Minority-Majority Peace Building Relations: A Case Study of Thai South and Malay North

Minority-Majority Peace Building Relations: A Case Study of Thai South and Malay North

Author: Mr Ibrahima Lamine Sano

Co-Author: Mrs Kadiatou Sanoh

College of Islamic Studies (CIS), Prince of Songkla University (PSU), Pattani Campus Thailand

Abstract

Despite obviously knowing that peaceful coexistence is a must in a nation, yet there are alarming issues in Southern Thailand, which is comparatively studied as a case with Northern Malaysia for Minority-Majority peace building relations. The situations of Siam Buddhists in Northern Malaysia are analyzed. Historical perspective of Siam Buddhist minorities in Northern Malaysia is critically studied. The scope to examine the state of Siam Buddhists’ Society in Kelantan is outlined, while the need for historical perspective of multi-religious coexistence in Kelantan is addressed. The scale of the transition from accommodation to acceptance and its contribution to Malaysian development for Siam Buddhists is examined. The arena of leaderships along with economy, education, sociocultural interactions, religious freedom and the importance of a language are all considered. Finally, overall conclusions are presented.

Keywords: Minority, Majority, Peace, Muslim and Buddhist

1. Introduction

Race, discrimination, prejudice and stereotypes remain sensitive words in numerous societies around the world, where it is extremely difficult to discount the concept of race with reference to the determining of international social and political relations of societies (Slabbert, 2014). Religions can be added to these as emotive. In both Thailand and Malaysia, religions are mostly race based. In a sense that the majority ethnic Malays of Malaysia are predominantly Muslims and some of the ethnic minorities are Siam Buddhists; the majority ethnic Thai of Thailand are predominantly Buddhists and the minority ethnic Malays are Muslims. On many levels and on numerous forums, the issue of race lies at the heart of debates (Slabbert, 2014). There is no way out for stopping multiculturalism, but the problem is that how to coexist in peace and in harmony. Slabbert, (2014) goes on to argues that the actual presence of people of different skin colours in the societies leads to two related conclusions, namely a definitive socio-psychological process that exists to categorise individuals; and the consciousness of people experienced to classify themselves and "others" in situations and circumstances.

Longe et al (2014) claim that several questions begin to come into attention on when and how these strange ethno-religious values and ideology crept into the political arena of the nation. Over time, these unproductive ideologies are regarded as normal, and both youth and senior citizens seem to regard them as the instrument and acceptable means of practicing politics in the country (Longe et al, 2014). In this aspect, ethno-religious differences are meant to bring in, positively, more approaches to progress nations but some nations fail to grab that opportunity to take an advantage and to make the most of the occasion of being different. Unfortunately, it is usually used with the theory of divide and rule of politician. Longe et al (2014) go on to assert that politicians and people in key leadership positions often use these as the instrument of exploiting the general populace and achieving their selfish ambitions.

This study illustrates that Islam and Buddhism can be categorized into two main groups, namely good and bad or right and wrong or virtue and vice. Both religions consist of positive approaches and negative prohibitions. They maintain human dignity, harmony and peaceful life. The two religions have comprehensive ways to solve the conflict in southern Thailand. The concept of virtue is supported by both religions: honesty, truthfulness, kindness, justice and feeling of compassion toward weak. Five biggest sins in Buddhism are: killing, stealing, lying, drinking and committing adultery – these are condemned by both religions. This article examines the historical perspective of Siam Buddhists in northern Malaysia from accommodation to acceptance and its contribution to Malaysian development as well as Malay Muslims in Southern Thailand. It also evaluates Malay Muslims’ view point on Buddhists and Buddhists’ view point on Muslims and Islam. It follows by exploring the possibility of peaceful coexistence between Muslims minority in southern provinces and Buddhist majority by providing the model of Kelantan in northern Malaysia. People in Kelantan live in harmony and mutual respect of each other. The pertinent question; how to promote peaceful coexistence between different ethno-religious groups; regardless of their origin, backgrounds and religions? Islam prescribes preventive measures (was’ayil wiqa’iya) whether at the inter-state or intra-state levels. It achieves by adopting negotiations among different actors, call for peace, and the codification of the stands of inter-group and inter-state interactions. Islam also prescribes (was’ayil ‘ilagiya), which refers to processes of managing and resolving a conflict. These processes would include attempt to resolve the conflict on the basis of the Qur’an and Sunnah (the prophetic traditions); reconciliation (sulh), capitulation (tanazul), arbitration (ta’hkim), and if all the above bear no fruit, the use of coercion (qital) as well as the concept of peace in Buddhism.

In the paper the following points are addressed; Siam Buddhists in Northern Malaysia as well as its historical perspective – especially in Kelantan, in terms of accommodation and acceptance and its contribution to Malaysian development. The paper also addresses the concepts of leaderships, economy, education, sociocultural interactions, freedom of religion and language. Following these, the overall conclusions are provided in the final section relating to the study covered in this paper. In other words, minority-majority peace building relations in both Thai South and Malay North must be studied for forward looking.

2. Siam Buddhists in Northern Malaysia

The Asian region is indeed an interesting configuration of various cultures that inform each other in items of belief system, language and traditions. Malaysia and Thailand share many cultural elements with each other, the majority of which seemed to have emanated from the same source, especially of Indian and Brahmanic origin, where we borrow the same lexicon and mannerism for ritual practices, sacred language, court ceremonies, performing arts, sorcery and curative magic. The entire region of Southeast Asia has also been subjected to influence from other great civilization, including those of China, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. But the high degree of concretization at the local level makes cultural practices in both countries acquire their own distinctiveness. Minority ethnic group can coexist with the majority in a country for a long time, and then suddenly disappear. Minorities that seem on the verge of extinction suddenly bounce back.

