The Dynamics of Marginalization, Citizenship and ‘Nation-of-Intent’ in Malaysia

Malaysia struggles with national identity, ethnic diversity, and inclusive citizenship through a historical and sociopolitical lens. Malaysia’s political landscape is marked by a unique blend of multiculturalism, economic disparities, and regional divides. With a diverse population comprising multiple ethnic groups, the challenge of creating a cohesive national identity while respecting cultural distinctions has always been a central issue. The challenge is to find ways of addressing and theorizing unconscious ideas in divergent patterns of the nation, especially in Malaysia, which can be fragmented and contradictory and which cut across the traditional fault lines of ethnicity. Therefore, there is an opportunity for the concept of ‘nation-of-intent’ to be explicitly organized around ideas, identification and patterns which are recognizably multiple and sometimes, unstable, with visible contradictions in the Malaysian citizens ‘personal locations.’