Ketuanan Melayu is a political concept that emphasises Malay preeminence in present-day Malaysia. The Malays of Malaysia have claimed a special position and special rights owing to their longer history in the area and the fact that the present Malaysian state itself evolved from a Malay polity. The oldest political institution in Malaysia is the system of Malay rulers of the nine Malay states. The British colonial authorities transformed the system and turned it first into a system of indirect rule, then in 1948, using this culturally based institution, they incorporated the Malay monarchy into the blueprints for the independent Federation of Malaya.
United Malays National Organisation party, better known as UMNO, is the sole political party that fought the concept of Ketuanan Melayu since before the independence of Malaysia.
The British recognised the Malay Rulers as sovereign over Malaya.
Tunku Abdul Rahman (the Tunku), father of the independence
Lee Kuan Yew, the leader of the Singapore government, publicly opposed ketuanan Melayu, and propagated his idea of a "Malaysian Malaysia".
The Conference of Rulers in Malaysia is a council comprising the nine rulers of the Malay states, and the governors of the other four states. It was officially established by Article 38 of the Constitution of Malaysia, and is the only such institution in the world, according to the Malaysian National Library.
Conference of Rulers
First Malay Rulers Durbar held at the Istana Negara in Kuala Kangsar, Perak in 1897.
