Malaysia (Socio-Cultural Setting)
-
Upload
jose-radin-garduque -
Category
Education
-
view
117 -
download
0
Transcript of Malaysia (Socio-Cultural Setting)
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
Way of Life
The people of Malaysia have avariety of lifestyles. Importantamong ethnic Malays are respectand obedience toward parentsand elders, community self-help,and, in rural areas, the
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
maintenance of law and orderthrough cooperation and respectfor the village headman.Marriages, burial customs, andother aspects of Malay lifeconform to Islamic law. Ingeneral, religion plays a major
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
role in each group’s way of life.Wedding ceremonies of ethnicIndians, for example, followHindu traditions, whereby thewedding takes place on a dayand hour prescribed by a Hinduastrologer. Traditional Chinese
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
family structure is patrilineal andpatriarchal; as in China, sons arepreferred over daughters inorder to maintain the familysurname through descent.Kinship ties among the extendedChinese family are very strong
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
and carry into the businessenvironment. Because ethnicChinese own many Malaysianbusinesses, these ties hinderoccupational mobility amongMalays.
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
Rural ways of life differsignificantly from urbanlifestyles. In East Malaysia, aboutthree-quarters of the populationis rural. Many indigenous ethnicgroups, including the Iban (SeaDayaks), Bidayuh (Land Dayaks),
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
and Kadazan, practice shiftingcultivation (also known as slash-and-burn agriculture). In thistype of agriculture, trees andgrasses are burned from an areaso a crop may be planted; afterseveral seasons, the land is
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
abandoned and a new area isburned for planting. Thesegroups live mostly in single-family housing units, but manyindigenous people in EastMalaysia live in longhouses, atraditional dwelling of Borneo.
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
Social Issues
Since Malaysia gainedindependence, there have beensignificant differences in thesocial standing of the three mainethnic groups—indigenousbumiputras (mostly Malays),
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
ethnic Chinese, and Indians.Many of these differences areholdovers from the colonialperiod. While Malays havetraditionally predominated inpolitics and government, ethnicChinese and Indians have been
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
disproportionately successful inthe economy. The incidence ofpoverty is significantly higher inrural areas, where the majorityof bumiputras live. Bumiputrasgenerally work as laborers onestate farms, raise crops on
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
small plots, or practicesubsistence agriculture (farmingto meet family or village needsrather than for profit). Ingeneral, ethnic Chinese haveplayed the major role in both therural and urban sectors of the
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
economy, and this has been anissue of contention for manybumiputras. In May 1969 ethnic-based tensions erupted intoviolent riots in Malaysia. In 1970the government introduced theNew Economic Policy (NEP) to
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
try to eliminate the relationshipbetween ethnicity and income.The 20-year period of the NEPproduced some improvements,including a reduction of peopleliving at or below poverty level,from 52 percent in 1970 to 17
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
percent in 1990. However, theincome gap between groups,especially bumiputras and ethnicChinese, remained substantial. In1991 the government introducedthe New Development Policy(NDP) as a successor to the
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
NEP, continuing many of thesame initiatives but with astronger emphasis on increasingbusiness ownership amongbumiputras. In the early 2000seconomic and social differencescontinued to be a significantsocial issue in Malaysia.
•
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
Culture
Malaysia reflects differentcultural traditions, includingthose of China, India, the MiddleEast, Europe, and the entireMalay Archipelago. Early Malayempires absorbed Indian
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
influences, such as Hindu epicsand the Sanskrit language. Thekingdom of Malacca, centered inthe present-day state of Melaka,developed as an Islamic state, orsultanate, in the 1400s. Later,new cultural cultural influences
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
from Europe and China mixedwith Hindu and Islamictraditions. A collective butdistinctively Malay culturalpattern has emerged out of allthese influences, with artisticexpressions in literature, music,dance, and art forms.
Socio-Cultural Setting:
Malaysia
Source:
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft
Corporation. All rights reserved.