Who are Malaysian Chinese?
The Malaysian Chinese community is an intriguing one, with its various dialects, languages, economics, politics and cultures. To cap it all, author Rita Sim Hai Soon has packaged her research on the community in a book entitled "Unmistakably Chinese, Genuinely Malaysian". ELLY FAZANIZA finds out what made her write the book.
Quite a number of Malaysian Chinese, especially those educated in national schools, would be able to identify with Rita Sim, as she is "unmistakably Chinese, genuinely Malaysian", exactly as the title of her book.
Although she went to English-based mission schools and spoke no Chinese, Sim, 51, said she wanted to understand the heterogeneous Chinese community and find out more about the very community she is from.
"The reason why I classified the Chinese community in Malaysia is to explain they are not homogenous. There are different dialects, and there are those English educated.
"The Chinese in Malaysia have thrived in a way that no other Chinese community has in neighbouring nations. Here, they have succeeded in balancing, on the one hand, a sense of belonging to their ethnic roots, and on the other, loyalty to their Malaysian nationality," said Sim.
She recalled she was moved to write the book after an incident where she could not communicate with a group of Chinese girls.
"About 15 years ago, I was in a project mentoring young girls. The project was with Mina Cheah-Foong (now the Body Shop managing director) and each of us was given a 12 year old girl. The best part was when we were talking to them, we couldn't communicate with them.
"They were all from different Chinese schools in different areas. The mentoring syllabus was in English. How could we communicate with them?
"It was so difficult for me to communicate and that puzzled me for some time."
Funnily, Sim is with Sin Chew Daily, a Chinese daily, despite her language handicap. She was also the first English-educated person to take the position of executive director on the board of Sin Chew Media Corporation Berhad.
She is currently a non-executive non-independent director of Media Chinese International Limited - of which Sin Chew is a subsidiary.
In her book, she classified the Malaysian Chinese as G1, G2 and G3.
G1 is the invisible majority, G2 is the distinct minority and G3 is the significant in-between.
The G1 are the ethnic Chinese who preserve their cultures, traditions, language and expressions.
The group's physical identities are the Chinese Associations, Chinese Education and the Chinese Press - the main pillars that defines the group.
The Distinct Minority, the second group is predominantly middle-class and urban, English is the primary language and to some extent Malay, especially within the Baba-Nyonya community.
Rita explains the reason the G2's second generation are familiar with the Malay language is because the curriculum system 1976 changed its medium instruction from English to Bahasa Malaysia.
Interestingly, while many are able to speak their dialect, most will not be able to read Chinese. The group identifies with non-communal issues based in civil society rather than ethnic aspired.
Typically, those associated with G2 involve themselves in politics through civil society and church groups.
Lastly, the G3 are those individuals between G1 and G2. Since they originate from these two groups, and because of their exposures in Malay language or English language schools, their mobility allows them to move further into the corporate sector in Indonesia, Australia and Europe.
Sim refers herself as the "Significant in-Between", a minority.
Sim admits writing the book has been a struggle.
"I just wanted to say we are genuinely Malaysian. I can't deny that I am mistakenly Chinese!
Sim's book is also a good source of information for the Chinese media planners. She had pointed out why the Chinese newspapers may have a high readership but that it is the English newspapers which take the bulk of advertisement expenditure.
"I want to try to communicate to the media planners that you need to reach out to the Chinese communities, and you need to speak to them in transliteration, not translation. You must go into their thought process," she stresses.
According to Sim's research, advertisers are biased using English newspapers when reaching out to the Chinese community. Also, there are many media planners who merely translate their proposals into Chinese.
This simple assumptions merely makes those who are depending the newspapers to advertise and carry their branding message actually not reaching their target audience.
Interestingly, Sim uses an example under "How We Use Our Contacts", saying those in G1 prefer to conduct business with who they know or through common contacts. She states: G1 Chinese use a complex network (guangzi) of contacts to sustain themselves. G2 have contacts also, but they tend to work in small clusters.
There is also a clear point where a G2's influence ends, whereas a G1's contacts are endlessly recycled.
Sim's book also touches on new villages as well as the lifestyles of the Malaysian Chinese.
The book was published by think tank Centre for Strategic Engagement, of which Sim is the co-founder and a fellow - The Sun Daily