The Intellectual Community Reflects on Key Issues

This chapter shifts from individual portraits to a group portrayal of those interviewed with respect to four key issues of the day: freedom of expression, their preferred cultural centres, religion, and democracy. This shift makes it possible for readers to gauge how typical or unique the voices from previous chapters were. The chapter shows that, although freedom of expression is critical for their work as intellectuals, not all supported broad freedoms, when pitted against other societal values such as security. Culturally, the intellectual community was focused on Malaysia itself, without rejecting the West. The chapter reveals differences in religious commitment along ethnic lines, with Malay-Muslims primarily responsible for the overall religious tone of the intellectual community. Among those interviewed, support for democracy was considerable, although not without reservations or misgivings. Chapter 11’s conclusion is that extreme ideological positions, although present, were rare, even among leading intellectuals.