THE MALAYSIAN ETHREN WAS A MALAYSIAN POLITICAL STRATEGY TO PREVENT CHINESE DOMINATION
By: Hamly Hadi
(History Observer)
The 1957 population census revealed that Malays and Orang Asli constituted only about 49% of the total Malaysian population, Chinese 37%, and Indians 12%. Six years after the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, the number of Malays and Chinese was almost equal. This was due to the inclusion of Chinese-majority Singapore into the federation.
In terms of population alone, non-Malays already outnumbered Malays by that year. This is especially true when considering economic balance and levels of prosperity. Nearly 70% of the country’s economic pie was controlled by the Chinese community, while the Malays did not even reach 10%. Household income also shows that the prosperity of Malays is far below that of the Chinese and Indian communities. While Chinese households could earn USD 394 per month, and Indians USD 304 per month, the indigenous Malays earned only USD 172 per month. The low income of the Malay community at that time was due to the limited occupation of the community, which revolved around agriculture and plantations. This also led to four of the five main cities in Malaysia being predominantly Chinese.
Seeing this reality, Tunku Abdul Rahman immediately formulated a secret operation as follows:
1. Establishing the term “Malay” as a nation
to encompass all non-Malay Muslim ethnic groups, such as Javanese, Acehnese, Minang, Banjar, Bugis, Makassar, Mandailing, Kerinci, Bawean, etc. To facilitate this strategy, the royal court granted special privileges to the Malays so that all ethnic groups would identify as Malay.
To obtain scholarships, assistance for chronic illness treatment, and preferential fuel prices, all non-Malay ethnic groups mentioned above finally recognized themselves as Malay.
The definition of the Malay ethnic group eventually began to change to that of a nation. This was supported by a theory created by Western scientists who proposed the Malay theory as a race and a group. The West also had an interest in preventing communism in ASEAN countries, thus favoring the Malays.
2. Importing Humans from Indonesia
In the late 1960s, Tunku Abdul Rahman signed an agreement to “import human beings” from Indonesia. The imported Indonesians included not only manual laborers who would later support Malaysia’s infrastructure development, but also skilled workers such as teachers, doctors, and nurses. The arrival of Indonesians to Malaysia also boosted the Malay ethnic composition in the neighboring country.
According to the 1970 population census, the Malay and Orang Asli population rose to 55.5%, compared to 34.1% for Chinese and 9% for Indians. Currently, the increasing influx of Indonesian laborers, both legal and illegal, has accelerated the increase in the Malay population among other ethnicities. According to estimates in 2004, the Malay and Orang Asli ethnic groups had reached 61.4%, while the Chinese and Indian populations had shrunk to 23.7% and 7.1%, respectively.***
Banjarmasin, January 3, 2026
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