Imperialism, Colonialism and their Contribution to the Formation of Malay and Chinese Ethnicity: An Historical Analysis

Ethnicity is a complex concept which is easily taken as a primordial notion inherited from previous generations. This primordial understanding of ethnicity continues to dominate post-independence Malaysian authority and everyday actors based on two factors. First, the lack of any critical historical analysis for understanding the present situation. Second, there are social, economic and political needs for maintaining the separation of ethnicities which consequently maintain the imperial and colonial epistemological understanding of 'race' in the present State ethnic bureaucratic system. The main objective of this article is to present a sociological review of the long-term effects of imperialism and colonialism on the formation and development of the two principal Malaysian ethnic groups - Malays and Chinese - through selected major phases in Malaysia's history. The outcomes suggest that the ethnic boundaries of Malaysian Malays and Chinese were gradually built, institutionalized and intensified over time rather than being primordially inherited from their ancestors.