馬來西亞華文獨立中學與國族認同

由於《1961年教育法令》通過，當時的馬來亞聯合邦自翌年1月1日起，停止對不使用國語（馬來語）為教學媒介語的中學提供政府津貼，自此形成私立的、不被承認的、自籌辦學經費的華文獨立中學（以下簡稱獨中）的教育體系。就如同1951年〈巴恩報告書〉所論述「凡不願其子弟受此國民教育者，吾人認其為不願對馬來亞效忠之表示」。「語言」成為辨識認同國家與否的指標，華人因為母語教育而背負了原罪，國族認同亦成為馬來西亞社會對華裔族群的隱憂之一。「語言」可以分辨「自我」與「他者」的一項手段，而在華裔地緣組織與語言國族主義中清楚顯現，在馬來西亞境內「國語」因憲法的規定，位階高於其他語言；華語在全球使用人口的普及性，亦的確高於馬來語。華裔子弟選擇就讀獨中的理由，部分是基於華裔族群的原鄉情結，而華語學習卻在中國崛起之後成為顯學。華社曾於1953年間提出爭取華語、馬來語、印度語並列為官方語文，以求取華語教育的正當性。然而，華人在政治上仍居弱勢，並無法有效解決此一問題，即使當時華裔人口逼近馬來族與土著之總和。獨中形成的背景也證實了在語言國族主義下，優勢族群對少數或弱勢族裔語言的排他性，而憲法第153條為馬來族與原住民保留公職任用的機會，以及許可與其他事項的定額，這更排擠了華裔族群就學與擔任公職的可能性。就在這種語言使用既有的認知下，語言的需求在強勢語言與母語之間游移，語言使用成為族群爭端的源頭，作為政治人物操弄國族認同的議題。但是，馬來政府當局是否真的因獨中的存在而對馬來西亞的團結感到疑慮？現任首相馬哈迪於1971年出版的《馬來人的困境》點出問題的重點，除非華人願意在經濟與商業上放慢腳步，否則馬來人永遠追趕不上社會經濟的脈動。馬來人對華裔族群在經濟上的競爭力，僅能以壓制或疏解的政治手段處理。馬來西亞歷經殖民、佔領、自治乃至於獨立建國之後，在不少重大的歷史事件中，對於華裔族群之於國家認同的疑慮，致使獨中生與相關華教工作者，甚至是馬來西亞華裔的國族認同等都成了代罪羔羊。唯恐華裔人士在掌握經濟權之後，在政治上將取得實質影響，而造成馬來西亞社會族群優勢易位。本文從馬來西亞的歷史演進，觀察華文教育在馬來西亞的發展，從方言至華語教學；從各自為政至60+1所統合籌辦的獨中教育體系，華社為保留華語教育付出心血，然而聯邦政府至今仍未承認獨中統一考試。2018年馬來西亞大選中，「希望聯盟」取得壓倒性勝利，此時華裔的國族認同似乎已經沒有那麼重要，因為馬來西亞社會各族裔正為國家而共同努力。

關鍵字

馬來西亞；華文獨立中學；國族認同；原鄉情結；巴恩報告書；馬來人至上；語言國族主義；統一考試；希望聯盟

並列摘要

Because of the Education Act 1961, with effect from 1 January of the following year, the Federation of Malaya ceased to provide government grants to secondary schools that did not use the national language (Malay) for main medium of instruction. Form a system of private, unrecognized and self-funded independent Chinese secondary schools. As stated in the Barnes report of 1951, "those who do not wish their children to receive the education of this nation are regarded as unwilling to show allegiance to Malaya". "Language" has become an indicator of national identify. Chinese people bear the original sin because of the education of their mother tongue. "Language" is a means to distinguish "self" from "others”, which is clearly shown in the dialect organization and language nationalism of Chinese. It’s exclusive. Malay in Malaysia is higher than other languages due to the constitution. Indeed, Chinese is more widely spoken around the world than Malay. Chinese children and their parents choose to attend Independent Chinese Secondary School partly on the basis of their original country complex, while Mandarin learning has become a prominent subject since the rise of China. In 1953, the Chinese ethic group proposed to seek the official languages of Chinese, Malay and Tamil in order to obtain the legitimacy of Chinese education. However, the Chinese community was still politically weak and could not solve the problem effectively, even though the Chinese population was close to that of the Malays and natives combined. The background of independent Chinese Secondary school also confirms the exclusiveness of dominant ethnic groups to minority or disadvantaged ethnic languages under Language Nationalism. According to Article 153 of the Malaysian Constitution, “Reservation of quotas in respect of services, permits, etc., for Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak”, which further excludes the possibility of Chinese ethnic groups to attend school and hold public office. Under the existing recognition of language use, the demand for languages fluctuates between the dominant language and the mother tongue. Language use has become a source of ethnic disputes, an issue for politicians to manipulate National Identity. Are there the Malay authorities really suspicious of Malaysia's unity because of the existence of Independent Chinese Secondary School? “THE MALAY DILEMMA”, published in 1971 by Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad, the current prime minister, pointed out that unless the Malaysian Chinese were willing to slow down economically and commercially, the Malays would never catch up. The economic competitiveness of the Malays against the Chinese can only be dealt with by political means of repression or alienation. After colonization, occupation, autonomy and even independence, many important historical events have turned Independent Chinese Secondary School students and related Chinese education workers into scapegoats for the suspicion of ethnic Chinese in National Identity. For fear that the ethnic Chinese will gain substantial political influence after seizing the economic power, and cause a shift in the dominant position of ethnic groups in Malaysia. From the historical evolution of Malaysia, this paper observes the development of Chinese education in Malaysia. From dialect to Mandarin teaching, the Chinese community of Malaysia has made great efforts to preserve Chinese education through the education system of Independent Chinese Secondary School which has been organized by 60+1 schools. However, the federal government has not yet recognized the “Unified Examination Certificate” of Independent Chinese Secondary School. In Malaysia's 2018 general election, when the " Pakatan Harapan, PH " (Alliance of Hope) won a landslide victory. At this time, the ethnic identity of ethnic Chinese seems to have become less important, because the various ethnic groups in Malaysian society are joint effect for the Nation.

並列關鍵字

Malaysia ； Independent Chinese Secondary School ； National Identity ； Original Country Complex ； Barnes Report ； Malay Supremacy ； Nationalism ； Unified Examination Certificate ； Alliance of Hope