The Madurese Community in Malaysia: An Anthropological Observation on Leadership Pattern

The main theme of the article centers around the phenomenology of leadership among the Madurese community that migrated to Malaysia from Madura Island,Indonesia. In the Madurese community in Indonesia, kiyai or religious teacher is a leader not only in the spiritual sense, but also in the social and political aspects. On the contrary, kiyai does not participate in the social life of the Madurese migrants in Malaysia. As result, a gap exists in the leadership sphere of the community. Based on a fieldwork research, the article attempts to explicate the every-defined social reality of the Madurese community in Kampung Teras Jernang, Bangi, Selangor from the perspective of leadership. The patron-client relationship is a common pattern to be found among migrant communities, either within those that migrated from rural to urban areas or from one country to another. The study point towards a more liberal and open patron-client pattern. The leaders among the Madurese community in Malaysia are not necessarily respected figures such as religious teachers and kiyais as is the case in the island of Madura. Rather, leadership figures are determined through their seniority of migration to Malaysia. The seniority factor plays an important role as it represents the individual s economic resources and extensiveness of knowledge about the ins and outs of life in Malaysia. The patron generally plays the important role of resolving problems faced by their client.