It is also important to adopt a dynamic setting, because forward-looking agents take into account future gains when deciding about assimilation, minority members consider the benefits and the costs. For each generation, assimilation is likely to be partial, because some people have very high cost. But partial assimilation is unlikely to be stable in the long run, since incentives for assimilation will not be the same for successive generations. In other words, a static model does not take into account that the state of the world changes over times, and thus cannot describe the long-run patterns of the population.

There is a concern that it might not be efficient, given that the minority’s assimilation decision also affects the majority “due to the scale effects in ethnicity size”. Indeed, in a static model assimilation is in general suboptimal dynamic frameworks. However, additional considerations can arise. As the model shows, the long-run equilibrium can be efficient.

There is an additional problem that might cause the equilibrium steady state to be inefficient, and this is a problem of coordination. This leads to the possibility of multiple equilibriums which is inevitable for some population distributions. In this case, even if the full assimilation steady state is feasible, the equilibrium selected might be the no-assimilation one, because atomistic agents cannot coordinate to pick the “right” one. This can happen even if the former equilibrium Pareto-dominates the later. One important element concerns the desirability of a multicultural society as opposed to a “melting pot”. The former is defined as one in which minority members can learn the culture of the majority without giving up their own. It is not a prior obvious which choice is better.

Malaysia is a multi-ethnic country. Ethnic relations between the Malays, Chinese and Indians are in good condition and harmony. This is the effect of a holistic community development introduced by the government. In addition to the welfare or the majority ethnic groups, ethnic minorities, does not set aside by the government, particularly in the distribution of economic wealth and religious freedom while cultural identity of each ethic is mutually respected. This was demonstrated by the Siamese community in Northern Malaysia. Terengganu shares with the Malays majority in community development. Although even assimilated with the mainstream Malays, Siamese society still maintains its cultural, religion and linguistic practices and identities among its community members.

2.1 Historical Perspective of Siam Buddhist Minorities in Northern Malaysia

Historical background of Siam Buddhist in Northern Malaysia , Peninsula Rattanakosin era of Siam (Bangkok) shows more clearly the influence over the Malay state in the South, namely, Pattani (formerly known as Pattani Darussalam), Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis and Terengganu. The periodic kinship in the Thai history refers to four eras: Sokthai, Ayuthaiyah, Tomburin and Ratankosin. Kelantan has the largest Thai population in Malaysia next to Kedah, another state on the northwestern part of peninsular Malaysia. The Thais are concentrated in the Tumpat district of Kelantan, the most northeastern part of the state. From this area, the Thais later spread out to other areas in Kelantan, and (northern) Terengganu. The evidence showing that the Thais in Kelantan were originally from Patani and its vicinity, especially Narathiwat, is linguistic in nature. The Thai language spoken in Kelantan with its various local variations is that of the Tak Bai group.

A possible reason for the presence of long established Thai settlements in Tumpat, Kelantan, which is near the present border of Thailand, is that Patani in southern Thailand, a predominantly Malay area, was always an integral part of Kelantan (Malay) world and vice versa, whether under loose Siamese suzerainty or not. Patani's cultural affinities were more with Kelantan rather than Kedah or Perlis, the northernmost state in peninsular Malaysia. This could have probably been due to the geographical proximity of Patani to Kelantan. The Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 separated these two kingdoms, and by this, all Thai settlements on one side of the Thai border came under British administration.

The Patani Siamese migrated in substantial numbers to Kelantan via the province of Legch. Tomoh, a market town and also the capital of Legeh, was reported as being entirely Chinese in population. It was probably the place they started from when they embarked on their journey to Kelantan along the Pergau River, before turning east into the Kelantan River instead of south into the Galas River, where the Pulai Chinese were situated.

If these Patani Siamese were to go southward, they would have reached the remote interior of Kelantan, which was the Pulai area and its vicinity. There were a number of gold mines near Tomoh, and there could have been the Kwangsi people, possibly Hakkas or Cantonese, who were involved in mining activities. The Patani Siamese would have known about Pulai through them, and being farmers, they chose to remain as farmers, and thus had taken the journey eastward to the fertile land along the Kelantan River, a bigger river compared to the Galas River. But it was also quite possible that they could have been ignorant of the geography of Kelantan, and by chance sailed eastward along the bigger and wider river instead of southward. If they had chosen to continue southward, then probably they could have become assimilated to the Pulai Chinese in the Galas region .

2.2 The Siam Buddhists Society in Kelantan

Peninsula Malaysia “Siam Society Malaysia” which is a formal Siamese society in Malaysia known as SSM, mostly settled in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia scattered in the states of Kedah, Perlis, Parak, and Kelantan where most of these states share the border with Thailand. SSM estimated at 60,000 is yet to have their own political party. The bulk of the Siamese community settled in Kedah totaling 30,000. 13,000 people in Manitoba. 6,000 in Perlis and 2,000 in Perak.

