{
  "id": 9980484,
  "title": "'Malays are not immigrants', says academic",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/malays-are-not-immigrants-says-academic",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-26T12:32:49.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2026/09/1541707/malays-are-not-immigrants-says-academic"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Malays should not be labelled as immigrants in the Malay Archipelago, according to Prof Datuk Dr Ahmad Murad Merican, the director of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation, International Islamic University Malaysia (ISTAC-IIUM). He argues that describing Malays as immigrants is inaccurate as it overlooks their centuries-old merantau tradition, which involves the movement of Malay communities between regions in the Malay Archipelago. This movement should be understood as part of the merantau tradition, rather than migration solely based on modern political borders.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}