• Introduction

Introduction

The University of Malaya Malaysian Chinese Research Centre (MCRC) was originally founded as a research group in May 2011 under the aegis of the Humanities and Ethics Research Cluster. In March 2013, the group’s status was elevated to that of a Research Centre in order to bring like-minded people from different academic disciplines to collaborate on topics relating to the Chinese community in Malaysia. The Centre’s members are pooled from the faculties of Arts and Social Sciences(Department of History and Chinese Studies), Language and Linguistics, Economics, Science and Technology, Medicine, Education, Urban Planning and the Institute of China Studies.

The Centre aims to encourage sharing of ideas from different fields of knowledge across these disciplines through the execution of research projects relating to the Chinese community in Malaysia.

To date, teams of scholars are working on topics such as the shaping of Chinese identity; Chinese diaspora and migration to Southeast Asia; dialect groups studies; Chinese and the state; the Chinese community and issues pertaining to science & technology and health; Chinese business and Chinese biography.

Through its research projects, the Centre also invites external collaborators from both local and international arena. Through these partnerships, it is hoped that new insights and approaches may be gleaned, leading to production of findings to be published in high-impact publications.

Apart from establishing scholars, the Centre also appoints Post-doctoral Research Fellows to work in research projects under the Centre. The Centre also hosts an active group of postgraduate students who work on the Chinese community in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

As a way of engaging the public and the larger Malaysian community, the Centre runs an active seminar programme. Examples of events include conferences and workshops which address various important issues on the Chinese in Malaysia. The Centre also works with partner-institutions from abroad as well as local Chinese organizations and researchers.

马大马来西亚华人研究中心成立于2011年5月，是隶属于马大人文与伦理研究群组（HNE）。早期，它以“马大马来西亚华人研究小组”（MCRG）名之。是年大学层峰倡议改革，昭示未来校内建制将朝教、研分离。传统院系仅保留教学功能，而学术研究则由研究组负责。同时，校内汉学研究同仁亦筹谋跨领域合作，遂萌生成立大马华人研究为主题的研究组，期冀与校方理念合拍，也放眼汇合各界同道，进行全方位及细致的研究，挖掘出丰富的人文价值。

至今中心的成员即不止于汉学同席，甚至逾越人文学界，广纳理工科同道。截至2013年3月，加入中心的成员已超过20人，分别来自文学院历史系、中文系、语言学院、教育学院、中国研究所、医学院、理学院、经济学院、电脑科学院等。斯时，中心已获得多项综合性和个人组的研究计划拨款，工作经已开展，当初倡议的跨领域研究亦已实践与磨合。期待未来研究成果不止于学术界内流传与讨论，同时也希望公诸于社会，让民众对相关课题加深认识。

Last updated: 18 July 2017