Mat Salleh

Mat Salleh is a Malay term used as a colloquial expression to refer to white people. The exact origins of the expression are difficult to ascertain, due to there being several versions of the term's origin being passed down via word of mouth, with little or no official documentation to support such oral claims. The term arose during the colonial period of Malaysian history and is still commonly used.

Etymology


One etymological story claims the word might have been derived from the colloquial expression "mad sailor". The first encounter many Malaysians had with white foreigners were dignified and upper-class colonial officials, leading the Malays to both admire these foreigners and assume all white people behaved as such. When warships began to put into Malaysian ports to collect supplies, sailors were given leave to disembark their ships and spend time in port. These were typically working-class men who enjoyed getting drunk and brawling amongst themselves. These behaviours shocked the Malays, who swiftly inquired to the colonial officials concerning the puzzling behaviour of the sailors. The colonial officials, not wishing the Malay image of them to dissipate, dismissed them as mere "mad sailors".

Another etymological story claims the term derives from another term which was applied to shipwrecked sailors who became stranded on Malaysian shores. Upon encountering the native Malays, the story claims that many of these sailors ran away, assuming the Malays to be cannibals, with their erratic actions being deemed as "mad sailors" by other Europeans the Malays encountered.

In the Malaysian state of Sabah, the term Mat Salleh was an utterance of defiance by Sabahans to remind the Orang Puteh (White People) of the Mat Salleh Rebellion against the military forces of the British North Borneo Chartered Company from 1895 to circa 1905. The enigmatic Mat Salleh led the 1897 attack on the Company's fort on Gaya island burning it to the ground. After 6 years of insurrection, his fort at Tambunan was shelled by artillery and destroyed in 1900 and he died by machine-gun fire. About 1,000 rebels died in that battle.