"Race or ethnic group?" Politics of race in Malaysia

• Main Author: Nakamura, Rie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Horizon Research Publishing 2015
• Subjects: HM Sociology; HT Communities. Classes. Races
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/22258/1/SA%203%208%202015%20389%20398.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/22258/; http://doi.org/10.13189/sa.2015.030803

This paper investigates the reasons why university students in Malaysia prefer the term race over ethnic groups.The usage of the word race by students and faculty members in the classroom will be examined, along with academic writings and media usages of this term.Further, reasons for the pervasiveness of the term race in Malaysia will be explored.In this paper I argue that the concept of race is used to create a notion that the three major ethnic groups in Malaysia are physically/biologically separate groups, and that their differences will never be changed.Such sedentary ethnic divisions are important for the maintenance of social hierarchy and status quo in Malaysia.