As of 2018, approximately 17,464 Malaysian-born people lived in New Zealand, with a much higher number of New Zealanders with Malaysian ancestry.
[1][2] During the British colonial period, 42 people born in 1910s on the Straits Settlements (of which is now called Malaysia and Singapore) became the first residents of New Zealand.
[2] Emerging racial riots in Malaysia in 1969 prompted more students from the ethnic Chinese community to seek an education in New Zealand.
[2] Following the riots, the Malaysian Government introduced affirmative action policies to help the Bumiputera (mainly the Malays and indigenous people) to achieve a higher economic quality of life than the Chinese.
[2] Preferential university entry for the Bumiputera made it more difficult for ethnic Chinese to enter Malaysian institutions of higher learning, making it preferable for Malaysian Chinese to move and study in New Zealand universities - typically under the Colombo Plan - rather than in their own country.