The ethnic composition of Kelantan is not representative of that of Malaysia, which is approximately 55% Malay, 34% Chinese, and 10% Indian (which includes other South Asians), to mention the three main races. Kelantan is overwhelmingly Malay. According to the 1980 Population Census, the Malays constitute some 93%, the Chinese 5%, and the Indians 0.5% of a population of almost a million people. The Malays form the predominant ethnic group in Malaysia. A distinction may be drawn between those Malays long settled in the country, especially the Malays of the east coast of the peninsula, e.g., Kelantan and Terengganu, and those who crossed the Straits of Melaka from Sumatra and settled in considerable numbers during the later part of the 19th and in the 20th centuries. In other words, the Malays of Kelantan are not of the stock of those who migrated since the 1850s from Sumatra, and other places from the region, especially Java and the Celebes. Ethnic groups from Java and the Celebes such as the Javanese, Banjarcse, Boyanese and Bugis are regarded as Malays since racially and culturally they are similar, and above all, they profess the same religion, Islam.

Broadly speaking, the various ethnic groups in Malaysia fall into two main categories: "Bumiputra" ('Prince of the soil' or 'indigenous') are those with cultural affinities indigenous to the region (the Malay archipelago) and to one another, and "Non-Bumiputra" are those whose cultural affinities lie outside of the Malay archipelago. Arab, Indian and Pakistani Muslims who have settled in the country, have been legally, and to a certain limited degree, socially incorporated into the "bumiputra" community.

Historically, gold flowers were delivered every two or three years to Bangkok to maintain friendship and loyalty. Even the appointment of a king in the state except Terengganu should be verified by the ‘Siam Continental Emperor. Letter mutual authentication with certain titles will be given other regalia by Bangkok. For example, every king / Sultan of Kedah was given royalty titles such as Phya Rithisongkramramphakdi Sri Sultan of Kedah Ratnarathmunintrasurintra Wiwongsa, Phya Saiburi and King of Perlis Phya Visedsongkram Ramwillismaran Phya Palis, Sultan of Kelantan as Sri Sultan Phya Phipidphakdi Willismara Phya Kalantan. At the same time, there were some Thais or Siamese stationed in these states including Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu. They moved there back and forth in the form of farmers finding fertile grounds to settle and explore agricultural areas. The golden flowers were accompanied by "bunga perak" ('silver flowers) and other costly gifts, weapons, cloth, and slaves. The necessary funds for these gifts were raised by the imposition of a poll tax on the inhabitants of the state.

As they were the ordinary people, concentrating on their agricultural works and earning their living was the major factor for their survival. They were not interested or involved with any political affairs which was regarded as ‘work of kings’, although it was seldom heard some participation of Siamese in the civil war in Kelantan, but it was only an exceptional case. Phya Taksin military attacked Nakon Si Thammarat two years after Phya Nakon (Hnu) had declared their government (TM1770) allowing the people of Siam fled to the south and continued to live there (Siri Neng Buah, 2008). Their life was under the protection of the Malay rules. Those who properly behaved in line with the satisfactions of the rules, they were given some government positions or special gifts. For example, Tok Merah Chu Ding made Chief Siam in Besut by Tengku Muda King Besut (Terengganu) with the title of the Tok Helang Merah.

The Siamese government in Bangkok era saw the expansion of Western colonialism pressure from all corners of the boundary. Siam realized its territory began to lose to the colonial such as Sipsong Panna, Sipsong Chuthai, Siamreap, Batthabong to France, Kok Song in Tenaserim to the British and TM 1909, through the Bangkok Treaty. Siam released Kedoh, Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu to British Colonial power. However, Siam masses constantly continued to live in this British protectorate though no story verbally say almost all families in Bukit Tempurung Siam, Besut going back to Narathiwat province of Thailand, between TM 1912-1915.

2.3 Historical Perspective of Multi-Religious Coexistence in Kelantan

The historical terms of Kelantan's politics by the beginning of the 19^th century, were dominated by the Thais, as well as the Malays of Terengganu. By 1900, Kelantan was recognized as a tributary state of Thailand, where a token of alliance and/or admission of Thai suzerainty in the form of "bungaemas" (’golden flowers') was sent triennially to the Thais. It was only in 1909, as a result of a treaty reached between Thailand and Britain, that the over lordship of Kelantan was assumed by the British.

Kelantan together with Kedah and Perlis (in the far north) and Terengganu (on the east coast) had developed differently from the other states in the peninsula. This was due to the indirect rule of the British until 1909 when the British, bound both by the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1826, and their imperial policies, were committed to non-intervention of the affairs of these states also known as “Malay Siamese States”. Siam's position in these states, especially Kelantan and Terengganu was dubiously defined under the 1826 treaty. These states were left in a shadowy borderline of independence between the British and Siamese. The differences between the developments of the west coast (the Straits settlements of Melaka, Pulau Pinang, and Singapore, as well as the Federated Malay States of Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, and Pahang) and the east coast (the Undefeated Malay States of Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, Terengganu, and Johor) were significant in various aspects. The Undefeated Malay States, besides having not formed any single political entity as their negative title indicates, continued to exist as independent monarchies and, were economically backward, except for Johor.

Another salient aspect of the differences was the low non-Malay population. Except for Johor, these four states saw little increase in their non- Malay population. As for Kelantan, the state which was essentially rural and agricultural had little to attract the Chinese immigrants of the large scale influx of the mid 19th and early 20th centuries who were more interested in mining and commercial activities. The immigrants from Sumatra, Java, and the Celebes too did not penetrate far enough to reach Kelantan. Being both rural and agricultural, there was little demand for labor unlike the west coast states which were more economically developed by the British since their formal intervention in 1874. Even when Kelantan was placed under British rule exclusively in 1909, they pursued policies which were ostensibly favorable to the Malays. The British did not encourage cither commercial development or non-Malay immigration which would have transformed the overwhelmingly Malay peasant society. This policy of the British was in marked difference to that which prevailed in the Federated Malay States, and, of course, the Straits Settlements.

