2 - The Origins and Patterns of Conflict in Malaysia

Summary

… ethnicity is a product of modern politics. Although people have had identities … deriving from religion, birthplace, language, and so on … for as long as humans have had culture, they have begun to see themselves as members of vast ethnic groups, opposed to other such groups, only during the modern period of colonization and state-building.

(John R. Bowen 1996)

Since independence in 1957, ethnicity has been one of the prime sources of conflict in multi-ethnic Malaysian society and this conflict and its resolution have been a primary concern in the study of politics in Malaysia. This chapter provides a historical and political overview of the roots of ethnic relations in Malaysian society. To understand why “ethnic differences” became “ethnic contrast”, which in turn became “ethnic antagonism”, it is necessary to trace the colonial origins of communal-group contrast in Malaya. In doing so, this chapter examines the conditions under which, and the processes by which, ethnic identities and differences become activated and converted to political conflict.

This chapter is divided into four sections. The first summarizes the creation of a pluralist society in Malaysia. The second focuses on the specific question of the non-assimilation of the main ethnic communities in Malaysia and considers factors which have made the assimilation of the Malayan peoples difficult, despite their proximity within the same political unit. The third part is about the deepening of inter-ethnic conflict and why inter-ethnic relations deteriorated. In other words, what kinds of factors have catalysed the deepening of inter-ethnic conflict in Malaysia? The final section deals with the institutionalization of an ethnic-conflict configuration in Malaysia's modern political system.

The Origins of a Multi-Ethnic Malaysian Society

Numerous ethnic groups exist in Malaysia. Ethnic relations in Malaysia, however, generally revolve around the relations between the Malays and the non-Malays (including the Indians) in Peninsular Malaysia, or more specifically the complex Malay-Chinese relationship.