Breaking Taboos: Malaysian History and Sensitive Topics in Xiao Hei's Fiction

After gaining independence from Britain, Malaysia constituted itself as a modern nation-state that is both ethnically diverse and culturally varied. However, within this diversity, the state officially endorsed a preferential system when the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which carne into force in 1957, the year of independence, sanctioned the beginning of federal affirmative actions directed at safeguarding the special position of the Malays within the new state, Such act ions greatly increased after the ethnic riots of 1969 when the government implemented several measures aimed at strengthening the special position of the Malay and the indigenous ethnic groups, a major justification or which was to put an end to the economic inequality between the Malays and non-Malays. This economic disparity was deemed as a crucial cause of the 1969 riots. In addition, governmental control over the mass media and the art s also increased. Restrictions were placed on the freedom of its citizens to publicly discuss certain sensitive topics such as the racial quota system in governmental employment and education, including the rights and interests of the Chinese (and Indians) in fields such as culture, education, politics and the economy. As a consequence, such actions led to a situation where the official discourse underplayed the problems of the Chinese community and their role in nation-building. Moreover, these issues were discouraged on the grounds of their sensitivity. This article shows how one Malaysian Chinese author. Xiao Hei, manages to deal with sensitive issue s pertaining to politics, culture and education, thus shedding light on the Chinese contribution to nation-building, while also constructing a narrative of the Iife experiences of the Malaysian Chinese community.