Digital Commons Network^™

Diasporic Insecurity As Constructional Framework For Chinese Political Identity In Colonial Malaya (1826-1957), Azlan Tajuddin Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

The ethnic Chinese in Malaysia have always been a politically conscious minority. Much of this was shaped during Malaysia’s (Malaya) colonial period when the Chinese community began experiencing various social insecurities associated with life as a diaspora. For one, as a migrant minority in a colonial society, the Chinese faced various uncertainties over their ability to maintain their cultural identity in a multiethnic capitalist society. Additionally, their own contradictory ideas about their status in Malaya as well as their segmented experiences along socio-economic lines did not accord them any unity in deciding their own political future. Using theories in political …