Besides the discouragement by the British, Kelantan's geographical isolation, cut off from the more developed western part of the country, by thick forest and steep mountain terrain, was yet another reason for it to be neglected in the early part of its social history. The geographical isolation was also responsible for the unique characteristics of the culture of the Malays of Kelantan. The Malays of other states, especially the west coast states, perceive Kelantan Malays as being quite different from them. The Malays of Kelantan also note differences between themselves and the Malays of other states. Due to the long period of geographical isolation from the west coast states and other states far south of the peninsula, communication with them was limited. Instead, close ties with the southern part of Thailand, especially Patani, an important trading centre as well as a center of Islam, were forged.

Together with Patani, Kelantan formed a distinct region of a Malay world which did not identify much with the Malay world of the rest of the country. This often leads Malays from other states to view the Malay culture of Kelantan as being uniquely traditional.

Kelantan is well known for its conservative commitment to Islam, which is expressed in various forms. However, it is in Kelantan that another religion, Buddhism, that has been able to flourish, co-exist with Islam. It should be pointed out that, it has to operate within a Muslim and Malay-dominated social and cultural milieu. There are many Buddhist temples located in the midst of Malay populated areas. An interesting point about this is that the appointment of the chief monk and district ecclesiastical heads in the Kelantan "Sangha" ('Buddhist Order of Monks') is endorsed by the "Sultan" ('King' or 'Ruler') of Kelantan, who is also the sponsor of Islam in the state. The letters of appointment from the Sultan symbolize the patronage of a Malay/Muslim ruler.

3. Siam Buddhists in Northern Malaysia: From Accommodation to Acceptance and its Contribution to Malaysian Development

This study discusses several peaceful harmony aspects of the Siam Buddhists in northern Malaysia. It divides into leaderships, economy, education, cultural and social interaction, freedom of religion and language.

3.1. Leaderships

Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country and Malay Muslims are called Bumiputra, other ethnics and religions as Buddhist, Hinduism Christianity, and other traditional beliefs are also practiced.At this regard, the Malaysian government has national policies to ensure all faiths and ethnicities are harmoniously valued. The major policies towards minority group in Malaysia addressed by the former prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad. He asserted that the minority groups were the major players to contribute the nation’s stability and security, so it is very important to ensure their welfare and well beings. As because Malaysia composes of four major ethnic and religious groups, namely, Malay Muslims, Chinese, Hindu Indians ,and Siam Buddhists, this policy is also applied to the Siam Buddhists in Kelantan, especially in the village of Kampung Pak Kiang, Besut. In the case of the Siamese group, the former Prime Minister has announced the appointment the former Kedah Custom director, Dato Charen Intachat as the first Siamese Senator after 33 years of Malaysia. The announcement was officially declared at a meeting with all community leaders of Siam from all over Malaysia at Wat Visutthipradittharam, Kampung Titi Akar on January 4, 1996. The appointment of Dato’ Charen Intachat as the first Upper House member as are representative from Siamese Malaysian was a great honor after they have struggled for years to achieve this point. It does not bring only a fulfillment to the Siamese community all over Malaysia, but it also affirms that Malaysian government has valued the minority groups resided in the territory of Malaysia. Dato’ Charen Intachat could voice out to the parliament about their demands and some constraints. At least the presence of Dato’ Charen Intachat could be visible in the mainstream of Malay Muslim community. By giving this honorable position to minority representative does not indicate a symbolic figure in employing of soft solution to minority group in Malaysia, but also it gains political popularity among Siamese and other minority group. However, one voice is not loud enough to be heard by the parliament. Through this appointment that opened doors to other members to join policy making process.

Additionally, it was observed that Siamese communities in Kelantan are very active in the leadership participation. There are three Siamese people form Kampung Pak Kiang, out of 13 members and the rest are Malay Muslims, were appointed be members of JKKK (Jawatankuasa Kemajuan dan Kesematan Kampung) or the Village Security Organization. The Siamese members could work hand in hand with their Malay and Chinese counterpart. From the researchers’ observations, all the village members showed up in the wat for social gatherings and discussing on the community welfare during the data collections.This shows that Siamese people have not been waived and left behind by the Malays community in northern Malaysia. They are considered as citizens of Malaysia as the Malays. One of the Siamese respondent said “I am proud to be a citizen of Malaysia even we are a minority but we are allowed to participate in political activities without any objection”.

Regarding to the political participation, the majority of the Siamese community are members of UMNO or United Malays National Organization, the current coalition government political parties under the name of Barisan National or National Front, and MCA or Malaya Chinese Association. For example, one of the members of Siamese community embraces as a UMNO member committee in Kelantan. From this, he has a high potential and influence in convincing the rest of community leaders and even members from the Siamese communities to follow. Mr. Erin is quite active in the political activities of UMNO Trengganu. He could hold meeting among its members from time to time in order to discuss on the community needs so that he could voice up to the meeting of the party. As a result, the policy of Siamese society of Malaysia in Trengganu is in line with the UMNO policy and the society also provides a strong and robust support for the party. Besides overseeing the JKKK (JawatanKuasa Kemajuan dan Keselamatan Kampung). It is perceived that getting involvement in leadership activities in Malaysia given to the Siamese community is relatively fair and the Siamese voices are heard by the mainstream Malay Muslim, even they are such small minority group in this country. Because of the active movement and participation, Siamese is given a status of Bumiputra which is a similar status with Malay Muslim. Bumiputra is regarded as native or indigenous people of Malaysia, so that this “special position” is given some social benefits provided from the federal government. For example, they can get a financial assistance and also they are given some quotas for educational admission as well as scholarships.

