May 13 Ethnic Riots—Malaysia
The 13 May 1969 ethnic riots that broke out in Malaysia represented a milestone in the history of the young nation-state's ethnic relations since its independence from the British colonial government in 1957. Malaysia's population is multiethnic and includes a large Malay majority, which is mostly indigenous, and two relatively large minority ethnic groups—Chinese and Indians—who are descended mainly from migrants from China and India. The Chinese form a larger ethnic minority than the Indians. Ethnicity has also been politicized in independent Malaysia because each ethnic group has its own political party.
During the British colonial administration, the migrant Chinese, who had been more economically successful than either the Malays or the Indians, were largely concentrated in the urbanized and developed parts of present-day Malaysia. Most Malays and Indians lived and worked in the rural agricultural sectors. After independence, the Malay political party, the United Malay National Organization (UMNO), was more powerful than other parties, in terms of its political support by the larger Malay population and its representation in the political leadership. Tensions therefore gradually developed between the politically powerful Malays and the economically successful Chinese.
In the 1969 Malaysian national elections, the national Chinese political party, the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA), which had won the elections in 1959 and 1964, won only thirteen of the thirty-three seats it contested. The opposition Chinese parties, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and the Gerakan Rakyat, gained 26.2 percent of the total vote and twenty-five parliamentary seats, compared with 13.5 percent garnered by the MCA. The Malay national party also suffered losses because of the popularity of its major rival, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party.
With the rejection of the MCA by Chinese voters, the party decided to pull out of the government, although it remained within the Alliance Party, the coalition of the national Malay, Chinese, and Indian political parties. The withdrawal of the MCA from government led to a worsening of the tensions already created by the DAP's victory parade in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. During a counterdemonstration organized by UMNO activists on 13 May, racial violence broke out and escalated. An estimated six thousand residents in Kuala Lumpur, which was 90 percent Chinese at the time, lost their homes and properties during the riots. Hundreds of buildings in Kuala Lumpur were razed to the ground. Although the unofficial figures and nongovernmental sources put the number of people who died in the riots in the hundreds, official figures set down the death toll at 196. Three-quarters of the casualties were reportedly Chinese.
The riots and government response showed the Chinese in Malaysia the difficulty of challenging Malay dominance, given the Malay-controlled military and police forces, which in any confrontation could impose their will on any issue of concern to the Malays.
Since 1969, there has been a gradual increase in Malay dominance and the growth of a Malay-dominated state. In 1971, the New Economic Policy was launched, which aimed at eradicating poverty and putting Malays, who make up more than half the population in Malaysia, into the mainstream of Malaysia's economic life. Preferential policies have been introduced, which have set quotas for the number of Malays to be admitted to universities as well as government and private-sector employment. At first set for twenty years, the policy was extended in 1991 for another decade.
Further Reading
Ho, K. L. (1997) "Political Indigenisation and the State in Peninsular Malaysia." In ASEAN in the Global System, edited by H. M. Dahlan, H. Jusoh, A. Y. Hing, and J. H. Ong. Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 210–224.
Lee, K. H. (1997) "Malaysian Chinese: Seeking Identity in Wawasan 2020." In Ethnic Chinese as Southeast Asians, edited by L. Suryadinata. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 90
Mee, W. (1998) "National Difference and Global Citizenship." In Southeast Asian Identities—Culture and the Politics of Representation in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, edited by J. S. Kahn. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 227–259.
Pan, L., ed. (1998) The Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas. Singapore: Chinese Heritage Centre.
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