Tamil Malaysian or Malaysian Tamil refer to the Malaysians of Tamil ethnic origin from India and Sri Lanka in Malaysia. They make up over 70% of the Indian Malaysian population group in Malaysia. Although bulk of the migration happened during the British colonial period there were established Tamil communities spanning a millennia.

Background Information

Prior to British colonization, Tamils had been conspicuous in the archipelago much earlier, especially since the period of the powerful South India kingdom of the Cholas in the 11th century. By that time, Tamils were among the trading peoples of maritime Asia. Although bulk of these immigrants to South East Asia had assimilated with the majority Malay ethnic group some communities such as the Tamil Muslims and the Malacca Chittys are remnants of these earlier migration history.

Colonial era migration

During the British colonial era, Britain facilitated the migration of Indian workers to work in plantations. The overwhelming majority of migrants from India were ethnic Tamil and from British Presidency of Madras. In 1947 they represented approximately 85 per cent of the total Indian population in Malaya and Singapore. Other South Indians, mainly Malayalees and Telugus formed a further 14 per cent in 1947, and the remainder of the Indian community was accounted for by North Indians, principally Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, and Sindhi.There were, in addition, three further ethnic Tamil and religious groups whose political and economic importance in Malayasia far exceeded their numerical strength. Two were important business communities the Tamil Chettiar, a mercantile and money lending caste from Tamil Nadu, and the South Indian Muslims namely Moplahs from Kerala and Marakkayar from Tamil Nadu who were mainly wholesalers. The third group were the Sri Lankan Tamils also known locally as Ceylonese Tamils who were employed principally in the Civil Service and in the professions.

Position of language

According to Harold Schiffman an American researcher into Malaysian Tamils, native Tamil speakers especially well-educated Tamils are shifting to English, whereas less-educated Tamils, however, especially those still living in plantation communities, continue to speak Tamil, and the prognosis for their language maintenance is for the time being favorable. Although most Tamil students still go to publicly funded schools that teach primary subjects in Tamil language there are moves to shift to Malay language. Some Tamil groups have objected to this policy.

Economic condition

Tamil Malaysians have had an opportunity to integrate with the expanding economy of Malaysia since 1970 under the New Economic Policy (NEP). Although bulk of them still remain as workers in the plantation sector in rubber and palm oil estates very many have moved out as blue collar and white collar workers in the expanding Industrial sector. Yet others are also found in civil service, professional sector, media and finance. One of Malaysia's wealthiest man Ananda Krishnan is a Tamil Sri Lankan Malaysian. Overall it is one of the dynamic communities compared to other Indian diaspora groups such as in Fiji, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

Political condition

The Malaysian political process is based on a cooperative political alliance of three major political parties, each representing an ethnic community. Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) represents the interests of the Malaysian Indian community at the federal level. Due to their numerical superiority, Tamil Malaysians have come to dominate the MIC since its inception.Samy Vellu, who is the longest serving leader of a mainstream Malaysian political party, having been MIC president since October 12, 1979 is a Malaysian Tamil, as are many of the office bearers of the party.However in the early stages of the MIC, the leadership was dominated by North Indians, Malayalees and Ceylonese(Sri Lanka Tamil) as they were the more educated ones. The Tamils represented the peasantry which were not very represented in the MIC leadership but as now that has been reversed with Tamils in the driving seat.In recent times the underclass of the Tamil community have been galvanized by the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) to fight for their rights. HINDRAF was classified as an illegal organization on the 15 October 2008 and most of its top leaders have been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

See also

• Tamil Sri Lankans
• Tamil Canadians
• List of Malaysian Tamils of Ceylonese origin

References

External links

• Markers of ethnic identity: focus on the Malaysian Tamil community