Ketuanan Melayu

Ketuanan Melayu (Jawi: کتوانن ملايو; lit. "Malay overlordship" or "Malay supremacy") is a political concept that emphasises Malay hegemony and preeminence in present-day Malaysia. The Malaysian Malays have claimed special position and rights owing to their longer history in the area and the fact that the present Malaysian state itself evolved from a Malay polity. The oldest political institution in Malaysia is the system of Malay rulers of the nine Malay states. Between the late 18th and the mid-20th century, British colonial authorities in British Malaya, transformed the system first into a system of indirect rule, then in 1948, using this culturally based institution, they incorporated the Malay monarchy into the blueprints for the independent Federation of Malaya.

The term Tanah Melayu (Malaya) in its name, which literally means "Malay land", assumes proprietorship of the Malay states. In this method, the colonial government strengthened Malay ethno-nationalism, Malay ethnicity and culture and Malay sovereignty in the new nation-state. Though other cultures would continue to flourish, the identity of the emerging political community was to be shaped by the political culture of its dominant Malay ethnic group. The Chinese and Indian immigrants, who form a significant minority in Malaysia, are considered beholden to the Malays for granting them citizenship in return for special privileges as set out in Article 153 of the Constitution of Malaysia. In return, the King of Malaysia bears the responsibility to safeguard the legitimate interests of these communities as provisioned in the Federal Constitution. This quid pro quo arrangement is usually referred to as the Malaysian social contract. The concept of is often cited by politicians, particularly those from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS).

Broader Malay nationalist ideas had already taken root in the 1940s, when Malays mobilised against the Malayan Union imposed by the British and later during the struggle for independence. In the 1960s, Malay nationalism was openly challenged by the People's Action Party (PAP) of Singapore, then a state within Malaysia from 1963 to 1965, as well as by the Democratic Action Party (DAP) following Singapore's expulsion. However, constitutional provisions linked to Malay nationalism were later made entrenched after the 13 May incident, which followed an election campaign centred on non-Malay rights and ethnic politics. This era also marked the further rise of "ultras", who pushed for a Malay supremacist one-party state under UMNO and reinforced the notion that Malays were the definitive people of Malaysia, implying that only an ethnic Malay could be considered a true Malaysian. The term Ketuanan Melayu itself only became widely used in the early 2000s. For much of its history, organised political resistance to the idea largely came from non-Malay based parties, notably the Malaysian People's Movement Party (Gerakan) and the Democratic Action Party (DAP). In the same period, the multiracial People's Justice Party (PKR) rejected Ketuanan Melayu and instead promoted the idea of Ketuanan Rakyat, or the supremacy of the people.

The 13 May incident caused a major change in the government's approach to racial issues in successive decades, and led to the introduction of aggressive affirmative action policies strongly favouring the Malays, known as the New Economic Policy (NEP). The National Culture Policy, also introduced in 1970, emphasised the assimilation of non-Malay natives (collectively known as the bumiputera) into the Malay ethnic group. During the 1990s, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad toned down this approach, with his Bangsa Malaysia policy emphasising a Malaysian instead of Malay identity for the state, although preferential treatment towards the Malays was retained. Since the 2010s, politicians particularly from the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU) and the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) began re-emphasising the phrase, as they deemed such rights as being threatened under a Pakatan Harapan (PH)–led government, and publicly chastised government ministers from the coalition who questioned the concept as being in violation of the supposed social contract. Although still subscribing to the philosphy, UMNO has taken a less hardline approach since the 2020s, softening ties with former enemies such as DAP and PKR through a coalition government between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH), although some politicians remain to advocate for a more aggressive approach to the concept.