Traditional Elements In The Malaysian Federal Constitution, 1963: The Relationship Between Knowledge, Attitude And Practices (KAP) Among Multi-Ethnic Youths In Klang Valley
The traditional elements in the Federal Constitution refer to the provisions relating to the monarchical system, Islam, the Malay language, and the special position of the Malays. These elements of tradition are a mutual agreement between representatives of Parti Perikatan (UMNO, MCA and MIC) dur...
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| Summary: | The traditional elements in the Federal Constitution refer to the provisions relating to
the monarchical system, Islam, the Malay language, and the special position of the
Malays. These elements of tradition are a mutual agreement between representatives of
Parti Perikatan (UMNO, MCA and MIC) during the drafting of the Federal Constitution
of Malaya in 1957. However, several Malaysians raise tensions and issues such as
insults to the Agong, Sultan, and his relatives, criticism of the laws of Islam, the issue
of language dignity that is increasingly eroded, and criticism towards the Malay’s
privileges. All these issues cause provocation and tension that threatens the unity
between the races in Malaysia. Multi-ethnic youths are selected as the focus of the study
because they are the future leaders of the country. Youths also have learned things
related to traditional elements in the subjects of history, ethnic relations, and nationbuilding
in high school, college, or university. Thus, this study was conducted to i)
identify the level of knowledge and attitudes towards traditional elements in the Federal
Constitution, ii) determine the differences between ethnicity, religion, and level of
education with the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices towards the traditional
elements in the Federal Constitution, and iii) analyse the relationship between the level
of knowledge, attitudes and practices towards the elements of tradition in the Federal
Constitution. Finally, this study is a correlation design that uses a quantitative approach
by cross-section through a questionnaire distributed to 416 respondents through
convenience sampling of Malaysian youths aged 18 to 30 years old. These respondents
represent the Malays, Chinese, and Indians who live in the Klang Valley. The results of
the study found that the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of multi-ethnic
youths towards the elements of tradition as a whole is high. But there are still
respondents who have a weak level in terms of their knowledge, attitudes and practices
towards traditional elements. However, there are significant differences between the
level of attitudes and practices of youths towards the traditional elements according to
demographic factors such as ethnicity and the highest level of education. The study
found that there is a significant relationship between the level of knowledge, attitudes,
and practices of the youths of various races in the Klang Valley to the traditional
elements in the Federal Constitution despite the different strengths of the relationship.
Therefore, the background factors and significant relationships in the results of this
study are important in coloring ethnic relations in Malaysia because they evoke
orientation, values, attitudes and cultural sociology in an ethnic group. The significant
difference in these factors makes ethnic relations among the youth as an agenda that
should be prioritized. |
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