3.2. Economy

One of aspects of National Key Result Areas (NKRA) in transformation programs introduced by the government is to improve the standard of living among household heads (KIR) low income or who belong to the poor (EPU/ UNDP, 2011). As of 2009, statistics show KIR 3.8 percent in Malaysia was still under the national poverty line, and two thirds of it consists of the rural population engaged in agriculture and fisheries. The border region is a good example of extensive cultural mixing where people, goods and cultural elements flow freely back and forth across the political divide, including the more mundane items of necessity like rice, chicken, cows, diesel, and cooking oils.

The Siamese community economic in northern Malaysia is being practiced in a multiple economic backgrounds. It means that is about 20% participated in agricultural field and while there maiming members contribute to industrial, services, and government sectors. Thus, there are a number of them also belong to the category of the poor. According to the survey, it was about 60% of Siamese residents work in the agricultural farms such as tobacco, seasonal crops, and vegetables. The survey showed that one third of the population work as government employees. To this point, the respondents mentioned that the government has no objection for the minority Siamese to work either government or private section. One of the housewives asserted that “it totally depends on our ability whether or not we will get a good position in government office, not because of we are Buddhist but it depends on the government policy.

Malaysia government is taking various measures to eradicate poverty among its population concerned. Implementation of this policy has been started since the era of the New Economic Policy to date, regardless of the racial economic polarization and faith orientations. To illustrate, among the measures are introduced in subsidy schemes specifically related to the community itself. For residents of agricultural activities of villagers they have got a government subsidy scheme in the form of agricultural inputs which include plowing machinery, fertilizers, pesticides and seeds. Quantity-based subsidies given agricultural land owned and managed by residents. At the same time the government also provides agricultural advisory officer, facility marketing of agricultural products and other assistance, including cash assistances.

Looking at the distribution of government wealth, the Siamese community is given fair and equal status like their Malay village-mates. They enjoy with distribution with no discrimination against Siamese people both by the surrounding Malay communities and the government policy. One of the Siamese communities in Kampung Pak Kiang said, “I am really satisfied with the welfare that the Malaysian government provides, such as Bantuan Rakyat Satu Malaysia (BRIM), although we are the minority here in Malaysia. So I can support my family.” Those who are unemployed, they get some monthly subsidy from the government, one of the housewives said that “I receive 200 RM per month from the Social Welfare Department to support my family”.

They have an easy access to agricultural funding from the government and have got basic agricultural machinery to support his work and sometime he could share it with the Malay community without any argument and conflicts. "This is very common in our community sharing agricultural machinery among Siamese and Malays is widely practiced ". This showed that the Siamese and Malay communities are treated fairly by the government. Partnership with the other community on agricultural equipment in agricultural projects carried out under the cluster (Projek Pertanian Kelompok) Agriculture Project Group. This healthy cooperation catalyzes good ethnic relations between Siamese and Malay communities. The economic wealth is one of the key factors that many minority groups in other parts of the world may claim unfair from the government. If the federal government does not treat family well, they will not give full cooperation with the government policy. Sometimes they may show dissatisfactions which may lead to other difficulties and conflict.

Economically and agriculturally are tied to the land. It is estimated that for about twenty five miles on both sides of the Kelantan River, much of the land is occupied and owned by Siamese Buddhists. These Siamese practice a form of "dusun" ('orchard') and "kebun sayur" ('vegetable farm') farming that is basically similar to that of the neighboring Malay peasants. What is produced is consumed by the household and nearby relatives, and the surplus sold. This has been the case for several generations. It provides a detailed description of the general pattern of agricultural activities of the Siamese along the Kelantan River. He divides the settlements of Siamese into three regions: upper course, mid course, and lower course of the Kelantan River. In the upper course region, rubber is the main crop, while rubber together with rice are the principal crops in the mid course region. Vegetable cultivation is important in the lower course region.

Some Siamese work on Malay-owned rice land as share­croppers under the "pawah" system. "Pawah" (divide into two) is basically a system whereby the rent of a piece of land is paid for by the tenant by handing over a portion, generally half, of the harvest to the land owner. This system is also applied to domestic animals, particularly cattle and buffaloes, where the offspring of the "pawah" animals are shared between the Malay owners of the animals and the Siamese. Oftentimes, Siamese also operate on this system between themselves. Animals like pigs, cattle, fowls, and pigs are raised. Pigs are raised mainly for ritual slaughter and feasts, especially village feasts, like Chinese New Year celebration and other selected key Chinese festivals. This almost non­existence of pork eating habit, unless really necessary during festivals, may be seen as a way of their respecting the Malay neighbors and surroundings. When pigs are reared for ritual purposes, very special care is taken so as not to let the pigs wander into Malay land and compounds. The Siamese Buddhists also do not want to offend the Malays who may have to visit or pass through their settlements. For this reason, pigs are penned in heavily camouflaged sheds. Siamese occupational patterns are more in line with that of the local Malays: typically peasants, "peraih" ('petty traders'), and waged laborers for the non-educated, and low and mid salaried bureaucrats for the educated. Besut district is an area of seven districts in the State of Terengganu, eastern coast of Malaysia peninsular. It is a gateway to the state and it shares the bother with Kelantan. This district has an area of 123,367.8 hectares, consists of five towns. Areas Legislative Assembly (DUN) is divided into five regions according to electoral boundaries. Total population is 118,058 (1991 census), which consists of all race and religions. The majority is Malays, followed by Chinese and Siam Buddhists. The main economic activities are agriculture and fishing.

