The bugis diaspora in Malaysia: A quest for cultural identity on collective memories through social media

Abstract

As a cultural phenomenon, the Buginese who settled in Malaysia perceived the Bugis identity differently. In Malaysia, the Buginese were considered unique, since they had strong social linkage to the country and the region but remained proud of their narrative of origins. Utilising a multidisciplinary approach by combining the study of history and culture, this article explores the development of the identity of the Malaysian Buginese through the establishment of various communities on social media. Data was gathered from interviews with Malaysian Buginese respondents, as well as from analyses of social media accounts, such as Facebook, which the Malaysian Buginese were using as an interaction platform. In this way, we illuminated cultural identity as a sociocultural construction. Communities and social media were used as the channel of networking that linked the Buginese’s present existence with the past. Our work shows that, over time, the Bugis identity became less essential, in the sense that it could be seen as an ever-transforming identity influenced by growing history, culture, and authority.