Chinese People of Malaysia

About the Chinese

Chinese is the second biggest ethnic group in Malaysia. They are the descendents of the Chinese people who arrived in Malaysia in the 15th to mid 20th centuries.

In the 15th century, Chinese traders have already started arriving in Malacca to trade. There was a significant number of Chinese living in Malacca during the Sultanate period. They were mainly traders from southern China, specifically the Fujian province. Many of these Chinese intermarried with the locals, and their descendents are called the earliest Peranakans, or Straits-born Chinese. Although they retained Chinese names, many have adopted Malay as their mother tongue. The graves at Bukit Cina in Malacca belong to the Chinese people who were already living in Malacca in the Dutch period.

The second wave of Chinese immigrants came in the 19th century until the mid 20th century, when the political upheaval in China makes many Chinese leave the country to seek a better life. This second wave comprised Chinese from the southern provinces of Fujian and Guangdong. They settled in the newly established British Straits Settlements of Penang and Singapore, and subsequently batch of Chinese immigrants arrived to work the tin mines in Perak and Selangor.

Today, the majority of Chinese people in Malaysia live along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia as well as in the main towns in Sabah and Sarawak. They form at least 30% or more of the inhabitants of many major towns in Kedah, Perak, Selangor and Johor, and are the majority in Penang and Kuala Lumpur. The towns in Perak with a significant Chinese population includes Ipoh, Taiping, Batu Gajah and Setiawan. In Johor, there is a significant percentage of Chinese in Johor Bahru, Kluang, Batu Pahat, Muar and Segamat. In states where Chinese form a minority - below 30% - they are still concentrated in the major towns, where they constitute 40% or more of the town population. This includes Bentong, Raub, Mentakab, Kuching, Sibu, Miri, Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan.

The Chinese in Malaysia are from several different dialect groups. The majority are Hokkien, followed by Hakka, Cantonese, Teochew, Hainanese and Hockchews.

Malaysia Hotel Room Price Checker

Before booking a hotel room, make sure you are getting the lowest price for it. Different hotel booking websites offers the same room at different prices. If you stick with one site all the time, you could be paying more for the same room. Now why pay more?

The form below is a Research Engine. It doesn't take bookings. Instead it lets you find the hotel booking website that offers the room you want at the lowest price. You can see and compare what different sites are offering, and then click to choose the one with the best price. Do this, and you're guaranteed to save a whole lot of money on your room reservations!

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Flight Checker

Flying somewhere? Say you're going to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Penang or Kuching to Singapore, which airline gives you the best rate for the date and time of your trip? Instead of visiting each airline website one by one, use our Flight Checker on the right to find out.

Just enter you trip details: where you will be flying to, your departure date and return date. Select the number of passengers, and then click search.

Our engine will return you a list of possible flights that you can take. You can compare the fare of different airlines for your trip. Click on your selected airline, and we transfer you to the airline website.

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Exploring Malaysia is researched and written by Timothy Tye. Content and articles in Exploring Malaysia are provided in goodwill and are believed to be correct at time of writing. While every reasonable care is taken to check and verify the information shared, Exploring Malaysia disclaims responsibility for its use. All pages may be printed out for your own personal, non-commercial use. Photographs appearing in Exploring Malaysia are available according to the licensing terms specified in its caption. Photographs not credited to a third party belong to Timothy Tye and may not be reused in any form unless you are first given permission. Write in to inquire if interested. Third party photographs are governed by their respective licenses.

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