3.3. Education

Education plays an important role in developing human resource. Every country adopts this policy to promote its people in eliminating illiteracy and getting better education. Malaysia is no exception from other Asian countries. Malaysian government hopes to target by 2015 all children in Malaysia for at least completed primary education, up to six years of schooling (EPU/UNDP, 2011). The target was made based on the available educational opportunities and the education system practiced. However, almost all of the SSM members profess the teachings of Buddhism, the same as the Thai community in Thailand. Their place of worship and for religious activities is known as wat or Buddhist temple. Normally, the temple is a place for community gathering and prayers when wan phrak Siam (holy day in Buddhism). Each wan phrak, the Siamese communities proceed to the wat to deliver foods and other necessary items to monks residing in the wat. Also, listening to Buddhist teaching sermons is commonly practiced on wan phrak where the leads of monks leads and teaches religious guidance. In addition, the Siamese community in Malaysia will visit the temple during the religious ceremonies help for phrak such as the festival of Songkran (Thai New Year or water splashing days- held in mid April), Visak Day, and Buddhist Lents and so on. Additionally,

Wat does not function as venue for religious ceremonies only, but wat also can serve as a Buddhist educational institution offering religious education to children, and even adults, by employing Thai language or phasa Thai starting from anuban (pre-school), pho 1 to 3 (level of 1 to 3), the third stage is known as tham tri, the fourth stage called tham tho and fifth stage called tham eak. The teaching curriculum and texts are designed and brought from Thailand. As from the interview, the leader of community said that the text is composed and printed in Songkla, Southern Thailand, by a well-known wat committee members and this curriculum is being used by all Siamese communities in Malaysia. Course text is written in Thai with some explanation in Malay. The contents are about religious teachings as well as how to behave under religious principles in a society. The teaching class is taken over the weekends, Fridays and Saturdays which are state weekend in Kelantan, Kedah, and Terengganu. But some other states, it is on Saturdays and Sundays. This system is similar to Tadika for Muslim which is being practicing in masjids or Muslim mosques both in Malaysia and Thailand. Once the students successfully pass the examination, they will be awarded with a Certificate Dhammaseksa as a sign that they fully internalize the teachings of Buddha. Evaluation of a Siamese community in northern maintains its Siamese identity and culture as well as the religious practices within the majority Malay community in Malaysia. Siamese Buddhists is known as Siamese rather than Thai living in northern Malaysia.

Nowadays, Siam Buddhists in Northern Malaysia remains short names. They are not found in the current Thai names in Thailand. Siamese community lives in harmony and peace along the Malay community. There is no suppression caused by the Malay community and also of the government. This is one of the ideal communities of minority Buddhist Siamese surrounded by majority Muslim Malay. The Siamese community in Kelantan, like other community in Malaysia, is an active participation in education. Education is a way to promote the sustainability of human resource development. Therefore, children of Buddhist families attend religious tutorial school at wat over the weekends based on voluntary basis taught by volunteers. The mainstream education either at primary schools and high school gains popularity among the village members. Chinese schools are the alternative for those who which to get their children to practice Chinese language and learn Chinese culture.

4. Culture & Social Interactions

Culture understanding of ethno-religious society is very important because our individual cultural orientation is present in our every interaction. Cultural identity is continually constructed within the individual but influenced by the interaction among and between the people in society. As Malaysia is a multi-ethno religious and cultural society, the story shared by each racial, ethnic, religious, and social group of people is unique and worth studying how they coexist and assimilate to each other for the sake of the country development and avoiding conflicts.

In studying the ethnic identity of the Siamese Buddhists of Kelantan, a few criteria are used in identifying their ethnicity. Ethnic identity in this work refers to a person's identity as a member of an ethnic group, namely a group of people who feel they are part of a certain group, say A rather than B, and are willing to be identified as such, based on, among them, socio-cultural and sociolinguistic criteria. objective criteria such as cultural features are the normal criteria used in describing the ethnicity of a group. Ethnic identity is often expressed through certain cultural symbols, of which language and religion are two important ones. Cultural attributes, such as customs, are also crucial in accounting for ethnic identity. An analysis of the identity of the Siamese of northern Malaysia in this work emphasizes the cultural attribute aspect of ethnicity . Therefore, the process of the integration of the Siamese community in cultural aspects worked well and harmoniously. They were able to maintain community, ethnic, and religious identity without disturbing by the mainstream culture of Malay. In addition to practice of their own culture, the Siamese community was very receptive to the Malay culture. According to the survey, half of the respondent say the resident of the Buddhist Siamese community have a high satisfaction in having and maintaining good relations with their Malay neighborhoods. Moreover, they showed high satisfaction in establishing strong ties with the Malay Muslim while either Siam Buddhist or Muslim community has feast or celebration. Helping hand to each other is commonly seen, except the activity or festival related to religion. In order to have a closer look at the in-depth conversation with the residents of the village, it is found that Buddhist Siamese said "We live here like a family and share everything. For example, when we want to transfer a house, everyone comes to help each other to lift the house and we are very proud to be like this ".

