Chinese Studies of the Malay World : A Comparative Approach

This book is based upon a colloquium on Chinese Studies of the Malay World, held at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's Institute of the Malay World and Civilisation (Institut Alam dan Tamadun Melayu or ATMA).

The September 2002 event was to provide a forum for scholars to discuss the Chinese experience of the Malay world.

Much of the significance of the colloquium comes from the fact that the Chinese are a minority in Malaysia living under constitutional restrictions.

These have tended to question the right of place of the Chinese within the Malay world.

The study of one ethnicity by another would not be a controversial subject except for the fact that the relationship between the two groups, in this case the Malays and the Chinese, is so highly charged.

Through the wide range of subjects touched on in this anthology, it is clear that the Malay world is the Promised Land for the scholar of inter-cultural relations.

This is indeed where the winds meet. It is an area rich in human and natural resources; where treasures from other lands are brought to be exchanged; where cultures and religions co-exist; where coastlines and ports encourage migration; and where states rule over plural societies.

Knowledge about such a rich ecology must be complex, and a comparative approach in gathering facts about the region is wise.

This book is an important contribution to that enterprise