Malay, Malaysian people...?

Travel Info
If someone is from Malaysia...do they consider themselves to be Malay(sian), regardless of ethnic background? Or are they divided into different races and groups?

Travel Tips

Well, naturally, people who was born here in Malaysia will always view themself as Malaysian, regardless of their ethnic background. Of course, there are different ethnics living here in Malaysia, but the beauty of it is that they can live in harmony.

Sure, some people might argue that we do not truly live in harmony, as Malaysian of different ethnicity always stick together with their own race, and although this is true to some extent, we can and we do mix with others, and we can interact positively with each other, don't you guys agree? =)

The bottomline is, a Malaysian will always consider themselves as Malaysian, unless they do not want to.

PS : I love being Malaysian!!

Others
I think everyone who is born and raised in Malaysia is a Malaysian. Unless they consider otherwise.
When it comes down to real matters, everybody is for him/her self.
Most people in Malaysia are Malays but there is a huge minority of Chinese there. Singapore was once part of Malaysia but it was kicked out of the federation since the govt of Malaysia controlled by Malays were afraid that with the large Chinese population in Singapore would take control of the govt. Decades ago the Malays had control of the govt while the Chinese had more economic power than the average Malay Malaysian. The main reason for Singapore being kicked out was the "the bumiputra policy," which is an affirmitive action law that guaranteed a certain quotas for government scholarships, jobs, etc to Malays. The politicians from Singapore (a state within the Malaysia back then) were against the policy.
Malay is an ethnic group; they originate from Indonesia and speak Malay language, a language from Austronesian group of languages

Malaysian is any citizen of Malaysia, regardless of his ethnic background (ethnic is called 'race' in Malaysia).
Most of Malaysians are either Malay, Chinese or Tamil, though there are other national minorities as well and there are also those who became Malaysian citizens later.

Malays are divided into subgroups, each of them having their own distinguished dialect, though these differences are less significant. Only one group of Malays significantly differs from others by their dialect and culture: the Minangkabau.

There are also Malays living in Indonesian islands of Sumatra, Java and Riau islands. Malays also comprise around 14% of Singapore's population. There is a larger Malay minority in South Africa, where they were brought as slaves by the British. There are about 2.5 millions of Malays living in southern Thailand.

Malayic people are people of ethnics close to Malays and Malays. Malayic people are people of Philipines, some indigenous ethics on Borneo (Iban, Bidayuh, Kadazan...) and Indonesian islands (Javanese, Madura...).

Bugis people, a mixture of Malays and indigenous tribes who have adopted Malay culture to a large extent, are also considered as part of Malays.

For some reason, Malay people don't like this answer, although it's plain truth. Maybe they don't like to hear they're from Indonesia but their own history books say so...
my silat cikgu, himself a Malay taught me a lot about Malays
Malaysia is a multy-racial country . There got three main races they are Malay,Chinese and Indians . If someone from Malaysia he is a Malaysian but it is not necessary he is a Malay , he could be a Chinese or Indian . Their religion also different as well . There got Muslims , Hindu , Buddies and Christians . The beauty of Malaysia is all them can live together.