The Assimilation of the Bangkok-Melayu Communities
by Prof. Madya Dr Umaiyah Haji Umar
Universiti Malaya, 2003
Abstract
The study explores how the Malay culture and dialect have been diluted or lost by the Malay-origin communities of Bangkok. Six sites in and around Bangkok were chosen because of the high concentration of Malay-origin population residing in the areas. The study is in some respects the reverse of a previous study by Umaiyah (1999). However, the author, though she does not have the experience and training necessary to do a full-blown social-anthropological study, decided that a more holistic and all-embracing approach would be a more effective way of approaching the fascinating story of the Bangkok-Melayu (BKM). This approach, which would combine social linguistics with social anthropology, is necessary since the great majority of the Malay-Muslims in Bangkok can hardly speak Jawi.
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