The paper sets out to examine present-day alcohol consumption as well as positive and negative experiences related to alcohol in Peninsular Malaysia as well as in Sarawak, East Malaysia. The focus of the paper is to study the impact of ethnic and religious identity on alcohol consumption in East and West Malaysia. The information on West (Peninsular) Malaysia was collected in 1996 and 1997 and the information on East Malaysia (Sarawak) in 1999. The study, however, is not only about the quantities and qualities of alcohol consumed in Malaysia. The alcohol issue is used as a ‘window’ through which the broader issue of the construction of ethnic or racial boundaries in the country is studied. Officially, Malays do not drink alcohol because they are Muslims. In reality, however, some Malays do drink. Ideologically, politically and socially drinking is used as a way of segregating races in Malaysia in general and defining the superiority of the Malay race in particular. Author: Timo Kortteinen (Academy Research Fellow, Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki, Finland). [Download]