馬來西亞是個新興的多元民族國家，一九五七年從英殖民政府之手成功爭取獨立後，憲法明文規定馬來民族享有各種特權，一九六九年五月十三日（五．一三事件）發生種族暴亂，種族之間的財富不均被指是關鍵原因，馬國政府於是實施了多項措施，旨在加強馬來人與土著的特權，以拉近馬來人與非馬來人在經濟上的差距。此外，政府明令禁止議員在議會上對馬來西亞官方語言、馬來族特權、各州統治者的特殊地位等敏感問題提出質詢。政府極力扶助馬來人在各領域的發展，非馬來人在政經文教方面受到多重的壓制，難於發展。國家的語言文化、教育、政治、宗教等課題的討論被視為是危害國家安寧的行為，以致成為國家的禁忌課題，不允許人民公開討論。傳媒也禁止刊登所謂敏感課題，以免受到官方法令的對付。在馬來西亞的官方歷史敘述中，華人的建國角色受到忽略，其貢獻也被淡化。此文以小黑的短篇小說作品作為考察，探究他如何避開法令的牽制，勇敢向政治、文化、教育等禁忌課題挑戰，承擔起為民族書寫歷史的任務，記載了馬來西亞華人在多元文化環境下的心路歷程。

After gaining independence from Britain, Malaysia constituted itself as a modern nation-state that is both ethnically diverse and culturally varied. However, within this diversity, the state officially endorsed a preferential system when the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which came into force in 1957, the year of independence, sanctioned the beginning of federal affirmative actions directed at safeguarding the special position of the Malays within the new state. Such actions greatly increased after the ethnic riots of 1969 when the government implemented several measures aimed at strengthening the special position of the Malay and the indigenous ethnic groups, a major justification of which was to put an end to the economic inequality between the Malays and non-Malays. This economic disparity was deemed as a crucial cause of the 1969 riots. In addition, governmental control over the mass media and the arts also increased. Restrictions were placed on the freedom of its citizens to publicly discuss certain sensitive topics such as the racial quota system in governmental employment and education, including the rights and interests of the Chinese (and Indians) in fields such as culture, education, politics and the economy. As a consequence, such actions led to a situation where the official discourse underplayed the problems of the Chinese community and their role in nation-building. Moreover, these issues were discouraged on the grounds of their sensitivity. This article shows how one Malaysian Chinese author, Xiao Hei, manages to deal with sensitive issues pertaining to politics, culture and education, thus shedding lighton the Chinese contribution to nation-building, while also constructing a narrative of the life experiences of the Malaysian Chinese community.