The rapid growth and expansion of Malaysia’s multi-ethnic middle class segment began in the beginning of the 1970s although the middle class community was already in existence since the period of British colonialism. Their expansion is in consequence to the rapid and extensive economic and social changes that have transformed Malaysia from an agriculturally based nation into a newly industrialized nation. This development led to the changes in occupational patterns of the population.
During British rule in the early 20th century, the small middle class population, which comprised mainly entrepreneurs and an insignificant number of government administrators, was not racially balanced, and this trend continued even after Malaya’s independence in 1957. According to Jomo (1986: 300), from the total of
dominated by Chinese compared to only about 17.6 percent Malays and 20 percent Indians and other races. Thirteen years later, in 1970 there was only a rise of up to 24.1 percent Malays in the administrative and managerial category (ibid). And it must be noted that during these years, the administrative group were considered the most important component of all the middle class groups as they had immense power and prestige vis a vis the rest of the population.
As discussed in the earlier sections, the early 1970s was the actual beginning of the government’s seriousness in fulfilling the economic agenda of the country with the implementation of the NEP. To ensure the Malays get a greater share of the country’s economic wealth and eventually create a community of Malay entrepreneurs, between 1971 until 1990, the government provided aggressive training and education that would create the much needed professionally trained manpower to participate in various fields. Using this social engineering strategy favouring Bumiputras, the NEP has successfully fostered the creation of a large new middle class and waged working class (ibid). It is also noteworthy that despite being Malay-biased, the NEP period also conferred benefits to Chinese as well, as their economic share increased from 22 percent in 1970 to 45.5 percent in 1990 (Abdul Rahman, 2002:57).
Among this multi-racial new middle class group which made up almost fifty percent of the working population in 2000 (ibid), the most important groups are the professional, technical, administrative and managerial categories as they have been growing very rapidly over the last three decades. In 1970, they constitute 5.9 percent of the total population employed, twenty years later, in 1990, this figure grew to 11.2 percent and at latest count, in 2000, the total number employed in these categories increased to 15.2 percent from the 1.35 million of the total employed (Malaysia, 2001). Since the middle class members in the public sector are by and large administrators that include administrative officers and clerks, whilst the professionals, technical experts and managers are either self-employed or work in the private sector, it can be deduced that a big majority of Malaysia’s new middle class are in the private sector. Further to this, although the Malay middle class is growing in number, they are mainly middle range government servants and still form the minority of professionals and business people while the Chinese and the Indians predominate in business and the professions (Rokiah, 2000). In other words, the marginal middle
class are dominated by Malays in the public sector whilst the more affluent new middle class, although multi-racial in nature are more slanted towards the Chinese and Indians in the private sector.
They work in the comfort of air-conditioned offices and more often than not in very large organisations; they drive daily to work in comfortable cars. Most of them reside in sub-urban housing estates (Hsiao, 1999). This new group of Malaysian middle class are also highly educated with more than 70 percent having a minimum college education (Abdul Rahman, 2002) and therefore play important roles in Malaysia’s development and modernization. As they enjoy good monthly incomes, they have better purchasing power than the rest of the population. According to Abdul Rahman (2001) a majority of the new middle class community residing in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur and the metropolitan market centre of Klang Valley earn a high monthly income ranging from RM4000 to over RM10,000 with 43 per cent earning very high incomes of RM6000 to over RM10,000 per month. It is therefore not surprising that they become an ideal market for various types of consumer products.
More so, they are also trendsetters for Malaysia’s changing lifestyles.
Similar to the East Asian middle class study by Hsiao (1999), their economic basis rests mainly on their salaries. Apparently, because of their obsession with an affluent lifestyle, many are highly dependent on the financial system for credit and loans mainly for house purchases and also for the purchase of motor vehicles (Abdul Rahman, 2002). Nevertheless, despite their progressive increase in number, the proportion of the middle class group in Malaysia is still considered relatively small when one compares their number with the more developed Asian neighbours, namely Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore which experienced a much earlier phase of rapid industrialization (Rodan et.al, 1997).
