Tamil Malaysians
Encyclopedia
Tamil Malaysian or Malaysian Tamil refer to the Malaysians of Tamil
ethnic origin from India
and Sri Lanka
in Malaysia. They make up over 70% of the Indian Malaysian population group in Malaysia. Although bulk of the migration happened during the British colonial period
there were established Tamil communities spanning a millennia.
, Tamils
had been conspicuous in the archipelago
much earlier, especially since the period of the powerful South India
kingdom of the Cholas in the 11th century. By that time, Tamils
were among the trading peoples of maritime Asia. Although bulk of these immigrants to South East Asia had assimilated with the majority Malay ethnic group some communities such as the Tamil Muslims and the Malacca Chittys
are remnants of these earlier migration history.
facilitated the migration of Indian workers to work in plantations. The overwhelming majority of migrants from India were ethnic Tamil
and from British Presidency of Madras. In 1947 they represented approximately 85 per cent of the total Indian population in Malaya and Singapore. Other South Indians, mainly Malayalees and Telugus
formed a further 14 per cent in 1947, and the remainder of the Indian community was accounted for by North Indians, principally Punjabi
s, Bengali
s, Gujarati
s, and Sindhi
.There were, in addition, three further ethnic Tamil and religious groups whose political and economic importance in Malayasia far exceeded their numerical strength. Two were important business communities the Tamil Chettiar
s, a mercantile and money lending caste
from Tamil Nadu
, and the South Indian Muslims namely Moplahs from Kerala
and Marakkayar from Tamil Nadu
who were mainly wholesalers. The third group were the Sri Lankan Tamils also known locally as Ceylonese Tamils who were employed principally in the Civil Service and in the professions.
, whereas less-educated Tamils, however, especially those still living in plantation communities, continue to speak Tamil, and the prognosis for their language maintenance is for the time being favorable. Although most Tamil students still go to publicly funded schools that teach primary subjects in Tamil language
there are moves to shift to Malay language
. Some Tamil groups have objected to this policy.
(NEP). Although bulk of them still remain as workers in the plantation
sector in rubber
and palm oil
estates very many have moved out as blue collar
and white collar
workers in the expanding Industrial sector. Yet others are also found in civil service, professional sector, media and finance. One of Malaysia's wealthiest man Ananda Krishnan
is a Tamil Sri Lankan Malaysian. Overall it is one of the dynamic communities compared to other Indian diaspora groups such as in Fiji
, Guyana
and Trinidad and Tobago
.
level. Due to their numerical superiority, Tamil Malaysians have come to dominate the MIC since its inception.Samy Vellu
, who is the longest serving leader of a mainstream Malaysian political party, having been MIC president since October 12, 1979 is a Malaysian Tamil, as are many of the office bearers of the party.
In recent times the underclass of the Tamil community have been galvanized by the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) to fight for their rights. HINDRAF was classified as an illegal organization on the 15 October 2008 and most of its top leaders have been detained under the Internal Security Act
(ISA).
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
ethnic origin from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
in Malaysia. They make up over 70% of the Indian Malaysian population group in Malaysia. Although bulk of the migration happened during the British colonial period
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
there were established Tamil communities spanning a millennia.
Background information
Prior to British colonizationBritish Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
, Tamils
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
had been conspicuous in the archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
much earlier, especially since the period of the powerful South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
kingdom of the Cholas in the 11th century. By that time, Tamils
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
were among the trading peoples of maritime Asia. Although bulk of these immigrants to South East Asia had assimilated with the majority Malay ethnic group some communities such as the Tamil Muslims and the Malacca Chittys
Chitty
The Chitty are a distinctive group of Tamil people found mainly in Malacca and Singapore , who are also known as the Indian Peranakans. As of today, their population stands at 2,000.-Language:...
are remnants of these earlier migration history.
Colonial era migration
During the British colonial era, BritainGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
facilitated the migration of Indian workers to work in plantations. The overwhelming majority of migrants from India were ethnic Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
and from British Presidency of Madras. In 1947 they represented approximately 85 per cent of the total Indian population in Malaya and Singapore. Other South Indians, mainly Malayalees and Telugus
Telugu people
The Telugu people or Telugu Prajalu are an ethnic group of India. They are the native speakers of the Telugu language, the most commonly spoken language in India after Hindi and Bengali...
formed a further 14 per cent in 1947, and the remainder of the Indian community was accounted for by North Indians, principally Punjabi
Punjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
s, Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
s, Gujarati
Gujarati people
Gujarati people , or Gujaratis are an ethnic group that is traditionally Gujarati-speaking and can trace their ancestry to the state of Gujarat in western India...
s, and Sindhi
Sindhi people
Sindhis are a Sindhi speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating from Sindh, a province Formerly of British India, now in Pakistan. Today Sindhis that live in Pakistan belong to various religious denominations including Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity...
