This study examines how Peranakan Indians (localised Indian Hindu migrants) have established their group among the ethnic categories defined by the Malaysian Government, aiming to identify the generative principles of a group that remains inclusive of diversity.
Previous studies indicate that the group has faced challenges due to the loss of land and temples resulting from financial difficulties, urban migration and assimilation into major ethnic groups through intermarriage with non-Peranakan Indians. Despite these challenges, the Peranakan Indians, who do not converge with the major ethnic groups, continue to exist as a distinct group and have even increased their social and cultural standing. The aim of this study is to examine the dynamic process by which the Peranakan Indians has come to exist up to the present day. In doing so, it seeks to identify the underlying generative logic of a group that embraces diversity. A multifaceted analysis focusing on its organizational structure, land, and temples was conducted through field research in Malaysia.
The findings indicate that the Peranakan Indians have been formed in response to changing times, initially by caste and then by differentiating/being differentiated from others by criteria such as immigration period and birth. They gradually foster the bond by sharing temples and land. As more members have migrated away from shared land, efforts have been made to strengthen ties through origin. By embracing diversity through the inclusion of newcomers in communal land and temples, the group has gained access to a broader pool of resources, knowledge, skills, and values, while challenges arising from increased diversity have been managed through democratic organizational structures. In essence, the Peranakan Indian community's existence is a fruit of overlapping pluralistic elements such as shared origins, land, and religion, which embrace diversity, with democratic organizations playing a central role.
