Who are the Malaysians?

If you enjoy this post, please subscribe and share! Don't forget to add the feed service to your contacts so notifications don't end up in your spam folder. 

There are some things I could have told you about the Malaysians before I arrived. Things I had to gently correct my friends back in the UK about. 

Like 'Malaysian' isn't an ethnicity - it's a nationality. There's no language called 'Malaysian' - the national language is Malay. And not all Malaysians are ethnically Malay - many are Chinese or Indian, for example. 

But my knowledge, it turned out, barely scratched the surface. This is an incredibly diverse country. A sociolinguistics professor I know at Universiti Malaya says that more than 140 languages are spoken here! Digging deeper into the national identity was like unpicking an intricate tapestry, woven over thousands of years (otherwise known as falling down a rabbit hole).

Here's what's covered in this post:

• Where in the world is Malaysia?
• Indigenous peoples
• Bumiputera 
• Chinese
• Indians & Mamaks
• Peranakans
• Rojak culture

Where in the world is Malaysia?

Located in the heart of Southeast Asia, Malaysia is split into two parts:

• West Malaysia, which is on a peninsula (hence also called peninsular Malaysia), shared with southern Thailand and the tip of Myanmar
• East Malaysia, comprising the states of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo, which is shared with Brunei and Indonesia

[Back to the top]

Indigenous peoples

I didn't have a clue about the indigenous population of Malaysia, beyond the fact of their existence. But they make up around 11% of the population, or 3.6 million people (I'm using Census 2020 numbers throughout, for consistency). 

They came from different parts of Asia at different times - and the very earliest inhabitants may even have been part of the first wave of migration from Africa. Most indigenous people practise animist religions, but an increasing number have converted to Islam, as well as Christianity.

I was bowled over to learn that there are more than 100 groups of indigenous people, each with a distinct language and identity. But that's a subject for another post. I'm still getting my head around the different collective terms that are used:

• The indigenous peoples of West Malaysia are called Orang Asli and 'aborigines' in the federal constitution. They make up less than 1% of the population on the peninsula.
• The indigenous peoples of East Malaysia are called 'natives' in the constitution. They make up around 60% of Sabah's population and 70% of Sarawak's population.
• The non-Muslim native peoples of East Malaysia are called Dayak. But for some reason, the term tends to be used only for the non-Muslim native peoples of Sarawak.
• The indigenous peoples of both West and East Malaysia are called Orang Asal. But it isn't a universally agreed term - The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, for example, uses the term only for natives of East Malaysia.

Kadazandusun people from Sabah

To make things more complicated, a Malay acquaintance told me it's best to refer to indigenous peoples as Bumiputera. This term, however, refers not only to indigenous peoples but also other groups deemed to be native. 

Still with me? Read on...

[Back to the top]

Bumiputera

Literally meaning 'sons of the soil', bumiputera ('bumi') loosely refers to people who lived here before the arrival of the British and the resultant mass migration of Chinese and Indian labourers.

Starting in the 1970s - following the race riots of 13 May 1969 - the government has accorded special status to bumis, through affirmative-action policies.

But what does bumi really mean? 

The term has been used since independence in 1957, but it's not in the constitution, and how it's defined and applied varies. For example, 'bumi' is shown as a single ethnic group in the 2020 census - making up 69.4% of the population - yet it most definitely comprises different ethnicities. And exactly which groups do and don't have bumi status - and which type of status they have and what it means for them - is seriously complicated. 

The largest group of bumis are the Malays, who make up 57.3% of the total population, totalling 18.6 million people. Malays are actually indigenous to peninsular Malaysia, but aren't categorised as such because they're politically, economically and socially dominant. 

The Malay people could be descended from an Orang Asli group or could have been a separate, later group of migrants from another part of Asia. But through intermarriage, they became a diverse admixture of various ethnic groups, including local populations and Arabs, Chinese, Indians and others who arrived via the ancient shipping routes. 

Initially comprising many subgroups, the Malays began to identify as a single ethnic group during the Melaka Sultanate in the 15th century. What made Melaka different from previous Malay kingdoms was its embrace of Islam, along with a common Malay language and customs - characteristics which define a Malay person in the constitution today.

Besides the Malays, indigenous peoples are the only other group with full bumi rights. But that doesn't change their official ethnic status, which traditionally has been 'lain-lain' ('others') - a long-standing source of contention. I should mention here that ethnicity is a big deal in Malaysia, and must be stated on many documents and applications. If you're not Malay, Chinese or Indian, you're 'other'.

