The Chinese Language Movement in Malaysia, 1952-1967: The Language, Ethnicity and Nation-Building in a Plural Society

The Chinese language movement in Malaysia was launched by Chinese educationists to demand the recognition of Chinese as an official language and to legitimise the status of Chinese education in the national educational system. In the process, the official language issue evolved into an ethnic issue that strained ethnic relations between the Chinese and the Malays with severe political implications.

This work examines the politics of language in Malaysia during a crucial period when the nation-building process was in its formative stages. It focuses on the contrasting linguistic assertions of the Chinese educationists and the Malay nationalists as well as the attempt by the government to resolve these assertions through an accommodative approach. Language and ethnicity remain a relevant issue in contemporary Malaysia, especially when it involves the vernacular primary school system which has evoked intense ethnic contestation over its actual functional role in the nation-building process.

Publisher: SIRD

Paperback

2016

ISBN: 9789670960043