정부의 차별정책과 말레이시아 인도인들의 대응 = New Perspectives on British History : Articles ; Malaysian Indians` Reactions to the Discriminatory Policies of British Colonial and Malaysian Governments

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper undertakes an analysis on the discriminatory policies of British colonial and Malaysian governments to the Malaysian Indians, and on the strategic reactions from the Malaysian Indians. British colonial government who established rubber industry in Malaysia much needed sufficient labour supply while the native Malays were not willing to work as wage-earners, thus migrated the South Indians to Malaysia. The British managers of rubber plantations who designed the whole process of diaspora, deliberately used the traditional divisions within the Indian society based on caste system as a way to stabilize the hierarchical order between the managerial class and the workers, as the British colonial government perpetuated the principle of British colonial rule, `divide and rule` in this multi-racial country. Under the carefully structured and calculated paternalism, the life of Indian labourers seemed to have certain level of stability, yet they were taught little not to exceed their permitted role as a rubber producer. That is to say, Indian plantation workers were a mere rubber producing instrument in a wider context of British led Malaysian exporting economy. British colonial government`s attitude towards the Malaysian Indians carried on after independence. The Alliance was in theory an alliance of three parties of three major races in Malaysia, but in reality the Malays dominated the political scene. The Indians, being the smallest of the majorities in Malayasia, heavily relied on the decision making power of the Malays even for the Indian matters. Thus, Indians` needs were often forgotten or neglected, especially due to the escalating rivalries between the politically dominating Malays and the economic majority, the Chinese. This paper also analyses the Indians` reactions to the systematic discrimination by the colonial and Malaysian governments. The Indians` ever evolving demands during the several decades` labour disputes were closely examined. As a result of this examination, the Indians, despite being known as subservient - which was one of the main reasons why they were brought to Malaysia in the first place - in fact organised and rebelled through labour disputes, and achieved to a great deal in terms of wage, working hours, pay holiday, and so on. Though these achievements were short-lived due to the force of the Malaysian Emergency. Another obstacle to the desire of the Indians to excel came from the most outright pro-Malay economic policy of the Malaysian government, the New Economic Policy. Even worse, communalism, the governing principle of the Malaysian government, meant in reality `do it yourself` in terms of finding finance, improving social structure, and above all of education in the Indian society. The evidences of the dynamics of the Indian society are everywhere, though the true expectantly positive result is yet to come.