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The Malay World (Alam Melayu), spanning the Malay Peninsula, much of Sumatra, and parts of Borneo, has long contained within it a variety of populations. Most of the Malays have been organized into the different kingdoms (kerajaan Melayu) from which they have derived their identity. But the territories of those kingdoms have also included tribal peoples - both Malay and non-Malay - who have held themselves apart from those kingdoms in varying degrees. In the last three decades, research on these tribal societies has aroused increasing interest.This book explores the ways in which the character of these societies relates to the Malay kingdoms that have held power in the region for many centuries past, as well as to the modern nation-states of the region. It brings together researchers committed to comparative analysis of the tribal groups living on either side of the Malacca Straits - in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. New theoretical and descriptive approaches are presented for the study of the social and cultural continuities and discontinuities manifested by tribal life in the region.
Just who are ‘the Malays’? This provocative study posesthe question and considers how and why the answers have changedover time, and from one region to another. Anthony Milner developsa sustained argument about ethnicity and identity in an historical,‘Malay’ context. The Malays is a comprehensiveexamination of the origins and development of Malay identity,ethnicity, and consciousness over the past five centuries. Covers the political, economic, and cultural development of theMalays Explores the Malay presence in Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia,Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and South Africa, as well as themodern Malay show-state of Malaysia Offers diplomatic speculation about ways Malay ethnicity willdevelop and be challenged in the future
The Malay-language term for the indigenous minority peoples of Peninsular Malaysia, “Orang Asli”, covers at least 19 culturally and linguistically distinct subgroups. This volume is a comprehensive survey of current understandings of Malaysia’s Orang Asli communities (including contributions from scholars within the Orang Asli community), looking at language, archaeology, history, religion and issues of education, health and social change, as well as questions of land rights and control of resources. Until about 1960 most Orang Asli lived in small camps and villages in the coastal and interior forests, or in isolated rural areas, and made their living by various combinations of hunting...
The purpose of this paper is to examine the history of the Chinese Muslims who moved to Malaysia and explain the different factors that have influenced this migration at different historical stages. I separate this history mainly into two parts, namely, before the twentieth century and from the twentieth century onward. Before the twentieth century, the majority of Chinese Muslims who streamed into Malaysia were Chinese immigrants who became Chinese Muslims by converting to Islam. From the twentieth century onward, however, the majority of Chinese Muslims who came to Malaysia were Muslim Hui from China, who believed in Islam and spoke Chinese, and who constituted an ethno-religious minority group.
This book explores race and multiculturalism in Malaysia and Singapore from a range of different disciplinary perspectives, showing how race and multiculturalism are represented, how multiculturalism works out in practice, and how attitudes towards race and multiculturalism – and multicultural practices – have developed over time. Going beyond existing studies – which concentrate on the politics and public aspects of multiculturalism – this book burrows deeper into the cultural underpinnings of multicultural politics, relating the subject to the theoretical angles of cultural studies and post-colonial theory; and discussing a range of empirical examples (drawn from extensive original...
McAmis also gives attention to the history of their relationship with Christians - a history that is key to understanding the current state of religious and social life in places like Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Since Muslims and Christians together comprise ninety-four percent of the Malay population, peaceful interaction and cooperation between mosque and church are crucial to realizing the economic and political goals of the entire region.".
The Malays as an ethnic group has been defined on the basis of both legal-constitutional and historical-cultural factors. While it is difficult to speculate or visualise correctly the future of any country or people, it is possible to provide a general outline of the trends of the past and present, and probably attempt to at least indicate what should be avoided and promoted to ensure a better future. This is what Dr Syed Husin Ali attempts in this book. In nine chapters, he discusses the Malays and their origin, history, religion, economy, politics and development up to the present day. He connects all of these to the various changes in the forms of modernisation and development programmes which affected, and continue to impact upon, the Malays. Three decades have passed since the book was first published. During that time many changes have taken place in the country. But the basic problems facing the Malays, contends the writer, have remained the same. The current controversies on the declining power of the Malays, as perceived by some, affirm these problems, and make the book more relevant.
Set in Malaysia, this book encompasses language and cultural policy challenges that many other multi-ethnic nations currently have to address. The people of Malaysia constitute a diverse ethnic, linguistic and cultural population and one of the continuing challenges is the development and establishment of the Malaysian people’s ethnic, national and global cultural identities. This challenge is evident in the journey of language and cultural policy from the post-independence period to the 21st century; a period of over 50 years. The book highlights political, socio-cultural, economic and knowledge economy factors as they impact on decisions made by the government with regard to language policy in the various educational systems. It examines decisions made on the selection of the national language, the medium of instruction in educational systems, the varying changes in language policy for the field of science and technology and the maintenance and sustenance of minority languages.
A new edition of Moving Forward, which was first published a decade ago, in which Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad had presented a discourse on Malays in Malaysia and argued that the Malays had to move forward to survive and succeed in facing the new challenges of the 21st century. At the time, Nik Nazmi was (and still is) pushing for a more progressive paradigm where Malaysians are at ease with its diversity. The message of Moving Forward, then and now, remains: the Malays need to embrace democracy, progressive politics and diversity. This is the right thing to do as well as the only way to ensure the survival of the race, religion and country. In light of the recent political developments in Malaysia, Moving Forward is just as relevant today as it was in 2009. The text is largely the same as it was when first published. This new edition includes a new Introduction and a new Postscript to reflect on the book in light of the progress that Malaysians have achieved and the new challenges that they face today.