The Malaysian Chinese People

Across the world, millions of people consider themselves to be ‘Chinese’ in some meaning of the word. In this series, I will try to convey my understanding of the ‘major groups’ of Chinese people that exist in the world.

First are the Malaysian Chinese, the group I am a part of and am most familiar with. We are citizens of Malaysia whose ancestors came from China. Our ancestors did not come from a single place at a single point of time. In fact, people have moved from various parts of China to various parts of Malaysia for several hundreds of years.

Yet, most living Malaysian Chinese have ancestors from Southern China. My great grandfather from my father’s side is ‘Hokkien’ – he migrated to Malaysia about 120 years ago from a small district of what is today Xiamen city, Fujian province, modern China. You will find many Malaysian Chinese people whose ancestors come from Guangzhou, Chaoshan, and Hainan. They call themselves ‘Cantonese’, ‘Teochew’ and ‘Hainanese’ respectively. There are also the Hakka, who have a more complex geographical history but were prevalent in southern China as well.

There are varying degrees of inter-marriage with the other races present in Malaysia and its predecessor states. Many Malaysian Chinese people have historically married other ethnic groups of Malaysia such as the Malays and the Indians. These marriages have given rise to hybrid cultures and groups such as the Peranakan Chinese, where different Peranakans observe cultural practices that originated in China to different degrees of strictness. Different Peranakans can believe in different religions too, some adhering to their ancestral Buddhism and Taoism while others are Muslim or Christian.

There are also many Malaysian Chinese that have married other Malaysian Chinese people. Though admittedly biased, I get the impression that most modern Malaysian Chinese people tend to do this. As a result, within these communities, there are strong pushes to preserve the Chinese cultural practices and religions.

Given this diversity, why is the word ‘Malaysian Chinese’ still a commonly used word and personal identification? I can think of a few reasons. One, Malaysian Chinese collectively constitute the largest minority population of Malaysia. We have more political and socio-economic power united as ‘one Chinese people’ than apart, both as a component of the current Malaysian government and at the international stage. Two, it is an easier for the other majority (Malay) and minority (Indian, Orang Asal) races to work with us and understand us. Three, it enables us to establish fast friendly relationships with all the other Chinese out in the world.

How do we keep this Chinese identity? There's of course the use Mandarin or some dialect when talking as a family. Another huge part is schools that use Mandarin as the primary medium of instruction. These schools come in all flavours – old and new, public and private, primary and secondary. If these schools were to be abolished, it is unlikely that the Malaysian Chinese identity will survive. Fortunately, they are very much alive and continue to usher new generations of Malaysian Chinese ready to help out their fellow Malaysians and Chinese around the world!