In this second part of an insight from Iman Research’s 'Kami Orang Sini Juga' study on Indian youths, the writer looks at language and sense of community among young Indians on the East Coast of Malaysia.
BEING AN ethnic minority within an ethnic minority, there are strong community ties.
In Terengganu, the youths I spoke to all seemed to know one another and had grown up together. They went to the same schools and operate in similar friend groups – not just with the Indians but the Chinese community as well.
Due to its small population, the Indian community has to find a sense of community beyond its own.
Language becomes a form of not just economic, but also social capital.
Youths detailed how they could speak a multitude of languages and dialects – Malay, English, Mandarin, and Ganu or Kelantanese dialects.
One Indian youth respondent conversed with his Chinese friend in fluent Mandarin, despite both of them being able to speak English, Malay and their local dialect.
Their choice to speak in Mandarin carries a lot of weight. There is cultural capital in being able to converse in languages, but more importantly, it gives Indian youth an ‘in’ to merge with and find a community within a larger one.
For example, speaking to Indian youths across Malaysia, they all detailed the economic value of learning Mandarin. In the East Coast, this takes on another dimension of providing social capital to assimilate with another ethnic minority – the Chinese community.
While this is a marker of ethnic cohesion and unity, it is also a way for Indian youths to find a sense of community. It is an active choice that youths take to ensure they remain part of the collective.
The social capital of language also takes on a different dimension here through learning dialects, with one youth explaining to me: “It's very racist here. But at the same time, like if I notice, if you can speak proper Malay or proper Terengganu [dialect], then you're okay.”
Again, it’s a survival mechanism for youth, with languages serving as a way for them to navigate the complexities of finding communities and, in some instances, overcoming social discrimination.
These are steps that the youths I’ve spoken to have taken to ensure their place within the East Coast. It is a frank outlook of their realities in which they adapt to strengthen community ties with other ethnic groups.
Speaking to youths, it’s a very pragmatic lens that they have adopted to survive – they can either make noise and ostracise themselves even further, or find a way to manage their own responses and reactions.
Even now, youths have described having experienced racism in their day-to-day lives, with one business owner receiving comments like, “Ini kedai keling ni”.
Their responses have to appease the instigator despite being hurt themselves. Any retaliation or confrontation could cause them to lose customers, which would impact their business and, in turn, their livelihood.
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In Kelantan, many youths told me how well they were assimilated into the region and how strongly they felt a sense of belonging. There’s a strong sense of unity and racial harmony. This may be true, but we need to look further to truly understand the dynamics at play here.
The us-versus-them takes on a regional dimension here, with youths explaining how they have been accepted by the larger community here. One youth explained how a recent incident online showed that Indians here are defended by the Malay community, seeing comments such as, "Ini bukan India Kelantan" and “They are defending us like that. We are bonding.”
While the efforts to defend the Indian community are commendable, this ‘bond’ solidifies the Kelantanese Indian with the Malay community, providing them with acceptance from the majority.
In an effort to belong, these Indian youths have unintentionally ostracised a part of the Indian community through association with being a Kelantanese Indian versus those who are not.
The ingroup-outgroup dynamic provides Kelantanese Indians with a sense of security and belonging in the region, helping them distinguish themselves from Indians in the wider community. In doing so, they have created a social comparison between being a Kelantanese Indian, which is regarded highly, and those outside who are associated with negative stereotypes.
The Kelantanese Indians take on the mantle of being the model minority. They represent what Indians should be in the eyes of the majority, that is, the Malay community. Even in speaking to them, there was an air of pride that they were defended by the Malay community, and they presented this as a case for unity on the east coast.
They have become the exemplar version of an Indian – a deliberate and palatable contrast to the negative stereotypes associated with the West Coast. Youths have even gone as far as describing the weight that being a Kelantanese Indian carries: “We are more comfortable with Malay compared to Indian. So if you put us anywhere also we can survive. That's the specialty of Indians in Kelantan.”
This ability to find commonality with the Malay community, the majority, over their own is another tell of their efforts to assimilate and separate themselves from Indians outside the region. This safety net that they have built around themselves while perpetuating negative stereotypes and the exclusion of other Indians is not done maliciously. Rather, it is a way of overcoming the racial barriers that exist for this very small ethnic minority community.
In presenting themselves as such, they have gained acceptance and assimilation into a larger community and found a place for themselves.
Despite the closeness and bonds within social circles, the on-the-ground sentiments echo what I have been hearing across Malaysia: the Indian community is severely fragmented.
There is still a lack of institutional support for the community, with business owners detailing their harsh realities of trying to survive. Youths are unwilling to step up towards leading community groups, with many having to seek job opportunities elsewhere. Perhaps it is not the fault of youths for being unable to mobilise themselves, but their being resigned to a situation where it is sink or swim.
Rejecting the idea of having to be the model Indian or overcorrecting ‘negative’ community behaviours in favour of speaking out about issues or incidents of racial discrimination is easier said than done.
As established, the livelihood of some of these youths depends on how they present themselves. Indian youths have a myriad of complexities to wade through in the name of unity - from normalising racism, creating opportunities for themselves, and finding their own communities.
The survival tactics that some youths have adopted opens up various avenues for social and cultural capital. The ingroup-outgroup dynamics of East Coast Indians, while easy to comment on as an outsider, is formed and shaped in part due to their lived experiences.
To exist as an ethnic minority within a minority, Indian youths employ a number of survival strategies which allow them the space and opportunities to exist in their hometowns. Not all youths want to leave, and those who stay find their own ways to contend with these intricate realities.
Shaleen Surendra is a researcher with IMAN Research, currently working on a study that focuses on Malaysian Indian Youths, as part of a larger nation-building project on inter-ethnic understanding. The views expressed here are solely the writer's own.