In 2015, Sabah and Sarawak removed 'lain-lain' from state forms. Native peoples in Sarawak could now select 'bumiputera' while those in Sabah could fill in a blank. But nationally, indigenous peoples remain 'lain-lain', something the native peoples of Borneo continue to contest - as well as the aboriginal peoples of the peninsula - as part of a wider discourse about what bumi policies mean for indigenous peoples.

There are also a couple of communities deemed to be Malay or indigenous, allowing them to enjoy full bumi status. 

One is a small group of Malaysian-Siamese people called the Sam Sams, who speak Thai but are Muslim. The Sam Sams have been classed as Malay since 1921, and are almost completely assimilated into the Malay community. 

The other group is the 'Sino' community, which has mixed Chinese and native Sabahan ancestry and is considered native. Why only Sabahan? That's because under the constitution, only one parent or grandparent needs to be a Sabah native (among other things), in order for someone to be considered native. But in Sarawak, the constitution requires both parents to be native. In September 2022, however, the law in Sarawak changed, allowing children of mixed ancestry to apply to be recognised as native.  

Then there are groups with partial bumi rights. 

They include the tiny community of Portuguese Eurasians (population 2,500 according to one source), who trace their history to the Portuguese conquest of Melaka in 1511. Also called Kristang (from the word 'Cristão', meaning 'Christian' in Portuguese) or Serani (from the word 'Nasrani', meaning 'Christian' in Arabic), they have Portuguese, Dutch, British, Jewish, Malay, Chinese and Indian roots. Portuguese Eurasians have a distinct culture, language and cuisine - which are in severe decline. In terms of bumi privileges, they only have the right to buy into the government-run mutual fund. And, like indigenous peoples, their ethnic status is 'lain-lain'.

Another group with partial bumi rights are the Malaysian Siamese, who speak Thai like the Sam Sams, but practise Buddhism. Numbering 80,000, their roots go back to 1909, when Thailand ceded four northern states to the British. The Malaysian Siamese feel closely connected to their Thai roots but also identify strongly with being Malaysian. They appear to have more bumi rights than Portuguese Eurasians (I'm not totally sure about this), albeit fewer than Malays and indigenous peoples. Ethnically, they are classed as 'lain-lain'. 

There are also a number of communities that aren't considered bumi at all but have been here for centuries. They include the Mamak and Peranakan people (more on them below), who have been in talks with the government about gaining bumi status. People who are ethnically Chinese and Indian also do not hold bumi status, even if their ancestors were here long before the British. 

Did I mention it was complicated?

[Back to the top]

Chinese

The Chinese presence goes way back to the 13th century, when Kublai Khan invaded Java. It increased during Dutch colonial rule in the 17th and 18th centuries, and became a full-scale migration after the British arrived in the late 18th century, thanks to the booming tin mining and rubber industries.

Today, the Chinese are the second-largest ethnic group in Malaysia, making up 23.2% of the population, or 7.5 million people. 

Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur

Many of the immigrants to British Malaya hailed from the southern Chinese provinces of Fujian and Guangdong. They included the Hakka, a prominent group of nomadic people from northern China who settled in Guangdong.

My own grandparents, from my mum's side, were Hakka from Guangdong and Hong Kong, and met in Malaya. There's a romantic story about how Grandpa, who was working in a logging camp, fell in love with Grandma, only for her parents - who didn't fancy his prospects - to have him thrown in jail for winning her hand by nefarious means.

Like their ancestors, many Malaysian Chinese today are Buddhist and speak dialects from Fujian (Hokkien) and Guangdong (Cantonese and Hakka). When I visited Ipoh as a child, I heard a lot of Cantonese, and assumed it was widely spoken throughout Malaysia. But in KL I hear a lot of Mandarin, and it's not uncommon for people in stores or on the street to assume I speak the dialect. 

I've heard different perspectives on the subject. Some people say both Mandarin and Cantonese are widely spoken here, but one or the other will dominate depending on the neighbourhood you're in. Others say Mandarin has become the lingua franca for Chinese speakers, because of the popularity of Mandarin-language schools - which is apparently causing younger people to lose touch with their ancestral dialects. But one person told me that only 10% of Malaysian-Chinese students attend such schools, and he was scathing about the standard of Mandarin here, saying I speak it better than many locals (certainly news to me!). 

