Page 8 - (SSF1033) INTRODUCTION TO MALAYSIAN SOCIAL HISTORY

NATIONALIST HISTORY

Malay nationalism (Malay: Semangat Kebangsaan Melayu

Jawi: ﻮﻳﻼﻣ نءﺎﺴ ﺒﻛ ﺖ ﻤﺳ ) refers to the nationalism that

focused overwhelmingly on the Malay anticolonial struggle,

motivated by the nationalist ideal of creating a Bangsa

Melayu ("Malay nation") with its central objectives were the

advancement and protection of what constitutes the

Malayness – religion (Islam), language (Malay), and royalty

(Malay rulers). Such pre-occupation is a direct response to

the European colonial presence and the influx of foreign

migrant population in Malaya since the mid-nineteenth

century.