Talk:Racial politics

Still editing
I am still editing the page, so it will not be short when it is finished.
 * Ok, I'll replace the speedy deletion template with a template indicating major editing. If it still is an article eligible for speedy deletion when you're done, however, I'll then list it again. Have a nice time - I imagine that you'll be able to create a good article that won't need tagging. Nihiltres(t.c.s) 14:26, 13 May 2007 (UTC)


 * 8 years on and it is a complete mess. Anyone care to tackle it? 213.205.194.111 (talk) 16:01, 7 November 2015 (UTC)

Citation-free opinion
Placed a noref tag on. It is opinion and had no cites since it was inserted in 2014. I think seven years is long enough to wait for refs, given the type of material it contains. Please alter it to conform to sources, and cite them, or remove the sub-section. I intend to do so if nothing has changed in next month. 203.0.31.68 (talk) 06:06, 6 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Removed the unsourced paragraphs as mentioned. Left the part headed "the Rich" as that has refs, although I struggle to see its relevance. Deleted section shown below: 203.0.31.68 (talk) 00:47, 18 February 2022 (UTC)

Cause
According to many historians, the root cause of this strife between the ethnic communities and Malay nationalist sentiments like ketuanan Melayu was the lack of assimilation or amalgamation between the Malays and non-Malays. Because most of the migrants came as "guest workers" of British businessmen during the colonial era, they felt little need to integrate into Malay society. (The Straits Chinese, most of whom were rich merchants instead of manual labourers, were an exception and managed to assimilate reasonably well, with many of them habitually speaking Malay at home, dressing in the Malay style, and preferring Malay cuisine.) Few bothered to even learn the Malay language; the census taken at independence showed that only 3% of Chinese aged ten and over, and 5% of Indians in the same age group, were literate in Malay. The comparable figure for the Malays stood at 46%. Colonial-era educational policies, which segregated the different ethnicities—providing minimal public education for the Malays, and leaving the non-Malays to their own devices – did little to help matters. The Malays, who were predominantly rural-dwellers, were not encouraged to socialise with the non-Malays, most of whom resided in towns. The economic impoverishment of the Malays, which set them apart from the better-off Chinese, also helped fan racial sentiments.

The reason behind the failure of non-Malays to assimilate or amalgamate has been blamed on the policies of the colonial authorities. George Maxwell, a high-ranking colonial civil servant, credited the Malay aristocracy for its acceptance of non-Malay participation in public life, and attributed the lack of non-Malay representation in the colonial administration to the policies of British officials :

"With thirty-five years service in Malaya, and with intimate friendship with Rulers over two generations, I can say that I never heard one of them say anything that would tend to support [the exclusion of non-Malays from administrative appointments]. From the very earliest days of British protection, the Rulers have welcomed the leaders of the Chinese communities as members of their State Councils. Other [non-Malays] are now members of the State Councils. The policy of keeping [non-Malays] out of the administration owes its inception to British officials, and not to the Rulers.'"

On the basis of these policies, historians have argued that "Given the hostility toward Chinese expressed by many colonial officials and the lack of physical and social integration, it is not surprising that most Malays formed the opinion that Chinese were only transients in Malaya with no real attachments to the country."

Another contributing factor to ketuanan Melayu, according to historians, was the Japanese occupation during World War II. One states that the war "awakened a keen political awareness among Malayan people by intensifying communalism and racial hatred." This was widely attributed to the Japanese policies which "politicised the Malay peasantry" and intentionally fanned the flames of Malay nationalism. Racial tension was also increased by the Japanese practice of using Malay paramilitary units to fight Chinese resistance groups. Two Malay historians wrote that "The Japanese hostile acts against the Chinese and their apparently more favourable treatments of the Malays helped to make the Chinese community feel its separate identity more acutely ... it was also the beginning of racial tension between the Malays and Chinese." A foreign commentator agreed, stating that "During the occupation period ... Malay national sentiment had become a reality; it was strongly anti-Chinese, and its rallying cry [was] 'Malaya for the Malays'."

Apologies in advance, if not okay
Despite being reverted on this page by a very experienced Wikipedian, I am going to restore my changes, as I believe from my reading of WP policy that they should be acceptable:
 * 1) Gave a title to an untitled section per WP:SHOWN. It makes talk pages easier for me (and others, too, I am guessing) to follow
 * 2) Deleted IAbot message re "external links modified" as my understanding was that editors did have permission to do so (e.g. see this), it was very stale (2017), and I find pages cluttered with these messages hard to follow (I have a condition that makes print and screen reading tricky).

If it is poor form, then please revert again, and accept my apologies.

Thanks. 203.0.31.68 (talk) 03:14, 27 January 2022 (UTC) updated 203.0.31.68 (talk) 04:04, 27 January 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Political Sociology
— Assignment last updated by ImagineWorldPeace (talk) 18:32, 17 December 2022 (UTC)