Whatever the case may be, I've been surprised by the number of Malaysian-Chinese people I've met who speak English at home. For some, it's their first language, and they're only conversationally fluent in Chinese, using English to plug gaps in their vocabulary. Some barely speak Chinese at all, and can be very reluctant to use what little they do know in public, for fear of ridicule, as described in this article. They're jokingly called 'bananas' - a term I thought was reserved for westerners like me! 

If there's one thing I've learned about living here, it's that nuances abound; there are very few generalisations you can make about Malaysians!

[Back to the top]

Indians & Mamaks

There have been Indians in Malaysia for thousands of years, with traders and settlers from ancient India arriving as early as 500 BC. Many more arrived in the 15th century, when the Melaka Sultanate became part of the Spice Routes.  

British colonisation of Malaya and India in the 19th century brought another influx of migrants. Some came for trade and business. Others were recruited for civil service, or to work in sugarcane and rubber plantations, or to build roads and railways. Many were Hindu Tamils from the southern part of India, which is why Tamil is the most widely spoken language among Malaysian Indians today.

Another wave of Tamils came to Malaya starting in the 1920s, filling clerical and government posts, and eventually professional positions in fields like medicine and law. And, since the 1970s, many Indians have arrived to work in the tech sector.

Today, ethnic Indians make up 6.7% of the population, or 2.2 million people.

The Mamak people, who arrived in the 19th century as traders, form a distinct sub-group of the Indian community. They mainly speak Tamil, or their original Indian mother tongue, but practise Islam. You'll see many Mamak-run restaurants around town - simple, open-air eateries that stay open late into the night, selling affordable Indian and Malay food. Local friends don't bother looking at the menu - they have favourite dishes they keep going back to. Well worth trying!

Mamak restaurant, Restoran Thoulath Maju, in Kuala Lumpur

[Back to the top]

Peranakans

Like many things in Malaysia, the term 'Peranakan' defies an exact or commonly agreed definition, and has been a topic of hot debate for decades.  

Online sources usually define a Peranakan as being a locally born person with local and foreign ancestry. Many Peranakans do believe they have mixed heritage - but some believe their ancestors did not intermarry with locals, and that being Peranakan is solely a cultural identity. A Malaysian friend, meanwhile, told me that a Peranakan is simply someone whose ancestors arrived here hundreds of years ago. 

However it's defined, Malaysia is dotted with Peranakan communities - a legacy of its history as a migratory and trading hub. These communities are small but vibrant, and part of what makes Malaysia so colourful. I've already mentioned the Portuguese Eurasians and the Sam Sams, but there are others.

The Peranakan Chinese are the biggest group of Peranakans, and are usually what people mean when they use the term. There are several distinct sub-groups within this community, but many members trace their lineage back to southern mainland China, particularly Fujian province - which is why their language is influenced to varying degrees by the Hokkien dialect. 

A DNA study published in 2021 revealed an average of 5.6% Malay ancestry among Peranakan Chinese in Singapore - who share the same roots as those in peninsular Malaysia. But the study also found that 10% of the population has 100% Chinese ancestry. So for this group at least, the question of genetics appears to be settled.

Melaka has the most well-known group of Peranakan Chinese. At Muzium Negara (National Museum), I learned that they're descended from Chinese people who settled in Melaka in the 15th century and married local women. The settlers adapted to Malay culture while retaining their Chinese identity and beliefs. This created a unique society famous for its dress, cuisine, brightly coloured ceramics and beaded embroidery, and a unique language called 'Baba Malay' - a Malay patois with some Hokkien words. The only information I could find on the size of the community was a source from 1988, which put it at 5,000 people. 

Peranakan-Chinese embroidery

Penang also has a community of Peranakan Chinese (population unknown). They have a similar heritage but later history, dating to 1786, when Penang was established as a British colony. Their language is also different; called 'Baba Hokkien', it's mostly Hokkien with some Malay words. And their cuisine has Thai influences, in contrast to the Portuguese and Indonesian flavours used by their cousins in Melaka.  

I believe my dad's side of the family was Peranakan in the Penang style, although they were from Ipoh. They apparently spoke Baba Hokkien and dressed in clothes like the nyonya kebaya. Must investigate!

The Peranakan Chinese from Melaka and Penang (and Singapore) are commonly known as 'Baba Nyonya', referring to males and females, respectively. They're also called 'Straits Chinese', a term that was used for the Peranakan Chinese living in British colonial settlements along the Strait of Malacca (and Singapore Strait). Back in the day, the Straits Chinese differentiated themselves from freshly arrived Chinese labourers, identifying with Malaya as their homeland, coupled with loyalty to the British crown. Indeed, seeing themselves as British subjects, they wore western suits, spoke English, sent their children to England to study, and indulged in pastimes like dancing, cricket and horse riding. 

