Imperialism, Colonialism and their Contribution to the Formation of Malay and Chinese Ethnicity: An Historical Analysis

Abstract

Abstract: Ethnicity is a complex concept which is easily taken as a primordial
notion inherited from previous generations. This primordial understanding of
ethnicity continues to dominate post-independence Malaysian authority and
everyday actors based on two factors. First, the lack of any critical historical
analysis for understanding the present situation. Second, there are social,
economic and political needs for maintaining the separation of ethnicities
which consequently maintain the imperial and colonial epistemological
understanding of ‘race’ in the present State ethnic bureaucratic system. The
main objective of this article is to present a sociological review of the longterm
effects of imperialism and colonialism on the formation and development
of the two principal Malaysian ethnic groups – Malays and Chinese – through
selected major phases in Malaysia’s history. The outcomes suggest that the
ethnic boundaries of Malaysian Malays and Chinese were gradually built,
institutionalized and intensified over time rather than being primordially
inherited from their ancestors.