The population of Malaysia comprises the three major ethnic groups of Asia- the
Chinese, Indians and Malays. In Peninsular Malaysia (where 80 per cent of the
population lives), about 61.1 per cent are Malays (Department of Statistics
2001a). The Malays, together with a small group of the other indigenous groups,
are known as the Bumiputra, or son of the soil. The Chinese and Indians make
up about 27.4 per cent and 9.4 per cent of the population of Peninsular Malaysia
respectively. They are the descendants of migrants from China and India in the
early part of the twentieth century. The remaining 0.7 per cent are “Others”. Each
ethnic community has maintained its own socio-cultural ways of life, and is
segregated to some extent by place of residence, education and occupation.
The various ethnic groups are at different stages of demographic transition.
Mortality rates have fallen to a low level for all segments of the population, with a
crude death rate of less than 5 per thousand population. The infant mortality rate
is lowest among the Chinese (5 per thousand live birth) and highest among the
Malays (9 per thousand live births), with the Indians in-between. Female life
expectancy ranges from about 73 years for the Malays to 78 years for the
Chinese (Department of Statistics 2001b). Substantial fertility differentials still
exist among the various sub-groups of the population.