In this 2024 Chinese New Year, I wanted to do something different.

I wanted to wish the Chinese community in Malaysia a Happy Chinese New Year with my own story about my relationship with this people.

There are many important contributions to my life from the Chinese people that I would like to share with my fellow countrymen (and women also).

The Chinese community contributed significantly to my education and career, both as an academic in architecture and as a social commentator on nation-building.

I was born in a small police hut to Jahara bt Ahmad and Mohd Rasdi bin Daei who was “Mata-Mata 28847.”

I do not remember my first place of birth at Kepala Batas in a one-room flat with an outdoor toilet, according to my eldest sister’s story. I was child number five in a six-sibling family.

I also do not remember my second home in “Berek St. Mark” in Butterworth, according to my late mother.

My earliest memory was a kampung house by the sea in Kuala Muda, when I was three years old.

There were many memories that I still keep about getting chickenpox, struggling with many six-inch worms infesting in my stomach, the earthquake of 1966, and the storm at sea that blew up large fish flapping for life in ponds and puddles.

The Indonesian Confrontation of 1965 saw my father seldom coming home, and when he did he lugged the heavy bren gun.

I still have memories of paying 5 sen a person to watch P. Ramlee movies on black-and-white television in a Chinese residence, as well as the free “wayang” shown in the open field by the government combating worm infestation in children.

That was my first encounter with the Chinese people.

In 1969, I was at Berek Polis Prai and was enrolled at Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan St. Mark Butterworth. I was at St. Mark for six years, and I remember many of my Indian friends but not many Chinese ones.

I remember both my Indian and Chinese teachers who taught me many subjects of Tawarikh, Art, English and Maths. I do not remember any Malay teacher at all, as there was probably none. Pendidikan Islam was not in existence yet.

In 1969 also, I remember living for the first time in a Chinese modern bungalow of two stories with so many bedrooms as compared to our one-bedroom berek polis for a family of eight.

I think my father feared that the May 13 riot in KL might spill over to Prai and threaten the balai polis where we lived, and so he asked one of his Chinese friends, a tauke, to help. We stayed for two weeks there.

My whole childhood was in Butterworth police flats which was a 4-story walk-up apartment. There, I had Malay, Indian, Chinese and Sikh friends playing football, gasing, layang-layang, marbles and police-and-thief.

We would berkelah or picnic on the 6-foot verandah external corridor and share the pieces of fish, chicken or mutton with one another.

I was introduced to Enid Blyton books at the age of 12, and struck up a close friendship with a Chinese boy with whom we would exchange story books, and he would buy second-hand books for me in Penang island while I was forbidden by my father to go there alone.

After one and a half years at St. Mark Secondary School, my father moved the family to Taiping police flats, and I found myself in SMJK Hua Lian, an all-Chinese vernacular school.

I had never seen so many Chinese people in my life up till then. My teachers were mostly Chinese, with a few Indian and only three Malay teachers from my schooling at 2D1, 3B1, 4 Science 1, 5 Science 1 and Lower Six.

I would like to acknowledge the help in my education from all the Chinese teachers and all my Chinese Hua Lian friends during those five years.

I was better at Maths and Science there, and I always excelled at English and Bahasa Malaysia, of course. There was never a time that I was bullied, spoken a racial slur to, or even ignored. I always felt at ease and had all the fun that a teenager would roaming with my friends from football match to football match and eating ais kacang at the Taiping supermarket.

When I left with eleven Malay girls and boys on my first 32-hour flight to Green Bay, Wisconsin, two Chinese and a few Malay students met us.

My two friends, Wan and Yusmadi from the East Coast, were placed at the same apartment with a Chinese senior student. Sadly, I have forgotten his name.

He offered his food, and said nak makan apa ambil sajalah!

For the next few weeks, he helped us settle in with the shopping, registering, and the ways of the campus plus tips on how to survive the Wisconsin winter. He also taught us the intricacies of understanding American football.

When I started my career at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in June 1987, my late friend Hong Lim Foo helped me settle in my teaching and campus life.

He remained a lecturer for 27 years while I excelled to Senior Lecturer at 36, Associate Professor at 37, and Professor at 43.

My career as a stellar architecture academic took a drastic turn when Anwar Ibrahim was imprisoned by Tun M.

I began to discover the horror of Malay politics amidst my understanding of the Islamic Reformist movement.

I told myself that I must write to explain the ideals of a progressive Islam, now known as Madani, to the Malay community.

I was already writing about architecture to New Straits Times, Utusan Malaysia and The Star.

Beginning 2013, I began writing about education, social issues and politics, firstly for Malaysiakini as letter contributors.

My first appointment as a social and political columnist was with Free Malaysia Today. I was also writing as a columnist in Utusan Malaysia and Sinar Harian a well as The Borneo Post.

Sin Chew Daily at that time was interested in my writings, and began to translate them until one day I got a call by my present Editor asking me to join as a regular columnist six years ago.

I must pay tribute to Sin Chew Daily for publishing every article I wrote faithfully and without any editing of the so-called “sensitive matters.”

My reputation as an academic and a concerned Malaysian grew with my association with Sin Chew Daily.

In 2015, I applied for early retirement. Before that, I had applied to two other public universities to be a professor of architecture.

I was then the most senior professor in my area of architecture theory and history with 40 books then to my name.

Although my credentials were strong, both public universities rejected my application on the grounds that I was writing against the BN government, against the interest of the Malays and with a brand of Islam unacceptable to mainstream Malay culture.

Luckily, UCSI University’s owner was quick to process my application, and here I am, still at that university.

I must acknowledge other important Chinese Malaysians who saw my role in nation-building and mentoring young academics for the university.

I am most grateful for the trust of the owners and my Head of School of Architecture as my writing took on a life of its own.

Thus, in this Year of the Dragon, I wish to pay tribute to the Chinese community of Malaysia for its important role in helping me in my education and career.

As a Muslim, a Malay, and a Malaysian, I salute the great Chinese community wherever they are in Malaysia.

Many Chinese people have come up to me after my public talks, or have graced my home in Kajang with their presence and thanked me personally because they saw that I was their voice among the Malays to give a different fate and future to their children.

I have always felt touched by their gratitude, but in turn I explained to them that what I have done is no more than just a Muslim being taught by the Prophet Muhammad, and that I was simply repaying the debt to the people of Malaysia for my education and career.

May blessings and barakah be upon all my fellow Malaysians, the Chinese community and my Chinese friends this auspicious New Year.

Gong Xi Fa Cai to my friends and brethren citizens of Malaysia! Salam Tahun Bahru Cina!

(Prof Dr. Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi is Professor of Architecture at a local university and his writing reflects his own personal opinion entirely.)