Malaysia’s political arena is a captivating, coalescing microcosm of the Nusantara – as our Deputy PM once sensationally revealed.
Even extra-terrestrials are aware of Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s Javanese ancestry (they’ve texted me on the matter). Our Deputy Prime Minister is effusively (and rightly) proud of his recent Indonesian heritage – his father Raden was the son of immigrants from Kulonprogo, Jogjakarta province; while his mother Tuminah was the daughter of a native of Ponorogo, East Java province. Zahid admirably maintains close ties with his ancestral homeland and Javanese relatives (the mayor of Yogyakarta, Haryadi Suyuti, is his cousin); and he recently saw the marriage of one of his sons to the daughter of a prominent Indonesian businessman. During a live interview with an Indonesian TV station several years ago, Zahid even charmingly demonstrated his fluency with the Javanese language:
But in 2013, on the occasion of the Republic’s Independence Day, Zahid caused a minor sensation when he proclaimed to Indonesian reporters that “over half of Malaysian ministers are of Indonesian descent” (as reported by national news agency Antara). That is an exceptional statistic – and though the makeup of our cabinet and parliament has changed considerably since 2013 (but of course), FMT has decided to survey Malaysia’s legislature to cast a respectful spotlight on prominent lawmakers with known Indonesian ancestry. (Full disclosure by this author: I am a third-generation Indonesian-Malaysian, and a complete nobody).
In cabinet/government agencies:
Datuk Seri Najib Razak
Prime Minister
Coming as news to virtually no one, Najib is, of course, of Buginese ancestry (on an epic scale). He is a descendant of the 19th King of Gowa, an ancient Buginese sultanate based in South Sulawesi. Najib and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor have made several visits to the former’s ancestral homeland, including as guests-of-honour for the elaborate 689th anniversary celebrations of the Gowa kingdom. The couple is received like rock stars in Gowa – watch a video of their headline-making visit in 2009, during which a street was named after Najib:
(Speaking of Rosmah, she, too, traces her roots to Indonesia. Her parents are of Minangkabau stock, with both hailing from Sari Lama, Lima Puluh Kota district, West Sumatra province. In 2014, Rosmah was bestowed the “Darjah Kebesaran Kerabat Yang DiPertuan Gadih Minang” by the Minangkabau royal family.)
Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department
Azalina’s father is a Buginese whose South Sulawesi ancestors settled in Johor. (It is thought that Malaysia is home to roughly 1 out of every 7 Buginese in the world). Her mother is of Hadrami (Yemeni) Arab extraction. (Incidentally, legendary Malaysian-Arab artiste Dato Shake is Azalina’s maternal uncle).
Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor
Federal Territories Minister
Tengku Adnan is arguably Malaysia’s most eminent Acehnese. In fact, he is patron of the Acehnese-Malay Community Association of KL – a leading fraternity among Malaysia’s half-a-million locals of Acehnese descent. Fun fact: Tengku Adnan’s wife, Datin Seri Enny Beatrice Ferlat Kusumo Anggraini, is Indonesian and one of the archipelago’s biggest film stars of the 1980s.
Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed
Deputy Home Minister
Nur Jazlan is the son of former Information Minister Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat, whose Javanese father traced his roots to a village in Kebumen district, Central Java province. Nur Jazlan’s mother, meanwhile – Puan Sri Salbiah Abdul Hamid – is Teochew Chinese.
Datuk Ahmad Maslan
Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry
Ahmad Maslan’s parents are Banjarese who originated from South Kalimantan. He is attuned to his Indonesian heritage and is fluent in the Banjarese tongue. An estimated 1.2 million (or 1 out of 5) of the Banjarese diaspora are Malaysian.
Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah
Minister of Finance II
Ahmad Husni is third-generation Banjarese with a strong grasp of the language of his forefathers. During the 2014 Teluk Intan by-election, he famously and flawlessly communicated with the town’s large Banjarese community in the language of their ancestral homeland.
Khairy Jamaluddin
Minister of Youth and Sports
Khairy is a direct descendant of Dato’ Lela Maharaja Tok Lela Balang, one of two Minangkabau chiefs who, in 1540, migrated from West Sumatra province to present-day Negeri Sembilan and founded Rembau district (for which Khairy is an MP).
Tan Sri Rais Yatim
Adviser to the Government on Socio-Cultural Affairs
Both Rais’ parents were Minangkabau immigrants from Agam district, West Sumatra province. His trader father, Yatim Jatin, and mother, Siandam, journeyed separately to Negeri Sembilan in the 1920s.
Tan Sri Amirsham Abdul Aziz
MIDA Chairman; Former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department
Amirsham is a first-generation Minangkabau Malaysian. His parents, A. Aziz Podo and Marsinah Djamil, were migrants from Sawahlunto district, West Sumatra province.
Members of Parliament
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin – Umno, Pagoh
Muhyiddin’s theologian father, Yassin Mohammad, was Buginese; while his mother, Khadijah Kassim, was Javanese.
Dato’ Seri Shaziman Abu Mansor – Umno, Tampin; Former Minister of Works
Shaziman is of Minangkabau descent and traces his roots to Tanah Datar district, West Sumatra province. He is the first cousin of Khairy Jamaluddin.
Zuraida Kamaruddin – PKR, Ampang
Zuraida was born in Bengkulu province, Sumatra. She and her family migrated to Singapore before settling in Selangor, post-Independence.
Dato’ Ir Nawawi Ahmad – Umno, Langkawi
Nawawi’s father is of Javanese descent. He revealed his Indonesian ancestry as part of an apology for comments he made on Facebook which some members of the Javanese-Malaysian community found offensive.
Chief Ministers
Dato’ Mohamed Khaled Nordin
Chief Minister of Johor; Former Minister of Higher Education
Khaled is of Banjarese ethnicity and traces his lineage to immigrants from South Kalimantan.
Datuk Seri Ir Idris Haron
Chief Minister of Melaka; President of the World Assembly of Youth
Idris is of Buginese descent. Fun fact: at the Congress of Indonesian Diaspora 2013 held in Jakarta, he stated that “around 60% of Malaysian Malays are (originally) from Indonesia.”
Veteran politicians
Tan Sri Dato’ Sanusi Junid
Former Minister of Agriculture; Former Chief Minister of Kedah
Sanusi is the grandson of legendary Governor of Aceh province, Teungku Muhammad Daud Beureueh. His wife, Puan Sri Nila Inangda Manyam Keumala, is also of Acehnese stock.
Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz
Former Minister of International Trade and Industry
Rafidah is an ethnic Minangkabau whose ancestors migrated from Pasaman district in West Sumatra province.
Tun Dato’ Musa Hitam
Former Deputy Prime Minister
Tun Musa’s father was of Javanese ancestry, while his mother was Chinese.
Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib
Former Minister of Rural and Regional Development; Former Chief Minister of Selangor
Muhammad Taib has Minangkabau blood – his ancestors hail from Rao Mapat Tunggul district, West Sumatra province.
Original article from http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2016/03/11/indo-pendence-leading-msian-politicians-of-indonesian-descent/
