Journal of Malaysian Chinese Studies

10 2007 1-17

Volume 10, 2007: 1-17

Malaysian Chinese and Malays:
Towards Policies on the Formation of Ethnic Boundaries

(TAN Bee Piang)

E-mail: tanbeepiang@gmail.com
Centre for Malaysian Chinese Studies, Kuala Lumpur 2007
2

minimal integration

Abstract
This study discusses the situation in post-independence Malaysia when the New
Economic Policy and rise of Malay cultural hegemony began to "fix" the pattern of
community relations along ethnic lines which, short of drastic shifts in political and
economic policies, would not change in any significant way in the near future. This
fixed pattern of ethnic relations has become the basis of the social structure of the
country.
The fixed pattern of ethnic relations is reflected in several ways. The first is that
ethnic lines are clearly defined and internally stable. Different ethnic groups maintain
some mutual relations but each is too self-focused to share areas of convergence
bearing on common identity. The next is the institutionalization of resource allocations
and the emergence of a Malay elitist group with domination over cultural, political and
economic resources. The third is a clear division of political power with limited scope
for the broadening of compromise, and continued imbalances in ethnic interests and
rights. Lastly, ethnic interests have swayed the language of politics in a way that such
terms as "class" and "gender", or the legitimate demands of non-governmental
organizations, are being sidelined. All these have weakened attempts to construct fresh
identity markers in the multi-ethnic society.
Fixed ethnic relations have given rise to the political phenomenon of "strong
government, weak society". As the country continues to consolidate the existing
structure of ethnic relations and renders fixed ethnic relations into a basic mechanism
for minimal integration, it is also seeking an approach for social control.

acculturation


3

civic nation ethnic

nation

Kymlicka 2001
Kymlicka 1998

coercive capacity

degree of access of
societal rewards

point decision line decision

Horowitz 1985: 653

4

ethnic boundary

Peranakan
1

Fredrik Barth 1969

Barth

A B
A

primordialism

Glazer and Moynihan 1975: 1-26

Geertz 1963 primordial attachment
given
6

Geetrz

primordial ties
Geertz
assumed givens
Keyes 1981
cultural interpretation of descent

Keyes

Keyes

instrumentalism

circumstantialists

7

2006

Victor Purcell 1948

plural society

1930

decentralization 2

Malayan

Malaya for Malayans Malayan
Melayu Tanah Melayu
3 1932 Straits Chinese British
Association Heah Joo Seong Son
of the Soil Malaya for Malays

germ of latent racial hostility

1950

bargain

Horowitz Horowitz 1989

citizenship

15
1994
Tan Chee Beng 1987: 99-119

overlapping loyalty
elite accommodation system

10

1995: 26-27

1969 513
513 1974

boundary-making

Barth imperative

hybrid
identities

1969 513


11

Yoshihara 1988: 60
quota

Horowitz 513
a blessing in disguise

1969

Horowitz 1985 and 1989

1975

statist bourgeois or bureaucratic bourgeois
50%
1970 2.4% 1990
30% Heng and Sieh Lee 2000
1
2

1971 8

12

Horowitz 1985: 653-668


13

adat

Malay
Reservation Enactment

www.instun.
gov.my/sehari%20selembar%20benang/ENAKMEN%20RIZAB%20MELAYU10.
pdf 1983

1981 3 Jabatan
Pendaftaran Negara
bin Abdullah binti Abdullah

1981 3

Mohd. Lee bin Abdullah Mohd Samy bin Abdullah

1983: 30-32
14

A B

symbols

institution

1986 Mary Douglas


15

path
dependence

Douglass C. North

1991

1991

1990

16

1 Clammer 1976 Resinification
de-Melayuization Abdul Rahman 1985
2 perubahan baru
Abdul Latif, "Akhbar, Desentralisasi
Dan Persatuan Negeri Melayu," dlm Khoo kay Kim (ed.) Sejarah Masyarakat Melayu
Modern. Kuala Lumpur: Jabatan Penerbitan Universiti Malaya, 1985, hlm130-160.
3 Majlis
Suara Bangsa Asing Merebut Hak-Hak Melayu Malayan
Betulkah Bangsa Malayan Bernegerikan Tanah Melayu
Pertentangan Kita dengan Cina Abdul Latif, "Akhbar, Desentralisasi
Dan Persatuan Negeri Melayu," dlm Khoo Kay Kim (ed.) Sejarah Masyarakat Melayu
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1995

1991
1983
31 30-32
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