Tamil women in Wellesley Province, British Malaya, circa 1900. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Essay
Putras of the Bhumi
Many Malaysian Indians may feel marginalised, but there is nowhere else they would rather live. Especially not the Subcontinent of their ancestors.
Despite a history of migration that goes back two centuries, a fair representation in the ruling coalition government and enjoying the fruits of the country's economic growth, Malaysia's Indian community sometimes sees itself as a marginalised group.
Malaysians of Subcontinental origin today make up 1.5 million of the country´s 20.7 million population. The rest are 12 million Bumipulcras (sons of the soil— Malays), 5.3 million Chinese, 600,000 of ´Other´ races and 1.3 million non-citizens.