.There were, in addition, three further ethnic Tamil and religious groups whose political and economic importance in Malayasia far exceeded their numerical strength. Two were important business communities the Tamil Chettiar
Nagarathar
The Nagarathars is a Chettiar community in Shaivism that originated in Kaveripoompattinam under the Chola kingdom of India. They are a prominent mercantile Vaishya, caste in Tamil Nadu, South India...
s, a mercantile and money lending caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
from Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, and the South Indian Muslims namely Moplahs from Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
and Marakkayar from Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
who were mainly wholesalers. The third group were the Sri Lankan Tamils also known locally as Ceylonese Tamils who were employed principally in the Civil Service and in the professions.
Position of language
According to Harold Schiffman an American researcher into Malaysian Tamils, native Tamil speakers especially well-educated Tamils are shifting to EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, whereas less-educated Tamils, however, especially those still living in plantation communities, continue to speak Tamil, and the prognosis for their language maintenance is for the time being favorable. Although most Tamil students still go to publicly funded schools that teach primary subjects in Tamil language
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
there are moves to shift to Malay language
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
. Some Tamil groups have objected to this policy.
Economic condition
Tamil Malaysians have had an opportunity to integrate with the expanding economy of Malaysia since 1970 under the New Economic PolicyNew Economic Policy
The New Economic Policy was an economic policy proposed by Vladimir Lenin, who called it state capitalism. Allowing some private ventures, the NEP allowed small animal businesses or smoke shops, for instance, to reopen for private profit while the state continued to control banks, foreign trade,...
(NEP). Although bulk of them still remain as workers in the plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
sector in rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
and palm oil
Palm oil
Palm oil, coconut oil and palm kernel oil are edible plant oils derived from the fruits of palm trees. Palm oil is extracted from the pulp of the fruit of the oil palm Elaeis guineensis; palm kernel oil is derived from the kernel of the oil palm and coconut oil is derived from the kernel of the...
estates very many have moved out as blue collar
Blue collar
Blue collar can refer to:*Blue-collar worker, a traditional designation of the working class*Blue-collar crime, the types of crimes typically associated with the working class*A census designation...
and white collar
White-collar worker
The term white-collar worker refers to a person who performs professional, managerial, or administrative work, in contrast with a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor...
workers in the expanding Industrial sector. Yet others are also found in civil service, professional sector, media and finance. One of Malaysia's wealthiest man Ananda Krishnan
Ananda Krishnan
Tatparanandam Ananda Krishnan is a Malaysian businessman and philanthropist of Tamil origin. Nicknamed A-K, he is estimated to have a net worth of US$9.6 billion according to Forbes' latest annual list of wealthiest people, making him the second wealthiest in Southeast Asia behind Robert Kuok,...
is a Tamil Sri Lankan Malaysian. Overall it is one of the dynamic communities compared to other Indian diaspora groups such as in Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
and Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
.
Political condition
The Malaysian political process is based on a cooperative political alliance of three major political parties, each representing an ethnic community. Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) represents the interests of the Malaysian Indian community at the federalCentral government
A central government also known as a national government, union government and in federal states, the federal government, is the government at the level of the nation-state. The structure of central governments varies from institution to institution...
level. Due to their numerical superiority, Tamil Malaysians have come to dominate the MIC since its inception.Samy Vellu
Samy Vellu
Dato' Seri Samy Vellu Sangalimuthu is an Indian Malaysian politician. He is the longest serving President of the Malaysian Indian Congress , a component party of the Barisan Nasional coalition, holding the position since 1979, for 11 consecutive terms...
, who is the longest serving leader of a mainstream Malaysian political party, having been MIC president since October 12, 1979 is a Malaysian Tamil, as are many of the office bearers of the party.
In recent times the underclass of the Tamil community have been galvanized by the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) to fight for their rights. HINDRAF was classified as an illegal organization on the 15 October 2008 and most of its top leaders have been detained under the Internal Security Act
Internal Security Act (Malaysia)
The Internal Security Act 1960 is a preventive detention law in force in Malaysia. The legislation was enacted after Malaysia gained independence from Britain in 1957. The ISA allows for detention without trial or criminal charges under limited, legally defined circumstances...
(ISA).
See also
- Tamil Sri Lankans
- Indians in Singapore
- Tamil South AfricansTamil South Africans-External links:**...
- Tamil Canadians
- List of Malaysian Tamils of Ceylonese origin