Managing Ethnic Relations in Malaysia: Policies, Practices, and Prospects for National Cohesion

Abstract

This article analyzes Malaysia's management of ethnic relations through the integration of policy frameworks, institutional practices, and quotidian social dynamics to maintain national cohesion. This paper contextualizes Malaysia’s experience within wider comparative discussions by utilizing both historical and modern academic perspectives from Furnivall’s concept of the plural society to Anderson’s imagined communities and also revisited the Barth’s ethnic boundary theory, social identity theory, and intergroup contact theory. It then examines the development of Malaysia's policy framework (constitutional provisions, redistributive policies, education and language policies, community cohesion programs), emphasizes practices in schools, universities, workplaces, and civil society, and identifies new challenges in the digital age. The article contends that Malaysia's model is optimally comprehended as a stratified initiative by integrating state-directed redistribution, consociational negotiation, and micro-level interaction that necessitates constant revision to combat inequality, polarization, and online detriments. Suggestions are made for policies that will make the management of ethnic relations in Malaysia stronger, more evidence-based, more inclusive, and more prepared for the future.