“Malays have intercultural tolerance in their genes.”
During a visit to Kuala Lumpur in January 2010, intercultures’ managing director Stefan Meister was often told during discussions that ethnic Malays consider themselves to be tolerant “from birth”. It is the “Bumiputra” who are defined as ethnic Malays, consisting of Malays, Dayaks, Ibans, Kadazans and Muruts.
A different perspective is added by ethnic Chinese and Indians (so called Malaysians) who often allege that this Malay “tolerance” is restricted to other members of the “Bumiputra”. These or similar statements from whichever cultural background tend to generate instinctive resistance from interculturalists. For them, “culture” is a taught system and its learnability an essential basis for intercultural competence development.
Does a „Tolerance Gene” Exist?
While there is no scientific basis for a “tolerance gene”, research keeps surprising us with new results on the connection between language and culture. A group of scientists from Würzburg, Leipzig and Paris reported that newborns produce a curve of sound that corresponds to that of their mother tongue. During the research, 30 French and German newborns were tested. While the Parisian babies preferred melodic arches with increasing pitch, the tone pitch with German babies typically fell towards the end.
However tolerance is defined, Malaysia with its complex diversity has much experience in the implementation of intercultural work contexts. If you would like to learn more on this, we recommend “Understanding the Malaysian Workforce” by Asma Abdullah.
