Towards a New Malaysian Future: The Origins and Current Status of the Bumiputera Laws

Abstract

This paper examines Malaysia's Bumiputera (People of the Soil) policy in historical context as a reaction to perceived economic imbalances engendered prior to Malaysian independence, notably the dominant position assumed by the Peranakan (Straits Chinese) in the financial sector during the colonial period. The paper also highlights how perceived links between ethnic Chinese and insurgent movements during the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960) shaped negative perceptions of the Chinese community in the eyes of Malaysian policymakers, a view reinforced during the ethnic violence of the May 13th Incident in 1969. The subsequent implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1971 consequently contained clearly racial overtones that equated rural (predominantly Malay) populations with systemic poverty, thus creating a justification for a system of educational and economic discrimination that continues to influence Malaysian society today.