The lost pride of the Indian Muslims - Mahathir notwithstanding

Malaysia’s multi-ethnic society, comprising the Malays, Chinese, Indians and the Indigenous people, offers a good sample to study and understand ethnic identity dilemma. The Bumiputera ethnic category was introduced to slot in Muslim and non-Muslim indigenous population in Sabah and Sarawak when Malaysia was formed as having equal and special position along with the Malays in the country.

All Malays are considered Muslims and an individual born in a Malay family would be considered a Bumiputera. Majority of Indians in Malaysia are either a Hindu or a Muslim.

Some Indian Muslim families would try hard to classify their newborn child as Malay to benefit the special position of the Bumiputera. Other Indian Muslims who have so much pride in their ethnicity would choose to retain their family roots and prefer to be known as Indian Muslim.

The most famous Malay leader with Indian ancestry is none other than Malaysia's longest serving premier, Mahathir Mohamad who ruled with a fist of iron from 1981 to 2003. Forthright in many ways, Mahathir was coy about his heritage, admitting it only recently. Some of the old-timers in the civil service still talk about how Mahathir purportedly sent his dad on a one-way ticket back to India when he first started to hit the big boys league in Umno.

Politics of race and religion is much alive

“Racial politics in the country should be gradually wiped out,” said a politician from PAS. This is also general the view of the young generation in the country. To most Malaysians though, this may sound too ideal a statement. The country has too many ethnic groups and religious groups that it is not easy for politicians to please all and sundry if the formula of governance is not based on ethnic and religious groupings and interests.

For this reason, the political scenario in the country, after about six decades of achieving independence, is quite clearly charted out with their respective race-based political parties fighting for their cause and rights. Despite the many efforts to bring in politics of ideology into the scene, politicians on both political divides cannot absolutely escape from race and religion as their rhetorical implements to gain votes. Regrettably, politics of race and religion would still be much alive in the country for many years to come..

The political participation of one ethnic minority - the Indian Muslim community in the country - should not go unobserved. They do play a significant role in the Malaysian political pitch especially in constituencies where their population is quite large. The state of Penang, for instance, has a big population of Indian Muslims.

Penang Malays

A recent study among Penang Malays indicated that the “pure” Malays there are not quite happy that Penang UMNO is dominated by Indian Muslims or what they term here as “Mamak”. Apparently, some UMNO branches in Penang even conduct their meetings in Tamil.

Indian Muslims who are much more resourceful, aggressive and prolific in business are more prominent among the Muslims in Penang as compared with the “pure” Malay ethnic group who are relatively less dominant in business but mostly work as government servants or are self-employed.

Their general feeling is that the Indian Muslims are more imposing in all fields in the state from business to politics. This, they sense, has to a certain extent encroached on their territory - the so-called bumiputera rights. Their perception is that the Indian Muslims are enjoying the privileges given to the bumiputera.

Penang has the highest concentration of Indian Muslims in the country. In most cases, studies have shown that they do face an ethnic Identity dilemma. It was found in a study that the average number of this ethnic group who do not have an identity dilemma was only 22 percent. High number of them (88 percent) having some kind of identity dilemma is probably due to the image associated with they being Indian Muslims.

Simply being a member of a group provides the Indian Muslims with a sense of belonging that contributes to a positive self-concept. Indian Muslims who leave the group by trying to pass as members of the dominant group or the mainstream ethnic group (Malay) may have negative psychological consequences on them.

This has indeed led to some complexity among this ethnic group. The Indian Muslims generally come under three categories when given a choice to identify themselves but this does not remain unvarying throughout due to their unpredictability if given an option to choose an identity.

Ethnic switching

In the case of a significant number of Indian Muslims in the country they change from Indian Muslim to Indian when they join MIC and become Indian Muslim again when they are associated to Malaysian Indian Muslim Association (KIMMA) and finally changes further to Malay when they join UMNO.

Socio-economic factors have led to this identity dilemma and ethnic switching among Indian Muslims in Malaysia. This is the fateful ethnic identity dilemma the Indian Muslims are facing. Ironically, they do not face this quandary when they live in other countries. For instance, when living in Singapore they are proud to be identified as Indian Muslim. They would never want to be identified as Malay in this flourishing state.

In a nutshell, their positive attitudes and contentment with their own ethnic group indicate an acceptance of their ethnic identity. On the other hand, sad to say, their negative attitudes towards their own ethnic group has led to a denial of their ethnic identity in Malaysia.

A study in Penang found that while almost 90 percent chose Indian Muslim as their self-reported identity, this percentage decreased more or less when they were asked to choose their ethnicity in five different socio-economic situations, in which, on average only 22 percent chose Indian Muslim as their ethnicity. This denial of ethnic identity appears to centre mainly around socio-cultural and socio-economic factors.

Economic reasoning has an influence on the choice of wanting to be identified as Malay. Socio-cultural reasoning has an influence on the choice of wanting to be identified as Indian Muslim or Indian. People change their ethnic identity if they could profit by doing so, which means that ethnicity is something to be played with or to be used for manipulation.

It’s the complexity of ethnic identity that has led to this phenomenon of ethnic switching or universally known as identity dilemma. This is a common trait among some individuals who are descendents of an ethnic group different from that of the residing country. This ethnic group – Indian Muslims - is actually facing this identity dilemma or identity crisis.

Overlaps of social and religious values

The Indian Muslim differs from the Indian in the aspect of religion but their way of lives and customs are more or less similar. There are overlaps of social values when it involves their socio-cultural preferences as they belong to the same roots. There are customs and tradition practised by the Indian Muslims that could be considered as inappropriate from the perspective of Islam and the factors that demarcate the Indian Muslims from the Indians and the Malays as a whole. The Indian Muslim apparently shares the same religion and faith with the Malay (Islam) but generally they differ culturally.

When facing this dilemma, the Indian Muslim would be facing a predicament on whether to choose between the two cultures, two conflicting identities or establish a bicultural ethnic identity. They are now living in a nebulous situation. Apparently, the Indian Muslims being an ethnic minority need to negotiate their identification with their own ethnic group and their identification with the mainstream culture of the society - due to their minority status and often racial or cultural distinctiveness. This is when they end up becoming more fuzzy and befuddled.

Labelled as opportunists

Ethnic identity is crucial to the self concept and psychological functioning of any ethnic group members. The situation in Penang seems to be where economic dominance, political and social status by the Muslims are not dominated by the ordinary “pure” Malay ethnic group but the Indian Muslims. It could thus be understood why the “pure” Malays are not too happy with the Indian Muslims in this state. They perceive ethnic identity - ethnic component of social identity - of Indian Muslims as not similar to that of theirs.

The identity choice among the Indian Muslim population in a multi-ethnic Malaysia is well understood by the Malays today and for this reason Indian Muslims who encroach their “territory” are often labelled as opportunists. They are perceived as a group ready to take advantage of the Malays.

It is a fact that, a significant number of Indian Muslims have some kind of identity dilemma and have decided not to choose Indian Muslim as their identity for some socio-political and economic reasons when in actuality they are ethnically Indian Muslims who have a culture of their own quite alien to the Malays.

Though both the Malays and Indian Muslims are of the same religion, they are defined as different groups of ethnicity. While both the Indians and the Indian Muslims are of essentially of the same race they are not of the same religion.

At the end of the day, those who could not find a place in UMNO or feel left out in MIC ended up forming a political entity of their own (KIMMA) and this set-up has led them to claim that they have been marginalized and suffering in silence for the past six decades!

Malaysia Chronicle