Anti-Malay racism refers to prejudice against ethnic Malays. This is common in nations where ethnic Malays are the minority, such as Singapore and Thailand, but it also occurs in multi-racial nation of Malaysia, where the Malays are the majority.

Thailand

Southern Thailand and particularly the province of Pattani is the home of the ethnic Malays in Thailand. In the 18th century after the Thais captured the Malay-dominated provinces in the south, the Thai consciously avoided referring to the people as Malays and instead preferring the term Thai Muslim. For the purpose of integration, Malay identity was discouraged by the Thai state. Due to such policy, young Malay fluency in Malay is decreasing. This had led to prejudice against Muslims in general instead of specifically against the Malays.

At present, there are Malay separatists in southern Thailand demanding that the Malay-Muslim dominated provinces are granted independence. This has led to killing done by Muslim terrorist. Indiscriminate arrest of Malays has fueled distrust and resentment against the Thai authority among the locals.

Thaksin had declared a militant law in southern Thailand. Former Prime Minister Thaksin has been blamed for action that lead to an incident at Tak Bai that led to the death of a number of Malays.

Malaysia

The Malays are the dominant indigenous group in multi-racial Malaysia. In the May 13 Incident on May 13 1969, a major racial riot broke out between ethnic Malays and Chinese in Kuala Lumpur that suspended the Malaysian parliament for 22 months. It all started when a small group of Chinese demonstrators, who were supporters of the winning Democratic Action Party and Gerakan in the elections, headed through the district of Kampung Baru, which is inhabited majorly by Malays, jeering at the inhabitants. Some of them carried brooms, allegedly to symbolise the sweeping out of the Malays from Kuala Lumpur, while others chanted slogans about the "sinking" of the Alliance boat — the coalition's logo. However, a recently published book by Kua Kia Soong, May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969, asserts instead that the riots were started by certain Malay groups within UMNO in a coup d'etat attempt, which the government promptly placed blame on the Opposition parties.

Nevertheless regardless of the cause, the May 13 Incident became the worst racial riot in Malaysian history. According to police figures, 196 people died and 149 were wounded. 753 cases of arson were logged and 211 vehicles were destroyed or severely damaged. An estimated 6,000 Kuala Lumpur residents — 90% of them Chinese — were made homeless. Various other casualty figures have been given, with one thesis from a UC Berkeley academic, as well as Time, putting the total dead at ten times the government figure.

Since then, the Malaysian government aims to stabilise the economy by introducing the New Economic Policy (NEP) citing income disparity as the main reason for the riots.

Singapore

Singapore was once a thriving Malay fishing village prior to British colonisation. According to the Malay Annals, an Indonesian prince called Sang Nila Utama was known to have founded ancient Singapore in 1299. However, the modern city of Singapore stemmed from 1819 when established by Sir Stamford Raffles. Under the British administration, Singapore experienced an influx of immigrants particularly from China and India. Singapore joined the Federation of Malaysia in 16 September, 1963, along with the present Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. Since Singapore's separation from Malaysia in 9 August, 1965, She became a sovereign, multi-racial republic of which the Chinese community formed the majority.

In the 1970s, Mandarin was promoted over other Chinese dialects. SAP Schools were created to provide Mandarin among the Chinese. This resulted in some Malays feeling that they were alienated. The reference to Confucian society by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew marked a shift in policy of neutral multiculturalism to Chinese-dominated society. Chinese schools began receiving government aids while other schools were neglected.

The former Prime Minister had once sparked a debate on the loyalty of the Malays to Singapore. He stated that the Malays might have conflict when it comes to loyalty. Earlier, former Indonesian President Habibie's alleged that the Singaporean armed force discriminate against the Malays. The Singaporean government has been cautious in issue of Malay loyalty. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is a supporter of this policy. For the same reason, the Malays have been nearly absent from armed force scholarship list.

References

External links

• From“Patani Melayu” to“Thai Muslim”