ABSTRACT
Over the course of the last several chapters, I have demonstrated how models and schemata of “Malaysia’s diverse society” and “Malay privilege” are often in conflict and combination as they are directive of, and embodied in, social practices. Now, I will turn to the matter of the apparent contradictions between these representations and whether (or not) and how, they are resolved or integrated. I must consider the diverse ways in which local Melakans of various cultural categories make sense of these seemingly dissonant representations. As we have seen, they use them to interpret public celebrations, museum exhibitions, religious festivals, and social relations and their experiences in educational, economic, and voluntary institutions. Their interpretations of these aesthetic and social realms routinely stem from models and schemata of “Malaysia’s diverse society” and “Malay privilege,” and at times, they even interpreted one particular event through the prism of both of these representations. For instance, when speaking about the National Day Celebrations or many other government organized public celebrations and cultural shows, several local people have noted both how all the diverse groups of Malaysian society are included and how Malay culture is emphasized. Some have even gone further to imply that all Malaysians are equal citizens but that Malay Bumiputeras have special rights. These sorts of “knowledge elements” require a process of cognitive reorganization in order to reduce the cognitive dissonance (Festinger 1957).
