From a business perspective, why are Singapore and Brunei two small little countries connected to Malaysia prospering so much more economically then Malaysia? We can learn a lot just from looking back and studying history. So to perhaps shed some light on the answer to this question, let us first take a little look back at the history of Malaysia and how it came to be what it is today.
Immigration
Malaysia is a diversified country, but how did it become so? Before Malaysia was colonized by the Portuguese, Dutch, Japanese and especially the British (from 1824-1941, 1945-1957), the Malays comprised of about 90% of the population in Malaysia and Singapore. Some Chinese existed who were traders and some Indians also existed who worked in coffee and sugarcane plantations, but their numbers were little. When the British took over in the middle of the 19th century, they seen the need for labourers and therefore brought in the Chinese and Indians. The Chinese were brought in largely to work in the tin mining industry and the Indians were brought in largely to work in the rubber plantations. The large migration of these two races continued up until World War 2. It was here that Malaysia became such a multiracial society. At that time the Chinese population was much closer in numbers to the Malay population then what it is today (Al-Madinah International University, n.a.).
Multiracial Society in Malaysia
The country of Malaysia today has many different ethnic people groups. Actually there are approximately 60 different ethnic groups in Malaysia. The things that separate these ethnic groups can be vast; characteristics of lifestyle, language, religion, culture and ideologies. Although there is such a multiracial society in Malaysia, Malays, Chinese and Indians make up the three major ethnic groups which comprise of around 88% of the population. Malays make up about 54%, Chinese 26%, Indians 8% and 12% would be all the other 57 ethnic groups including those in Sabah and Sarawak. So one can imagine the struggle to create unity with such a diversity of cultures (Al-Madinah International University, n.a.).
'Divide & Rule'
Again quoting the first two lines in the opening paragraph: From a business perspective, why are Singapore and Brunei two small little countries connected to Malaysia prospering so much more economically then Malaysia? Jesus said, 'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falls' (Luke 11:17). It is because Malaysia's kingdom was and still is divided against itself. When the British were ruling Malaysia (then still known as Malaya), they sought to purposefully divide the people of the country in order to rule the country. The 'divide and rule' system imposed by the British is the start to what brought the three major ethnic groups of Malaysia into such conflict with one another. The British divided the different races to different locations based on their work. By dividing the three major races, the British thought that it would prevent them from uniting forces against them. The Chinese were made to live in more populated areas and worked in the tin mines and also took part in trading. The Malays lived in more rural areas and were farmers. The Indians lived in estates and were hard labourers, especially in sugarcane, coffee and rubber plantations (Al-Madinah International University, n.a.).
Well the British did indeed succeed in dividing the different people groups of Malaya. So much so that it even became a problem for the British who had aided to cause such a division in the first place. To later counter the detrimental disunity between the three races, the Inter-Ethnic Relation Committee was formed in 1949. The British sought to solve the problem of unity among the three major ethnic groups. The main purpose of the committee was to develop a way for open discussions of the existing racial problems. The committee was a success in that it did open the way for discussions and consultations to solve its problems (Samah & Jawan, 1997; Jali, Redzuan, Asnarulkhadi, Samah, & Mohd, 2003).
Unity Shows Its Strength
Here the people of Malaysia really began to show their ability. In 1951 a system known as the 'Member System' was developed to appoint local representatives to hold positions in the Federal Government. This served as training grounds to learn about administrative matters. So naturally, working together brought a spirit of cooperation between the races that were so divided before. Now with the three major ethnic groups more united, they even formed an Alliance party with views and hopes of gaining independence from Britain. The Alliance party was made up of three political parties: UMNO – which was run by the Malays, MIC (Malaysian Indian Congress) ' run by the Indians, and MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) ' run by the Chinese. So to further prove the unity in the country, city council elections were held with the promise of independence. Therefore, the first national election in Malaya was had in 1955. The Alliance party won a remarkable victory winning 51 out of 52 seats. By this the British could see that the Alliance party represented almost the whole of Malaya. After this negotiations took place upon which an Independence Agreement was achieved. Malaya got their independence on August 31st, 1957. The unity of the Alliance party representing the three major ethnic groups, proved that the strength of unity can accomplish great things (Samah & Jawan, 1997; Jali, Redzuan, Asnarulkhadi, Samah, & Mohd, 2003).
