

Thanks for sharing. Will read it soon.
Thanks for sharing. Will read it soon.
Not sure if it’s available internationally.
+15 Allows military access
Indigenous politics in Malaysia may exhibit certain characteristics common to other places but what sets it apart is the nature of it’s colonization, where instead of a large settler population migration, a negotiation was had between the pre-existing feudal system and the oncoming colonial architects of so-called colonial capitalism. This negotiation prevented large-scale settler movements but paved the way for the import of large numbers of labourers from other parts of the British Empire, particularly that of India and China. Furthermore, this slow march was also characterized by the prevention and restriction of intra-“native” trading, which necessitated the rise of middlemen consisting of neighbouring “non-natives”, mostly comprador classes.
I have alluded before that indigenous politics may be more equivalent to “nativism” found in the US, but even that does not capture the full story.
According to Ethnologue, Malaysia with a population of only 33million, have 111 indigenous languages, with 21 non-indigenous, and 32 “unestablished” but assumed to still have prominence. This does not include the well-known Englsih creole of “Manglish”, the Malaysian “Singlish” equivalent. Malaysian Malay is the standard and official language of both state (rumi, latin alphabet) and religion (particularly in Jawi, arabic based alphabet), while English has semi-official status. One fun fact is that Malaysia is the only country outside of China to have a curriculum up to high school based fully in Chinese.
I bring this up to set the tone in understanding the diversity of both thought and practice of indigeneity and racialism in the country.
Here’s I’ll try to characterize the type of people/arguments that take a position against or for an indigenous politics in this country, as means to better understand what it means to be indigenous here.
indigenous and racial politics are heavily interlinked in the country
the meanings have changed and will continue to be contested
Aww thank you
The whole point of this account really! A place to vent and also maybe help people out as well, who knows.