Being Minority and Majority - Chinese Muslims in Malaysia
(2022) COSM40 20221Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University
- Abstract
- This paper examines the identities of Chinese Muslims who are simultaneously an ethnic minority and a religious majority in the Malaysian social context. The research questions how their identities shape their festival practices and social environments. As the research question in this paper is highly relevant to identity, identity theories serve as the theoretical framework for this paper to support this study. The data for this paper was obtained through semi-structured interviews with Malaysian Chinese Muslims. From the data obtained, this paper draws three conclusions. First, Malay and Muslim identities are conflated in Malaysian society, so being Muslim also means the possibility of not being identified as Chinese for the Chinese;... (More)
- This paper examines the identities of Chinese Muslims who are simultaneously an ethnic minority and a religious majority in the Malaysian social context. The research questions how their identities shape their festival practices and social environments. As the research question in this paper is highly relevant to identity, identity theories serve as the theoretical framework for this paper to support this study. The data for this paper was obtained through semi-structured interviews with Malaysian Chinese Muslims. From the data obtained, this paper draws three conclusions. First, Malay and Muslim identities are conflated in Malaysian society, so being Muslim also means the possibility of not being identified as Chinese for the Chinese; Second, in Malaysian society, the existence of religious laws gives Muslim identity clear boundaries, and the identification of the individuals becomes less important, which may reinforces the construction of a Muslim identity, but can also lead to negative attitudes about being Muslim. Finally, this study also found that the identities of Chinese Muslims in Malaysia are not exactly equal, but rather the Chinese identity is stronger and the Muslim identity is weaker. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9099322
- author
- Zhou, Qinyi
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- COSM40 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Identity, Festival customs, Malaysian Chinese, Social environment
- language
- English
- id
- 9099322
- date added to LUP
- 2022-09-05 11:59:24
- date last changed
- 2022-09-05 11:59:24
@misc{9099322, abstract = {{This paper examines the identities of Chinese Muslims who are simultaneously an ethnic minority and a religious majority in the Malaysian social context. The research questions how their identities shape their festival practices and social environments. As the research question in this paper is highly relevant to identity, identity theories serve as the theoretical framework for this paper to support this study. The data for this paper was obtained through semi-structured interviews with Malaysian Chinese Muslims. From the data obtained, this paper draws three conclusions. First, Malay and Muslim identities are conflated in Malaysian society, so being Muslim also means the possibility of not being identified as Chinese for the Chinese; Second, in Malaysian society, the existence of religious laws gives Muslim identity clear boundaries, and the identification of the individuals becomes less important, which may reinforces the construction of a Muslim identity, but can also lead to negative attitudes about being Muslim. Finally, this study also found that the identities of Chinese Muslims in Malaysia are not exactly equal, but rather the Chinese identity is stronger and the Muslim identity is weaker.}}, author = {{Zhou, Qinyi}}, language = {{eng}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, title = {{Being Minority and Majority - Chinese Muslims in Malaysia}}, year = {{2022}}, }