,
British Borneo (present-day Malaysia) serving
coconut water to Australian troops as a gratitude during the
Battle of Labuan to recapture the island from the
Japanese. The migration of Indonesian to Malaysia can be traced back since before the colonial time especially during the
Srivijaya and
Majapahit empires.
Interracial marriages between Sultanates such as between Sultan
Mansur Shah of Malacca and the Princess Raden Galuh Chandra Kirana of Majapahit are stated in the
Malay Annals. Other historical texts such as
Tuhfat al-Nafis (known as
Sejarah Melayu dan Bugis (History of the Malays and Bugis)), stated the relations between different Sultanates of
Johor-
Riau,
Kedah,
Perak,
Selangor,
Pahang, and
Terengganu on the peninsula with the east and west coasts of Sumatra and
Kalimantan. As the British assumed control over the whole territory of the present-day Malaysia during the colonial period, Malaysia was integrated into world commodity and capital markets, became the provider of resources for its coloniser (
suzerain) and began to facing the shortage of labour workers. The British then searching for labour source from countries like
India and
China. The
Javanese became the third labour source and the British viewed and treated them different from the Indian and Chinese as they were regarded as origination from the
same racial stock as the Malays. A pattern of differential treatment for migrants based on ethnicity was thus established, which was to have major implications for labour migration into
Malaya after independence in 1957. The flow of Indonesian migrant workers to the
West Malaysia experienced a sharp increase in the 1930s. The results of the 1950 Malaysian population census indicated that there were 189,450 people born in the Island of Java, 62,200 people originated from
South Kalimantan, 26,300 people from
Sumatra, 24,000 people from the Island of
Bawean (East Java), and another 7,000 people from
Sulawesi. The movement received a declined following the
war between the two countries but rise again when the relationship been improved. The movement then saw a significant rise in the 1970s following the implementation of the
New Economic Policy in Malaysia. == Cultures-influenced ==