NOR EZANIZA

AIMI ZAHIRAH
NINA NADZIRAH
Awareness of socio
cultural diversity in
Malaysia
Race Ethnic
 Race & Ethnic
• Race is associated with biology, whereas ethnicity is associated with culture
• Race is primarily unitary – one (you can only have one race, while you can claim multiple ethnic
affiliations)
• Ethnicity is the term for the culture of people in a given geographic region, including their
language, heritage, religion and customs.
• Race and ethnicity can overlap, but they are distinct.
• For example, a Japanese-American would probably consider herself a member of the Japanese or
East Asian race, but, if she doesn't engage in any of the practices or customs of her ancestors, she
might not identify with the ethnicity, but might instead consider herself to be American.
•Based on Islamic view, existence of multi ethnic, ethnicity,
race, language, color, customs, culture and so on is
common.
•Enable man to know each other, work together, helping
each other and having mutual respect towards peace,
security, prosperity and unity
Demographic in Malaysia
• Contains many races,
nationalities, religions.
• Indigenous people- original
inhabitants of Malaysia – Malay,
Dayak, Iban, Kadazan Dusun
• Ethnic groups – Malays,
Chinese, Indians
 Concepts in ethnicity
Ethnicity Ethnocentrism Stereotype Prejudice Discrimination

• Sense of • A feeling • General • Implicit • Views,

belonging of when statements feelings in thoughts,
an ethnic elements in purporting the hearts – negative
group one’s ethnic negative usually beliefs
group are impression unreasonable
considered dislike
better than towards the
the others other
 Malaysia is a multiracial and multicultural country.

 One of the issues that often arise in a country like Malaysia where
over a hundred languages and dialects are spoken daily by the
people is the choice of language (David, 2006)
 is the dominant group in the
country and have a tapestry of
minority racial groups

 Speaks Bahasa Melayu

 Bahasa Malaysia or the Malay

Language is the national and
official language in the country.
 also a diverse language group with a variety of
dialectal groups

 Mandarin is the official Chinese language and is

used for all official purposes and in the media

 becoming a popular language amongst the Chinese

community especially with the emergence of China
as a new superpower and the opening of more
diplomatic and trade ties with China.
 The Indian community in Malaysia is also heterogeneous

 Studies have shown that there is a language shift in the Sindhi

community in Malaysia and the community has moved from their
ethnic language to English and Malay (David, 1996).
 Before Independence, schools in Malaysia were established to cater
for the major ethnic groups

 In 1872, the Straits Settlement Education Department was

established by the colonial government to see to the establishment
of English medium schools.
◦ made the English Language accessible to Malaysians of all races in towns
 After the country achieved Independence in 1957, a unified national
system of education was initiated.
◦ Malay was made the national language and, together with English, was
made a compulsory language to be taught in all schools.

 The Chinese-medium, Tamil-medium and English-medium primary

schools were termed national type schools whilst the Malay-medium
primary schools were termed national schools.
 Most of the Malay adolescents are bilingual
◦ having Malay and English as their main languages.

 The Chinese adolescents are seen mostly as

bilingual or trilingual having Mandarin and/or their
dialects as their main language in addition to
Malay and English

 Likewise, the Indian adolescents are also seen as

bilingual or trilingual
 Malaysian youth are constantly faced with the options of making
meaningful language choices

 Romaine (1989) and Gumperz (1982) point out that code-changing

often follows a change of addressee.
◦ They can also choose to code-switch by using two languages or to code-
mix
 Awareness of
socio-cultural
diversity
in Malaysia

Social Structure
 DEFINITION
•Social:
of or relating to human society, the interaction of the
individual and the group, or the welfare of human beings as
members of society
•Structure:
organisation of parts as dominated by the general character
of the whole
The internal institutionalized
relationships built up by persons
living within a group (such as a
family or community) especially
with regard to the hierarchical
organisation of status and to the
rules and principles regulating
behaviour. (Merriam Webster)
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
•An individual or a group status in a society
depends on:
Race
Family
Religion
Education
Wealth
Age