Rising India and Indian Communities in East Asia

25. Indian Hindu Resurgence in Malaysia

456 25 INDIAN HINDU RESURGENCE IN MALAYSIA Carl Vadivella Belle INTRODUCTION The฀current฀ethnic฀Indian฀population฀of฀Malaysia฀may฀be฀traced฀to฀two฀ major฀streams฀of฀immigration฀throughout฀the฀period฀of฀British฀colonialism;฀ namely,฀the฀overwhelming฀majority฀who฀were฀recruited฀under฀various฀labour฀ schemes฀to฀provide฀a฀low-skilled฀workforce฀within฀the฀colonial฀economy,฀ and฀a฀minority฀of฀technical,฀professional฀and฀business฀migrants฀attracted฀ by฀the฀economic฀and฀commercial฀opportunities฀existing฀in฀British฀Malaya.฀ The฀main฀forms฀of฀labour฀recruitment฀consisted฀of฀indenture฀(discontinued฀ after฀1910),1 ฀and฀the฀rather฀more฀influential฀kangany฀system฀which฀was฀ terminated฀in฀1938.2 ฀Nearly฀the฀entire฀Indian฀workforce฀was฀imported฀from฀ the฀Madras฀Presidency,฀largely฀because฀of฀the฀colonial฀preference฀for฀Tamil฀ labour฀which฀was฀considered฀supine,฀easily฀controlled฀and฀malleable.3 ฀Skilled฀ and฀professional฀migrants฀included฀a฀Chettiar฀mercantile฀class,฀Ceylonese฀ Tamils,฀Malayalees,฀North฀Indians,฀Sikhs฀and฀professional฀and฀artisan฀Indian฀ Tamils.4 Apart฀from฀an฀evanescent฀period฀of฀unity฀throughout฀World฀War฀II,฀ largely฀inspired฀by฀the฀leadership฀of฀prominent฀Indian฀nationalist,฀Subhas฀ Chandra฀Bose,5 ฀the฀Indian฀population฀has฀existed฀as฀a฀series฀of฀linked฀ ฀ sub-communities,฀riven฀by฀fissures฀of฀caste,฀ethnicity,฀language,฀religion฀ and฀ class.6 ฀ In฀ general,฀ the฀ Indian฀ labouring฀ communities,฀ comprising฀ approximately฀80฀per฀cent฀of฀the฀population,฀remain฀impoverished฀and฀ marginalized.7 ฀The฀resultant฀“plantation฀culture”8 ฀characterized฀by฀vocational฀ 25฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀456 8/20/08฀฀฀3:11:57฀PM Indian Hindu Resurgence in Malaysia 457 and฀social฀immobility,฀powerlessness฀and฀lack฀of฀opportunity,฀has฀been฀ increasingly฀transferred฀to฀and฀reproduced฀within฀Malaysia’s฀cities฀and฀ towns.9 ฀The฀cleavage฀between฀middle฀class฀and฀working฀class฀Indians,฀initially฀ established฀as฀a฀result฀of฀the฀circumstances฀attending฀colonial฀streams฀of฀ migration,฀remains฀as฀fixed฀and฀potent฀in฀contemporary฀Malaysia฀as฀it฀was฀ in฀pre-war฀British฀Malaya.10 The฀2000฀census฀indicated฀that฀the฀Indian฀population฀in฀Malaysia฀ comprised฀1.68฀million฀people,฀a฀mere฀7.8฀per฀cent฀of฀the฀total฀population.11 ฀ Of฀this฀number,฀1.45฀million฀people,฀6.3฀per฀cent฀of฀the฀total฀population,฀ comprising฀an฀overwhelming฀84.1฀per฀cent฀of฀the฀Indian฀community,฀ professed฀Hinduism.12 ฀This฀chapter฀will฀examine฀the฀transplantation฀and฀ evolution฀of฀this฀community.฀It฀will฀outline฀the฀impact฀of฀the฀major฀influences฀ which฀have฀given฀Hinduism฀a฀distinctive฀Malaysian฀impress,฀and฀the฀more฀ recent฀responses฀to฀the฀escalating฀pressures฀of฀Malay/Muslim฀ethno-religious฀ dominance.฀It฀will฀suggest฀that฀while฀Hinduism฀in฀Malaysia฀assumes฀a฀ seemingly฀endless฀array฀of฀particularistic฀forms,฀it฀is฀possible฀to฀discern฀a฀ faint฀but฀emerging฀sense฀of฀unity฀driven฀by฀continuing฀reformist฀impulses.฀ In฀conclusion฀the฀chapter฀will฀examine฀the฀festival฀of฀Thaipusam,฀not฀only฀ as฀an฀example฀of฀a฀Hindu฀response฀to฀the฀changing฀political฀and฀religious฀ realities฀of฀Malaysia,฀but฀also฀as฀a฀guide฀to฀the฀centripetal฀forces฀which฀are฀ recasting฀the฀boundaries฀of฀Malaysian฀Hinduism.฀ HINDUISM IN MALAYSIA: ORIGINS AND BEGINNINGS Hinduism฀was฀“re-created”13 ฀as฀a฀significant฀minority฀religion฀in฀Malaya฀ ฀ as฀ an฀ outcome฀ of฀ the฀ waves฀ of฀ Indian฀ migration฀ which฀ followed฀ the฀ ฀ British฀colonization฀and฀which฀continued฀up฀until฀the฀very฀eve฀of฀the฀Pacific฀ War.฀The฀transplantation฀and฀historical฀evolution฀of฀Malayan/Malaysian฀ Hinduism฀has฀occurred฀in฀the฀absence฀of฀those฀traditional฀sources฀of฀authority฀ —฀first,฀the฀religious฀centres฀of฀learning฀or฀monastic฀orders฀(math)฀which฀ have฀provided฀a฀system฀of฀scriptural฀hermeneutics฀or฀exegesis,฀and฀second,฀ an฀influential฀dominant฀orthodox฀caste฀—฀that฀have฀had฀such฀a฀marked฀ impact฀upon฀the฀emergence฀of฀Hindu฀structures,฀belief฀systems,฀mythology฀ and฀patterns฀of฀worship฀in฀India.14 ฀ While฀the฀majority฀of฀indentured฀labourers฀were฀drawn฀from฀the฀Adi฀ Dravidar฀castes,฀kangany฀recruitment฀produced฀a฀more฀variegated฀Indian฀ community฀within฀Malayan฀estates฀and฀towns฀and฀thus฀a฀greater฀spread฀of฀ social฀behaviour฀and฀belief฀structures.15 ฀Although฀approximately฀one-third฀ of฀kangany฀migrants฀could฀be฀classified฀as฀Adi฀Dravidar,฀the฀remainder฀were฀ 25฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀457 8/20/08฀฀฀3:11:57฀PM 458 Carl Vadivella Belle drawn฀from฀the฀entire฀range฀of฀non-Brahmin฀castes,฀including฀land-owning฀ and฀cultivating฀jatis.16 The฀new฀arrivals฀in฀the฀estates฀and฀workplaces฀of฀Malaysia฀had฀no฀ recognized฀authoritative฀points฀of฀reference฀and฀tended฀to฀automatically฀ reproduce฀remembered฀mores฀of฀the฀Hinduism฀of฀their฀home฀regions.17 ฀ ฀ The฀deities฀worshipped฀among฀indentured฀and฀later฀kangany฀recruited฀ labourers,฀and฀the฀rituals฀associated฀with฀that฀worship,฀revolved฀around฀the...