As it is widely seen in the Buddhist community, especially in Thailand, they prefer to raise dogs in the house and the dogs also may disturb privacy of the neighbors. According to the Sunni Muslim believers, they are not allowed to touch dogs or pigs at any times. Thus, it could be some difficulties or may cause dissatisfactions among Muslims living with their neighborhood who raise dogs as pet. In the case of Malaysia, not only in northern Malaysia, the federal state has enacted a law on animal control especially dogs. According to the law, the dog owners must register their dogs officially, and the authority will give codes to be put on the dog's neck. So the dog can be easily recognized and traced that it belongs to whom. This is to prevent the stray dog problem. The owners should not let the dog to disturb the privacy of others. Most importantly, the owners have to pay tax annually in the case of communities. The Siam Buddhist members are aware of this cultural and religious sensitivity by strictly monitor and control their dogs by saying "I know that our Muslim friends are sensitive with this dogs and pigs. We have to talk among our own members, especially those who want to keep dogs as pet. They have to strictly follow the state regulations and also our good relationship with our Muslim brothers. Recently, they were some groups in Malaysia who organized dogs touch, we have created anger among locals but the organizing committees came out and apologized to the population. In Siamese community when there is a marriage celebration in the Buddhist Siamese, the Siamese will provide halal food to Malay guests. Because they all know about this practice in the areas, even in Malaysia, one of the Siamese members said, I believe “Valuing personal beliefs and privacy of each other in the community is essentially important. If the Siamese members were careless with this sensitivity, it may develop into misunderstanding and even conflict in the neighborhood. The "gray area" should be carefully attentive. In order to get the “gray area” to be explicit to both Muslim and Buddhist communities is trough having dialogue with open-mindedness and friendship atmosphere. This idea applied to the villagers. There is a platform of discussion and community members to hold a regular meeting among our committee members. Among other topics we discuss is that the issue of religious sensitivity and community development. They trust each other and try to minimize any possible problem.

Both Siam Buddhists and Malay Muslims enjoy and freely practice the difference on their culture and religious beliefs. Between the culture of Siamese who popularized and preserved to this day in a long drum. Long Drum team was invited to the formal government and local community performances to make an official presentation. The long drum group of Siamese community becomes favorite bands by an MP of Kota Putera, Tuan Haji Muhammat Peheme Yusof. He wants to highlight this performance to be well known among Malay. Acceptance and accommodation is the recognition of Siamese culture. In addition, the assimilation also managed to attract the Malays to be involved in this long drum bands. The acceptance of Siamese culture by Malay proves that the harmony and sustainability that have been achieved in northern Malaysia.

In addition to culture preservation, Siamese community is also maintaining religious practice such as Loy Kratong Festival , an annual Buddhist festival to pay respect to the water that give life to the people. Every year people celebrate Loy Kratong at the village. It is the major venue for this festival which is knows in Kelantan and Terengganu and other states of Malaysia. The Malay and other ethnic groups also enjoy this full moon celebration side by side with the Siamese community. This proves that religious and culture practice have been harmonizing in northern Malaysia for years. Another people have an interaction at the coffee shop, especially in the morning during and after breakfast before leaving for work. They touch on several things such as bird singing like dove and Burong Merobok Jambo. Many of us like to raise them at home.” There is no discrimination for Malay people to eat in the Siamese restaurant and the Malay restaurant for Siamese people. They assimilate each other well in the restaurant because it is an informal ground for the local to freely talk on any issues. Sometime the restaurant or tea shop could be formal discussion venue too.

Perspective is assessed in relation to the situation of Malays around relationships with minority Siamese community; they do not consider the Siamese as foreign community. Some even consider the Siamese community is part of the Malay community members and need each other to mutual contribute and promote understanding. Malay community members often need help from members of Siamese community, and vice versa. There are also members of the Malay community who consider community members Siamese not as familiar friends, but more to the relationship class family.

5. Freedom of Religion

Malaysia federal constitution allocates Islam as the official religion of the federation but other religions are freely practice under democratic philosophy. Accordingly, members of the Siamese community in Pak kiang independently profess and practice their religion even though they were only minority. There is no impediment to their religious doctrines include the religious rituals and activities. Malay ethnic resident living next to other religious believers need to understand and respect the religious practiced of other too, even they are the majority. Event the Malay residents often come to the village to see the Siamese community rituals which is being held such as funeral event, but they do not get involved in some part of religious rituals. Attending and enjoying Loy Krathong Festival by Malay neighborhood could testify that they over look the differences. As describe before each time the ceremony will also be visited by the Malay resident, especially among the younger generation. Intermarriage could be seen in the community as love has no clear boundary. Mostly when a couple gets married, ether bride or groom will convert to Islam.

Religious recognition among community members is not only reflected thought the community’s respect for religious practice, but also through local political leadership. Local residents also are informed that representatives in any levels will be elected by particularly paying attention to religious practice. It is undeniable that once they are elected to be representative, the community will be allocated some budget to subsidize the religious activities and event to renovate wat or any worship places in the community.

At the formal level, Islamic and Buddhist element practice for generation in both northern Malaysia and southern Thailand seemed to have some common backgrounds. If we look closer there is without calamity elements that govern local practices of the belief system, such as the reverent for the guardian spirits of the land, propitiation of the departed, magical healings, not to mention social and family values garnered from story lines and popular love themes of Ramayana and Mahabrata epics.

