How multiculturalism promotes national unity in Malaysia

How multiculturalism promotes national unity in Malaysia

Introduction
Oxford Dictionaries stated that the definition of multiculturalism is “The presence of, or support for the presence of, several distinct cultural or ethnic groups within a society:”
According to the final report submitted by Clara M. Chu on 18 March 2015 to The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions or also known as IFLA (retrieved from http://www.ifla.org/publications/defining-multiculturalism); the definition of "Multiculturalism" is the co-existence of diverse cultures, where culture includes racial, religious, or cultural groups and is manifested in customary behaviours, cultural assumptions and values, patterns of thinking, and communicative styles.
Based on these definitions, the important key words for multiculturalism are diversity, co-exist and acceptance.
The definition of national according to Oxford Dictionaries is relating to or characteristic of a nation; common to a whole nation. It comes from late 16th century: from French, from Latin natio(n-) 'birth, race of people' (see nation). Unity refers to the state of being in agreement and working together; the state of being joined together to form one unit, as stated in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. It comes from Middle English: from Old French unite, from Latin unitas, from unus ‘one’.
Based on these definitions, it is safe to conclude that national unity refers to a sense of ‘oneness’ among a nation’s citizens especially in the face of direct or indirect threats; be it from an economic, culture or military perspectives. These will cause individual citizens regardless of ethnics and religions to join together or to unify as a single unit for mutual support, protection and if necessary, any actions taken.
From Malaysia point of view, unity is a process of uniting multi ethnics groups which are rich in cultures, traditions and beliefs to form a national identity and thus bringing them closer and to live together in peace and harmony....

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