Lack of Endurance
How the different ethnic groups came together to get their independence, is something the Malaysians should remember and be proud of. Unfortunately because of the nation's lack of endurance in keeping and working at their unity, the unity of these three ethnic groups sadly did not last. They should not have been so quick to forget that the 'divide & rule' method does not work ' it will suffer loss. A nation with such various races and ethnic minorities, continuous efforts should have been made towards keeping peace and unity amongst the different races ' being very careful not to lift one race above another. Having overlooked this, is what brought disaster upon the nation as a whole. The racial divides and tragic incidents that have taken place have in so many ways crippled the country's stability, peace, economy and development. Between the years of 1945 and May 1969, there have been 21 cases of racial conflicts. Another example is the cases involving Muslims and Hindus in Kampung Rawa, Pulau Pinang in 1998 and the Kampung Medan tragedy in March 2001 (Kabilan & Hassan, 2005). One of the most recent incidents is the case in Kuala Lumpur in the shopping center between Malays and Chinese.
Ethnic conflicts can be caused by various things such as religion, education, social, economy and politics. With regards to religion for example, there was the case in Kerian, Perak where Muslims smashed Hindu deities, supposedly because some Hindu had made a statement against Islam. Looking at education for instance, there was the case of a group's retaliation towards issues like the Sekolah Wawasan. The 'Bumiputras' don't like the fact that English is being used to teach Science and Mathematics (Kabilan & Hassan, 2005). In Pulau Pangkor May 1959, there was conflict between Malays and Chinese and the Chinese set fire to a residential property. Two Malays were killed and eight injured, while the Chinese only lost one life and a few others were injured. This caused island curfew for a few days (Die, 2009). In Bukit Mertajam circa July 1964, a Malay market employee was hit with a cangkul by a 15 year old Chinese vegetable vendor. As a result of this incident, one Malay and one Chinese were killed and many more were injured (Die, 2009). Many more examples could be given to demonstrate the long history of Malaysia's racial conflicts.
So What Does the Future Hold
A question that has to be asked is; what will the ethnic relations look like for Malaysia in the future? According to the journal by Guan (2000), the greatest challenge to the stability of ethnic relations is the issue of how Islam will affect the Malay identity as the community around them becomes more and more modern along with the rest of the world. Non-Malays are watching to see if the government will make any moves to further Islamise the rest of Malaysia (Guan, 2000). Barr & Govindasamy (2010) share the same concern as Guan (2000) does. They noted that before the 1980s it was very evident that ethnic identity was stronger than religious identity. 'However, religious identity appears to have replaced ethnicity as the central element of nation identity as the society has been systematically ' even aggressively ' Islamised' (Barr & Govindasamy, 2010). The journal went on to say that for the people groups outside of the Malay national group, it is becoming more difficult. In the last paragraph and last lines of their journal they stated that Islam feeds the traditional Malay nationalism and it builds their self-confidence and reinforces their special privileges as Malays. By this the Malays carry a message to the Chinese and Indians reminding them that they are not the central core of the Malaysian nation and are but a lower class.
How to get out of this trend? In another journal by Salleh & Zainal (2010) they concluded that the future of Malaysia ultimately lay in the hands of the youth. Therefore, they put a very strong emphasis on education and starting a national school system where the main agenda is unity. They felt that the 'One Malaysia' concept should be taught in school giving them a solid foundation void of prejudice. 'One Malaysia requires a shift in thinking which puts the national interest above all' (Salleh & Zainal, 2010). These racial divides along with the races being considered not equal, is why Malaysia is so far behind Singapore and Brunei in many areas. It certainly is disappointing that the country could not sustain its unity the way they once had it. If they had kept the kingdom unified as in the time of independence, who knows what Malaysia could be today.