Malaysians in the context of Malaysian Malays

Malaysian Chinese or Chinese Malaysians are Malaysian citizens of Chinese ethnicity. They form the second-largest ethnic group in Malaysia, after the Malay majority, and as of 2020, constituted 23.2% of the country's citizens. In addition, Malaysian Chinese make up the second-largest community of overseas Chinese globally, after Thai Chinese. Within Malaysia, the ethnic Chinese community maintains a significant and substantial presence in the country's economy.

Most Malaysian Chinese are descendants of Southern Chinese immigrants who arrived in Malaysia between the early 19th and the mid-20th centuries before the country attained independence from British colonial rule. The majority originate from the provinces of Fujian and Lingnan (including the three modern provinces of Guangdong, Hainan and Guangxi). They belong to diverse linguistic subgroups speaking Chinese such as the Hokkien and Fuzhou from Fujian, the Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka from Guangdong, the Hainanese from Hainan and Kwongsai from Guangxi. Most Malaysian Chinese have maintained their Han Chinese heritage, identity, culture and language.

Malaysian Malays (Malay: Orang Melayu Malaysia, Jawi: ملايو مليسيا‎) are Malaysians of Malay ethnicity whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in the Malay world. They can be broadly classified into two main categories; Anak Jati (indigenous Malays or local Malays) and Anak Dagang (trading Malays or foreign Malays).

The Anak Jati or native Malays consist of those individuals who adhere to the Malay culture native to the coastal areas of Malay Peninsula and Borneo. Among notable groups include the Bruneians, Kedahans, Kelantanese, Pahangite, Perakians, Sarawakians and Terengganuans. On the other hand, the Anak Dagang or foreign Malays, consist of descendants of immigrants from other parts of Malay Archipelago who became the citizens of the Malay sultanates and were absorbed and assimilated into Malay culture at different times, aided by similarity in lifestyle and common religion.

Malaysian Indians or Indo-Malaysians are Malaysian citizens of Indian ancestry. Most are descendants of those who migrated from India to British Malaya from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries. Most Malaysian Indians are ethnic Tamils; smaller groups include the Malayalees, Telugus and Punjabis. Malaysian Indians form the fifth-largest community of Overseas Indians in the world. In Malaysia, they represent the third-largest group, constituting 7% of the Malaysian population, after the Bumiputera (combined grouping of ethnic Malays and other indigenous groups) and the Chinese. They are usually referred to simply as "Indians" in English, Orang India in Malay, "Yin du ren" in Chinese.

Malaysia's Indian population is notable for its class stratification, with a significant elite and a large low income group within its fold. Malaysian Indians large percentage of professionals per capita by constituting 15.5% of Malaysia's professionals in 1999 has been reduced with substantial population close to 40% is now considered the B40 category. In the 1984 census, up to 38% of the nation's medical professional workforce consisted of Malaysian Indians, but this has been since been reduced. In 1970, the per-capita income of Malaysian Indians was 76% higher than that of the Malay majority. Despite attempts by the Malaysian government to redistribute wealth since the 1970s through institutionalized racial policy, by 2005 Malaysian Indians still earned a 27% higher per capita income than that of the dominant Malay community.