多元一体：陈祯禄与陈修信的马来西亚国族构思和实践

Author: H'ng Gaik Hong 方奕鸿

Publisher: TAR UMT 拉曼理工大学

Year: May 2026

Self-identifying as a “son of the soil,” Tan Cheng Lock, founding president of the Malaysian Chinese Association, envisioned a future Malaya in which cultural diversity could coexist with political unity. While ethnic communities would retain their distinct cultural traditions, they would be united within a common political framework based on “one people, one country, and one government.” His son and political heir, Tan Siew Sin, further developed this vision by advocating a shared Malayan/Malaysian identity that transcended ethnic boundaries while preserving linguistic and cultural pluralism. Together, they promoted a model of nationhood grounded in “unity in diversity,” one that they believed could serve as an example for other multiethnic societies. As leading Chinese statesmen of the independence generation, their ideas exerted a significant influence on the nation-building agenda of the Alliance government and the formation of modern Malaysia.

This book examines the political thought and public careers of Tan Cheng Lock and Tan Siew Sin, exploring how their vision of Malayan and Malaysian nationhood emerged at the intersection of nationalism, interethnic accommodation, and Alliance politics. It traces how the father and son sought to construct a common national identity that would transcend communal divisions while safeguarding cultural diversity, thereby articulating a distinctive conception of Malaysian nationhood founded upon the principle of unity in diversity.

Combining intellectual history with political analysis, the book situates the Tan father and son within the broader processes of decolonisation, state formation, and nation-building in twentieth-century Malaya and Malaysia. In reassessing their historical role, it offers new insights into the ideological foundations, institutional development, and political negotiation that shaped the Malaysian nation. More broadly, it highlights the possibilities and challenges of forging a shared political community in a deeply plural society.

自许“土地之子”的陈祯禄是马华公会首任会长，谈到马来亚未来前景时就指出，民族文化可以各自独立，政治则共冶一炉，在一个民族、一个国家、一个政府下，和平生活，相互合作。继承陈祯禄思想与政治衣钵的陈修信，在这基础上，做了进一步阐述，要求各族民众在保留各自文化和语文同时，学会以马来亚人自居，打破种族藩篱，以“多元一体”为世界做示范。作为华裔开国领袖，两父子的政治理念，对领导马来西亚独立建国的联盟政府在国族建构上产生深远影响。

本书聚焦陈祯禄与陈修信，追溯马来（西）亚民族主义与族际协商基础上的联盟政治理念如何交织，形塑马来西亚国族建构的思想基础与实践路径。陈氏父子倡议以“马来（西）亚人”身份超越族群藩篱，在保留文化多样性的前提下推进政治整合，提出“多元一体”的马来（西）亚国族构想。透过思想史与政治实践的双重考察，本书不仅重构陈氏父子的历史定位，更从多元社会整合的角度深化对马来西亚国族形成逻辑与制度路径的理解，揭示多元族群社会迈向共享政治共同体的历史可能。