Arabs in the urban social landscapes of Malaysia: historical connections and belonging

Abstract

The urban landscapes of Malaysia have witnessed a marked increase in the number of non-citizens with the influx of foreign workers to satisfy the needs of a rapidly expanding economy. This paper examines how notions of belonging might have changed through the subsequent interaction between citizens and non-citizens in the Klang Valley, the political and economic centre of the country. It focuses specifically on Arab migrants who find themselves in a region – the Malay world – with which they have had historical connections. Arabs, primarily from the Hadramaut in Yemen, have long formed creole communities in the region. Recent Arab migrants have arrived at a time of two noteworthy developments. First, there is a rediscovery of Arabness underway among creoles. Second, Malaysia's ethnically diverse citizenry has seen renewed and heightened challenges, based on historical arguments, to its sense of belonging. By focusing on novel migrants with historical connections, this paper relates the question of belonging to history and asks a number of questions. How are Arabs shaping the social landscape? How do the historical connections between Arabs and the Malay world matter? What are the implications of the new Arab presence for Malaysian society as a whole?

Keywords::

• historical connections
• belonging
• creole
• Arabs
• Malaysia

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Khoo Gaik Cheng for inviting me to contribute to the Wenner Gren Foundation workshop that gave rise to this special issue and her valuable comments on earlier drafts. I register my appreciation for the comments at a presentation in the Brown Bag Lunch discussion series organised by Olivia Killias at the Institute of Asian and African Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, on 1 June 2012. I thank Muhammad Febriansyah for his fine assistance with several interviews and some preliminary research. I record my gratitude to all who kindly made time to be interviewed.

Notes

^1. The term ‘creole’ was initially used in the study of the inhabitants and languages of the Caribbean and Latin America but has been applied for some time to the study of the Malay world by such scholars as G. William Skinner (1996) and Engseng Ho (2006). The term peranakan might be regarded as its equivalent in Malay and has been applied to Chinese, Indian and other mixed communities of this nature in the region.

^2. A group of scholars has collaboratively charted the cultural geography of the Malay world in the Indian Ocean by examining the trajectories of texts and represented it in more flexible and expansive terms than before. Coordinated by this author, the results of the work appeared in a special issue of the journal Indonesia and the Malay World, 41 (120), published in July 2013.

^3. It is also spelled ‘Hadramawt’ or ‘Hadramout’ as is evident from the names of the restaurants examined further along.

^4. Perkasa, the organisation formed in 2008 that advocates ethnic Malay overlordship, is one among a number of such groups. It does not appear that there has been much written about this critical development.

^5. The details of the restaurant that follow are taken from its website http://alrawshakl.com (accessed March 25, 2013).

^6. Unless otherwise stated, the information regarding the Hadramawt Restaurant is based on an interview with Sheikh Awadh Abdullah at its Jalan Ampang (Ampang Road) branch in Kuala Lumpur on 16 October 2012. The interview was conducted on the author's behalf by Muhammad Febriansyah.

^7. See http://www.hadramawt.com.my/ and http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hadramawt-Restaurant-Catering/126927694034345 (both accessed March 23, 2013).

^8. Unless otherwise stated, the information regarding the Restaurant Wadi Hadramawt is based on an interview with Anwar Faisal Noman on the premises in Kuala Lumpur on 16 October 2012. The interview was conducted on the author's behalf by Muhammad Febriansyah.

^9. The author is Syed Hussein Alattas.

^10. The United Malays National Organisation.

^11. This Arabic word for ‘hymn’ is rendered nasyid in Malay.

^12. Unless otherwise stated, the information regarding the Sam Hadramawt Restaurant is based on an interview with Abdul Razak on the premises in Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya, on 17 October 2012. The interview was conducted on the author's behalf by Muhammad Febriansyah.

^13. This was stated to the author by Ahmad al-Aghbari on the premises of the restaurant on 28 June 2012.

^14. Unless otherwise stated, the information regarding the Rawani Hadramout Restaurant is based on an interview conducted by the author with Anwar Ahmad Taib on the premises in Section 14, Petaling Jaya, on 27 February 2013. The name of this restaurant has been changed to Rawabi Hadramout Restaurant after it was bought over by a Malay Malaysian in September 2013, as learned by the author from Hisham Ahmad Mohamad, a new member of staff from Yemen, on a follow-up visit on 23 October 2013.

^15. Unless otherwise stated, the information regarding the Amassi Restaurant is based on an interview conducted by the author with Leena Manally on the premises in Section 14, Petaling Jaya, on 27 February 2013. This restaurant had closed down by sometime in March 2013 as learned by the author on a subsequent visit to the location on 24 July 2013.

^16. The information regarding the Yemeni-Pakistani-owned grocery story is based on an interview conducted by the author with Rafaqat Ali Kazmi on the premises in Section 14, Petaling Jaya, on 27 February 2013.

^17. This was stated to the author by Abdullah Zaid on the premises of the restaurant on 28 June 2012.

^18. This is stated in the first post on the page on 4 November 2012 that may be found here: https://www.facebook.com/amassi.restaurant (accessed March 29, 2013).

^19. This was stated to the author by Syed Imran Alsagoff in an interview held in Kuala Lumpur on 13 August 2009.

^20. See for instance the republication of the essay on 10 September 2008 in the blog of the well-known politician Lim Kit Siang that may be found here: http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2008/09/10/we-are-all-pendatangs (accessed May 4, 2013). John Lim, a computer programmer as it appears, published an English translation on 11 September 2008 in his website: http://www.programming-is-fun.com/search/label/Malaysia%20Politics (accessed May 4, 2013).

^21. Zalfian Fuzi was trained as a theatre director and is associate director of the Instant Café Theatre, a leading theatre company in Malaysia. Anas Zubedy is a marketing consultant and an advocate of national unity in the mass media.

^22. This was stated to the author by Abdullah Zaid on the premises of the restaurant on 28 June 2012.

Additional information

Funding

I am indebted to the Collaborative Research Centre on Representations of Changing Social Orders [SFB640], Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, for research funds.