A Qualitative Study of Lived Experiences of Mixed Race People in Malaysia
The Lived Experiences of Mixed Race People in Malaysia
Mas Marlena Mohamad
Abstract
The focus of this study is to understand the lived experiences as mixed race people in a multi-racial country, Malaysia. Many researches has been done on mixed race people but only in western countries, I would like to conduct the study here in Malaysia being a multi-racial country. There were no study conducted in Asian countries so there weren’t any findings on the lived experiences of mixed race people other than whites and blacks. In this study I will conduct a focus group to understand their lived experiences of mixed race people living in Malaysia. I conducted a focus group consisting two different groups separating five male and five female participants. After researching, I have found that the all the participants face a language barrier when trying to make friends with people of a single race and some suffer higher expectations being mixed. Most of them felt difficulty having friends in the schooling years as the racial discrimination was powerfully felt at that time. Participants feel more open to cultural differences and are proud of their mixed parentage; they also feel that other parents and the educational system plays an important role in a child’s social upbringing toward a more understanding and open-minded new generation.
Introduction and Purpose of the Study The number of mixed race people has been increasing over the years and especially in a multi-racial country such as Malaysia. Research has been done in western countries like America however, research hasn’t been done in eastern countries; especially here in Malaysia therefore conducting this research here would be most appropriate with the number of mixed race people living in Malaysia. In Malaysia, many mixed race people don’t have a voice to express their experiences as individuals who cannot identify to a certain category of racial identity, so by doing this research, I hope to understand the
Mas Marlena Mohamad
Abstract
The focus of this study is to understand the lived experiences as mixed race people in a multi-racial country, Malaysia. Many researches has been done on mixed race people but only in western countries, I would like to conduct the study here in Malaysia being a multi-racial country. There were no study conducted in Asian countries so there weren’t any findings on the lived experiences of mixed race people other than whites and blacks. In this study I will conduct a focus group to understand their lived experiences of mixed race people living in Malaysia. I conducted a focus group consisting two different groups separating five male and five female participants. After researching, I have found that the all the participants face a language barrier when trying to make friends with people of a single race and some suffer higher expectations being mixed. Most of them felt difficulty having friends in the schooling years as the racial discrimination was powerfully felt at that time. Participants feel more open to cultural differences and are proud of their mixed parentage; they also feel that other parents and the educational system plays an important role in a child’s social upbringing toward a more understanding and open-minded new generation.
Introduction and Purpose of the Study The number of mixed race people has been increasing over the years and especially in a multi-racial country such as Malaysia. Research has been done in western countries like America however, research hasn’t been done in eastern countries; especially here in Malaysia therefore conducting this research here would be most appropriate with the number of mixed race people living in Malaysia. In Malaysia, many mixed race people don’t have a voice to express their experiences as individuals who cannot identify to a certain category of racial identity, so by doing this research, I hope to understand the
References: Brunsma, D.L. (2005). Interracial Families and the Racial Identitfication of Mixed-Race Children: Evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. Social Forces, 84 (2), 1131-1157 Fryer Jr., R. G., Kahn, L., Levitt, S.D., & Spenkuch, J. L. (2012). The Plight of Mixed Race Adolescents. Review of Economics & Statistics, 94 (2), 1-40. Doi:10.11.1162/REST_a_00252