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ASAA Southeast Asian Publications Series
Other Malays: Nationalism and Cosmopolitanism in the Modern Malay World
This stimulating new reading of constructions of ethnicity in Malaysia and Singapore is an important contribution to understanding the powerful linkages between ethnicity, identity, and nationalism in multiethnic Southeast Asia.
The narrative of Malay identity devised by Malay nationalists, writers, and filmmakers in the late colonial period associated Malayness with the village ( kampung ), envisaged as static, ethnically homogenous, classless, indigenous, subsistence-oriented, rural, embedded in family and community, and loyal to a royal court. Joel Kahn challenges the kampung version of Malayness, arguing that it ignores the immigration of Malays from outside the peninsula to participate in trade or commercial agriculture, the substantial Malay population in towns and cities, and the reformist Muslims who argued for a common bond in Islam and played down Malayness.For sale in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand by NUS Press (Singapore)
The narrative of Malay identity devised by Malay nationalists, writers, and filmmakers in the late colonial period associated Malayness with the village ( kampung ), envisaged as static, ethnically homogenous, classless, indigenous, subsistence-oriented, rural, embedded in family and community, and loyal to a royal court. Joel Kahn challenges the kampung version of Malayness, arguing that it ignores the immigration of Malays from outside the peninsula to participate in trade or commercial agriculture, the substantial Malay population in towns and cities, and the reformist Muslims who argued for a common bond in Islam and played down Malayness.For sale in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand by NUS Press (Singapore)
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 26, 2024
Could NEVER have expected that pics I took of pages from this book while sat on some beach in Sentosa last year munching on nachos would come in handy during a 48 hour Pol & Gov paper...So here's a backdated review out of tremendous gratitude to this ethnography that came through in an hour of need:
Kahn challenges British colonial constructions of 'Malay-ness' that homogenised disparate ethnic groups in Malaysia and Singapore, including those who were not in fact indigenous to peninuslar Malaya as claimed by the British. Instead, many of those who came to be classified as 'Malay' were itinerant people, some of whom were also part of the mercantile classes, undermining colonial perceptions that Malays were a subsistence-oriented people largely based in kampungs.
Kahn writes lucidly and convincingly about the legacy of these totalizing constructions as hegemonic narratives of nationalist governments that replaced the British reproduced and solidified racialised allocations of labour, status, and living spaces. His fieldwork (conducted with his wife and fellow anthropologist Maila Stivens) also reveals how communities themselves envisioned their modernisation and modern 'Malay' identities. That said, I was hoping for more detail on where these diverse groups placed themselves in imaginations of nationalist peoplehood.
Some choice quotes from the book:
"When we read that some text or another is giving voice to these others, we must recognise that these other voices are also authorial constructions, not the unmediated voices of the subaltern groups that such texts may claim to speak."
" 'Narrating' Malayan modernity can never take place outside a narrative of western modernity; equally, narrating western modernity should never take place without acknowledging that it was never merely Western."
Also s/o to Kim for coming in cluuuuutch during the paper by helping me to take pics of Hazirah Mohamad's essay on racialised public health discourses in Brown is Redacted at 11pm in SG...#technology
Kahn challenges British colonial constructions of 'Malay-ness' that homogenised disparate ethnic groups in Malaysia and Singapore, including those who were not in fact indigenous to peninuslar Malaya as claimed by the British. Instead, many of those who came to be classified as 'Malay' were itinerant people, some of whom were also part of the mercantile classes, undermining colonial perceptions that Malays were a subsistence-oriented people largely based in kampungs.
Kahn writes lucidly and convincingly about the legacy of these totalizing constructions as hegemonic narratives of nationalist governments that replaced the British reproduced and solidified racialised allocations of labour, status, and living spaces. His fieldwork (conducted with his wife and fellow anthropologist Maila Stivens) also reveals how communities themselves envisioned their modernisation and modern 'Malay' identities. That said, I was hoping for more detail on where these diverse groups placed themselves in imaginations of nationalist peoplehood.
Some choice quotes from the book:
"When we read that some text or another is giving voice to these others, we must recognise that these other voices are also authorial constructions, not the unmediated voices of the subaltern groups that such texts may claim to speak."
" 'Narrating' Malayan modernity can never take place outside a narrative of western modernity; equally, narrating western modernity should never take place without acknowledging that it was never merely Western."
Also s/o to Kim for coming in cluuuuutch during the paper by helping me to take pics of Hazirah Mohamad's essay on racialised public health discourses in Brown is Redacted at 11pm in SG...#technology
June 15, 2025
In my study into Malayness, Kahn's Other Malays offers an examination of the fragility and flexibility of this racialised category. The book begins in Singapore, pondering over how Malayness was defined in its rigid, almost stereotypical pictorial. The Malays are a rural people and desire communalism. These are the conceptions of Malayness we see even in modern discourse. Other Malays is an argument against such rigidity. Kahn challenges this notion and delves into Malayan history. Key takeaways:
1. The Malay community, in the archipelago, were nomadic and often travelled to where economic gains could be made.
2. The British colonial administration of Malaya, to have a grip on agricultural economic development, designed policies that intertwined Malay identity with land. This was a means to also stifle the nomadic nature of the Malays.
3. Malay nationalism was a contested discourse, primarily between the leftists and UMNO. The former sought to clarify Malayness as cosmopolitan, while the latter were more inclined to align with the British stipulation of Malay identity.
Other Malays is a carefully concieved argument that challenges the belief that Malay identity is confined to the Malaysian constitutional definition. I would argue that if you are serious about understanding Malayness, Kahn's work is among its key texts.
1. The Malay community, in the archipelago, were nomadic and often travelled to where economic gains could be made.
2. The British colonial administration of Malaya, to have a grip on agricultural economic development, designed policies that intertwined Malay identity with land. This was a means to also stifle the nomadic nature of the Malays.
3. Malay nationalism was a contested discourse, primarily between the leftists and UMNO. The former sought to clarify Malayness as cosmopolitan, while the latter were more inclined to align with the British stipulation of Malay identity.
Other Malays is a carefully concieved argument that challenges the belief that Malay identity is confined to the Malaysian constitutional definition. I would argue that if you are serious about understanding Malayness, Kahn's work is among its key texts.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews