The stereotypical image the colonial British held of the Malays was one of indolence - the absence of the will and energy to work for a living. This falsified impression and myth of the Malays as lazy in some ways became a self-fulfilling prophecy, and the colonial ideology of the "lazy native" eventually became entrenched in the minds of not only the colonizer but the colonized. To the British, capitalism meant some form of trading activity and the Malays' lack of participation in this capitalist experience caused many contemporaries living in that period to view them as backward.
However, one has to recognise that it was the British's discriminatory educational and labour policies that forced the Malays to take that route of indolence. With the initial lack of contact with the capitalist industry established by the British, the Malays found it increasingly difficult to enter the industry as the system became more developed, complex and competitive. As time passes, the Malays started to view themselves as inferior because the criterion for such measurement was derived from British capitalism. On the other hand, many Chinese and Indian merchants became successful entrepreneurs simply because they participated in the trade goals of the British and the structural features of colonial rule. …