In his study, Abdul Rahman (1996) reveals that Malaysia’s middle class are “first generation new middle class” with only 17.6 percent of them being children of the new middle class. This shows that a majority Malaysia’s present middle class group are from humble backgrounds with very weak economic base. Despite being a new generation of Malaysian citizens, many among them are leaders and members of
Their emergence also brought about different norms, values, civilized attitudes and political cultures to the country. To quote an instance, abuse of power and the rise of authoritarian rule concern them seriously. Fresh in the minds of this important group of citizens who are shaping the political contours of Malaysia is the controversial issue of “executive interference of the judiciary” as seen in the 1988 sacking of the independent-minded Lord President, Tun Salleh Abbas and the 1998 sacking of Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim for charges of corruption and sodomy.
Nonetheless, despite the “disillusionment” towards the government, in Abdul Rahman’s (2000: 163) research findings, the results revealed that by and large, Malaysia’s middle class segment support the incumbent democratic government for the sake of social order and economic stability. In other words, most of them wanted the UMNO-led National Front government which has been ruling the country since 1955 to continue maintaining developments among its multi-ethnic population.
Hence, it can be deduced that the Malaysian society of the future will be shaped or influenced more strongly by the expanding multi-ethnic new middle class community.
a. Lifestyles and Cultural Orientations
Despite being a heterogeneous community, Malaysia’s middle class segment can best be described as outwardly Western but fundamentally Asian. Although they are dressed in Western outfits, are comfortable with the English language, even study and do business abroad, most follow a lifestyle that stays oriental. More than their Western counterparts, they are generally family-oriented, although the husband and wife of a Malaysian middle class family act as true partners particularly when making decisions on buying expensive items like a house or a car (Abdul Rahman, 2002). In essence, they are quite similar to most of Asia’s middle class segment (Vervoon, 1998).
In their pastimes, the middle class family likes to eat out and travel within and outside the country. As an educated group who keeps up with the times, they also watch news on television and read the daily newspapers regularly (Abdul Rahman, 2002). For the smaller proportion who are more affluent, they take up golfing and socialise at coffee houses and karaoke bars (ibid). More importantly, being Asian in
personality, the lifestyle of Malaysia’s emerging middle class is very tightly-linked to three major areas of consumption namely housing, cars and children’s education (Pinches, 1999). The emphasis on these three items, although seen both as a symbol of prosperity and as functional items, show their attempt at improving their status and well-being.
In Malaysia, ownership of a house is always perceived as functional and is seen as the best and most obvious way to display the owner’s wealth. Most of the urban middle class live in comfortable two-storey houses with a minimum of two bathrooms and three bedrooms and one utility room. Every five years or so, these houses would normally be upgraded either with a fresh coat of paint, a new front gate or a change of new furniture.
In describing the house and its interior as an indicator of the middle class status, Rokiah (2000: 37) states:
inside these houses are adorned with furniture from Italy, Chinese Rosewood, Persian carpets, antiques and such expensive artifacts as paintings, vases taken as signs of
‘culture’ or ‘being cultured’.
For the younger set of middle class who are in the upper income brackets, living in expensive fully equipped apartments and condominiums in upmarket urban locations such as the hills of Bangsar is another characteristic lifestyle (Sardar, 2000: 100).
Costing anywhere between RM300,000 and RM 1 million, these urban dwellings of the rich come with recreational facilities like swimming pools, squash, tennis, badminton courts and club facilities. The popularity of these apartments and condominiums, many of which are copied from Western designs reflects a change in family size and composition among the new urban middle class group (Phua and Soo, 2004: 82).
With regards to car ownership, as another important symbol of social status and identity, the type and make of a car determines the owner’s level in Malaysian society.
