On the National Consciousness of the Malays

For the Malay people in Malaysia the institution of the sultanate embQdies their xtremely strong sentiments of racial unity and sense of being Malay These sentiments are a particularly strong factor iT ) the difficul struggle toward the effecting of a single Malaysian nation Historically in the very early days the racial or ethnic cohesiveness which these feelings brought about was useful as a defense agaillst the attacks of alien powers especially froln the north and south At the pI ' esent Ume it is being used as a defense against the Chirlese element in Malaysia who because of their comparative economic prosperity are considered to be a threat by the native Malays After World War II under the initiative of the British a start was made tQward unification in the form of the Malayan Union but it was doomed to failure due in alarge part to the unwillingness of the Malays to give up their institution of the sultanate and of the sultans to give up their privileged positions under the Qld system The Union was therefore dissolved within less than two years Although it se ms greatly desirable to achieve a u ity among the many races of Malaysia and thus to create a single unified natiQn territorially as well as culturally the prospects for this are not very hopeful in view of the strongly localized racial consclousness of the Malays which works against such unification