--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Malaysians, during the colonial period…" description: "\"Malaysians, during the colonial period, were not given the top positions: we were always subordinate. Fortunately for us, the people who took over were..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fac/mahathir-mohamad-3562_civil-servants_malaysians-during-the-colonial-period-we_2554195.jpg" --- # Malaysians, during the colonial period, were not given the… ![“Malaysians, during the colonial period, were not given the top positions: we were always subordinate. Fortunately for us, the people who took over were mainly civil servants: people who were serving the Government.” quote by Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fac/mahathir-mohamad-3562_civil-servants_malaysians-during-the-colonial-period-we_2554195.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fac/mahathir-mohamad-3562_civil-servants_malaysians-during-the-colonial-period-we_2554195.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fac/mahathir-mohamad-3562_civil-servants_malaysians-during-the-colonial-period-we_2554195.jpg) > “Malaysians, during the colonial period, were not given the top positions: we were always subordinate. Fortunately for us, the people who took over were mainly civil servants: people who were serving the Government.” [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Colonial rule limited Malaysians to subordinate roles, but post-independence civil servants provided continuity and stability. **In simple terms:** Colonialism kept Malaysians low; civil servants helped transition. Key Takeaway Recognize the role of bureaucracy in societal change. Themes history politics colonialism bureaucracy leadership Mood thoughtful critical Type historical political When to use this quote - education - policy making - community organizing Key Concepts power dynamics social mobility institutional continuity Questions to Reflect On - How did civil servants shape post-colonial governance? - What lessons can be learned for modern leadership? A Different Perspective Historical narratives can oversimplify complex power shifts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civil servants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-servants/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Servant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/servant/) ## Related quotes > [We want to defend the rights of Malaysians. We don't want to sell chunks of this country to foreign companies who will develop whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/we-want-to-defend-the-rights-of-malaysians-we-don-t-want-to-sell/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [Why I talked about political correctness: the colonial is now such a major taboo that any achievement of the colonial period, or any generosity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/why-i-talked-about-political-correctness-the-colonial-is-now-such-a/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [“THE COLONIAL PERIOD”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-a-beard/the-colonial-period/) [Charles A. Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-beard/) > [Usually, people who don't have a broad perspective see gay people as servants - as people who are there to make them look good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupaul/usually-people-who-don-t-have-a-broad-perspective-see-gay-people-as/) [RuPaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupaul/) > [We'd been watching something full of rich people, rich food, beautiful clothes and we had chips on our shoulders, I suppose. And we thought,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-marsh/we-d-been-watching-something-full-of-rich-people-rich-food-beautiful/) [Jean Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-marsh/) > [Many Americans do not understand that the officers of the government are simply the servants of the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/many-americans-do-not-understand-that-the-officers-of-the-government/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [The aim of university education should be to turn out true servants of the people who will live and die for the country's freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-aim-of-university-education-should-be-to-turn-out-true-servants/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Malaysians talk with Mauritians, Arabs with Australians, South Africans with Sri Lankans, and Iranians with Indonesians. The Indian Ocean serves as both a sea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/malaysians-talk-with-mauritians-arabs-with-australians-south-africans/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [More than 13,000 Malaysians travel to the U.K. to study in British universities every year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/najib-razak/more-than-13-000-malaysians-travel-to-the-u-k-to-study-in-british/) [Najib Razak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/najib-razak/) > [“By linking something to race or religion, politicians distract Malaysians from the core issue while also garnering support from those whose identities depend heavily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-yap/by-linking-something-to-race-or-religion-politicians-distract/) [Brian Yap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-yap/) > [We are all Malaysians. This is the bond that unites us. Let us always remember that unity is our fundamental strength as a people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tunku-abdul-rahman/we-are-all-malaysians-this-is-the-bond-that-unites-us-let-us-always/) [Tunku Abdul Rahman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tunku-abdul-rahman/) > [“Malaysians don't like to read. If you're reading this, you must not be liking it, or not Malaysian.