Radicals tells the story of a group of radical Malay men and women from ordinary social backgrounds who chose to oppose foreign rule of their homeland, knowing full well that by embarking on this path of resistance, they would risk imprisonment or death. Their ranks included teachers, journalists, intellectuals, housewives, peasants, preachers, and youths. They formed, led, and contributed to the founding of political parties, grassroots organizations, unions, newspapers, periodicals, and schools that spread their ideas across the country in the aftermath of the Great Depression, when colonialism was at its height and evident in all areas of life in their country. But when their efforts to uproot foreign dominance faltered in the face of the sanctions the state imposed upon them, some of these radicals chose to take up arms, while others engaged in aggressive protests and acts of civil disobedience to uphold their rights. While some died fighting and hundreds were incarcerated, many lived to resist colonialism until their country attained its independence in August 1957, all of these Malay radicals were devoted to becoming free men and women and to claiming their right to be treated as equals in a world riddled with prejudice and contradictions. Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied's innovative study brings to light the less charted and unanalyzed terrain of the radical experience—becoming and being radical. He argues that the experiences and histories of radicals in colonial Malaya can be elucidated in a more nuanced way by interrogating them alongside evolving local and global circumstances and by analyzing them through the lenses of a set of overarching and interconnected mobilizing concepts—a set of ideas, visions, and notions that the radicals used to reason and justify their advent—that were internalized, lived, and utilized in the course of their activism. These mobilizing concepts were their weapons and armor, employed to organize, strategize, protect, and consolidate themselves when menaced by the tentacles of the colonial state as they embarked upon the agonizing path towards independence. Those interested in Malaysian history, colonial history, radical movements, and resistance groups will enjoy this fascinating study.

Education in multiethnic societies is a subject of considerable debates in almost all parts of the world. These debates have invoked strongly-felt positions between competing ethnic groups over a host of issues that have a profound impact on the nation building process. Apart from deep-seated issues arising from contrasting internal demands over educational rights and equality, emerging issues arising from external influences such as the global spread of English as a result of globalisation have also impacted the nation building process of multiethnic societies. It is against this context that educational issues in multiethnic societies merit our attention. In the case of Malaysia, discourses over these issues are particularly intense and hotly contested by the different ethnic groups. This is primarily because of the extreme difficulties in mediating these complicated issues which are impinged by competing socio-cultural, economic and political interests. This book explores the contested terrains of education in multiethnic Malaysia. It comprises seven chapters that cover three crucial areas of educational provisions and delivery, namely education of ethnic minorities, education and national integration, and educational language policy. These three crucial areas are often the prime concerns of policy makers in multiethnic societies who have to tread a thin line in resolving these issues which are underpinned by intense coterminous interests and inter-ethnic competition, and having the potential to generate conflicts, contestation and power struggle. As far as the Malaysian policy makers are concerned, their efforts in resolving these issues have not been overly successful. It is most unfortunate that their policy decisions are at times influenced by competing political and ethnic interests rather than guided by sound theoretical underpinnings that could put the educational development of the country on a stronger platform and a clearer trajectory.

This book investigates the interface of ethnicity with occupation, empirically observed in luxury international hotels in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It employs the two main disciplines of anthropology and sociology in order to understand the root causes and meaning of ethnicity at work within the hospitality industry sector. More specifically, it observes social change in a multi-ethnic and non-secular society through an ethnographic study located in a micro organisation: the Grand Hotel. At the individual level, this research shows how identity shifts and transformation can be mediated through the consumption and manipulation of food at the workplace. In addition, it combines an ambitious theoretical discussion on the concept of ethnicity together with empirical data that highlights how ethnicity is lived on an everyday basis at a workplace manifesting the dynamics of cultural, religious and ethnic diversity. The book presents the quantitative and qualitative findings of two complementary surveys and pursues an interdisciplinary approach, as it integrates methodologies from the sociology of organisations with classic fieldwork methods borrowed from ethnology, while combining French and Anglo-Saxon schools of thoughts on questions of identity and ethnicity. The results of the cultural contact occurring in a westernised pocket of the global labour market – in which social practices derive from the headquarters located in a society where ethnicity is self-ascribed – with Malaysian social actors to whom ethnicity is assigned will be of particular interest for social scientists and general readers alike.

The history of modern Chinese schools in Peninsular Malaysia is a story of conflicts between Chinese domiciled there and different governments that happened or happen to rule the land. Before the days of the Pacific War, the British found the Chinese schools troublesome because of their pro-China political activities. They established measures to control them. When the Japanese ruled the Malay Peninsula, they closed down all the Chinese schools. After the Pacific War, for a decade, the British sought to convert the Chinese schools into English schools. The Chinese schools decoupled themselves from China and survived. A Malay-dominated government of independent Peninsular Malaysia allowed Chinese primary schools to continue, but finally changed many Chinese secondary schools into National Type Secondary Schools using Malay as the main medium of instruction. Those that remained independent, along with Chinese colleges, continued without government assistance. The Chinese community today continues to safeguard its educational institutions to ensure they survive.

Malaysia's multicultural society supports one of the most dynamic economies in Asia. This completely revised new edition of the standard text, first published twenty years ago, traces the history of the country from early times to the present day. The authors give particular attention to the evolution of Malay polities and their close links with indigenous groups who lived on the oceans and in the deep jungles of the region, from Sumatra to Borneo. This provides the background to the establishment of the Malay port of Melaka, which was conquered by the Portuguese in 1511, foreshadowing the establishment of a British colonial regime in the late nineteenth century. Although the large numbers of Chinese and Indian migrants who arrived to work in the tin and rubber industries contributed to economic expansion, colonial policies did not encourage communal interaction. The authors trace the process by which post-independence leaders in Malaya attempted to counter the legacy of ethnic hostility while answering Malay demands for an affirmation of their rights and a stronger commitment to Islam. The incorporation of the Borneo states of Sarawak and Sabah into the Federation of Malaysia in 1963 rendered the goal of welding a nation from areas that were geographically separated and culturally disparate even more problematic. The intense emotions attached to issues of race were made tragically evident in the racial riots of May 1969, which this book sees as a watershed in modern Malaysian history. As Malaysia enters the twenty-first century, the government is determined to oversee the transition to an economy focused on manufacturing and advanced technology, and to eliminate poverty and the association between occupation and race. While several recent studies deal with the impact of colonial rule and Malaysia's spectacular economic transition, this book is unique because it tracks developments from early times and identifies continuities as well as change. Combining the authors' specialist knowledge of precolonial sources with the most recent contemporary research, this new edition reinforces the position of A History of Malaysia position as a standard reference for all those interested in the historical processes which led to the emergence of this culturally varied and economically energetic country.

This is an open access book.The 3rd International Conference on Communication, Language, Education and Social Sciences (CLESS 2022) will be held on 25-27 July 2022. This year’s conference will be a part of the bigger Digital Future Congress (DIFCON) comprising of various other conferences in different fields and will be held online. CLESS 2022 is unique in which it combines communication, language, education, and social science in an international academic conference. The aim of CLESS 2022 is to offer a platform for both local and international academics, educators, researchers and other professionals to meet, share and discuss latest research, trends, ideas and innovation in the field of communication, language, education, psychology and social sciences. The conference is aimed to provide a platform for young researchers as well as to support and encourage other researchers to present their research, to network within the international community of researchers and to share and seek the insight and advice of successful senior researchers all over the world during the conference.