Decades of official discrimination have turned Malaysia's ethnic Indians into a disgruntled underclass
Multiracial malaysia has three heritages to celebrate: Malay, Chinese and Indian. In the Bujang Valley in northern Kedah state, Malaysia's Indian roots are visible. An ancient kingdom existed there, of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, dating back to the 4th century. It was a trading and migration port, within sailing distance of India, and it eventually became part of Sumatra's mighty Sriwijaya Empire. Since the site was rediscovered by explorers in the 1930s, more than 50 temple ruins have been excavated in the valley, making it Malaysia's richest archaeological treasure trove.
But an Indian Malaysian visiting the Bujang Valley might come away feeling demeaned rather than proud—and that would be no accident. The government has spruced up some ruins and built a museum beside them to showcase Bujang's archaeological finds. The ochre ruins are classically Indian in design, neat, dull—and there is nothing to tell the visitor how grand the originals may have been. The museum has Buddhist and Hindu statues behind glass—cows, Ganeshas, lingams—but the official literature does its best to downplay, even denigrate, the Indian impact on the region. A board on the museum wall describes an "old Malay kingdom" in the Bujang Valley that had "contact with various people of different cultural origins and environments." The museum's brochure is even more explicit. It states that maritime trade led to the "indianization" of the Bujang Valley. The indigenous culture, it says "was eventually adulterated."
If that sounds like a wan cheer for Malaysia's Indian heritage, it's a sentiment familiar to most of the country's 1.8 million people of Indian descent. Affirmative action-type quotas for the Malay population, along with a political system controlled by the Malays and Chinese, make many Indian Malaysians feel like third-class citizens. The result is an increasingly aggrieved population, and a timid one, that isn't very happy about its place in society. "I'm not sure I can see a future in this country for my children," says an Indian-Malaysian businesswoman in Kuala Lumpur who asks not to be named. "We'll give it another few years. If things have not improved, we'll leave for Europe."
Race is the big divide in Malaysia, as it has been ever since the watershed race riots of 1969. In his 20 years in power, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has tried to uplift the Malays, who make up 55% of the 22 million population, and guarantee them a large percentage of available business opportunities. The second-largest group, the Chinese, were supposed to lose their disproportionate grip on the country's economy. But it may be the Indians who were the real losers. Most were imported a century ago to work the rubber plantations and tin mines, and they still dominate the bottom rungs of the social ladder. "Indians have neither the political nor the economic leverage to break out of their vicious cycle of poverty," says Selvakumaran Ramachandran, an Indian-Malaysian academic who works for the United Nations Development Program. "If their problems are not arrested and reversed, it is almost certain they will emerge as an underclass."
Already, Indians have the lowest share of the nation's corporate wealth: 1.5%, compared to 19.4% for the Malays and 38.5% for the Chinese. Not surprisingly, Indians claim the highest rate of suicide of any community. Violent crime is becoming Indian turf. In 1994, 128 of the 377 murders committed in Malaysia were by Indians. Some 15% of the Indians in the capital are squatters. "I have a feeling," says P. Ramasamy, a political science professor at the National University, "that if something is not done soon, something is going to really blow."
The Indians' main problem is numerical. With only 8% of the country's population, they don't have enough clout to alter pro-Malay business or employment policies, or even stand up to Malay chauvinism of the sort exhibited at the Bujang Valley museum. The Chinese community has a slew of ambitious political leaders. The Indian community's politics are dominated by the Malaysian Indian Congress (mic) and its leader of more than two decades, S. Samy Vellu, who happens to be the only Indian in Mahathir's cabinet.
When the government wants to dispense largesse to the Indian community, it usually does so through Samy Vellu, as a recent scene at mic headquarters demonstrated. Indian parents and their children came to hear Samy Vellu describe a new government scheme for student loans. It was a "very special allocation" made through the generosity of the Prime Minister and the Education Minister, he said. To qualify, families had to earn less than $5,300 a year. A young Indian woman in the crowd admitted that her father made more than the stipulated amount. "Can I still apply?" she asked. "Don't worry," Samy Vellu assured her. "Come see me afterwards and I will make sure you can get it." Obviously impressed with the minister's magnanimity, the crowd of 500 applauded warmly. "Whatever we get," says a senior Indian journalist, "we can get only through the mic. That's how the system works."
One area in which Indians have prospered is the professions, particularly medicine and law, and Indian names stud the rolls of professional societies. Many of this group hail from white-collar families who worked in Malaysia when it was a British colony. Yet even with that background, an Indian Malaysian can find it difficult to become a doctor or lawyer. Local university seats and scholarships to study overseas are all awarded by a racial quota system. Even when someone gets a degree, discrimination is frequent. Indian doctors, for instance, complain that they are increasingly excluded from the lists of approved doctors whom civil servants or company employees can use. "I wish you Americans would invade—just for a while," a small-town Indian doctor tells a visitor. "Then I would have a fairer chance of working in this country of ours."
