Malaysia is a mix of the modern world and a developing nation. With its investment in the high technology industries and moderate oil wealth, it has become a leader within South-East Asia. For the traveller, Malaysia for most part presents a happy mix: there is high-tech infrastructure and things generally work well and more or less on schedule, but prices remain reasonable and daily life far more vibrant than, say, sanitized Singapore.
Cultures of Malaysia
Malaysian culture or Malaya culture is a mixture of Malay, Chinese, Indian and various indigenous tribes dating back to more than fifteen hundred years ago from a Kedah kingdom in Lembanh Bujang with traders from China and India. Other cultures in the past that influenced heavily on the culture of Malaya include the Persian, Arab and European.
Malay
Malay are Malaysia's largest ethnic group, accounting for over half the population and the national language. By definition of the Malaysian constitution, all Malays are Muslims. Traditional Malay culture can still be found in the village. Malays in different areas of the country speak their own unique dialects that can sometimes be unintelligible to most of their fellow countrymen.
Chinese
The first Chinese to settle in the Straits Settlements primarily in and around Malacca, gradually adopted elements of Malaysian culture and intermarried with the Malaysian community and with this, a new ethnic group called babas (male) and nyonyas (female) emerged. Babas and nyonyas as a group are known as Peranakan. They produced a synthetic set of practices, beliefs, and arts, combining Malay and Chinese traditions in such a way as to create a new culture. The Chinese have been settling in Malaysia for many centuries, as seen in the emergence of the peranakan culture, but the exodus peaked during the nineteenth century through trading and tin-mining. When they first arrived, the Chinese often worked the most grueling jobs like tin mining and railway construction. Later, some of them owned businesses that become large conglomerates in today's Malaysia. Most Chinese are Tao Buddhist and retain strong ties to their ancestral homeland. They form the second largest ethnic group.
Indian
Indians had been visiting Malaysia for many centuries, but only settled during the nineteenth century. Most came from South India, fleeing a poor economy or by an organised emigration administrated by the British authorities. Arriving in Malaysia, many worked as rubber tappers, while others built the infrastructure or worked as administrators and small businessmen. The Indians form the third largest ethnic group of Malaysia.
