Cont...Ethnic Groups

A small number of Eurasians of mixed European and Malay descent live in Malaysia, with a small community existing in Malacca who are descended from former Portuguese colonists who married Malay women. While they have adopted Malay culture, they speak their own language and are Catholics.

Each ethnic group has its own underlying culture that separates it from the others, but they have achieved different levels of integration, if not perfectly harmoniously. Chinese have integrated with Malay culture in a number of areas, assimilated into areas of Terrenganu and forming Malayanised groups such as the Baba Chinese in Malacca and the Sino-Kadazan of Sabah. Combined British rule brought some joint sense of identity to all the ethnic groups, with English ideas and ideals providing some unifying features. A joint Malaysian Culture can be seen in the symbiosis of the cultures of the people within it.