May 13 Incident (Malaysia) - Precursors - Ketuanan Melayu

Ketuanan Melayu

Politics in Malaysia at this time were mainly Malay-based, with an emphasis on special privileges for the Malays – other indigenous Malaysians, grouped together collectively with the Malays under the title of "bumiputra" would not be granted a similar standing until after the riots.

There had been a recent outburst of Malay passion for ketuanan Melayu – a Malay term for Malay supremacy or Malay dominance – after the National Language Act of 1967, which in the opinion of some Malays, had not gone far enough in the act of enshrining Malay as the national language.

Heated arguments about the nature of Malay privileges, with the mostly Chinese opposition mounting a "Malaysian Malaysia" campaign had contributed to the separation of Singapore on 9 August 1965, and inflamed passions on both sides.

• the concept of Ketuanan Melayu began to be used only in the 1980s*