The Baby Nyonya community has been in decline for a long time, due to migration and assimilation. However, they're trying to revive their culture, and there has also been a resurgence of outside interest in their arts and crafts.

There are also Peranakan Chinese in the East Coast states of Kelantan and Terangganu, who are not typically referred to as 'Baba Nyonya' nor, of course, Straits Chinese. Those in Kelantan have Chinese, Malay and Siamese ancestry dating back 300 years, and practise traditions from all three cultures. By one estimate, they make up 3% of the state's population, numbering nearly 54,000. 

Those in Terangganu descend from Chinese immigrants who arrived in the 16th century - although a small, unrecorded number may have been here as early as the 12th century. They apparently did not intermarry with locals, although they have largely assimilated with the Malay population, except for the practice of Taoism. Their population is tiny, numbering only 1,000. 

The Melaka Chetti, or Peranakan Indians, are another Peranakan community. They're descended from Tamil traders who settled in Melaka in the 15th century and who apparently married local Malay and Chinese women. The Melaka Chetti have embraced their unique cultural heritage: traditional Hindu practices; a language called 'Chetti Creole', which mixes Malay, Tamil and English; a cuisine with Indian, Malay and Nyonya influences; and dress that combines Tamil and native Indonesian styles. It's thought that the entire community numbers only about 2,000 - including the many who migrated to Singapore in the early 1900's as Melaka fell into further decline.

The Jawi Peranakans of Penang share a similar ancestry to the Melaka Chetti. I've read that they're descended from marriages between local Malay women and Muslim traders - mainly of Tamil ancestry - who came to Penang when it was colonised by the British in 1786. But unlike the Melaka Chetti, the Jawi Peranakans are Muslim - they're also called 'Straits Muslims' - and largely identify as Malay, with Malay as their mother tongue. There are also similarities between Jawi Peranakans and Mamaks (Indian Muslims), except that Mamaks speak Tamil and maintain strong ties with India. The term 'Jawi Peranakan' can also refer to Malay-Arabs, but occasionally they're called 'Arab Peranakans'. 

Last but not least there are the Eurasians, who number around 29,000. They include not only the Portuguese Eurasians but those descended from Dutch, British and other European settlers. That's why European surnames are not uncommon in Malaysia, even among people who may outwardly look 'local'. Aside from Melaka, Eurasian communities are also found in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Seremban.

[Back to the top]

Rojak culture

Rojak is a salad of fruit and veg tossed with prawn paste, sugar and lime (try it!). Meaning 'mixed' in Malay, rojak is also slang for mixing different things together - which describes Malaysia's culture perfectly.

How Malaysians speak exemplifies the rojak culture. Their ability to switch back and forth between languages and dialects, and infuse whatever language they're speaking with words from other languages and dialects, is nothing short of amazing. 

One example is 'Manglish', an English creole that uses Malay, Chinese dialects and Tamil, as well as Malay or Chinese sentence structure. It's not only hilarious, but efficient, with the goal seemingly to use as few words as possible - check out "A Beginners Guide to Manglish". If you don't understand it, don't worry - Malaysians do use 'proper English' when needed!

Sign in Manglish at Roti King, a Malaysian restaurant in London

But for all its rojak culture, I wouldn't describe Malaysia as a melting pot in the same way that Brazil, for example, is. Malaysia's ethnic groups largely coexist (often peacefully) rather than blend together. The question of ethnicity is always under the surface; I couldn't rent a place or open a bank account without specifying my ethnic group, and I can't tell you how many times I've been asked, "Are you Chinese?" 

Interestingly, I've read arguments that ethnic relations today are a byproduct of British rule - with its introduction of ethnicity based social and economic order - rather than the inevitable result of different communities living side by side. There are, of course, many other opinions on this complex topic, which I can't cover here. 

But I will say this: Malaysia's rojak culture has created some of the most fascinating, diverse people you'll ever meet, and some of the warmest and most sociable. The Malaysians I've encountered are next-level friendly. They speak their mind too; no beating around the bush. I had thought Malaysians would be conservative, with a lot of protocols around how to behave. How wrong I was. It's well worth taking the time to dig a bit deeper and get to know who the Malaysians really are. I hope this post goes some way towards that - but the best thing, of course, is just to get out there and meet the locals! 

[Back to the top]

Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by subscribing and sharing! Please add the feed service to your contacts so notifications don't end up in your spam folder.