Ethnic boundaries and everyday understanding: The case of Malay and Chinese parental choice of National and National Type School in Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

Since the pre-independence era, the Malaysian schooling system has remained ethnicized by two cultural boundaries: language and religion. To explain this situation, this article focuses on how these ethnic boundaries work within Malay and Chinese parents' decisions for National and National Type of Schools, respectively. Thirty Malaysian Malays and 25 Chinese students born between the 1970s and the 1990s were interviewed in this research. The data showed that the majority of them had been enrolled in a primary and secondary school which could be associated with their ethnic identity. Analysis of the findings also suggested that despite the importance of future career planning, regionality and family socioeconomic background in the choice of schooling, it was the language and religious factors which had determined their parents' final decision. It also suggested that a schooling pattern based on the factors of language and religion has been sustainably maintained for three decades. The parental decision was not a simple action as it is also related to the 'everyday' understanding of what kind of school is appropriate to a particular ethnic group. The results of this study offer a theoretical explanation of ethnicity in everyday life from the constructivist perspective. This study also highlights how ethnic boundaries are the endproduct of a social process rather than a taken-for-granted, natural and primordial fact of life ascribed through birth.

Ethnic differences and predictors of racial and religious discriminations among Malaysian Malays and Chinese

“…Previous research relevant to race in Malaysia, and to a certain extent, religion, is either on hiring decision (H. A. Lee & Abdul Khalid, 2016), choice of school types for children (Ismail, 2018), attitudes toward diversity (Brown et al, 2018), immigrant workers (Noor & Shaker, 2017), or asylum seekers (Cowling & Anderson, 2019). Other research includes national unity between ethnic groups (Azlan et al, 2018;Azlan, 2019) and the colonial construction of race (Reddy & Gleibs, 2019).…”

Unearthing Linguistic and Historical Treasures: Analysis of Traces of Pro-to-Austronesian in Ancient Malay Inscriptions from Hindu-Buddhist Antiq-uities in Padang Lawas, North Sumatra

“…Located in the northern part of Sumatra, it benefits from the equatorial climate, which supports a diverse range of flora and fauna. This geographical context has made Padang Lawas an area of agricultural significance throughout its history, contributing to its role as a cultural melting pot (Ismail, 2015).…”

A Case Study of Racial Diversity in Multicultural School Environment

“…In certain ways, these remarks may still be applicable, particularly among individuals within a society who, for a variety of reasons, rarely engage with one another. Evidence is slowly collecting to call into question some long-held and beloved ideas about the nature of racial or ethnic identity and boundaries in Malaysia (Cowling & Anderson, 2019;Harris & Han, 2020;Ismail, 2018). However, there is little scholarly evidence about how cultural diversity affects people's perceptions and attitudes.…”