So far, Indians have resigned themselves to their plight. But some rumbles are being heard. Last October, five Malaysian men were attacked and killed one night in the town of Kampar, 150 km north of Kuala Lumpur. Their charred remains were found in a torched pickup truck. The police arrested 13 cattle ranchers of Indian descent. The ranchers had complained for two years of people poaching their cows, but apparently the local police had done nothing to help. The 13 ranchers have yet to be tried, and poaching has reportedly ceased in that area. The defendants are quietly regarded as heroes among the Indian community. "Malaysia cannot afford to have about 8% of its population feel alienated," warns R.V. Navaratnam, a prominent businessman. "Malaysian unity can be as strong only as its weakest link—which is the Malaysian Indian community."
By Anthony Spaeth - Time.com
Showing posts with label Bujang Valley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bujang Valley. Show all posts
Saturday, October 09, 2010
Friday, July 09, 2010
Bujang Valley: Earliest civilisation in S-E Asia
Bujang valley continues to amaze historians
Bujang Valley, one of several Indianised kingdoms in Southeast Asia, existed long before neighbouring empires such as Majapahit (1200 AD) and Sri Vijaya (700 AD).
International historians observe archaeological excavations at the site of the 2,000 year old Bujang Valley civilisation in Sungai Batu, Kedah. They have described the man-made structures – the oldest thus far recorded in South-east Asia – as the most pivotal find in the region in the last few decades.
The Bujang Valley in Kedah, where the oldest recorded man-made buildings in South-East Asia have been discovered, continues to be a source of amazement to historians and achaelogists.
Some of the world’s top historians converged at the archaeological site to survey excavation works for the 2,000-year old civilisation which has been hailed in the last few decades as “the most important civilisational find in the region.”
The civilisation there is now known to have existed long before neighbouring empires like Sri Vijaya (700AD) and Majapahit (1200AD).
It was reported that Malaysian archaeologists had unearthed a 1,900-year-old monument, scientifically dated to 110 AD, built with detailed geometrical precision in Sungai Batu, Kedah.
The monument, which faces the Gunung Jerai mountain, the highest peak in northern Malaysia, is believed to be have been used for ritualistic purposes.
The monument was found surrounded by remnants of advanced iron smelting facilities equipped with furnaces as well as brick jetties built along a river bank.
Dr Stephen Oppenheimer of Oxford University’s school of anthropology described it as “the earliest monumental site” that showed an important role as an industrial and trading centre.
“This is one of the most important finds in South-east Asia for the last couple of decades,” he said.
India’s Gujarat State Archaeology Department director Yadubirsingh Rawat said there was now indisputable evidence that international trading activities had taken place here in that period.
“The settlers here had full knowledge of iron smelting and jetty construction. This means they must have been connected to other places in the world,” he said.
“The discovery shows that the Bujang valley contributed significantly to maritime trade in the region,” he added.
Also found with the monument were various pottery and a Buddhist tablet with Pallava-Sanskrit inscriptions likely to have been made in the 5th century AD.
The discovery, by the Centre for Global Archaeological Research (CGAR) of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), was made within a three sq km area where a total of 97 mounds have been found. Thus far only 10 have been excavated.
Dr R. Nagaswamy, former director of the Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department said the western coast of peninsular Malaysia was likely a central point in the sea route of international trade in that period.
“From this we not only gain a deeper understanding of the country, but also of world history,” he said.
He also noted that Kedah had attracted rulers from South India, such as the Chola kings, to send their armies there in the 11th century.
The experts are in Malaysia for a conference on the Bujang Valley.
CGAR had announced last week that it had recently uncovered a new site in Jeriang, Kedah, comprising seven ancient furnaces once used for smelting of iron.
New estimates now show that the Bujang Valley settlement covered an area of about 1,000 sq km, mostly around Gunung Jerai, and not just 400 sqkm as previously believed.
Dated 110 AD, the newly discovered Sungai Batu monument in the Bujang Valley is the oldest recorded man-made building in South-east Asia.
Bujang Valley
Bujang Valley, one of several Indianised kingdoms in Southeast Asia, existed long before neighbouring empires such as Majapahit (1200 AD) and Sri Vijaya (700 AD).
International historians observe archaeological excavations at the site of the 2,000 year old Bujang Valley civilisation in Sungai Batu, Kedah. They have described the man-made structures – the oldest thus far recorded in South-east Asia – as the most pivotal find in the region in the last few decades.
The Bujang Valley in Kedah, where the oldest recorded man-made buildings in South-East Asia have been discovered, continues to be a source of amazement to historians and achaelogists.
