Modern slavery in Malaysia

Abstract

The British Empire forcibly transported workers from China and India to Malaya. The resulting racism and regressive labor policies persist to this day.
In his 1971 book „War of the Running Dogs“, British novelist Noel Barber described the former British colony Malaya as „one of the most beautiful countries on earth“. He goes on to paint a picture of a peaceful haven where „men of many skins and creeds lived in harmony“ – complete with imperialist paternalism as he labels people as either „gentle“, „industrious“, or „listless“ based solely on their ethnicity.
While the image of Malaysia as a harmonious melting pot has long endured in political rhetoric and national branding, so too have colonial constructions of racial ideology: the fictions of the indolent Malay, the venal Chinese, and the aggressive Indian are legacies that have outlasted the Empire, as the social demographer Charles Hirschman notes in his paper „The Making of Race in Colonial Malaya“.