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-yap/malaysians-don-t-like-to-read-if-you-re-reading-this-you-must-not-be/) [Brian Yap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-yap/) > [The vast majority of Malaysians are sensible people; they're moderates, they want peace, they want harmonious race relations at home. They look for national…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/najib-razak/the-vast-majority-of-malaysians-are-sensible-people-they-re-moderates/) [Najib Razak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/najib-razak/) > [There is the philosophy embedded in the culture we are living. It is quite clear for example that Arabs have a different culture than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/there-is-the-philosophy-embedded-in-the-culture-we-are-living-it-is/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [“I regretted my human form briefly; it would be so much easier to drag and rope information into the brain as neatly as one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-johnson/i-regretted-my-human-form-briefly-it-would-be-so-much-easier-to-drag/) [Marilyn Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-johnson/) ## More by Mahathir Mohamad > [I cannot keep quiet even when I am a lone voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/i-cannot-keep-quiet-even-when-i-am-a-lone-voice/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [The Internet is undermining moral values.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/the-internet-is-undermining-moral-values/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [In Malaysia, trials have always been fair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/in-malaysia-trials-have-always-been-fair/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [There are certain things that we can deal with by following the rules. But at times, we find the rules restrict you from doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/there-are-certain-things-that-we-can-deal-with-by-following-the-rules/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [A heretic can be tolerated. But a heresy cannot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/a-heretic-can-be-tolerated-but-a-heresy-cannot/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [The Malays are spiritually inclined, tolerant, and easy-going. The non-Malays, and especially the Chinese, are materialistic, aggressive, and have an appetite for work. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/the-malays-are-spiritually-inclined-tolerant-and-easy-going-the-non/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [Any organisation has a future, provided it is properly led and it sticks to the objective of that organisation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/any-organisation-has-a-future-provided-it-is-properly-led-and-it/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [In the eyes of the world, Malaysia has become a pariah state, a state where anyone can be hauled up and questioned by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/in-the-eyes-of-the-world-malaysia-has-become-a-pariah-state-a-state/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [I not only think but also look and study things carefully. When I travel around, I look at things carefully, make comparisons of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/i-not-only-think-but-also-look-and-study-things-carefully-when-i/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [Suppose a part of Britain or a part of America was taken away and given to the Jews as Israel. Do you think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/suppose-a-part-of-britain-or-a-part-of-america-was-taken-away-and/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [When you have a prime minister who is corrupt, then you can be sure that a country cannot be anything else but corrupt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/when-you-have-a-prime-minister-who-is-corrupt-then-you-can-be-sure/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [I am the first authoritarian government elected to become a dictator and then resigning as a dictator. So this is the first dictator in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/i-am-the-first-authoritarian-government-elected-to-become-a-dictator/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [It would seem the people who want to preserve the Penans' way of life are condemning them to a life full of diseases and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/it-would-seem-the-people-who-want-to-preserve-the-penans-way-of-life/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [Once started, religious strife has a tendency to go on and on - to become permanent feuds. Today we see such intractable inter-religious wars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/once-started-religious-strife-has-a-tendency-to-go-on-and-on-to/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [Membership of an organisation is good, as long as you can make yourself heard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/membership-of-an-organisation-is-good-as-long-as-you-can-make/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) [Explore all 126 Mahathir Mohamad quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) ## More Civil servants quotes > [“I regretted my human form briefly; it would be so much easier to drag and rope information into the brain as neatly as one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-johnson/i-regretted-my-human-form-briefly-it-would-be-so-much-easier-to-drag/) [Marilyn Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-johnson/) > [Socialism would gather all power to the supreme party and party leaders, rising like stately pinnacles above their vast bureaucracies of civil servants no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/socialism-would-gather-all-power-to-the-supreme-party-and-party/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Civil