80 | Malaysia 1870 2017 The MalayanUnion,establishedbythe 1946 plantations. peninsula toworkinminesandrubber Chinese andTamillaborerstotheMalay British colonialgovernmentbeginsbringing 1870 Security Act. politicians andactivistsundertheInternal Operation Lalangjails106opposition 1987 authoritarianism. bringing rapideconomicgrowth,butalso Mohamad becomesprimeminister, Amid growingMalaynationalism,Mahathir 1981 Chinese andethnicMalayskillatleast196. gains, theMay13riotsbetweenethnic Following historicoppositionelectoral 1969 Singapore exitstheFederationofMalaysia. 1965 and Sarawak. Singapore andtheBorneostatesofSabah The FederationofMalaysiaisformedwith 1963 has dominatedMalaysianpoliticssince. Later knownasBarisanNasional, thecoalition Indian parties,winsanelectionlandslide. composed oftheUMNOandChinese The Alliance,anintercommunalcoalition 1955 that year,opposesit. National Organization(UMNO),founded Chinese andIndians.TheUnitedMalays British, grantscitizenshiptothecountry’s corruption case. Prime MinisterNajib Razakoverthe1MDB “Bersih 5.0,”callsfortheresignation of The fifthiterationoftheBersihprotests, 2016 free andfairelections. The Bersih(“Clean”)movementdemands 2007 gives birthtotheReformasimovement. for sodomyandcorruption.Publicoutrage sacked over economic policy and put on trial Anwar, thendeputyprimeminister,is 1998
communal riots. People’s ActionParty(PAP)spark Singapore’s ethnic-Chinese-dominated Tensions betweentheUMNOand 1964 independence fromtheUK. The FederationofMalayaachieves 1957 Malayan Union. The FederationofMalayareplacesthe 1948 2,000 deaths. Sino-Malay raceriotsleadtoanestimated 1945 Sabah. Sultanate Armyinvadeacoastalvillage in 200 armedFilipinosfromtheRoyal Sulu 2013 Mahathir stepsdown. financial crisisandmountingopposition, His coalitionweakenedbytheAsian 2003 The Asianfinancialcrisis. 1997 the Pan-MalayanIslamicParty(PAS). UMNO amidconflictbetweenMahathirand Young IslamicleaderAnwarIbrahimjoins 1982 entrench Malays’preferentialstatus. It willsucceedinreducingpoverty,but The New Economic Policy (NEP) is launched. 1971
* Rankingsarebasedonthelast15yearsandrelativetootherAsiancountries. Malaysia inal violence,however,are lowcomparedtomanycountriesintheregion. widespread in the country. Rates of local electoral violence, resource conflict, and crim be to appear views extremist and elsewhere, attacks in involved been have Malaysians violence in the future. Terrorist attacks on Malaysian soil have been relatively rare, but of risk the raises advantage political for communalism of use continued The brutality. has increasingly been challenged,protestshave often been met with arrests and police coalition ruling the of hegemony the As transparency. and reform electoral freedoms, Ibrahim, making room for an emboldened civil society to assert itself and demand civic Anwar Minister Prime Deputy of sacking the over coalition ruling the within appeared The aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis alteredexpression. the politicaldemocratic landscape.on Divisions restrictions legitimate to tensions racial latent using turn, semiauthoritarian a took government Nasional Barisan the as freedoms, civic of cost experienced rapid growth and kept racial tensions in check. This, however, came at the Malaysia rule, its Under all. benefited that policies economic introducing time same remained continuously in power by safeguarding Malay political supremacy while at the politics. Barisan Nasional (National Front), a broad, intercommunal political coalition, lasting a left that event watershed a 1969, May in riots race in ed of political formations organized along communal lines. Simmering tensions culminat emergence the to led communities Indian and Chinese the and Malays ethnic between disparities economic growing followed, that decade the and independence to leading years the In dynamics. religious and ethnic by shaped been have Malaysia in Politics At a glance a At Overview Low Separatism andautonomy Medium Transnational terrorism Medium National politicalconflict Absent National civilwar Urban crimeandviolence Low Local resource conflict Low Local politicalandelectoralconflict Medium Communal/ideological conflict Low
mark on Malaysian on mark - -
