A thousand ways to be Malay

 Recognising these differences acknowledges reality rather than forcing artificial uniformity.

I recently stumbled upon a fascinating excerpt while browsing several pages from the book “Malayland” by Malaysian author Dina Zaman.

Recalling a conversation with her non-Malay friends, she wrote: “I am asked by non-Malay friends why the Malays are like this and like that. I had a call once at 1am, and I told the person to befriend a Malay and then figure us out. You’re Malaysian and don’t have a Malay friend? What an idiot.

“And if we do have friends from all races, they typically fit in the same boxes we have created for ourselves: similar social and economic class, and traits like language elitism.”

Naturally, some netizens commented that Dina herself is Malay, and thus she is that Malay friend of her non-Malay friends.

But that sounds like too heavy a burden for one person, to answer for the diversity in thought, experience, and interests of a group of people who make up 58.3% of the population, according to 2025 statistics.

In my case, too, having been the sole Malay in many instances within both social and professional settings, I sure hope my non-Malay friends and colleagues don’t look to me to be a “spokesperson” for an entire community. I had a conversation with Dina, and she could relate to this experience.

That brings us to “Malay unity” – the catch phrase that politicians throw about for bringing together people of the same ethnicity. The idea is simple. If the Malay and Muslim-based parties can get the Malays to stick together, they will be a force to be reckoned with at the ballot box – 58.3%, am I right? And together with other Bumiputeras, that’s a whopping 70.5%.

With such a large population, there is bound to be great variance in thought, experiences, needs, wants and, dare I say, even competing priorities. Malays cannot be viewed as a monolithic community.

The diversity within

My parents, both Malay, grew up on opposite coasts of the peninsula, one in Penang, the other in Kelantan, and their experiences could not have been more different. One started his education “under a tree” while my mother attended a convent school.

My maternal great-grandmother was a Wanita Umno member, while my paternal grandfather was a PAS man through and through. Even among my own family, my cousins who grew up in the northern states had childhoods that differed markedly from my upbringing in the capital. Their different experiences contributed to different worldviews.

This plurality is reflected across the community, from rural villages to bustling concrete jungles, wherever Malays call home. We have different relationships with our identity, religion, culture, politics, and even the world beyond us, including our interactions and ties with non-Malay communities.

Let’s call this “Malay diversity”.

Recognising these differences acknowledges reality rather than forcing artificial uniformity.

Political analyst Syaza Shukri, from International Islamic University Malaysia, pointed out that Malay political unity ceased even before Malayan independence, with the formation of PAS in the 1950s when several Umno leaders split from the party.

Many years later, Amanah was formed as a splinter group from PAS, hoping to bring voters a more “moderate” version of political Islam.

Is this great diversity the reason why “Malay unity” can never materialise? Or maybe just not in the way we’ve always envisioned?

Mahathir’s efforts

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has repeatedly warned that a divided Malay community would make them the “losers”, putting the nation at risk, with Tanah Melayu becoming a land that belongs to others.

He has repeatedly sought to unite the Malays throughout his political career as a leader of Umno, Bersatu and Pejuang.

One such effort was the formation of Gerakan Tanah Air in August 2022, a coalition comprising Malay political parties, NGOs, academics and professionals. The coalition contested the general election later that year but suffered a resounding defeat, with all candidates, including Mahathir, losing their deposits.

In June last year, he launched yet another Malay unity initiative, although its direction remains uncertain after the falling out of prominent figures such as Hamzah Zainudin and Muhyiddin Yassin.

And the Malays remain “divided”.

Looking ahead

As a Malay, I wonder: is “Malay unity” a winning formula? Who am I uniting with? Do we really share the same values and priorities? Who are we beyond the perennial debate over our rights and privileges?

I won’t pretend to have the answers and luckily, I’m not a politician or government leader charged with finding the answers. But I am a voter, and I would like to see a form of politics and governance that draws strength from our differences.

Perhaps we need to focus less on the so-called “external threats” to the Malays and more on how the diversity within can bring meaning not only to the community, but to society as a whole.

I haven’t had the chance to read Dina’s book in its entirety, but perhaps she was telling her non-Malay friends to get to know more Malays so they can see beyond stereotypes and appreciate the community in all its complexity. And so that they’d stop calling her at 1am.

But don’t just take my word for it. I’m just one Malay among over 20 million others. - FMT

Ainin Wan Salleh is a news editor with FMT’s English desk.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.