The Origin of Malays

According to a definition embodied in a dictionary, Malay is a race and also a

language that could be found in Peninsular Malaysia which the people follow the traditional
way of life, embrace the religion of Islam and show the characteristic as a Malay 1.
Commonly, the Malays are the race of people who spread across the Malay Peninsula,
which is known today as the Peninsular Malaysia and areas of adjacent islands of Southeast
Asia, including the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and smaller islands that
situated between these areas.
Regarding the privileges of the Malay, the Article 153 of the Federal Constitution of
Malaysia has granted the special power to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the responsibility for
safeguarding the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah
and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities. The first clause of the article
provides that the government should act "in accordance with the provisions of this Article.
Looking back to the history before the Malaysian Independence, a report from the Reid
Commission2 has provided the basis for the formation of our Federal Constitution. In the
report made by the commission found that the existing privileges accorded to the Malays
included the allocation of extensive Malay land reservations. The existing privileges should
be continued as the "Malays would be at a serious and unfair disadvantage compared with
other communities if they were suddenly withdrawn as being recommended by the
Commission.

1 Kamus Bahasa Melayu terbitan Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka

2 An independent commission formed to review and recommend the Constitution
of the Federation of Malaya in preparation for independence on 31 August 1957.

Definition of Malay
As we have known, there are a lot of definition of Malay. Literally, it is not a problem
to have a lot of definition of Malay in the normal context. Somehow, legally, it will lead to
problems in construing the exact meaning of Malay especially in the context of Malay
Reserve Land. This is due to the fact that only the person that being recognized as Malay
could fully utilize and benefit from the said land.
With no doubt, Malay Reservation Land Enactment is the land law intended to shield
the interest of Malays in the term of land. The existence of this enactment is enforced by the
state authorities, in line with the general law embodied in the National Land Code 1965 of
Malaysia. The pure aim of this enactment is to ensure that the land hold by the Malays will
be absolutely held by Malays in the future. Interestingly, every state in Malaysia have
different definitions on the term of Malay based on their own specialised Malay Reservation
Land Enactment despite their main aim is the same which to uphold the right of Malay over
the Malay Reserved Land. Somehow, the differences in the term of the definition have led to
confusion in the legal context because there are some definition provided in each
enactments by each states do not have the same gist as provided in the Malay Reservation
Enactment3.
The definition of Malay in the Malay Reservation Land Enactment are divided into
two types which are Melayu Definisi and Melayu Polisi. Obviously, most of the Malay
Reservation Land Enactment by the state authorities are almost the same but there are
some differences between them. In addition, the Melayu Definisi is anything that fall into
the definition of Malay in the Malay Reserve Land Enactment. The differences of definition in
the term of Melayu Definisi can be seen in the diagram below;

3 (FMS Cap 142)

Malay Reserve Land Enactment

MRE Chapter 142

Melayu Definisi
Whoever who is Malay and normally
speaks in Malay Language or other types of
Malay language and professing the religion

MRE Kelantan

of Islam
Malay is a person coming from any
Malayan races which speaks in Malay
language and professing the religion of
Muhammad and must include the a) Islamic
Coucil

b)

Pegawai

Pemegang

Harta

acting as the Administrator or Trustee on

ERM Kedah

behalf of the deceased.

Malay is a person professing the religion of
Islam

and

normally speaks

in

Malay

language, at least one of the parent is

ERM Perlis

coming from the Malayan race or Arabian.

Malay is a person coming from any races of
Malayan that normally speaks in Malay
language or any other types of Malay
languages and professing the religion of

ERM Johor

Islam.
Malay is a person coming from Malay race
or any other Malay races that normally
speaks in Malay language and professing
the religion of Islam and that term must be
characterized as the Authorities, Board,
Societies, Organization and Companies
which are listed in the Second Schedule of

ERM Terengganu

these Enactment.
Malay is a person coming from any race of
Malayan that normally speaks in Malay
language or any other type of Malay
language and professing the religion of
Islam.

Other than that, Malay is also being categorized as Melayu Polisi as provided in the
Malay Reservation Land Enactment as it allowed by the Article 89(6) of the Federal
Constitution of Malaysia4. The Malay regarded as the Melayu Polisi is still being allowed to
participate in the Malay Reservation Land Enactment in any forms and to be allowed to deal
with all types of transactions in the MRE and especially in disposal of land and any types of
transaction involving the sale and purchase of the lands. The diagram below illustrates the
definition of Melayu Polisi in the Malay Reservation Land Enactment of certain states;
Malay

Reserve

Land

Enactment
Chapter 142 and Federal

Section

Explanation

Section 2

Polisi
In the

Territories

MRE

characteristic

Regarding
Chapter
of

entity

the
142,

Melayu
there

stated

to

one
be

regarded as Malay which are;

1. The company must be registered
under the Companies Act 1965 which
is private limited companies, which
disregard any Syarikat Kerjasama
which being registered under the
Akta Syarikat Kerjasama 1946.
2. 2. The companies must be construed
as Malay companies or all the
members of the said company must
be a Malay.
3. There must be provided in the
companys

constitution

that

the

selling of the shares must be done

only to Malay or Malay companies
MRE Kedah

Section 19

only.
Institution and companies in the Second
Schedule is to be declared as Malay under
Section 19 which provides protections and

MRE Perlis
MRE Kelantan

Section

privileges as enjoyable by the Malays.

Not defined
Declared by the Raja Dalam Mesyuarat as

MRE Johor

13A
Explanation

Malay.
1. Authorities, Board, Bodies, Societies,

4 In this Article Malay reservation means land reserved for alienation to Malays
or to natives of the State in which it lies; and Malay includes any person who,
under the law of the State in which he is resident, is treated as a Malay for the
purposes of the reservation of land.

in Section 2

Association and Companies listed in

the Second Schedule being provided
all the protections and privileges as

Section 19

enjoyable by the Malays.

Public Trustee and estate administrator
being regarded as Malay in certain cases (in
circumstances where a person being a

MRE Terengganu

Section 2

representative to a Malay)
1. Syarikat Pegangan Melayu obtains
all the protections and privileges as
obtained

by

the

Malays.

The

companies must;
a) Being established according to
the law of companies.
b) The article of association

to

restrict the transfer of shares to

non-Malay and
c) One of the intention is to manage
the transaction of Malay lands.
(Syarikat Pegangan Melayu for the
purposes of (a) and (b) is to be
Section 20

regarded as Malay.
2. Administrator is regarded as Malay in
certain cases (when acting as trustee
to a Malay)

References
Resali Muda. (n.d.). Melayu Definisi, Melayu Polisi dan Bukan Me1ayu dalam 11: Enakmen
Tanah Rizab Melayu: Satu Tinjauan. Jurnal Undang-undang.
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://prpm.dbp.gov.my/Search.aspx?k=melayu
Reid Constitutional Commission. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2016, from
http://www.arkib.gov.my/en/web/guest/suruhanjaya-perlembagaan-reid
Malay Reserves Enactment. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2016, from
http://www.kptg.gov.my/en/content/malay-reserves-enactment