BANGSA MELAYU (ENGLISH VERSION)

The years immediately after the Second World War were critical in the remaking of Southeast Asian societies. 'Bangsa Melayu' is an innovative study of political ideology in two related but distinct Malay communities in peninsular Malaya and East Sumatra at this time of tremendous political ferment. Prior to this period the kerajaan – monarchies headed by the sultans – had been central to Malay political culture and identity. With the rise of nationalism, contestation over nationality and the emergence of nation states in the making, new alternatives became available to the Malays.
In peninsular Malaya bangsa Melayu (Malay ethnic identity) appeared as a focus of loyalty and community, taking precedence over kerajaan. Meanwhile, in Sumatra the advent of an all-embracing Indonesian republic led to the complete destruction of the monarchical system. In this new edition of a classic book, Ariffin Omar focuses on the basic differences in thinking, temperament and attitude between the two groups of Malays which led to markedly different political outcomes. It will be of enormous appeal to all those interested in the history of ideas and the politics of ethnicity.
 

Ariffin Omar was born in 1949 and had his secondary education at St Xavier’s Institution, Penang. He obtained his PhD at the Australian National University in 1990, taught at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Utara Malaysia and the National Defence University of Malaysia, and was a visiting Fulbright Fellow at the University of Utah, USA in 1998. He was also a founding member of Aliran Kesedaran Negara, a reform movement dedicated to justice, freedom and solidarity. He is the author of 'Revolusi Indonesia dan Bangsa Melayu' (1999) and edited a volume on 'The Bumiputra Policy: Dynamics and Dilemmas' (2004). Now based at the Penang Institute, his research focuses on nation, nationalism, ethnic relations and religious freedom. He is currently a senator representing Penang in the Malaysian parliament.

Anthony Milner is the Tun Hussein Onn Chair in International Studies at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies, Malaysia; Adjunct Professor at the University of Malaya; and Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne. He is the author of 'Kerajaan: Malay Political Culture on the Eve of Colonial Rule' (1982), 'The Invention of Politics in Colonial Malaya' (1995, 2002) and 'The Malays' (2008, 2012).