MARHAEN

Definition: Low income group of people; people of lower-class social group

Other terms: Commoner; rakyat

Jabbing:

Marhaen is a term well-known in Malaysia which means the rakyat, commoner, peasant. In Malaysia, Marhaen is generally classified as the group of people with low income, low living quality, the urban poor, and even the B40 cluster group. In Malaysia, Marhaen can be considered an offensive namecalling, but in fact, only a Marhaen would identify himself or herself a Marhaen, and call others of the same social group Marhaens. It’s like an internal insult, in which only that group of people are allowed to call and be called as so. Marhaen in Malaysia is like the N-word of the Black community in the USA. No one else, especially not other racial groups are allowed to call a black person the N-word, but they themselves can run free with the term. So does Marhaen.

    As a member of the Marhaen cluster group, the owner of Marhaen Dictionary calls herself Marhaen without prejudice, and secretly labels others with seemingly similar social identifications as her, a Marhaen. Marhaens make up the most population on social media platforms, and are quite vocal. Marhaens talk about social issues and dilemmas, with the hopes that our beloved leaders of Malaysia would listen to our rational and not-so rational talks of improving our quality of life. However, we don’t hold our breaths, for we know that our leaders are not in the Marhaen cluster group, therefore would not be able to empathize with our plights, and in fact, would be far removed from the issues we are pushing to come into the highlights of social media platforms.

    The term Marhaen is often considered offensive and self-depreciating, but, did you know where the term “Marhaen” came from? You’d be surprised, because the term is originated from a sophisticated mind introducing a sophisticated ideology!

    Marhaen comes from the term “marhaenism”, a shockingly socialistic political ideology originated and developed by Republic of Indonesia’s very own and first President, Sukarno. Shocking, isn’t it? But wait, there’s more. Marhaenism is Indonesian version of Marxism, a very popular, very critical political ideology which started the Communism, and expanded to Socialism, and other critical -ism. Well, marhaenism is one of the -isms, only it is very localized to the Indonesian standard, and to a point in time, been brought into Malaysia for it’s localized use.

    Let’s understand marhaenism. We now know that it is a ideology that carries socialism, Marxism and communism elements in it, but what is it really? Surely enough, with the ideas of Marxism, marhaenism believes in the power of the people. According to Wikipedia, marhaenism is a variant of Marxism but emphasizes national unity, culture, collectivist economics, and democratic rights and condemns liberalism and individualism. It was established as an anticapitalist and anti-imperialist ideology, but it combines both Western and Eastern principles. Marhaenism was the guiding ideology of the Indonesian National Party. Now that’s interesting. Marhaenism is a powerful socialistic political ideology that basically guided Indonesia as a Republic, especially in the early establishment of the country. I now have deep and mad respect for Marhaens.

    Where did Sukarno get the term marhaenism from? According to folklore, Sukarno once met with a peasant farmer in Bandung named Marhaen, was inspired by his name and the long brimming Marxism ideology boiling and cooking in the President’s head, thus marhaenism was conceived. For Sukarno’s marhaenism, to be economically independent and free from exploitation by other parties, each person or household needs factors of production or capital. The form can be in the form of land or machines/tools. In a modern context, vehicles, information technology devices, kitchen utensils, and electronic goods can be effectively used as capital or production factors. Although not large, the ownership of capital is necessary to ensure the independence of the person or household in the economy.

    Strange. marhaenism in Sukarno’s mind is similar to realism ideology, which factors in the need to be self-reliant and empowered, but marhaenism focuses on individual needs to be self-reliant and not be dependent on any party, on leader, or on other individual. Anyway, that’s what we need to know about the ideology behind being Marhaen. Now let’s go back to Malaysia’s Marhaen, and compare.

    Are our Marhaens empowered, as we are supposed to according to the marhaenism ideology? Do we have what it needs to be economically independent, free from exploitation by other parties, do we have modes of production or capital (see previous paragraphs). I believe not. In Malaysia, the term Marhaen is reduced to being just poor. Dirt poor. We depend on subsidies, on low-grade and low-quality foods and goods to make it to the next day, week and month. We live from one salary month to another, only able to save a dust of what we have in our bank account, if we are able to. Some of us even live in the minus monthly. We are very interdependent on the richer social group, but don’t get us wrong.

    I believe that us Marhaens (in Malaysia, specifically) are bunch of hardworking and resilient people. Many of us work two or more jobs just to get our family by. Those of us who live through monthly salary, do side jobs for extra allowances. We try to save as much as we can but couldn’t, we spend as little as we can but couldn’t, all because in Malaysia, the prices of goods and foods can overwhelm our monthly budget. No, scratch that. It DOES overwhelm our wallet. If a Marhaen lives in the city, fate is worse for him or her. Urban poverty is a real thing. Price of things, tangible and intangible would not lower from the ceiling, the only thing it can lower is our quality of life and the quantity of goods that we can buy. It’s tough being a Marhaen in Malaysia, especially a Marhaen not empowered with the tools and mindsets of what it means to be a true Marhaen, as fantasized by the great Sukarno.

    Closing my jabs and complaints, I hope that in the future, all Marhaens in Malaysia can realize and recognize the true power of marhaenism, the power of the people, and somehow, rise together, without getting hurt in the process, of course. We are already hurting. Let’s hope our future is free from capitalistic exploitation, from economic dependency, from financial struggles and that we’ll be filled with capitals and resources. Let’s hope in the future, Marhaens would be the most powerful social class. One can only hope, so hope would be the last to die!

Your friendly neighborhood glossarist,

Marhaen Dictionary