81 | Malaysia 82 | Malaysia ner of Barisan Nasional). The MIC and MCA’s support for UMNO was based on a compromise a on based was UMNO for support MCA’s and MIC The Nasional). Barisan of ner 1948 (seethesectiononlarge-scale communalandideologicalconflicts,below). in erupted Chinese, by ethnic was dominated Communist PartyofMalaya(CPM),which by the 1949—to gain political leverage to bargain for in better status. (MCA) At the same Association time, an Chinese insurgency, led Malayan the and 1946, in (MIC) Congress Indian Malaysian tunities continued, however. The Chinese and Indian communities formed political parties—the restored theauthorityofSultansunderBritish highcommissioner. which 1948, in Malaya of Federation the by Union Malayan the of replacement the to led This 1946. in established was which (UMNO), Organization National Malays United the from sition oppo vocal with met were provisions These Indians. and Chinese to service civil the to access the of power the reduced considerably independence, for 1945, Sino-Malayraceriotsledtoanestimated2,000deaths. the Japanese, fought antifascist forces armed by the British and composed mainly of Chinese. In violence during the Japanese occupation, when Malay anticolonial forces, trained and armed by Malays increasingly lagging behind, leading to an increase in racial tensions. These erupted into plantations. The growing urban working class became largely composed of such “foreigners,” with to workin Indians continued dominant intrade,while Indian Theformerbecame populations. economy of mining and large-scale planting improved the economic welfare of the Chinese and new the to exposure Nevertheless, residents. foreign temporary considered were Indians and Chinese advantages, other and education, free rights, land customary from benefited and state lays continued to live by subsistence farming. While Malays were subjects of the British Malaya Ma rural while administration, colonial the in employed were Malays urban better-educated rubber plantations. The British ruled through the feudal Malay Sultanate system. A minority of on and industry mining the in laborers as work to government colonial British the by numbers communal divides. movement. Demands for electoral reform and an end to corruption have mobilized citizens across civil society has increasingly challenged the status quo, as evidenced by the success of the emboldened an however, 2000s, the Since independence. since interruption without Malaysia ruled has which coalition, political Nasional Barisan multiethnic the for minorities of support calated into violence since the 1969 riots, the threat of social unrest has been used to secure the es rarely have tensions these While stability. and growth economic broad-based for trade-off a as percent) 7 and percent 23.4 (respectively communities Indian and Chinese large the by Malaysia The MIC and MCA eventually rallied around the UMNO to form the Alliance (the forerun (the Alliance the form to UMNO the around rallied eventually MCA and MIC The Chinese and Indian demands for equal citizenship and educational and employment oppor Following World War II, the short-lived Malayan Union, established by the British to prepare large in peninsula Malay the to brought were Tamils and Chinese 1930, and 1870 Between known as landscape. Policies favoring ethnic Malays and other indigenous political people, collectively Malaysian the define part large in communalism religious and Ethnic National politicalconflict National civilwarhasnotbeenpresentinMalaysiasinceindependence. National civilwar Bumiputera (68.6 percent of the population
Sultans and granted citizenship and citizenship granted and Sultans 2 1 ), are by and large accepted National level Bersih - - - - -
at least 22 people were killed and 454 injured. 454 and killed were people 22 least at which during riots, communal 1964 the in culminated parties two the between Tensions level. large majority, from the 1959 elections onward, posing a political threat to UMNO at the federal Borneo. Lee Kuan Yew’s People’s Action Party (PAP) dominated Singapore, where Chinese are a northern in Sarawak and Sabah of states the and Singapore integrating after Malaysia of ation politics withoutinterruptiontothisday. Malaysian dominated has coalition same The landslide. a by elections 1955 the win to on went Alliance The affairs. economic their in interfere not would government the that understanding whereby minorities would support Malay preferential status in exchange for security and a tacit PAS, Mahathir groomed his own Islamic leader, the charismatic Anwar Ibrahim, and championed revolution, PAS challenged UMNO dominance within the Iranian ethnic-Malay the community. and wars Arab-Israeli the as such events global by fueled revival, religious a from 1977. in opposition the to return to Nasional Barisan the left had which party, PAS Islamic the by posed challenge political the to response in state the of Islamization the nessed tensions. racial inciting allegedly for (ISA) Act Security Internal the under arrested were activists society civil and politicians opposition 106 1987, in Lalang, the Malay vote, keep minorities in line, and suppress dissent. In a major crackdown, Operation mobilize to manipulated frequently were issues racial and curbed, were freedoms Democratic however. cost, a at came This growth. economic rapid to leading planning macroeconomic led hamad, whobecameprimeministerin1981andremained inthatofficeforthenext22years. Mo Mahathir politician