Malaysian Malayalees

Malaysian Malayalees
മലേഷ്യ മലയാളികൾ

Malayalee youths of Selangor after performing a Malayalam social stage drama (1982)
Total population
Approximately 344,000 (≈15.5% of Malaysian Indians)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Malaysia (West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia)
Languages
Malayalam, Tamil, English and Malay
Religion
Predominantly: Hinduism Minority: Islam Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Malayali, Malaysian Indians, Tamil Malaysians, Telugu Malaysians, Dravidians

Malaysian Malayalees, also known as Malayalee Malaysians, are people of Malayali descent who were born in or immigrated to Malaysia from the Malayalam speaking regions of Kerala. They are the second largest Indian ethnic group, making up approximately 15% of the Malaysian Indian population. The bulk of Malaysian Malayali migration began during the British Raj, when the British facilitated the migration of Indian workers to work in plantations, but unlike the majority Tamils, the vast majority of the Malayalis were recruited as supervisors (called mandur) in the oil palm estates that followed the kangani system, and some were into trading and small businesses with a significant proportion of them running groceries or restaurants. Over 90% of the Malayalee population in Malaysia are Malaysian citizens.