Islamization and Activism in Malaysia

2. A Short History of Malaysia

36 2 A฀SHORT฀HISTORY฀OF฀MALAYSIA฀ THE฀PRE-COLONIAL฀PERIOD According฀ to฀ Alberto฀ Gomes,฀ archaeologists฀ tend฀ to฀ agree฀ that฀ Malaysia’s฀ aboriginal฀ populations฀ are฀ descendants฀ of฀ Neolithic฀ and฀ Hoabinhian฀ humans ฀who฀arrived฀more฀than฀5,000฀and฀10,000฀years฀ago฀respectively฀(1999,฀ pp.฀78–79).฀Those฀who฀are฀known฀today฀as฀Malays฀came฀later฀from฀what฀is฀ now฀known฀as฀Indonesia.฀ West฀or฀peninsular฀Malaysia฀was฀in฀the฀path฀of฀a฀trade฀route฀between฀ China฀and฀India.฀Sources฀indicate฀that฀Indian฀traders฀visited฀the฀peninsula฀ in฀the฀first฀centuries฀C.E.฀The฀influence฀on฀Malay฀culture฀of฀these฀Indians฀ persists฀in฀the฀form฀of฀language,฀political฀practices,฀art,฀and฀popular฀beliefs.฀ Later,฀ the฀ peninsula฀ lay฀ in฀ the฀ path฀ of฀ trade฀ between฀ China,฀ the฀ Middle฀ East,฀and฀the฀West฀(ibid.,฀pp.฀79–80).฀ In฀ the฀ 1400s฀ a฀ small฀ settlement฀ of฀ Sumatran฀ refugees฀ became฀ the฀ trading฀ centre฀ for฀ the฀ region.฀ Malacca,฀ as฀ it฀ became฀ known,฀ was฀ soon฀ to฀ host฀ Malays,฀ Arabs,฀ Indians,฀ Javanese,฀ Sumatrans,฀ Bugis,฀ Borneons,฀ Filipinos,฀Persians,฀and฀Chinese.฀Although฀these฀groups฀interacted฀with฀each฀ other,฀ they฀ remained฀ in฀ their฀ own฀ ethnically฀ polarized฀ enclaves.฀ In฀ 1511฀ Malacca฀ fell฀ to฀ the฀ Portuguese.฀The฀ Malay฀ rulers฀ and฀ their฀ subjects฀ fled฀ to฀other฀areas฀of฀the฀peninsula.฀Between฀1500฀and฀1800฀large฀numbers฀of฀ Indonesian฀immigrants฀came฀to฀the฀various฀Malay฀states฀and฀displaced฀and฀ even฀enslaved฀some฀of฀the฀indigenous฀people.฀In฀1641฀the฀Dutch฀took฀over฀ 36 03 I&AM.indd 36 3/22/10 2:45:52 PM A฀Short฀History฀of฀Malaysia฀ 37 Malacca.฀ Malacca฀ was฀ later฀ taken฀ over฀ by฀ the฀ British฀ in฀ the฀ 1800s฀ along฀ with฀the฀rest฀of฀peninsular฀Malaysia฀(ibid.,฀p.฀80). THE฀BRITISH฀COLONIAL฀PERIOD In฀the฀period฀between฀1874฀and฀the฀First฀World฀War,฀the฀British฀gained฀ complete฀ control฀ of฀ the฀ Malay฀ peninsula.฀ The฀ British฀ found฀ it฀ difficult฀ to฀induce฀Malays,฀who฀were฀largely฀agrarian,฀to฀work฀(Jomo฀1990a,฀p.฀4)฀ and฀also฀felt฀that฀“the฀Malay,฀despite฀his฀charm,฀was฀indolent฀and฀shiftless฀ and฀resistant฀to฀change฀and฀progress”฀(Roff฀1967,฀p.฀25).฀“Proletarianised฀ immigrants”฀(Jomo฀1990a,฀p.฀4)฀from฀China฀and฀India฀were฀thus฀imported.฀ Indentured฀ Indian฀ immigrants฀ worked฀ on฀ rubber฀ plantations,฀ and฀ many฀ Chinese฀worked฀in฀tin฀mines.