Malaysia is a multiracial country situated in the South-East Asia. It is made up of two major segments; the peninsular Malaysia which is formerly known as Malaya; and the East Malaysia comprises of Sabah and Sarawak. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong, is the constitutional monarch and head of the state of Malaysia and has extensive powers within the constitution. Current statistics from the Malaysian Department of Statistics shows that the estimated population of Malaysia in 2018 is 32.4million which comprises of more than 178 ethnic groups and 1.1. per cent annual population growth. The Bumiputera, which is comprises of the Malays, indigenous people and the natives from Sabah and Sarawak, made up the majority of the population with 69.1% or 20.07 million. This is followed by the Chinese (23% or 6.69 million), Indians (6.9% or 2.01 millions) and other ethnic groups (1% or 0.29million). Due to the multi-racial characteristic of the population, the country has varieties of culture, religion, social norms and values which is manifested through the languages, attire, foods, ceremonial occasions, symbols and so forth. The identification of each of the major ethnics in Malaysia, is in line with the identity of their cultures and religions. Religion plays a big role in forming the values and identity in the country. Islam is the main religion of the country and majority of the citizens are MusIims (60.4%). The rest are non-Muslim which consists mainly of Christians (9.1%), Buddhist (19.2%), Hindus (6.3%), Confucians and others (5.0%). Bahasa Malaysia is the official national language of the country, but other languages such as Chinese, English and Tamil are also widely spoken.

The multicultural aspect of Malaysia is undeniably a unique feature of the society. It is central to its history and formed through a long process of colonialism by the Portuguese, Dutch, British and Japanese. However, since gaining its independence from the British in 1957, Malaysia has faced many obstacles to develop its unique identity and maintain harmonious relationship among various ethnic groups. The 13th May 1969 is the highligh of the racial tensions in Malaysia which led to a declaration of a state of national emergency or Darurat by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong resulting in the suspension of the Parliament by the Malaysian government, while the National Operations Council (NOC), also known as the Majlis Gerakan Negara (MAGERAN), was established as a caretaker government to temporarily govern the country between 1969 and 1971.

The Malaysian government realizes the challenges and the needs to manage this diversity in order to maintain a harmonious relationship among the various ethnic groups. Hence, the Malaysian National Culture Policy was established and accepted by the National Culture Congress in 1971. This policy will be used as guidelines in designing, formulating and sustaining the national identity of Malaysia in the world. The National Culture Policy was formulated after taking into consideration of the historical facts of this region as well as Malaysia’s position as a meeting point and centre of trade and civilization some two thousand years ago. Malaysia’s role as a meeting point has resulted in interaction, introduction, assimilation and acceptance of various elements suitable to be adopted as basic culture of this region. Three principles were determined by the government as the National Culture Policy as follows :

1. The national culture must be based on the indigenous culture of this region.
2. Suitable elements from the other culture may be accepted as part of the national culture.
3. Islam is an important component in the formulation of the national culture.

The development of national culture is extremely important to create a stable and united nation. As such, efforts in formulating the national culture of Malaysia are undertaken to achieve the following objectives :

1. To strengthen national unity through culture.
2. To foster and preserve national identity created through national culture.
3. To enrich and enhance the quality of human life in equilibrium with socio-economic development.

Hofstede, a Dutch social psychologist who is well known for his pioneering research on cross-cultural groups and organizations, describes the Malaysian national culture as high in power distance, collectivist, normative, indulgence seeking, and low in uncertainty avoidance. In short, the Malaysian society is believe to be accepting a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification. They also put high importance for loyalty and close long-term commitment to the “member” group, be that a family, extended family or extended relationships. Such a society fosters strong relationships, where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group. The normative culture shows that the Malaysian society in general have a strong concern with establishing the absolute truth; having great respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to save for the future, and a focus on achieving quick results. Meanwhile the indulgence encompasses that the society exhibit a willingness to realise their impulses and desires with regard to enjoying life and having fun. They possess a positive attitude and have a tendency towards optimism. In addition, they place a higher degree of importance on leisure time, act as they please and spend money as they wish. Finally, the low uncertainty avoidance score shows that the society maintain a more relaxed attitude in which practice counts more than principles and deviance from the norm is more easily tolerated.

Challenges in managing the cultural diversity in Malaysia is rooted from various sources including segregation in the form of education systems, political parties, working environment, housing and so forth which mainly is racial-based and helps to create a big gap between ethnics. The globalisation also brings additional flavours as well as challenges to the cultural diversity in Malaysia through immigration of foreign workers and expatriates which turns the country into a melting pot of cultures. These cultural diversity, despite adding colours to the country, also contribute to the complexity and conflict between ethnics and lack of identity. If it is not properly address and manage, the situation may lead to more division and tensions.