Malaysia is
one of the most racially, ethnically and religiously diverse nations in the
world today, with all of the world's major religions, as well as major Asian
ethnic groups, epresented. In this relatively tiny area, peace thrives as the
various groups co-exist in harmony and tolerance;
complementing one another to enrich the shared character, cultural mosaic and
vision of the nation. Many Malaysians make it a custom to participate in the
religious holidays of other faiths. Muslim
mosques, Christian churches, and Hindu and Buddhist temples
stand side by side in urban areas. Because it commands the
Strait of Malacca
(Malay = Selat Melaka), one of the major sea-lanes of the
world, the Malay Peninsula has been the meeting place of peoples from other
parts of Asia. This is reflected in the diversity of the country's population.
Malays, Chinese, and Indians
form the largest ethnic groups in Malaysia. More than 80 percent of the people
live in Peninsular Malaysia.
Most of the nation's urban areas are also there, including
Kuala Lumpur, the
capital and largest city. Three groups of people have lived on the Malay
Peninsula since prehistoric times: (1) a forest-dwelling people called the
Orang Asli,
who were mainly hunters and gatherers; (2) a coastal people called the
Orang Laut, who earned a living by fishing
and seafaring; and (3) the Malays, who primarily farmed and fished. In
Peninsular Malaysia the Orang Asli peoples, including the
Jakun, Semang, and Senoi
groups, practice traditional religions, and some are
Muslims. The largest ethnic group in Malaysia, accounting for more than half of
the total population today, is the Malays. Islam is the religion of almost all
Malays, as well as some Malaysian Indians, and is also the official religion of
the state. People are allowed to follow other religions but may not try to
convert Muslims to their faith. The Malays, along with the indigenous people,
form a group called bumiputra, a Bahasa Malaysia term which literally means
"sons of the soil",
which accords them special privileges as enshrined in the Constitution. Two
other large ethnic groups came to what is now Malaysia during colonial times, in
the 1800's and early 1900's. These two groups were the Chinese (about 35% of the
population), who migrated from southeastern China and came to work in tin mining
or retail trade, and
Indians/Pakistanis/Tamils (from Sri Lanka)
(about 10% of the population), who came to work on rubber plantations. The
Chinese are mostly Buddhists, Taoists, or
Confucians, with some
Christians. Most of
the Indians and Sri Lankans are Hindus, and most of the Pakistanis are Muslim.
The population of East Malaysia is even more diverse than that of Peninsular
Malaysia. When Sabah and Sarawak became part of Malaysia in 1963, the peoples of
Borneo added still other ethnic groups to this multiracial land. Sabah's largest
ethnic group is the Kadazans.
In Sarawak, the largest group is the Ibans,
also called the Sea Dayaks
who were formerly headhunters and continue to live in communal longhouses. The
Kadazans of Sabah and many Ibans of Sarawak are Christian.
The
Bidayuh (Land Dayak)
inhabit the hill country of western Sarawak. In addition, there are the Chinese
(about one-third of the population) and some 25 ethnic groups as well as smaller
tribal subgroups that speak Austronesian languages. Still another wave of
immigration began in the 1970's because of an economic boom. Hundreds of
thousands of migrant workers, mainly from Indonesia, poured into Malaysia to
fill manufacturing jobs.The Malays dominate Malaysia's government and armed
forces, but the Chinese control much of the economy. Many Chinese Malaysians
resent the political power of the Malays. The Malays, in turn, resent the other
group's wealth. The tensions between the Chinese and the Malays have erupted in
violence from time to time.Malaysians use several different languages. The Malay
language is an Austronesian language called Bahasa Malaysia, which means
language of Malaysia.It is the country's official language. Many Malaysians also
speak English. Many Malaysians of Chinese descent speak southern Chinese
dialects, though a large number also know some Mandarin Chinese. Many Indian
Malaysians use a southern Indian language called Tamil. Tamils speak either
Dravidian or Indo-European languages.
Many smaller ethnic groups, such as the Kadazans, speak their own language but
can also communicate in Bahasa Malaysia.
The annual rate of growth of Malaysia's population was once one of the highest
in Asia but has decreased steadily since 1960. Peninsular Malaysia has about
four-fifths of the country's population. Formerly high birth rates have dropped
among the Chinese and Indian ethnic groups in particular. The population is
young - about 37 percent are younger than 15 years of age. Health standards are
good for a developing country, and the life expectancy is 70 years for men and
75 years for women. Approximately two-fifths of the population is urban, and the
trend of migration is toward the cities.