Why can Malaysian Chinese maintain Chinese culture compared with Indonesian Chinese?

For many people in China, compared with other countries, Malaysian Chinese have always maintained a strong Chinese identity. We wonder, how did Malaysian Chinese do it? In fact, what one sees from others depends to a great extent on what one wants to find at first, especially the problems related to high abstraction, mobility and political identity. I believe this explanation is consistent with China people's belief that overseas Chinese identify with China people. 、

If you know Malaysia well, you will realize that no matter what politicians want to claim, Malaysia, like other countries in Southeast Asia, has a high degree of cultural diversity. According to Wikipedia, there are 137 languages in Malaysia.

Malaysia's geographical location determines that trade has always been its lifeline, and trade has brought people from different places and languages. Tomes Pires of Portugal pointed out that Malacca had 84 languages in the15th century. Malay itself has a large number of Arabic and Arabic words.

Chinese are the second largest ethnic group in Malaysia. They share a common cultural heritage and keep in constant contact with the cultural circles in China through immigration and media. Local schools teach in Chinese. Therefore, it is not surprising that the second largest ethnic group in China can maintain the vitality of its language. In fact, China culture itself is an assimilation force. Even non-Chinese parents will send their children to Chinese schools. In Malaysia, Chinese can compete with English and Spanish.

Moreover, since Chinese account for 25% of the total population. Therefore, the larger the population, the greater the political bargaining power (38% in 1957). In some countries in Southeast Asia, the Chinese population is small, so they are forced to assimilate locally. However, there are a large number of Chinese in Malaysia, and their population is actually equivalent to that of Malays, which can preserve more cultural traditions and have a more distinct identity. As long as you have a large enough community, it is easier for you to maintain a lifestyle.

By the way, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries have used coercive means to assimilate Chinese to varying degrees. The most common measure is to change their names by legal means.

Apart from these history and facts, everything is related to the power struggle. If you have power, who wants to be ruled by others? China people are a proud people. They believe that they are descendants of the dragon and are proud of being the inheritors of Chinese civilization for 5,000 years.

In contrast, in the Malaysian colonial era, the only difference between the British and the China people was that the British were the rulers and the China people were the ruled. The British came to Malaysia encouraged by the British Empire at that time, while the China people came here to make a living because of their livelihood. Compared with the locals, they are all outsiders. However, if you think that the British don't want to be ruled by the Malay aborigines they conquered, then neither do the China people.