Five-hundred years ago, Europeans finally “discovered” Malay, the undisputed language of Southeast Asian commerce and diplomacy of that time. In this chapter, we look into the role of Malay in the early modern era so we can understand the processes that have contributed to its continued diffusion and diversification in this century. We look at the spread of Malay, not by mass migration, but through language convergence and language shift. Malay, whether a national language (named Malay and Indonesian) or a local dialect spoken by a small ethnic minority, is one of the world’s major languages. Its geographic and demographic expansion can be linked to numerous factors, among them: language shift as a component of broader cultural change; consolidation of diverse ethnicities; immigrant accommodation to the majority population; and early use in national educational systems. But the underlying basis and strength of Malay is its centuries old geographic and societal diffusion. On the one hand, its national-language status has triggered the significant growth we are witnessing now. On the other hand, the creativity of its speakers using diverse social and regional dialects sustains that growth, reflected in its large profile in today’s electronic media, such as Facebook.