From: zam@athena.mit.edu (Nor Aazizam Mohd Aasif)
Subject: Re: Assimilation by the Chinese in Malaysia....
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1992 18:32:40 GMT

In article <5478@beta.COM> your mama writes:
>>In article <1992Apr1.175505.3511@athena.mit.edu>, zam@athena.mit.edu (Nor Aazizam Mohd Aasif) writes:
>>> 
>>> Excerpt from "CHINA AND THE ASEAN STATES: the ethnic Chinese
>>> dimension", by Leo Suryadinata. pp 17 - 18.
>>> 
>>> As was mentioned, some Chinese in the ASEAN communities have been more
>>> acculturated into local society than others.  Their degree of
>>> acculturation depends largely on the size of the Chinese community (in
>>> proportion to the non-Chinese population); the degree of religious
>>> similarities between the Chinese and the indigenous population; the
>>> readiness of the local government to accomodate the Chinese; and the
>>> readiness of the local Chinese to acculturate.  The Chinese in
>>> Thailand appears to be the most acculturated.  They are followed by
>>> the Chinese in the Philippines and Indonesia; THE LEAST ACCULTURATED
>>> ARE THOSE IN MALAYSIA.
>
>>>	I am as open minded as a person next door, but when I see a
>>>clear-cut example of a group of people refusing to assimilate into a
>  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>>society just for the heck of it, it ticks me off...
>
>>>NorAazizam MohdAAsif	 
>>>The white man made many promises to us but they never kept but one; they
>>>promised to take our land and they took it.
>                                                        Red Cloud
>
>OK, this is to let off steam. Excuse me Mr. Know it All. I cannot believe
>you can say that the Chinese have totally refused to assimilate. What do
>you call the BABAS ? Are they not an example of Chinese assimilation with
>the Malay culture ? You know my grandmother even dresses like a Malay.
>There is more to Malaysian history than your small ethnocentric window.

	Great opening line.  Is THIS how you attempt to establish your
credibility?

	Anyway, I have not mentioned the Baba population because they
do not comprise a major part of a Chinese community.  Their number is
very small, almost negligible among the 5m Chinese in Malaysia.  If
every Chinese in Malaysia strives to be like a Baba Melaka, you would
never hear a word from me in this newsgroup.  But that is not the
case.

	Baba Melaka is an exception.  They should be the model for 
every living Malaysian Chinese in Malaysia.

>Today Malay/Chinese inter-marriages result in the Chinese person
>having to convert to the Muslim faith. I have nothing against Islam.
>But the question I present is why has the "Baba process" almost come
>to a halt ? Who benefits from this "Us and Them" division ? Is this
>"have-to-convert-to-Muslim" rule NOT a tool to preserve a Muslim
>majority for obvious political reasons ? Or is it

	The reason is not political, but rather religious in nature.
A Muslim can not marry a person who is not Muslim, or not a member of
Ahl-Kitab. Since a Chinese is not an Ahl-Kitab, and not a Muslim,
he/she will have to convert to Islam so that his/her spouse can still
be considered a Muslim.  Islam comes in a package -- one does not pick
and choose which aspects of it that one wants to follow.  It is the
whole package or none at all...

>just another attempt to tamper with the creative forces of the universe just
>for the heck of it. I assure you if you look into other Muslim countries or 
>even the "Cape Malays" of South Africa, such stringent rules regarding 
>mix-marriages do not exist.

	The Malays in Malaysia are quite conservative.  They adhere
more to the Islamic rules than some Muslims...

===------ 
NorAazizam MohdAAsif	 
The white man made many promises to us but they never kept but one; they
promised to take our land and they took it.
                                                        Red Cloud
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asean