Mediation in culture: Malaysia as a case study

Malaysia is a multi-cultural and diverse society. Sometimes, each culture will live within a defined geographical community such as a village, and other times, in more urban areas the cultures co-exist in one huge melting pot.

Each community or village would have its own dispute resolution processes, dealing with simple transgressions such as theft of chicken and lifestock to the very rare instances of more serious crimes such as murder. The ketua kampung (village chief) usually dispenses summarily with minor offences and arbitrates neighbourly disputes. Often times, the imam (Muslim religious leader) would also be called upon to give his opinion. When a matter needs to be escalated, it may be brought up to the penghulu or orang besar, meaning the chieftan of the district, right up to the Sultan, usually the final arbiter of disputes.

 Amongst the Chinese community, life was often regulated by clan strictures and clan leaders often arbitrated or mediated disputes. The Indian community in Malaysia tend to be organised along ethno-linguistic lines such as the Tamils, the Malayalees, the Telegu as well as those of the other Indian sub-continent communities such as the Sri Lankans, the Benggalis and the Punjabis. Each have their own dispute resolution mechanism, with the panchayat system having been used rudimentarily at the lowest economic level in the Tamil communities.
The ethnic tribes of Sabah and Sarawak similarly have their own processes, usually involving tribal chieftains and priess.
In the suburban areas, the concept of rukun tetangga was introduced by the government to encourage self-help and self-reliance amongst the more diversified communities. Mediation by community leaders is part of the idea.

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