· Malays
Malays in Malaysia are known as bumiputra or sons of the soil. They are generous and hospitable with an easy smile. Today, Malays who live in rural area still lead a simple lifestyle. The area they live at called kampong, where you are able to see the wooden houses propped up on stilts above courtyards shaded by coconut palms, banana and papaya trees. And also, the children run around, cycling and playing football which you cannot find it in the city area. Mosque is the most sacred place for the Malays. They will pray for six times within one day. The youth and children may wear short and blue jeans. However the most comfortable dress code stills the cotton sarung. For the elderly, they will roll at the waist and wear with either a batik shirt or T-shirt. During the special occasion such as Hari Raya Haji, the Malays wear their traditional costume to celebrate. The women will wear baju kurung while men wear baju melayu and songkok.
However, the Malays in city area are extremely different from those live in rural area. Those who live in city wear Western-style clothes, speak English fluently, drive cars and carry mobile phones. The youths follow up the latest in street fashion, love hard rock and heavy metal. During the celebration of special occasion they would not wear the traditional costume anymore.
The traditional games include Silat, sepak takraw, wau, gasing, wayang kulit and congkak. Silat can be martial arts as well as international sport or traditional dance form. The Malays believe that by practicing the silat can strengthen one’s spiritual. During some special occasion such as wedding, silat is accompanied with drums and gongs and performed. Wau is a traditional kite which is very popular in Kelantan. Traditionally, the Malays play wau after rice harvest season. Some of the traditional handicrafts include labu sayong, belanga, terenang and others. Labu sayong is a black colored gourd shaped clay jar typically used to store and cool water. Belanga is a round base and wide rim and it is used to cook curry. While some of the traditional Malay dances include Malay Mak Yong, Kuda Kepang, Zapin, and Joget. Joget is one of the most popular Malay dances. The dance is performed by couples who combine fast, graceful movement with playful humor.
· Chinese
In the past, although the Chinese population was low, they control the major industries such as rubber, tin and the commercial sectors. Nowadays, the Chinese is everywhere in Malaysia from the trading centre in Kuala Lumpur to smallest shop up the Rejang River in Sarawak. The Chinese in Malaysia have to learn Bahasa Malaysia or Malay language because it is the official language of the country. But their language, Chinese and all the dialects are allowed too. The younger generation is influenced by the Western culture. For example, during the Chinese New Year, men should wear the traditional costumes such as dragon shirts, Kung Fu suits and Chinese coats. For the women, Cheongsam or Qipao is the suit for Chinese New Year.
As days evolved, all these traditional costumes are no longer wore. They wear jeans and T-shirt for the celebration. However the T-shirt normally will be in red color as Chinese believed that it is auspicious color. The numeral 8 is the Chinese most favorite number where you can see it at house number as well as car license plate. The numeral 8 sounds like the Cantonese character for prosper. The number 4 is avoided because it sounds like death.
Self-help and industriousness is a strong belief among the Chinese community. Chinese believed when the more effort you put in, there more you will get. And also, close family and clan ties are important. The family always comes first in the Chinese community. This can be proved that during the eve of Chinese New Year, all the family members will reunion to have a reunion dinner. The Chinese community is also known for their hardship and pioneering. There are three important Chinese code of ethic, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Confucian ethical teachings include Li, Hsiao, Yi, Xin, Jen and Chung. Li includes all the ritual, propriety and etiquette. Hsiao is the love within the family and Yi is righteousness. Xin is honesty while Jen is benevolence and Chung is loyalty. Feng shui is one of the Chinese belief system based on geomantic omens. Feng shui is used when the Chinese people move into a new house or when people are dead.
· Indian
2000 years ago, Indian began to explore and visit Malaysia as the rumors of fortune in a land their ancestors known as Suvarnadvipa or golden peninsula was widely spread. Until the 19th century, Indians start to arrive in big number and stay in Malaysia and employed as rubber tappers and other plantation laborers such as oil palm. Most of them came from south India and was Tamil while only small number was Sikh, Bengali, Keralan, Telugu and Parsi.
Today most Indians can be found at every state of Malaysia but they mostly concentrated in the states of Selangor, Perak and Penang. Most of them is still work as manual laborers on plantation sites. They own less than one percent of the country’s corporate wealth. With the economic prosperity country had achieved, the Indian communities are now well represented in the various professions such as lawyer.
Hinduism is most of the Indians religion. The religion thought is based on Vedas. 3000 years ago, the Vedas were written down in Sanskrit and explain the customs and belief of the Aryas. They believe every form of creature has an immortal soul. It will migrate to another body after death called rebirth or reincarnation. The faithful Hindus are strict vegetarians. The Hindu will not complaint about their present state whether sickness and misery as well as health and prosperity. They believed it is deserved consequences for their previous life. The common outfits for the women are sari and salwar-kameez. Men normally dress more comfort and the most common clothing is kurta.
