00:00What is this?
00:08Give me a copy.
00:26In the count of...
00:283...
00:302...
00:321...
00:33And there we have it!
00:35The official launch of One Country, One People
00:38The Life and Legacy of Tun Tan Cheng Lok
00:42It is truly a privilege to be part of this launch of
00:48One Country, One People
00:49The Life and Legacy of Tan Cheng Lok
00:54When we talk about Sir Tun Tan Cheng Lok
00:57Many people would immediately think of his role as a founding president of the Malaysian-Chinese Association, MCA
01:05That is, of course, an important part of his legacy
01:10But, if we stop there, I think we missed the bigger picture
01:15If we go back to the pre-independence days, Malayia was not yet a nation in the way we think
01:21of today
01:22People identify themselves by race, by language, by their roots, and unity didn't come naturally
01:30And yet, Tun Tan Cheng Lok dared to think differently
01:34He spoke about something he called a Malayan consciousness
01:41Today, that may sound quite familiar to us
01:44But, back then, it was not an easy idea to promote
01:49And it required people to look beyond their own communities
01:53And start seeing themselves as part of something bigger
01:58What I find most remarkable is that
02:01He did not ask people to give up who they were
02:06He understood that identity matters
02:10And the culture we inherited
02:12The language we speak
02:14And the traditions we grow up
02:17With all shape
02:19Who we are
02:20But, at the same time
02:22He believed that
02:23Beyond all these differences
02:25There must be a shared sense of belonging
02:29And loyalty to this country
02:31That unites us
02:33And that is not an easy balance to strike
02:37It is a balance between holding on to our roots
02:41While building a common identity as Malaysians
02:47Chapter 4, titled Decade of Struggle and the Founding of MCA
02:54Is a pivotal chapter
02:56Because it resolves a key issue
02:59Who founded MCA?
03:02Based on documents written by British officials
03:06Some historians claim
03:09Toon H.S. Lee was the founder
03:11However, diligent research by Associate Professor
03:15Ching Chong Fo
03:17On Chapter 4
03:19He strongly suggests the founder was Cheng Lo
03:23Admittedly, I was relentless
03:26In pushing Professor Ching to check
03:29Double check and triple check
03:31That my grandfather founded the MCA
03:34And I wanted this information
03:37To be beyond all reasonable doubt
03:40In one email, Professor Ching said very plaintively
03:46That he had rewritten chapter 4
03:51No less than 17 times
03:53For this harassment
03:56I apologise unreservedly to Professor Ching
04:00Chapters in this biography contain much repeated information
04:06This is because readers can read each chapter individually
04:11...
04:13...
04:14...
04:14...
04:16while we open up