For instance, the more affluent middle class drive European made cars such Mercedes Benz, BMW and Volvo or high-end Japanese brands. Rokiah (2000) further stratifies the different brands among this highly affluent segment of the middle class. While the
civil servants normally drive cars which cost between RM100,000 and RM150,000 (ibid: 42). As she (ibid: 21) puts it succinctly,
anyone who calls the latest model Mercedes, purchased at inflated prices and maintained at high cost, merely a ‘car’ clearly misses the symbolic point of such a possession.
Thus, Mercedes cars are the choice of businessmen while the higher-educated and younger professionals prefer the BMW, and the civil servants normally drive the Volvo partly because the car comes together with the post they hold at the state government offices. It must also be noted that car ownership is an important indicator of the rapid expansion of the middle class. To illustrate this, amongst urban Malaysian households, car ownership increased by 13 percent over an 11 year period, from 33 percent in 1980 to 46 percent in 1991 (Abdul Rahman, 2002: 44).
In respect of education as another important lifestyle component, Malaysia’s middle class community sees it as a very important social value. Most middle class parents would place strong emphasis on a minimum university education for their children. It is perceived as an investment for a better future. Thus, it is common for the parents to put aside between RM150 and RM250 per month per child for pre-school education.
When these children reach year five, most will be sent to tuition classes to prepare for the year six examinations. As such, a lot of money on education from pre-school to university is spent by middle class parents.
The government’s special emphasis on education is no doubt an added factor that makes educational attainment an important indicator of a person’s status as a middle class Malaysian. Thus, with a big number of public and private universities, coupled with various private colleges sprawled throughout the country, children’s education has always been both an investment in their future and a symbolic display of the parents’ ability to pay. Certainly, education taken together with the other two important indicators of house and car ownerships does indicate the growth of Malaysia’s new middle class.
Besides their obsession with the three major items above, most of them also own household entertainment gadgets like television, video units and hi-fi sets, personal computers, mobile phones and financial assets such as share and insurance which
reflect their modern lifestyles (Abdul Rahman, 2002). However, despite their high consumption habits, with the exception of the more affluent few, most are cautious about price labels, preferring to look for reasonably prized quality goods like shoes, clothes, toiletries in supermarkets and shopping complexes that offer “cheap sales”
(ibid). Nevertheless, it must be noted that among most of the Malays and Indians, these possessions are acquired through hire-purchase schemes, but the same is not true for a majority of the Chinese middle-class groups as these possessions are likely to be acquired through wealth inheritance. Thus, it is not surprising to discover that many of the Malay middle-class group are exposed to huge debts in comparison to their incomes (ibid). It can therefore be concluded that, a majority of members among the Malay middle class group are not really financially secure and are easily vulnerable to crisis situations.
Another lifestyle element of this dominant segment of the population is the common practice of commercializing marriage ceremonies by holding receptions in a hotel. As observed by Rokiah (2000), at these receptions some relatives would feel odd being served instead of them playing hosts by serving the guests which tends to show that the cultural changes occurring among this “new rich” group is a recent phenomenon.
For those who cannot afford the hotel, community halls within the township would be rented for this purpose. Rokiah (ibid) adds that the Chinese middle class would normally cater for 200 to 300 guests while the Malays would commonly have up to 1000 guests in attendance. Symbolically, the bigger the crowd the higher is the status and respect one gets from the community.
Going back on their exterior Western outlook, a prevalent influence of the West among the urban middle class community is the habit of hanging around in international fashion centres and shop in exclusive shopping malls (Pinches, 1999).
Due to the growing affluence of the middle class parent, they get turned on by materialism and are easily taken in by the demands of their children so that they can continue with the latest trends and be part of the “in crowd” (Phua and Soo, 2004: 95).
Apart from this, another obvious global phenomenon that has crept into Malaysia’s middle class society is the excesses of the “yuppie lifestyles” among mostly single
educated wealthy youths adorn themselves with designer branded clothes and accessories; spend their time and money in discos and expensive foreign restaurants (Chua, 2000). The consumption items of these middle class youths are clear reflections of their lifestyle.
