The first Bengalis in Malaysia, because they were well educated, were also well positioned in Malaysia.  Most took up jobs in plantations, either in supervisory positions, or as "estate dressers".  The estate dresser was the medical assistant, popularly known among the laborers as doctor (Jain 1970:39).     

As most of the North Indians had embarked for their voyage to Hong Kong or Malaya from the port of Calcutta, the term "Bengali" became a misnomer in these two countries.  The Chinese feared the stout Sikhs and Pathans recruited for the British security forces from India and named them "Munkali Kwai" or "Black Devils"  (Sandhu 1969:73).  A popular Chinese saying was that while "they could fight Europeans... no man could stand against the Black Devils...for whenever one of them lifted his rifle, a Chinamen fell and they did not know how to miss"  (quoted in Kaur 1973:25).  Kernail Singh Sandhu points out that although there were purportedly 5072 Bengalis in Malaysia in 1921 that figure is misleading, as many Sikhs, accustomed to being addressed as "Bengalis" when the census was taken, were included.  The number of Bengalis in Malaysia drops to 1827 in 1931, and 3834 in 1947 (Sandhu 1969:237).  This mistaken notion about the Bengalis originating from a wider area in North India rather than only from East and West Bengal, persists until today.  

Secondly these groups were insignificant as minority groups and were not accorded any special rights by the British that served to distinguish them from the North Indian body (Kaur 1973:iv).  

Some of the earliest Bengali immigrants (who now have great-grandchildren within the community) are still alive and members of the Malaysian-Bengali community form a multiplex dense network of relationships to one another including kinship and friendship.  A large number of the Malaysian-Bengalis can trace their lineage to one of about ten interrelated family trees and there has been a great deal of intermarriage among the pioneering families as this is a very traditional community.  Although arranged marriages are encouraged and Bengali girls from India are also sought to marry the men, a growing number of interracial marriages are now bringing the influence of other races and other tongues into this fairly closed network.  

There is also a large group of expatriate Bengali families, many of whom have lived in Malaysia for a number of years and have become a part of this community, and this group significantly contributes to the continuity of the Bengali language and culture within this community.    

Most members of the Bengali community try to meet everyone else in the community at least three times a year at the major Bengali festivals:  Durga Puja and Kali Puja (held between September-November) and Poila Boishakh, or Bengali New Year (celebrated in April).  The Bengali community has its own property overlooking the sea in picturesque Port Dickson, and this is where a Prayer Hall has been erected.  Bengalis congregate from all over Peninsular Malaysia as well as Singapore to celebrate Kali Puja and Poila Boishakh in Port Dickson.  This property carries a sense of the community spirit and ethnic pride, as it was bought by a group of the original Bengali immigrants who donated half a month's salary for the purpose.  Thus their second and third generation descendants now see it as 'a shrine'.   

Amarjit Kaur points out that the Bengalis appear to have close ties with the South Indians and generally worship at the South Indian Hindu temples (Kaur 1973:216).  In fact, almost all Bengali families in Malaysia have fairly elaborate private altars for their deities in their homes and thus most prayers are conducted within the home privately, or publicly by calling other community members and friends to "bhajans" within private homes.  For other ritual worship, the Bengalis go to both South Indian and North Indian temples, and often the choice is determined by accessibility to the temple rather than any ethnic considerations, as Hindu deities differ very little in essence from one temple to another.    
   

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