servants take forever to do anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wambaugh/civil-servants-take-forever-to-do-anything/) [Joseph Wambaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wambaugh/) > [Give a civil servant a good case and he'll wreck it with clichés, bad punctuation, double negatives, and convoluted apology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-clark/give-a-civil-servant-a-good-case-and-he-ll-wreck-it-with-clich-s-bad/) [Alan Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-clark/) > [“Several studies of thousands of British civil servants (the Whitehall studies) have found that workers who have little control over their jobs—meaning they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-wheelan/several-studies-of-thousands-of-british-civil-servants-the-whitehall/) [Charles Wheelan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-wheelan/) > [Wicksell's old-fashioned liberalism is reminiscent of John Maynard Keynes' attitude toward conscription during World War I. Keynes opposed conscription, but he was not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mancur-olson/wicksell-s-old-fashioned-liberalism-is-reminiscent-of-john-maynard/) [Mancur Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mancur-olson/) > [One of the keys to ensuring accountability is to have civil servants who witness fraud, waste and abuse to blow the whistle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-dorgan/one-of-the-keys-to-ensuring-accountability-is-to-have-civil-servants/) [Byron Dorgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-dorgan/) > [I want to reveal in a simple way the usual - and unusual - life of the city; the corporation workman, the busmen, policemen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-kavanagh/i-want-to-reveal-in-a-simple-way-the-usual-and-unusual-life-of-the/) [Patrick Kavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-kavanagh/) > [In a mature society, 'civil servant' is semantically equal to 'civil master.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/in-a-mature-society-civil-servant-is-semantically-equal-to-civil/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [There are very many characteristics which go into making a model civil servant. Prominent among them are probity, industry, good sense, good habits, good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-a-arthur/there-are-very-many-characteristics-which-go-into-making-a-model/) [Chester A. Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-a-arthur/) > [“To most people any radical change is even more odious than cynicism. The only way between the horns of dilemma is to persist at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/to-most-people-any-radical-change-is-even-more-odious-than-cynicism/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [As elected officials, we were sent to the halls of government by our neighbors to do their work - and much work needs to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-klobuchar/as-elected-officials-we-were-sent-to-the-halls-of-government-by-our/) [Amy Klobuchar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-klobuchar/) > [“One obvious palliative of the evils of democracy in its present form would be to encourage much more publicity and initiative on the part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/one-obvious-palliative-of-the-evils-of-democracy-in-its-present-form/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [We have civil servants like Ollie Robbins who are very pro-E.U., who have never wanted us to leave and have done everything in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-francois/we-have-civil-servants-like-ollie-robbins-who-are-very-pro-e-u-who/) [Mark Francois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-francois/) > [“We do have a grand strategy,” says Zeese, who was the spokesman for Ralph Nader’s 2004 presidential campaign. “Nonviolent movements shift power by attacking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/we-do-have-a-grand-strategy-says-zeese-who-was-the-spokesman-for/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) [Browse all 92 Civil servants quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-servants/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Malaysians, during the colonial period, were not given the top positions: we were always subordinate. Fortunately for us, the people who took over were mainly civil servants: people who were serving the Government.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mahathir Mohamad" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/malaysians-during-the-colonial-period-were-not-given-the-top/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Civil servants" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/malaysians-during-the-colonial-period-were-not-given-the-top/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fac/mahathir-mohamad-3562_civil-servants_malaysians-during-the-colonial-period-we_2554195.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fac/mahathir-mohamad-3562_civil-servants_malaysians-during-the-colonial-period-we_2554195.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fac/mahathir-mohamad-3562_civil-servants_malaysians-during-the-colonial-period-we_2554195.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Malaysians, during the colonial period, were not given the top positions: we were always subordinate…” — Mahathir Mohamad", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mahathir Mohamad", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Malaysians, during the colonial period, were...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/malaysians-during-the-colonial-period-were-not-given-the-top/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/malaysians-during-the-colonial-period-were-not-given-the-top/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```