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COMMENT Citizenship as principle and practice has the promise and the potential for enhancing national integration in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society like ours. If the principle of common citizenship embodied in the Malaysian constitution is put into practice, it could help to draw together Malaysians of diverse backgrounds through a bond of shared interests and shared values leading towards a shared future and a shared destiny.

One of the two major dimensions of citizenship is already in the consciousness of most Malaysians. Since Merdeka, rights - specifically community rights - have figured prominently in public discourse. So much of the nation’s political, economic, cultural and social life is built around the defence and articulation of community rights.

This is understandable for a couple of reasons. With the conferment of citizenship upon domiciled Chinese and Indians on a massive scale on the eve of Merdeka, the Malays as the indigenous people who had established government in the land became a community among communities.

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