relative.” – Aug 28, 2024
Nehru Sathiamoorthy is a roving tutor who loves politics, philosophy and psychology.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main image credit: Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad/Facebook
