This chapter analyzes the transformation of the plantation industry in Malaysia's commercial heartland, primarily in the state of Selangor, to understand how the bureaucratization of ethnic entitlement affected the politics of development—which in turn had economic and symbolic consequences for Tamil communities experiencing displacement. Development politics have brought about a dramatic demographic shift in the ethnic composition of Malaysia's industrial heartland. This was the intended goal all along. To develop the nation's core identity, politically constructed around Malay ethnicity and Islam, the two being increasingly synonymous, it was argued that Malays had to be united and strong—particularly at the center. In addition to reforming and thereby policing Malay identity, incentives and privileges created a culture of privilege and increasing self-rationalization of these purported entitlements.
This chapter examines what was described as the worst “ethnic rioting” in Malaysia in decades. In 2001, Malays and Indians clashed in an area known as Kampung Medan. Many analysts, academics, and politicians were quick to ascribe blame, drawing on the ethnic “myths” or stereotypes. Others invoked the purported and inevitable frustrations caused by anomie and squalor in squatter areas. The recounting of the violent events by witnesses and victims demonstrates that the respective figures of the Indian and Malay increasingly silence complex exchanges and intimacies between the two groups. These figures, in turn, are also produced out of a particular developmentalism driven by ethnonationalist impulses. The chapter also studies the symptoms of cultural and ethnic uncertainty generated by the bureaucratization of ethnic privilege.
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