Pakistanis in Malaysia

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Pakistanis in Malaysia
Hockey Pics(Pakistan vs Malaysia 2nd Half) (15 of 20).jpg
Pakistani supporters in Malaysia during a hockey match between Pakistan and Malaysia.
Total population
59,281 (2017 official govt estimate) [1]
Languages
Urdu  · Saraiki  · Punjabi  · Pashto  · Malay  · Sindhi  · English
Religion
Predominantly Islam Minority Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Pakistani diaspora, Jawi Peranakan
Pakistanis in Malaysia Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey, Ipoh.jpg
Pakistanis in Malaysia

Pakistanis in Malaysia form the largest Pakistani diaspora community in southeast Asia and they also make up the 6th largest group of foreign workers/nationals in Malaysia as of 30 June 2017 according to the Malaysia's home ministry. [2]

Contents

Population

The Malays and Pakistanis share strong Muslim identity. At the time of Malaysia's independence under the Federation of Malaya Independence Act 1957, there were more than two hundred thousand Pakistanis residing in Malaysia, rather than forming a separate group under the categorized system, at the suggestion of Malays themselves, Pakistanis immersed themselves into the Malay group, thus they became part of the Bumiputra elite, enriched by social ties, intermarriage, and shared economic and political aspirations. [3] They also took positions in the civil service administration and gradually rose to the upper echelons of government, by then inextricably intermixed with the Malay majority. [4]

The actual number of Pakistani people in Malaysia is generally understated, as the figure provided by the Pakistani Ministry of Labour merely assert that those who hold Pakistani citizenship. An absolute number of Pakistanis people and their descendants are likely to exceed 100,000. This is heavily contributed to fact that the early settlers came from British Raj (which includes present-day Pakistan) during the colonial days have obtained Malaysian citizenship. Throughout the years, most of Pakistani-Malaysians and their descendants are partially or fully assimilated with the Malay majority due to their common Islamic background, high level of intermarriage and to receive state aid of Malaysian affirmative action policy under Article 153, thus registered themselves as Malays. Nonetheless, they identified their ethnic roots as Pakistani. A vast majority of Pakistanis can be considered as having South Asian racial ancestry, given their close roots to the Indo-Aryan people groups of the region. The primary languages spoken by Pakistanis in Malaysia is Urdu, as well as Malay.

Employment

According to official figures released by Malaysia's Home Ministry the number of legal foreign workers from Pakistan stood at 59,281 as of June 2017. [5] Under a 2005 agreement between Pakistan and Malaysia, as many as 100,000 Pakistanis may eventually work in Malaysia, especially in the manufacturing, construction, and plantation sectors; the Pakistani workers are intended to replace nearly 400,000 illegal immigrants from Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka who departed the country under an amnesty which ended in March 2005. [6] Lt. General Tahir Mahmud Qazi, Pakistan's High Commissioner to Malaysia, expected that the number of Pakistanis in Malaysia would reach that figure of 100,000 by the end of 2010. [7]

Some Pakistani workers recruited by the unscrupulous employment agencies often live in bad conditions in Malaysia; after an inspection tour, Pakistani senators Fauzia Fakhru Zaman and Rukhsana Zuberi said they had seen many workers who were weak due to lack of proper food and requested to be taken home, while others were receiving only RM400 in monthly salary after having been promised nearly four times that much by recruiters. [8] The senators also blasted the Pakistani High Commission in Malaysia for taking no action on behalf of Pakistani workers there and for overcharging them for land purchases in Pakistan under the OPF Housing Scheme. [9]

Travel

In addition to the Pakistanis working in Malaysia, the country receives as many as 50,000 visitors from Pakistan each year; Pakistan's Airblue plans has launched direct flights to Kuala Lumpur in 2009 and ordered fourteen Airbus A320 planes to service the route. [10]

Notable people

Almost all figures in the list of the notable people Pakistani descent in Malaysia are of mixed descent, particularly with the ethnic Malays. Mixed-marriage is a pattern which is shared with most of Pakistani descent in Malaysia (excluding to the recently arrived migrants), after settling in the Malaysian soil after generations, assimilation process and the common Islamic background.

See also

Notes

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    References

    1. ↑ "Home Ministry says there are 1.7 million legal foreign workers in Malaysia as of June 30 | Malay Mail".
    2. ↑ "Home Ministry says there are 1.7 million legal foreign workers in Malaysia as of June 30 | Malay Mail".
    3. ↑ Bernama, B (8 September 2013), "Growing Pakistani community in Malaysia shows it's a flourishing cultural melting pot - Rosmah", Bernama, Malaysia, retrieved 8 September 2013
    4. ↑ Total Assimilation Outcomes in Migration Studies
    5. ↑ "Home Ministry says there are 1.7 million legal foreign workers in Malaysia as of June 30 | Malay Mail".
    6. ↑ "Malaysia to employ 100,000 Pakistanis to overcome labour shortage", Pakistan Times, 20 March 2005, archived from the original on 14 June 2011, retrieved 19 November 2008
    7. ↑ "100,000 Pakistani labourers expected to work in Malaysia by end 2010", NewsTrack India/Asian News International, 27 August 2009, retrieved 31 May 2010
    8. ↑ "Pakistanis in Malaysia in miserable condition", Daily Times, Pakistan, 16 May 2006, retrieved 19 November 2008
    9. ↑ "Senate body for taking action against HC officials in Malaysia", Pak Tribune, Pakistan, 9 March 2006, retrieved 19 November 2008
    10. ↑ P., Vijian (11 September 2008), "Pakistan's Airblue To Launch KL Flight in 2009", Bernama, Malaysia, retrieved 19 November 2008
    11. ↑ Mixed blooded Malays in the ruling party. Drkokogyi.wordpress.com (24 October 2010).
    12. ↑ Sabah has right to deny visitors entry Archived 10 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
    13. ↑ Sabah BN shamed over Wong’s ‘nativity’ issue. Wikisabah.blogspot.com (26 July 2011)
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