Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- Introduction: Language Policies at Variance with Language Use in Multilingual Malaysia
- 1 The Importance of Ethnic Identity when Language Shift Occurs: A Study of the Malaysian Iyers
- 2 Ethnic Identity in the Tamil Community of Kuching
- 3 Do Exogamous Marriages Result in Language Shift? Focus on the Sindhis of Kuching, Malaysia
- 4 Malaysian-Filipino Couples and Language Choice: Heritage Language or International Language?
- 5 I am not English but my First Language is English: English as a First Language among Portuguese Eurasians in Malaysia
- 6 Language and Identity: Children of Indian Bidayuh Mixed Marriages
- 7 The Impact of Language Policy on Language Shifts in Minority Communities: Focus on the Malayalee Community in Malaysia
- 8 My Son has to maintain his Language because that is his Culture: The Persistence and Adaptation of the Bengali Community in Malaysia
- 9 Intercultural Communication in Sarawak: Language Use of the Chinese-Speaking Communities
- 10 Malay Javanese Migrants in Malaysia: Contesting or Creating Identity?
- 11 Conclusions: Multilinguality in the Malaysian Context of Nation-Building and Globalisation
- Contributors
- Bibliography
- Index
- Publications Series
10 - Malay Javanese Migrants in Malaysia: Contesting or Creating Identity?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 January 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- Introduction: Language Policies at Variance with Language Use in Multilingual Malaysia
- 1 The Importance of Ethnic Identity when Language Shift Occurs: A Study of the Malaysian Iyers
- 2 Ethnic Identity in the Tamil Community of Kuching
- 3 Do Exogamous Marriages Result in Language Shift? Focus on the Sindhis of Kuching, Malaysia
- 4 Malaysian-Filipino Couples and Language Choice: Heritage Language or International Language?
- 5 I am not English but my First Language is English: English as a First Language among Portuguese Eurasians in Malaysia
- 6 Language and Identity: Children of Indian Bidayuh Mixed Marriages
- 7 The Impact of Language Policy on Language Shifts in Minority Communities: Focus on the Malayalee Community in Malaysia
- 8 My Son has to maintain his Language because that is his Culture: The Persistence and Adaptation of the Bengali Community in Malaysia
- 9 Intercultural Communication in Sarawak: Language Use of the Chinese-Speaking Communities
- 10 Malay Javanese Migrants in Malaysia: Contesting or Creating Identity?
- 11 Conclusions: Multilinguality in the Malaysian Context of Nation-Building and Globalisation
- Contributors
- Bibliography
- Index
- Publications Series
Summary
Introduction
Modernisation and globalisation has led to immigration and at times integration with the host society. In Asia, millions of migrants from less developed countries have left their home countries in search of better job opportunities and an improved lifestyle in foreign lands. A huge number of migrant workers, mainly from Indonesia, contribute extensively to the cultural diversity in Malaysia.
Malaysia is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society, with three major ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese and Indians. Besides these three major races, there are also other ethnic groups and other indigenous people. The Javanese migrants from Indonesia constitute a large number in Malaysia and they are now fully assimilated into the society (Sekimoto 1988).
Multiculturalism in Malaysia was established as early as the 15th century ever since Parameswara, a Prince from Palembang, came to Melaka. The term multiculturalism is debatable and has been both championed and maligned. What was once an expression that was supposed to show how progressive, integrated and cosmopolitan a country was – where people from all cultures live side by side without anyone taking notice of what culture the other is from – is now seen to highlight differences between people instead of celebrating the experience that everyone brings to a society. Optimists agree that multiculturalism embraces every human being and is the best way of building a successful community, where there is mutual respect for people of all cultures. Others argue that it draws up divides, as people will automatically be broken up into smaller communities, preventing social cohesion and impeding integration.
Identities – create, construct and contest
Ethnic identities provide social relations across boundaries that can bond countries both economically and politically, as history has proven that one country's diaspora is another country's diversity. The study of identity offers a picture about an individual and his/her community to shed light on the interplay between subjective experiences of the world and the cultural and historical settings in which identity is formed (Gilroy 2000). Globalising markets and media, the flow of people, ideas and values, ethnic revival and the redrawing of political frontiers – these all contribute to identity questions at all levels of sociopolitical integration and differentiation (Driesden & Otto 2002).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- National Language Planning and Language Shifts in Malaysian Minority CommunitiesSpeaking in Many Tongues, pp. 163 - 172Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2011