฀ Tin฀ had฀ been฀ mined฀ for฀ centuries฀ but฀ was฀ expanded฀ by฀ the฀ British,฀ especially฀ in฀ the฀ state฀ of฀ Perak฀ and฀ particularly฀ after฀ the฀ 1880s฀ when฀ railroads฀ were฀ installed.฀ Chinese฀ mine-operators฀ rented฀ land฀ from฀ Malay฀ Sultans฀and฀large฀numbers฀of฀Chinese฀coolies฀were฀brought฀in฀to฀work฀in฀ these฀mines.฀Under฀the฀British฀the฀Chinese฀dominated฀tin฀mining฀owing฀ to฀ their฀ technology฀ and฀ organization฀ until฀ 1912,฀ when฀ direct฀ political฀ intervention฀and฀technological฀advances฀by฀the฀British฀allowed฀the฀latter฀to฀ assert฀their฀own฀dominance.฀ As฀a฀result฀of฀colonial฀policies,฀the฀three฀main฀ethnicities฀of฀contemporary ฀Malaysia฀were฀segmented฀occupationally฀and฀geographically.฀It฀should฀ be฀ pointed฀ out฀ that,฀ as฀ argued฀ by฀ Anthony฀ Milner,฀ the฀ ethnic฀ identities฀ that฀have฀contemporary฀currency฀in฀Malaysia฀were฀not฀as฀apparent฀during฀ colonial฀times.฀“[E]ven฀in฀the฀1930s฀the฀terms฀‘Malay’฀and฀‘Chinese’฀still฀ possessed฀a฀certain฀novelty฀in฀many฀quarters฀as฀social฀categories”฀and฀that฀ before฀ then฀ Malays฀ were฀ likely฀ to฀ identify฀ themselves฀ according฀ to฀ the฀ Sultan฀ to฀ whom฀ they฀ were฀ subject฀ or฀ the฀ locality฀ from฀ which฀ they฀ came฀ (2003,฀ p.฀ 76).฀ According฀ to฀ Milner,฀ certain฀ pre-colonial฀ characteristics฀ of฀ Malay฀society฀served฀to฀keep฀differentiated฀the฀communities฀that฀came฀to฀ be฀called฀the฀Malays฀and฀Chinese฀and฀that฀these฀groups฀came฀to฀have฀their฀ contemporary฀ethnic฀identities฀by฀adopting฀colonial฀labelling฀conventions.฀ The฀ Chinese฀ and฀ Indians฀ were฀ initially฀ regarded฀ as฀ transient฀ workers฀ and฀ a฀ rise฀ in฀ homeland฀ Chinese฀ and฀ Indian฀ nationalisms฀ led฀ to฀ strong฀ identifications฀ with฀ their฀ respective฀ homelands฀ rather฀ than฀ with฀ Malaya,฀ as฀ Malaysia฀ was฀ known฀ before฀ 1963฀ (Funston฀ 1980,฀ p.฀ 1).฀ However,฀ in฀ 1931฀ a฀ census฀ of฀ Malaya฀ revealed฀ that฀ immigrants฀ outnumbered฀ Malays฀ and฀ that฀ one-third฀ of฀ Chinese฀ and฀ one-quarter฀ of฀ Indians฀ were฀ locally฀ born฀and฀showed฀trends฀of฀permanent฀settlement฀(Turnbull฀1989,฀p.฀200).฀ ฀ 03 I&AM.indd 37 3/22/10 2:45:52 PM 38฀ Islamization฀and฀Activism฀in฀Malaysia Malay฀objections฀to฀colonial฀immigration฀and฀labour฀policies฀then฀intensi fied.฀ The฀ British฀ attempted฀ to฀ pre-empt฀ objections฀ by฀ affirming฀ that฀ the฀ immigrants฀ were฀ only฀ transitory฀ and฀ by฀ implementing฀ “pro-Malay”฀ policies.฀ Chinese฀and฀Indians,฀however,฀had฀already฀been฀making฀demands฀and฀ by฀1923,฀both฀had฀been฀conceded฀representation฀on฀the฀Straits฀Settlements฀ Legislative฀Council฀and...