The Malay Migration

By: Sigmund Sarris

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 32 mins

Publisher's summary

The world and economics are very interesting things. One thing is for certain, that is, in human history people, women and men, have traveled the globe for economic opportunities. The history of Southeast Asia is as rich as many parts of the globe, and as a result of all the volcanic activity, the archaeological record has left a lot of questions unanswered. There have been some great things that have come out of Southeast Asia, and this is a book regarding the possible collaboration that is underway and has unfolded as a result of Quranic interpretation, Mandarin Chinese, RCEP, the Belt and Road Initiative, the former one-child policy in China, and economics. It's not a mystery to anyone who follows the media that China commits several thousand human rights violations annually against the Uyghurs who are Chinese citizens that are Muslims living in North Central China. China isn't well-known for having a great deal of immigration, but in recent decades as its state-sponsored organizations have expanded, an increasing number of students and workers from around the world have been taking advantage of the free higher education, stipends, economic success, and job opportunities offered to them in Mainland China. The fourth wealthiest country in the world is Singapore, and its recipe to success can be attributed to Lee Kuan Yew's People's Action Party that took the small island nation from a war-torn city-state regained from the Japanese in WWII by the British to what the country is today after being dumped by Malaysia due to ethnocentrism. China has borrowed from Singapore and is running a similar model of government on a much grander scale, draconian laws and all. As the 60% of inhabitants of Singapore that have Chinese ancestry have changed Southeast Asia, China is attempting to change international trade, infrastructure projects, diplomacy, and much more throughout the world. Malaysia is uniquely positioned to continue to benefit from China's prosperity as it is a member of RCEP, and more than 70% of its population has a fairly high level of fluency in Mandarin. Although many Malays and citizens of other nations in Southeast Asia have started migrating to Mainland China to take advantage of the prosperity there, it's unclear how their faith will be affected in consideration of more than 60% of the population of Malaysia and nearly the entire populations of neighboring nations practicing Sunni Islam. According to the Quran and liberal Islamic scholars, there isn't any prohibition regarding interfaith marriages, so time will tell how the interplay between China and its neighbors, specifically Malaysia, unfolds. Two demographic facts will make it either a recipe for success or disaster as China is experiencing a male youth bulge as a result of their former one-child policy, and Malaysia and other neighboring nations are experiencing a youth bulge as a result of socioeconomic factors in combination with improved healthcare over the last three decades.