Some of the world’s top historians converged at the archaeological site to survey excavation works for the 2,000-year old civilisation which has been hailed in the last few decades as “the most important civilisational find in the region.”
The civilisation there is now known to have existed long before neighbouring empires like Sri Vijaya (700AD) and Majapahit (1200AD).
It was reported that Malaysian archaeologists had unearthed a 1,900-year-old monument, scientifically dated to 110 AD, built with detailed geometrical precision in Sungai Batu, Kedah.
The monument, which faces the Gunung Jerai mountain, the highest peak in northern Malaysia, is believed to be have been used for ritualistic purposes.
The monument was found surrounded by remnants of advanced iron smelting facilities equipped with furnaces as well as brick jetties built along a river bank.
Dr Stephen Oppenheimer of Oxford University’s school of anthropology described it as “the earliest monumental site” that showed an important role as an industrial and trading centre.
“This is one of the most important finds in South-east Asia for the last couple of decades,” he said.
India’s Gujarat State Archaeology Department director Yadubirsingh Rawat said there was now indisputable evidence that international trading activities had taken place here in that period.
“The settlers here had full knowledge of iron smelting and jetty construction. This means they must have been connected to other places in the world,” he said.
“The discovery shows that the Bujang valley contributed significantly to maritime trade in the region,” he added.
Also found with the monument were various pottery and a Buddhist tablet with Pallava-Sanskrit inscriptions likely to have been made in the 5th century AD.
The discovery, by the Centre for Global Archaeological Research (CGAR) of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), was made within a three sq km area where a total of 97 mounds have been found. Thus far only 10 have been excavated.
Dr R. Nagaswamy, former director of the Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department said the western coast of peninsular Malaysia was likely a central point in the sea route of international trade in that period.
“From this we not only gain a deeper understanding of the country, but also of world history,” he said.
He also noted that Kedah had attracted rulers from South India, such as the Chola kings, to send their armies there in the 11th century.
The experts are in Malaysia for a conference on the Bujang Valley.
CGAR had announced last week that it had recently uncovered a new site in Jeriang, Kedah, comprising seven ancient furnaces once used for smelting of iron.
New estimates now show that the Bujang Valley settlement covered an area of about 1,000 sq km, mostly around Gunung Jerai, and not just 400 sqkm as previously believed.
Dated 110 AD, the newly discovered Sungai Batu monument in the Bujang Valley is the oldest recorded man-made building in South-east Asia.
Bujang Valley
S-E Asia’s oldest monument in Bujang Valley
The Bujang Valley rises at last.......
The oldest building to be recorded in Southeast Asia has been discovered in the Bujang Valley. It is a clay brick ritualistic monument that has been dated back to 110 AD.
THE next time you happen to be anywhere near the northern side of Penang or the southwestern stretch of Kedah, turn your gaze northward; you will see in the horizon the silhouette of a large mountain with a sharp peak.
Most of us have taken Gunung Jerai, also known as Kedah Peak, the highest mountain in northern Malaysia, for granted. However, a few of us are conscious that some of the most historic discoveries in Southeast Asia are now being made around the mountain’s surroundings.
Almost every country in Southeast Asia has at least one ancient monument that has served as a source of pride for its people who view it in awe, as an important part of their roots. Indonesia, for example, has the magnificent Borobudur (8th century AD), Cambodia has the Angkor Wat (11th century AD) and Vietnam has the Siva-Bhadresvara Temple in My Son (4th century AD).
Little do we know that peninsular Malaysia has also been home to an incredible set of age-old structures, which though not as large as the other well-known monuments in the region, are impressive enough for their sheer numbers in the area named the Bujang Valley.
Since as far back as the 1840s, archaeologists have been unearthing remnants of a civilised settlement that existed in the Bujang Valley from around the 8th century AD to the 13th century. More than 80 sites have been uncovered with structures like the candi, a religious building with Hindu-Buddhist elements, most prominent among the findings.
Of these, the famous Candi Batu Pahat still stands glorious, as it did more than a thousand years back, near the Muzium Lembah Bujang in Merbok. Together with the structures, archaeologists also found hundreds of pottery, implements, beads and figurines.
Incredibly enough, although the archaeological works have been extensive and intense, little is known or even told about this ancient civilisation, veritably the cradle of Malaysia.
But a new discovery made about two years ago is set to change the invisibility of the Bujang Valley among our public. Archaeologists have discovered at least 97 ancient sites around some oil palm estates in Sungai Batu. So far only 10 have been uncovered.
And what they have revealed are propelling the rewriting our land’s recorded history and what is being taught to our children in schools. The discoveries point to evidence that the Bujang Valley civilisation existed 2,000 years ago, long before neighbouring empires such as Majapahit (AD1200) and Sri Vijaya (AD700).
