Essay - Ethnic Relations in the Malaysian Peninsula Some Chinese Traders Had...

Ethnic Relations in the Malaysian Peninsula

Some Chinese traders had settled in ***** country of Malaysia for centuries before other Chinese ethnic groups joined them in the 19th and 20th centuries. Although there has been an *****termixture among the Chinese *****d other political minorities and the Malays as ***** political majority population, the Chinese have managed to preserve their cultural distinctions from the Malays, b*****ically through religion and language. The ***** use the Chinese language as distinguished from the Malay language and practice Buddhism, ***** differentiated from the Malays who are Muslim. The ***** are grouped into ***** rural poor sector ***** the urban commercial sector, the latter being more economically capable and productive than the majority Malays.

There have been *****se fundamental and historical conflicts between the majority ***** ***** the minority Chinese communities. The British ruled the peninsula and Singapore through the Chartered Company in Sabah and the Brooke family in Sarawak ***** Japanese Occupation made *****se ***** worse during the last World War, during which the Malays sided with the ***** against the British colonial rule and ***** Japanese mistreated the Chinese, who rebelled against them and formed the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army or MPAJA. When Japan lost ***** *****, the MPAJA took violent actions in establishing control over ***** *****. The Chinese rural poor ***** supported it and its succeeding organization, the Malayan Communist Party or MCP, founded in 1948. The British fav*****ed ***** Malays in counterattack*****g the ***** communists, ***** became the targets of repression by the g*****nment ***** placed them in "new villages" in the 50s where they ***** little contact ***** the majority Malays. The MCP was believed to have been instigated and led by pro-Beijing Chinese, creating an impression among the Malay population that some Chinese were loyal to Communist China. The apprehension created a deep division between the ********** ***** the ***** *****d impelled ***** government to pass the Internal Security Act of 1960 in order ***** grant itself arbitrary police powers ***** controlling the activities of its opponents. It took years of bloody fights before ***** ***** government ***** able to contain the rebellion. Meantime, the ***** and economically advantaged Chinese distanced *****selves from ***** MCP to protect their economic interests.

In 1963, the Federation ***** Malaysia was ***** ***** comprised peninsular Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and *****, the last two being in Borneo Isl*****. Later in 1965, ***** ***** separated when leader Lee Kuan Yew, disagreed with and challenged ***** Malay political supremacy. Malaysia is now where the ***** Ch*****ese are the largest minority in ***** entire South-East Asia or 27% of *****'s 20 million people.

***** Malayan Constitution categorizes the population into the bumiputera ***** ***** non-bumiputera. "Bumiputera" means "son ***** the soil" and this is the state's official recognition of a citizen's indigenous status. Non-bumiputera ***** not indigenous or "immigrants." The Constitution acknowledges the ethnic Malays and ***** ***** ethnic groups as bumiputera in Sabah and Sarawak, ***** constitute approximately 59% ***** ***** population. The rest, or the