Thus, there is no doubt that, the items of consumption mentioned above are seen as important in giving a certain image to their owners. It must be further emphasized that despite their high costs, middle class professionals spend a large proportion of their incomes on these items; although this would at times mean that they have to limit their expenditure on other more important and useful consumption items.
b. Characteristics of the new Malay middle class
Though the new middle class segment in Malaysia comprises a varied mix of Chinese, Malays and Indians, this sub-section is confined specifically to the new Malay middle class group because Malays represent a majority of Malaysia’s population which is more than half of the total population of 26 million. More importantly, since a majority among the new middle class community are first generation middle class Malays whose parents were mainly rural peasants; this fresh group of Malaysians have acquired certain characteristics that are exclusively associated with the new Malay middle class.
As described under “Political Terrain”, the present community of new Malay middle class is actually shaped under the 20 year NEP programme which ended in 1990 after which the NDP and Vision 2020 were then introduced as new development strategies for the country. Since a major challenge of these policies is to make Malaysia a fully developed country comprising a large base of well-mixed middle class population, the government continued giving special privileges to the Malay population who, for a long time have been associated with backwardness and incompetence due to hereditary and environmental factors (Mahathir, 1970). Thus, the term Melayu Baru or “New Malays” became a popular buzzword in the early 1990s. Mahathir (1991: 70) defines Melayu Baru as:
Malays who possess a culture that is in keeping with the times, who are capable of meeting all challenges, able to compete without assistance, learned and knowledgeable, sophisticated, honest, disciplined, trustworthy and competent.
This means this group of new Malay middle class are expected to be modern, progressive, independent Malays who are competitive, yet retain their own identity as Malaysian Muslims who are spiritually strong. However, although the government’s economic policies have successfully produced a considerable number of new Malay middle class of professionals, technocrats, managers and entrepreneurs who are competent and industrious and have earned the trust and confidence of others in their ability, a lot of them have become greedy and have forgotten their roots (Rokiah, 2000). In other words, many have yet to fulfill the criteria of a real Melayu Baru as defined by Mahathir.
In part, this factor could be due to their early exposure at boarding schools and separation from their parents in their early teens. Since they are deprived of parental upbringing, their values are visibly different than their parents and grandparents. For example, they do not practice the traditional Malay social beliefs of giving or offering assistance to one’s own member of the community which, to the elderly Malays is a matter of honour (Shamsul A.B., 1999). As such, they do not have a strong bond with the village folks who may have been the children of their parents’ friends. The lack of this essential Malay value amongst the young Malay middle class has in a way created a social divide between them and the older generation.
To the older Malays, regardless of their status, when one has reached a certain level in the Malay society, it is obligatory to offer monetary assistance to the less fortunate, for instance their own relatives, also to the Malays in general, particularly to those that are within the same community. Furthermore, this is in line with the teachings of Islam which encourages distribution of wealth from the rich to the poor (Schmidt et.
al, 1998).
Like most young Malaysians, these “new rich” Malays desire a comfortable high status and middle class lifestyle. In addition, the pressure of city living has made them more individualist in their status orientations, caring only for their own family
formal donations for charity. Their extra cash is required to maintain their middle class lifestyle (Shamsul A.B., 1999).
Although the older generation from the Malay middle class share some similarities with most of the post-NEP new Malay middle class particularly when demonstrating their middle class identity, like driving big European cars, unlike the latter, they place less emphasis on ethnic identity, live in mixed ethnic middle class housing estates and join prestigious golf clubs with mixed ethnicity. One major reason for this
Although the older generation from the Malay middle class share some similarities with most of the post-NEP new Malay middle class particularly when demonstrating their middle class identity, like driving big European cars, unlike the latter, they place less emphasis on ethnic identity, live in mixed ethnic middle class housing estates and join prestigious golf clubs with mixed ethnicity. One major reason for this