Looking at the Thai Theravada Buddhism through their knowledge of its rituals and fluency in the local Thai language. The mainstream Siamese are also frequent patrons of Buddhist temples but are incompetent in the local Thai language. Besides identifying themselves with Thai Theravada Buddhism, also practice a syncretism religious system, drawing from and re-interpreting other religious traditions including Taoism , Confucianism, and Kelantan Malay animistic beliefs and practices, when it comes to matters regarding death, burial rather than cremation has been the norm. Burial is an important mark of Chinese identity though Buddhist rites are observed for a funeral. In Thai Theravada Buddhism practice, burial follows only after "bad" deaths such as death due to accident, suicide and the like while cremation is for "normal" deaths (from natural causes). However, peculiarly interprets that cremation is only for "bad" deaths which is the other way round. Upon closer examination, Siamese community have their own system of traditional Siam religious practice and ancestral worship as typified by beliefs in guardian gods of villages and patron deities of the house. What Thai Theravada Buddhism together with their own system of traditional Chinese religious practice and ancestral worship is to Kelantan Siamese identity is what Islam is to Malay identity in Malaysia While a very small number of Siamese may have embraced Christianity and Islam, the majority of them are known to be Thai Siamese Buddhists. Despite their close association to the Malays: living in close proximity to Malays, their Malay-like culture, their long residence in a Malay-dominated state, and their linguistic link to Kelantanese Malay, Siamese do not readily embrace Islam in order to become "Malay" although they are already familiar with some, if not most, of the intricacies of Islam. No matter how "Malay" Siamese may become in terms of their social and cultural behavior, they remain Siamese; the fact is that being not Muslims rules them out from being Malay. Although Siamese community display cultural traits which are essentially Malay: subscribing to Malay customs, speaking Malay habitually among themselves, and living a Malay way of life, their religious faith is not Islam. The religious or Islam factor is very important in, at least technically, considering them as Malays. It is a common fact in Malaysia that by virtue of the same religious faith, Muslim immigrants are technically Malays, and are accorded special status within the Malay society and their descendants eventually become Malay and "bumputra" ('indigenous') or are able to legally claim to be so as a matter of expediency. There is resentment among Siamese Buddhists as to the rightful and legitimate claim of being native to Malaysia. They feel themselves to be the "natives" as it is they, who have long identified Malaysia as their homeland, resided in the country longer than many Malay immigrants from Indonesia and other places in the Malay archipelago, have cultural and linguistic links with Malay society, are not better-off economically than their Malay neighbors, but who, paradoxically, are not qualified as "bumiputra" for similar subjective belief among the Baba of Melaka. Though not qualified to be "bumiputra," Siamese of Kelantan nevertheless have special privileges with regard to land ownership in the state. Together with the Siamese in Kelantan and other states like Kedah and Perlis, they are among the very few non-Malay minority groups who possess legal land titles in Malay reservation areas. Unlike the Siamese and the Melaka Portuguese community, as well as Baba of Melaka are not allowed to participate in a government sponsored investment scene called "Amanah Saham Nasional" ('National Unit Trust'), reserved specifically for Malaysians of "bumiputra" status. Regarding special privileges to land ownership, Siamese are considered as “natives." But with regard to privileges available to "bumiputra," they are not considered so.

6. Language

The role of language, particularly their version of Siamese, was in the past and is in the present mostly taken as a salient characteristic of the Siamese identity . They are also very fluent in Kelantanese Malay, and observe the Kelantanese Malay styles of speech, body gestures, as well as modes of social interactions. It is oftentimes difficult to note a difference in their accent from that of native Malays. Mandarin and English among themselves to encode authority, modernity and educational status. But for Peranakan Chinese solidarity, they use their version of Thai, Kelantanese Malay, and the local Thai language. Thus, the language they speak serve as an important symbol of Kelantan. The Siamese community of Kelantan find some parallels to the Baba of Melaka, and the Java, Indonesia, as far as their syncretism culture is concerned. Their ethnic history has evolved a somewhat different pattern of assimilation as exemplified by the other two groups where language is concerned. The two groups lost55 the use of Chinese and Siamese took in its place, though with some modifications, Javanese and other indigenous languages, no group of languages in Kelantan has completely lost the use of Siam or Chinese to be specific. Instead the Chinese language or Hokkien is heavily modified by Kelantanese Malay and the local Thai language. No matter what the linguistic status of their language is, it is a crucial symbol of Kelantan Siamese and Chinese identity. When this language enjoys the status of a crucial symbol of identity, the consistent use of it by members of the Kelantan affiliation identities. Of course, religion, and in particular, the predominance of Thai Theravada Buddhism and traditional Chinese beliefs, is yet another obvious ethnic marker of the identities. The minorities have maintained their religious activities and assimilated, instead of Malay and Muslim religious practices. Language and religion are often considered to be the most persistent cultural features in the society.

7. Conclusion

The first goal of the study is to examine Malaysia and its treatment of minorities through historical perspective. The circumstances contribute to their harmonious mutual living with the local majority in northern Malaysia. The Siam Buddhists in Malaysia from accommodation to acceptance is a success, which, in turn, has built a dynamic model of assimilation based on capturing some basic features of culture exchanges. In particular, belonging to the majority group is desirable because of scale effects, but assimilation is costly in politics and culture terms.

The paper is a case study of Thai South and Malay North minority-majority peace building relations. This is to say that peaceful coexistence is in the absolute interests of both nations regardless of ethno-religious backgrounds. The comprehension of peaceful coexistence alone is never enough in itself for development of nations. Thus the developments have to be nurtured by right leaderships, right economic policies, firm education systems, fruitful sociocultural interactions based on national languages and religious freedoms.

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Mr Ibrahima Lamine Sano

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