Malaysia shares some of the language issues we have in Canada. The population is 60% Malay, 23% Chinese, 10% Indigenous, and 7% Indian. The Chinese and Indian people were brought here by the British to run the plantations, operate the tin mines, and build the railways. The Malays speak a language called Bahasa, while the others speak their native languages. On top of that mix, Malaya was a British colony from 1786 until independence in 1957 (with a brief timeout from 1942 to 1945).
Church on Sunday was at Bangsar Lutheran church. It was an interesting mix of all the different race and, I guess because of this, the service was in English - the common denominator. We greatly enjoyed the worship (contemporary - they even sang a couple of Brian Doerksen songs) and the sermon given by an intern young lady from Minnesota.
On Sunday night we had dinner in a sidewalk restaurant in "little India". Nobody in the restaurant spoke any English and the menu was incomprehensible. We finally managed to say chicken and that is what we got. It was a very enjoyable meal. But just like in Quebec, there are a significant number of people here who don't need to bother with English.
But it seems like the language/ethnic issue here is more serious than in Canada. Because of the government Malay-first policy, there is significant discrimination against the Chinese and Indian sectors of the population. Government jobs, university positions, and scholarships all go by preference to Malays. The proportion of Chinese has declined by 1/2 since independence in 1957. Malays are perceived as "easy going", the Chinese as industrious, and the Indians as good administrators. There were race riots here as recently as 2006. It makes Canada seem pretty good.
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| Meal in Little India |
On Sunday night we had dinner in a sidewalk restaurant in "little India". Nobody in the restaurant spoke any English and the menu was incomprehensible. We finally managed to say chicken and that is what we got. It was a very enjoyable meal. But just like in Quebec, there are a significant number of people here who don't need to bother with English.
But it seems like the language/ethnic issue here is more serious than in Canada. Because of the government Malay-first policy, there is significant discrimination against the Chinese and Indian sectors of the population. Government jobs, university positions, and scholarships all go by preference to Malays. The proportion of Chinese has declined by 1/2 since independence in 1957. Malays are perceived as "easy going", the Chinese as industrious, and the Indians as good administrators. There were race riots here as recently as 2006. It makes Canada seem pretty good.
Interesting - my parents lived in Indonesia for five years early in their marriage and had also visited Malaysia during that time. I would love to travel to that part of the world. Sounds fascinating.
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