At the heart of the findings is a perplexing clay brick ritualistic monument that has been dated back to AD110, making it the oldest man-made building to be recorded in Southeast Asia.
The Sungai Batu monument and its surrounding structures – including ancient jetties and iron smelting workshops – point to an advanced culture pre-dating many Indianised kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Also found with the monument were various pottery placed ceremoniously around, and a Buddhist tablet with Pallava-Sanskrit inscriptions likely to have been made in the 5th century AD.
An extensive research is being done by the Centre for Global Archaeological Research (CGAR) of Universiti Sains Malaysia to determine how advanced the little-known civilisation – known variously in historic annals as Kataha, Kidaram and Chieh-Cha – was. Just this week scholars from around the world converged at the Bujang Valley to express amazement at the discovery and how it is reshaping understanding of the region’s history.
Long before the empire of Malacca, there was already this powerful trading settlement in Kedah, which just happened to mysteriously disappear. But the secret of its existence cannot be held back any longer. The legacy of the Bujang Valley has risen at last. And it now promises to fully gain our attention, to reclaim its stature that is long overdue; just as it did among the early people of this land who lived around the majestic Gunung Jerai many centuries ago.
Himanshu is theSun’s Penang bureau chief.
The oldest building to be recorded in Southeast Asia has been discovered in the Bujang Valley. It is a clay brick ritualistic monument that has been dated back to 110 AD.
THE next time you happen to be anywhere near the northern side of Penang or the southwestern stretch of Kedah, turn your gaze northward; you will see in the horizon the silhouette of a large mountain with a sharp peak.
Most of us have taken Gunung Jerai, also known as Kedah Peak, the highest mountain in northern Malaysia, for granted. However, a few of us are conscious that some of the most historic discoveries in Southeast Asia are now being made around the mountain’s surroundings.
Almost every country in Southeast Asia has at least one ancient monument that has served as a source of pride for its people who view it in awe, as an important part of their roots. Indonesia, for example, has the magnificent Borobudur (8th century AD), Cambodia has the Angkor Wat (11th century AD) and Vietnam has the Siva-Bhadresvara Temple in My Son (4th century AD).
Little do we know that peninsular Malaysia has also been home to an incredible set of age-old structures, which though not as large as the other well-known monuments in the region, are impressive enough for their sheer numbers in the area named the Bujang Valley.
Since as far back as the 1840s, archaeologists have been unearthing remnants of a civilised settlement that existed in the Bujang Valley from around the 8th century AD to the 13th century. More than 80 sites have been uncovered with structures like the candi, a religious building with Hindu-Buddhist elements, most prominent among the findings.
Of these, the famous Candi Batu Pahat still stands glorious, as it did more than a thousand years back, near the Muzium Lembah Bujang in Merbok. Together with the structures, archaeologists also found hundreds of pottery, implements, beads and figurines.
Incredibly enough, although the archaeological works have been extensive and intense, little is known or even told about this ancient civilisation, veritably the cradle of Malaysia.
But a new discovery made about two years ago is set to change the invisibility of the Bujang Valley among our public. Archaeologists have discovered at least 97 ancient sites around some oil palm estates in Sungai Batu. So far only 10 have been uncovered.
And what they have revealed are propelling the rewriting our land’s recorded history and what is being taught to our children in schools. The discoveries point to evidence that the Bujang Valley civilisation existed 2,000 years ago, long before neighbouring empires such as Majapahit (AD1200) and Sri Vijaya (AD700).
At the heart of the findings is a perplexing clay brick ritualistic monument that has been dated back to AD110, making it the oldest man-made building to be recorded in Southeast Asia.
The Sungai Batu monument and its surrounding structures – including ancient jetties and iron smelting workshops – point to an advanced culture pre-dating many Indianised kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Also found with the monument were various pottery placed ceremoniously around, and a Buddhist tablet with Pallava-Sanskrit inscriptions likely to have been made in the 5th century AD.
An extensive research is being done by the Centre for Global Archaeological Research (CGAR) of Universiti Sains Malaysia to determine how advanced the little-known civilisation – known variously in historic annals as Kataha, Kidaram and Chieh-Cha – was. Just this week scholars from around the world converged at the Bujang Valley to express amazement at the discovery and how it is reshaping understanding of the region’s history.
Long before the empire of Malacca, there was already this powerful trading settlement in Kedah, which just happened to mysteriously disappear. But the secret of its existence cannot be held back any longer. The legacy of the Bujang Valley has risen at last. And it now promises to fully gain our attention, to reclaim its stature that is long overdue; just as it did among the early people of this land who lived around the majestic Gunung Jerai many centuries ago.
Himanshu is theSun’s Penang bureau chief.
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