2.

MALAY CULTURE
Culture can be defined as the integrated system that related to value, beliefs, behaviors,

norms, artifacts and other works of any society. In the human history, this is the culture that
divides human beings or separates one community from another. Malay culture encompassed
within the definition are the universal aspects such as philosophy of life, art, literature and
language, means of livelihood, food, traditional ceremony, equipment, dress, artifact, building,
traditional medical treatment and Malay norms. But for this paper, I will explain only a few of it.
2.1

Values

The Malay community is the largest in Malaysia. The Federal Constitution of Malaysia,
the supreme law of the land states that one is considered a Malay when she or he is a Muslim,
speaks the Malay language, adopts and practices the Malay culture. As Muslim, the Malays have
strong beliefs in the concept of Supreme Being-Allah the Almighty.
These communities are known for its non-confrontational behavior and overall, are
unassuming people who would try to be subtle in their conversation. This is done by
employing indirectness in order to avoid conflicts. The above attributes are seen rooted from the
upbringing of Malay children who are brought up to be seen and not to be heard. Their
verbalization also should not have any indication of directness. Anything to be said should be
put across in an indirect way to avoid offending others. As a result of this, many existing
literature on the Malays describes this ethnic group as being polite and indirect. Politeness are
strategies in communication used to preserve a persons face or dignity which is much needed
in establishing good relationships and maintaining social harmony.
Meanwhile, being indirect refers to avoiding telling of anyone on a certain matter. The
speaker, instead, would go beating-around-the bush before the real intention is conveyed, and
even then, is imparted in an indirect way. Interestingly, indirectness can be employed through the
use of poems and metaphors. Undeniably, politeness is achieved when the messages are
indirectly conveyed and thus, it is common to see that these two values are discussed together.
Humility is another value that describes the Malays. Teo refers humility as a sociocultural
convention to avoid self-praise which is done by making understatement rather than

overstatement. While the former is considered the norm among the Malays, the latter is seen as
being proud or arrogant, thus, should be avoided. One symbol of humility, according to Abdullah
is an apologetic behaviour among the Malays.
Aside from the above, Zawawi and Zamani quotes other Malay values which include
affiliation, appreciative, fairness, loyalty, obedience, tolerant and hospitable. Derived from all
above values, the Malays, being a majority of Malaysian population, live harmoniously with
other ethnic groups. The country has even been referred by many as a model of a peaceful and
harmonious multicultural country.
2.2

Beliefs

The Malays believe in two worlds, the temporal world (dunia) and the eternal world
(akhirat), a concept derived from Islam, and one that the Malays share with Muslims the world
over. The names dunia and akhirat are derived from the Arabic, and are standard terms in the
Islamic world. The term dunia has two applications. On the one hand it refers to the material
earth and on the other to the more abstract notion of life itself, that is life in this world. For an
individual this refers to the life span or time spent living here between ones birth and ones
death. Dunia then is the present world, which in terms of the larger picture, according to Islam, is
temporary. Akhirat refers to the hereafter, the world one enters upon the completion of ones
earthly existence which marks the ending of our involvement with dunia. The duration or term of
ones existence in dunia (known as ajal, a term also used to refer to the point which marks the
end of that time) is determined or by Allah, Who alone has control over life, death and destiny,
whether that of an individual creature or that of the entire Creation.
In the Malay mind, the graphic image of the end of ones life is represented by the fall of
ones particular leaf, on which ones name is distinctly written, from the Tree of Souls, or the
Tree of Life in Paradise (Sidrat-ul-Muntaha). Generally the Malays, particularly those with some
background in and understanding of Islam, accept death as something natural and inevitable. The
Quran reiterates the simple, unadulterated truth that whatever lives must die. God alone is
eternal. Upon death one is said to have left the world (meninggal dunia), or returned to the
Mercy of God (kembali ke Rahmatullah). The Holy Quran and the Prophets traditions (Hadith)
maintain that one should neither fight against the notion of death, nor, on the other hand, wish for

ones own death. The fact that one is born a human being, the noblest and greatest of all of Gods
creations, is an esteemed honour, a sign of special distinction.
Contrasting with dunia, akhirat is regarded as being permanent or eternal, lasting until the
hour of the Day of Judgement, and including the time beyond the Day of Judgement. (check).
The terms sometimes used to refer to the temporary and permanent character of the two worlds,
respectively, are fana and baqa.
2.3

Arts

Malay art is a product of Malay people creativity of expressing their aesthetic thought in
the form of matters, condition or other creations of beautiful or significant things. This art is
originally created by the Malay people and owned collectively by them. Therefore, the Malay art
represents Malay culture. In other word, the Malay art is the creation of the Malay people in
responding, understanding, interpreting and answering the variety of problems they faced. Here
are some of the elements of art that I am going to touch on; dancing, music and carving.
Dancing is a beautiful rhythmic movement that consists of two important elements;
movement and rhythm. In Malay culture, there are three types of dancing which is classical
dance, modern dance and ritual dance. Examples of classical dance are zapin, piring dance, dikir
barat, and also kuda kepang. For modern dance, the example is contemporary modern dance.
Meanwhile, bulian dance, mayang, badabus dance, alu dance, lukah dance and saman dance are
the examples of ritual dance.
The second element is the music. Music is an aesthetic evaluation of thought and sense
expressed in auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured
and continuous manner. It could be said that vocal tone is the very basic unit of musical
elements. For the Malay people, their traditional musical instruments are kompang, gambus,
violin, accordion, marwas, gendang and also rebana.
Lets move on to the last element, which is the carving. Carving is an art created by
removing material on wood, hard shell of coconut, bamboo, stone, metal or other materials in
order to create a desired shape. The most famous carving for the Malay culture is Pekanbaru
Carving and Indragiri Carving.

2.4

Norms

The first point in norms is the meeting and greeting. Greetings in a social context will
depend upon the ethnicity of the person you are meeting with. In general, most Malays are aware
of the Western ways where for the Westerners, handshake with different gender are normal for
them. But for the Malays, they are forbidden to shake hands with different genders who are not
their muhrim. Muhrim means the close relative of the opposite sex, detailed by the Quran,
whom a Muslim may not marry. Usually among Malays, when they meet, they will give Salam
or Assalamualaikum.
The second point about the attitude. The Malays will teach their children to bend down a
bit while crossing or walking in front the people who are older than them. The younger
generation will kiss the hand of the elder people to show some respects. They will use either
abang, kakak, makcik, pakcik to call someone who are older than them. Children are not
allowed to call their parents by name. For them, it is rude to call members of the family who are
older than them by names. If they want to call their father, they might use the word ayah,
abah, abi or pak. While for the mother, they will call ibu, mak, ummi or mama. The
Malays are very particular about this matter.
The last point for norms is about the attire. The national attire for Malays are Baju
Kurung for woman and Baju Melayu for man. Most of the Malay woman, they wear tudung.
It is an obligatory for them to close their aurat. Their normal attire usually are not too sexy and
not too tight.