‘Sly Civility’ and the Myth of the ‘Lazy Malay’

Abstract

Pahang is a Malay state with a political system that was continuously strained by conflict between territorial chiefs. The growing presence of the British led to repeated disagreements over concession payments, the size of the sultan’s allowance and the presence of European revenue collectors, leading to the eventual outbreak of the Pahang Civil War of 1891-1895. This chapter examines how discursive practices during the war were developed to serve the interests of British colonial power. Through an analysis of imperial administrative writing, newspaper reports and secondary sources, two themes emerge: the production of knowledge about race and racial differences and the instances of slippage that dislodged and challenged the image of Malays as the indolent Other.