Introduction

Globalization has reconstructed ethnicity and ethnic nationalism the world over. The exemplary case of Eastern Europe is too well-known to require elaboration. It suffered hitherto unknown mass ethnic violence to the point of ethnic annihilation. Closer to home, Indonesian ethnic nationalism has not only produced mass violence and hardships on a massive scale over an extended period of time but also threaten to break up the Indonesian state: the struggle for independence in East Timor, Aceh, and Kalimantan are probably just the beginning. Globalization in general seems to have re-ignited old ethnic fears and excited new ethnic demands in multi-ethnic societies. How does it affect Malaysia, a multi-ethnic state-nation which experienced serious ethnic clashes in the 1960s? Does it suffer a similar predicament? If not, why? What has happened to the fiery ethnic nationalism and ethnic struggles of post-colonial Malaysia?

This chapter will discuss the rise of Malaysian nationalism and the challenges to it brought about by globalization. It will focus on how Malay nationalism emerged in the early part of the twentieth century and why it became strongly asserted in the 1980s under the New Economic Policy (NEP). Other types of ethnic nationalism in Malaysia, particularly Chinese ethnic nationalism, contested Malay dominance but internal splits and inter-ethnic élite alliance as well as rapid economic growth diluted non-Malay demands and diminished their position. This gave the opportunity for the Malays, through their major political party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), to exert their power and authority to define “Malaysian nationality” in terms of Malay interests, culture, and religion. But globalization brought about new challenges and opportunities, particularly to the Malay leadership. While they continue to safeguard Malay dominance, they at the same time turned Malay nationalism into an instrument for accumulation and concentration of corporate wealth in the hands of the few. In the process, they compromised the position of major symbols of Malay nationalism, such as Islam, the Malay-dominated education system, and the Malay language. Can the leaders defend themselves by creating new national myths and symbols and share it with other Malaysians in what may be called a new “Malaysian nationalism”? This chapter shows that ethnicity and ethnic nationalism are still pervasive and impair such a move. At the same time, the new nationalism is fragile and superficial because it is constructed mainly as a political defence.