The Chinese have been entering Southeast Asia since the early years of the fifteenth century. By 1941, in Malay alone, there were about 2,580,000 Chinese, outnumbering the natives. The detailed history of this movement into Malaya has been written by Victor Purcell, who delineates the story of the beginnings of contacts and carries it through to July 1947 . Mr Purcell is highly qualified to eng…
Dr. Mahathir was born on December 20, 1925, in Alor Setar, Kedah. While still in school, he was involved in the campaign against the Malayan Union in 1945-1946. Using the pseudonym C.H.E. Det, he frequently wrote articles about the Malay people and politics for the Sunday Times newspaper between 1946 and 1950. He had long been a member of UMNO, but he only became famous in 1964 when he won a…
The book Ethnic Politics in Malaysia by R. K. Vasil examines the dynamics of communal and ethnic politics in post-independence Malaysia. Vasil explores how various ethnic groups (mainly Malay, Chinese, and Indian) interact within a pluralistic political system. He discusses power structures, the role of ethnic-based political parties, and the ways in which political elites build communal coalit…