MALAYSIAN SOCIETY:Multiculturalism & Ethnic Integration

MPU 3313LIFE in MALAYSIA

MALAYS

Iban Kadazan

Dayak BidayuhOrang Asli

CHINESE INDIANS

WHO came here

FIRST?!

‘Out of Taiwan’ Theory

SUNDALAND Theory

Drowned… 15,000 to 7000 years ago!

THE MALAYS(Orang Melayu)

Natives of Malaysia (modern perspective)

Came from the various islands in the Malay Archipelago

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‘MELAYU’ ?lari, hijrah (Javanese) = retreat,

migratemalaise (French-

English)malaya (Sanskrit) & malai (Tamil) =

mountains

layu (Malay) = faded, wilted

HIMALAYANS!?

After the 1824 British-Dutch

Treaty

Community BackgroundJavanese • From Java Island

• Majority were coffee and rubber plantation workers and labourers in newly opened land

• Concentrated in Johore (Muar, Batu Pahat, Pontian), Selangor (Kelang, Kuala Selangor, Kuala Langat) & Perak (Hilir Perak, Krian, Parit Buntar)

Banjar • From Banjarmasin, Kalimantan• Majority were in paddy planting• Lived in river valleys in Perak (Krian, Parit

Buntar), Selangor (Sabak Bernam)

Background of Malaysian Population of Indonesian Origin

Community BackgroundBugis • From Sulawesi Islands

• Merchants and warriors• Concentrated in Johore (Batu Pahat, Pontian),

Selangor (Langat)

Minangkabau • From West Sumatra• Involved in business and agriculture• Settled mainly in Negeri Sembilan and Melaka• Observes their own culture (adat pepatih)

Background of Malaysian Population of Indonesian Origin (2)

MALACCA EMPIRE (c.1400-1511)

• Islamization of the Malay Archipelago

• International relations

ISLAM ( 60%)

Buddhism (18%)

Christianity (10%)

Hinduism (7%)

Confucianism & Taoism (6%)

Sikhism

Native Beliefs

RELIGIONS in MALAYSIA

Economic activities (before colonial period)• Fishing• Plantations• Boat construction• Sailors• Local merchants• Herders• Producing traditional products

Were the MALAYS more liberal, and less religious & less Islamic in

the past?

more than 60% Muslim parents now send their

children to formal Islamic primary school education

Coming to MALAYA…FIRST WAVE

early 15th century… Malacca Empire

Admiral Zheng He… travelled to Malacca at least

5 times

Bukit Cina (Chinese Hill), Malacca

SECOND WAVEmid 17th century… the fall of Ming Dynasty & the

start of the Qing Dynasty (of Manchuria)

THIRD WAVEmid 19th century… era of British colonisation in the

Malay Peninsular, and…

…in Canton, Fuzhou, Xiamen and Shanghai after the signing of the Treaty of Nanking

(1842)

FOURTH WAVEearly to mid 20th century… after the collapse of

the last Chinese dynasty in 1911…

Aisin-Gioro Puyi (愛新覺羅 ·溥儀 ) Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙 )

…and during the Civil War (1927-1949) in

China

Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石 )

Mao Zedong (毛泽东 )

Cluster Population(1921)

Occupational Charactaristics

Hokkien 380,656 Businessmen, shopkeepers

Cantonese 332,307 Miners, craftsmen (carpenter, cobbler, blacksmith)

Hakka 218,139 Miners

Teochew 130,231 Shopkeepers, farmers (sugar cane and gambier plantations)

Hailam 68,393 Restaurant owners, suppliers

Background of Malayan Chinese Population

Ethnic Group 1891 1931

Malay 232,000 595,000

Chinese 160,000 711,000

Indian 20,000 380,000

Others 3,500 27,000

URBAN POPULATION IN MALAYA

Malaysian Chinese Population(proportion to national population)

1957 1970 1980 1990 2000 201045% 37% 34% 28% 26% 24%

…a shrinking population! WHY?

Coming to MALAYA…

Push & Pull Factors…Difficulties in India

Rapid economic development in MalayaEncouragement from the British

government

Composition BackgroundTamil • From Tamil Nadu

• Largest Indian ethnic group (80% of Malaysian Indian population)

• Worked in rubber and oil palm plantationsMalayali • From the Malabar coast

• 7% of Malaysian Indian population• Worked in plantations, in clerical services, and

restaurantsTelegu • From Andhra Pradesh

• 4% of Malaysian Indian population• Mainly labourers and plantation workers

Sikh • From Punjab• Worked as police officers, railway station officers,

security guards, bullock cart operators, merchants

Malaysian Indian Population

Rubber estate workers

…harsh living conditions

Indian chettiar… local money lenders

Businesses monopolised by Malaysian

Indians

Masjid Kapitan Keling, Penang (built in 1801)

Demolition of Hindu temples

Stateless Indians in Malaysia:

300,000?

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Malaysians of SABAH and SARAWAK

Composition BackgroundKadazan • The largest community, also known as the Dusun

people• Originally from Kalimantan• Concentrated in the Ranau and Tambunan Valley

Bajau • Originally from Mindanao and Sulu Island• Known also as the sea people and Samal people• Concentrated in Semporna, Kota Belud and

Sandakan Murut • Live mostly in the interior such as Tenom, Rundu

and Pensiangan• Some still live in long houses and are nomads

Sulu • Originally from the Sulu Archipelago• Known also as Tausug• Concentrated in northern part of Sabah

Population of SABAH

Composition BackgroundIban • Originally from Kalimantan (River Kapuas)

• Also known as Sea Dayaks• Largest community in Sarawak• Live in inland areas such as Sungai Sekrang, Sungai

Batang Lupar and Sungai Rejang.Malay • Originally from Sumatra

• Live mostly along the coastal areaMelanau • Live mostly along the Igan, Oya and Mukah rivers

• Muslims & has assimilated with the Malays and practise the Malay culture

Kelabit • Settled mainly in the area of the Baram and Rejang rivers

• Some still live in long houses

Population of SARAWAK

IBAN of Sarawak

Long houses (rumah panjang)

ABORIGINES in Malaysia

• Divided into 3 main racial stocks: Senoi, Negrito and Orang Asli

• Total number: 90,000• 12 different languages are

spoken

Orang Asli (‘original people’ or ‘first

people’)

Senoi• Concentrated in hills of Perak,

Kelantan, Selangor and Pahang• Tall, dark-skin• Practise shifting cultivation

Negrito• Involved in cultivation and

collection of forest products• Live near the edge of jungles

along the banks of rivers

Orang Asli village, Tanah Rata, Cameron

Highlands

Develop or let them be?

WHO came here

FIRST?!

WE ARE ALL HERE !!

LIVE WITH IT !!

ISLAM is the official

religion

special position of the

MALAYS

Chinese, Indians and others

are

accepted as full CITIZENS

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WHAT should he do?

…try make everyone

happy?!

“You know you are doing a good job

when everyone

is unhappy about

something”

Assimilation?!

…administered by

Ministry of DefenceHow long? Who attends?

Were the MALAYS more liberal, and less religious & less Islamic in

the past?

more than 60% Muslim parents now send their

children to formal Islamic primary school education

Religious communities in Malaysia

Policy of Applying Islamic Values in Public Administration

…all because

of POLITICS?!

Ikhwanul Muslimin(Muslim Brotherhood)

New Year’s Eve 2013

…a Theory of Government based on

Islamic Principles

it is NOT just about

politics...

…finding a balance

between material &

spiritual needs!

accept we have

differences…

…work with the system!