conservative the of power to rise the enabled This UMNO. the within Another effect of the 1969 riots was the growing influence of ultra-Malay nationalism, especially it entrenched the preferential status of Bumiputera and fed resentment among ethnic minorities. growing middle class. The NEP’s effects on interracial harmony are more debatable, however, as representation of ethnic Malays in nonagricultural sectors, tertiary education, and the country’s 1990. in percent 16.3 to 1970 in percent 49.3 from line poverty the under living Malaysians of share the reducing success, significant achieved NEP the 1990, to 1971 from Implemented professions. salaried and commerce, business, in representation their increase and agriculture subsistence on Bumiputera of dependence the decrease to provisions action affirmative many included it practice, In activities. economic specific with groups ethnic was meant to foster interracial harmony by reducing poverty and eliminating the association of NEP The (NEP). Policy Economic New a of launch the justify to used also were riots 1969 The Alliance reformed as Barisan Nasional, integrating opposition parties such as PAS and Gerakan. 1948 Sedition Act to further suppress contestation of the preferential status of Bumiputera. The 14, and the parliament was suspended for two years. When it reconvened in 1971, it amended the power and a long-lasting authoritarian turn. A state of national emergency was declared on May properties werelooted,andatleast196people,mostofthemChinese,killed. Chinese election. the after days three 13, May on out broke riots supporters, Gerakan and DAP constitutional amendments in the federal parliament. Following incidents during celebrations by Alliance, which failed for the first time to achieve the crucial two-thirds majority needed to pass the on setback major a inflicting elections, 1969 the in gains historic made parties Opposition privileges. Malay abolition of for the campaigned (Gerakan) of which Movement in1968,both People’s Malaysian the and 1965, in (DAP) Party Action Democratic the of formation the to led performance MCA’s the over frustration Chinese Meanwhile, north. conservative and rural the in clerics Muslim by 1951 in founded (PAS), Party Islamic Pan-Malayan the by challenged was opposition also resulted in racial violence. UMNO’s control over the ethnic-Malay constituency political developing a and Alliance the between competition Malaysia, of rest the In 1965. in The Federation of Malaya achieved independence in 1957, and in 1963 became the Feder the became 1963 in and 1957, in independence achieved Malaya of Federation The Under Mahathir rule, Malaysia became a relatively successful developmental state, Malay of consolidation the by marked politics, Malaysian in shift major a to led riots The 3 Singapore was expelled from the Federation the from expelled was Singapore 8 The 1980s and ’90s also wit also ’90s and 1980s The 6 It also resulted in greater in resulted also It 10 5 To undercut 9 7 Benefiting with state- - - - 4
83 | Malaysia 84 | Malaysia channeled the discontent of Malaysia’s growing middle class. The Reformasi that (Reformasi) movement a of leader the into protégé former Mahathir’s transforming rage, measures. recovery economic on disagreements over sacked was minister, finance then Ibrahim, Anwar reform movement cutting across communal lines. During the Asian financial crisis (1997–1998), to localandIndonesianterrorgroups,brandthepoliticalpartyasextremist. PAS’s support for Sharia-inspired criminal punishments ( of advantage took Mahathir 1990s, the In bureaucracy. the of Islamization progressive the and policies supporting the establishment of Islamic courts, banks, universities, and medical centers Muslim women to convert to Christianity. the assassination of a state assemblyman in Penang who was believed to have persuaded Malay and 2000 in Lumpur Kuala in temple Hindu a of bombing the included incidents High-profile officials. government of murder the and bombings, robberies, for responsible was group The Philippines. the and Thailand of parts southern the and Indonesia, Malaysia, comprising state Kedah state. in Committee Youth State PAS the of member a and veteran jihad Afghan an Ismail, Zainon by established was KMM) Movement, Mujahideen Malaysian (the Malaysia Mujahidin Kumpulan organizations. radical Malaysian other to birth gave and PAS, by sponsored allegedly was group The Indonesia. and Pakistan, India, in institutions religious of graduates together sians returning from the jihad formed a clandestine “prayer group,” Halaqah Pakindo, bringing together were trained in Pakistan and Afghanistan as anti-Soviet mujahedeen. mented, a USAID report estimated that around 300–400 fighters from Malaysia and Indonesia state areboundtoresurface. Bumiputera of status preferential the over differences fundamental But constituencies. different together bring governance good and reform electoral regarding PAS. by promoted he proposed to further Islamicize Malaysian law by adopting the same hudud punishments once lead-up to the 2018 general election, Najib has allegedly been resorting to old communal tactics: Najib Razak over his alleged involvement in the 1MDB corruption case. shrink. to continued parliament federal the in majority Nasional’s Barisan election, general 2013 the In arrests. and brutality police with met often were Protests crowds. multiracial large attracted (Pakatan Rakyat) with PAS and DAP. Four more Bersih protests, in 2011, 2012, 2015, and 2016, time since 1969. Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR won five states out of 13first andthe formedfor themajority People’stwo-thirds Alliance its lost Nasional Barisan election, general year’s following the Bersih drew between 10,000 and 30,000 protestors into the streets in November 2007. During Elections (Bersih, or “Clean”). Focusing on a practical set of simple demands regarding elections, the reform movement regain momentum with the establishment of the Coalition for Free and Fair Chinese community relayed by DAP. Only in the 2007, four years from after Mahathir stepped demands down, did and PAS by implemented policies Islamist state-level about DAP and PAS new party (later known as the People’s Justice Party, PKR), collapsed amid disagreements between initial success was, however, short lived. A coalition formed by PAS, DAP, and Anwar Ibrahim’s movement’s The corruption. to end an and justice, social representation, democratic genuine The The firstdecade ofthe 21 Although no precise number of Malaysians joining the Afghan jihad in the 1980s was docu 13 The 2016 “Bersih 5.0” protesters called for the resignation of current prime minister prime current of resignation the for called protesters 5.0” “Bersih 2016 The 11 His subsequent trial for alleged sodomy and corruption was met with public out public with met was corruption and sodomy alleged for trial subsequent His 19 to thespreadofextremistviewswithinMalaysia. hedeen and more recently with the Islamic State. Jihad returnees have contributed muja Afghan the with first jihad, wage to abroad gone have volunteers Malaysian Transnational terrorism KMM’s goal was to overthrow Mahathir’s government and create a regional Islamic 15 Within the opposition, communal divides also persist. Common demands Common persist. also divides communal opposition, the Within st century was marked by the growth of a more vocal civil society and 20 KMM was closely linked with the Indonesian terror hudud 16 ordinances), and links alleged
and the role of Islam in the in Islam of role the and 14 To bolster support in the
activists demanded 17 In 1986, Malay 18 In 1995, In 12 - - - -
of theIndonesianpolice,duringaraidinCentralJava2009. (2009). Hotels Carlton Ritz and in Jakarta of the JW Marriott Hotel (2003), the Australian Embassy (2004), and the JW Marriott high-profile JI attacks in Indonesia inthe 2000s,such asthe 2005 Bali attacks andthe bombings KMM memberswerelaterfoundjoiningtheIslamicState(IS). former some However, disbanded. was KMM and arrested, were members 14 2002, and 2001 al-Qaeda. to as well as Philippines the in groups militant to out reach KMM helped which and state, Islamic pan-Malay a of goal same the shares which (JI), Islamiyah Jemaah group second-highest scoreglobally( the favorably, IS view Malaysians of percent 11 that found Center Research Pew the However, Indonesian counterparts. than their militants committed and hardened less be to join IStend to trying while arrested Malaysians that found Group Soufan The 2017. April in Syria in killed ordered attacks on prominent Malaysians including Prime Minister Najib Razak. Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, a Syria-based IS leader and Malaysian national, who also to reported allegedly perpetrators The officers. police were whom of two arrested, were pects sus Fifteen Malaysia. in IS by claimed first the was 2016, June in people eight injured which foiled several plots. out multiple arrests of suspected militants preparing attacks in the country, and claimed to have combatants than neighboring Indonesia. of departure the preventing at efficient more was state Malaysian the that noted Group Soufan Nusantara, was formed in Syria, although a large majority of its members were Indonesian. The jihad. The government’s official count was 100 in 2015. A Malay-speaking IS combat unit, Katibah A Malaysian national, Noordin Mohammad Top, was the mastermind of some of the most the of some of mastermind the was Top, Mohammad Noordin national, Malaysian A Following the rise of IS in Syria beginning in 2013, some Malaysians went abroad to join the 100 20 40 60 80 0
Do youhavea opinionoftheIslamicmilitantgroup inIragandSyria nownasIS ebanon Unfavorable