THE
MALAY WORLD
Introduction
Have you ever
heard about Malay culture? Or even the race itself?
If not, you
have come to the right place! The main focus of this web site is to educate
other individuals of the explicit and evolution of Malay culture of the past
and the future.
The Malay World
is a web site where you can discover all aspects of Malay culture which many do
not know. This web site is intended for adolescent students who want to find
out more about Malay culture.
Here, visitors
will enjoy an extensive explanation of Malay culture and be informed of the
wide range of resources available on the Internet regarding this subject.
Objective
The objective of this project is firstly for
us as Malays to be more informed of the problems the Malay culture is facing
and the real definition of this term 'Malay culture'.
Secondly, we also want to educate the
ignorant individuals of the different racial backgrounds to understand and
learn of our practices so that we can achieve the knowledge of Malay culture being
global in his world of modernization.
We also want to dedicate this to the Malays
of the world for creating and evolving this treasured culture only the Malays
have.
We have gone through many different sources
such as the Internet, books from the library and an interview with an active
writer cum poet cum artist to satisfy our objectives of this project.
We had found many key points such as the fact
that Malay culture was greatly influenced by many other cultures not only in
Asia but in other parts of the world, greatly evolving into a culture that all
Malays are proud of.
CULTURE
CULTURE
What is Culture?
The learned patterns of thought and behaviour
characteristics of a population or society.
People learn culture. That is culture's
essential feature. Many qualities of human life are transmitted
genetically -- an infant's desire for food, for example, is triggered by
physiological characteristics determined within the human genetic code. An
adult's specific desire for milk and cereal in the morning, on the other hand,
cannot be explained genetically; rather, it is a learned (cultural) response to
morning hunger.
Culture, as a body of learned behaviors
common to a given human society, acts rather like a template (i.e. it has
predictable form and content), shaping behavior and consciousness within a
human society from generation to generation.
So culture resides in all learned behavior
and in some shaping template or consciousness prior to behavior as well (that
is, a "cultural template" can be in place prior to the birth of an
individual person).
Cultural Concepts
This primary concept of a shaping template
and body of learned behaviors might be further broken down into the following
categories, each of which is an important element of cultural systems: systems
of meaning, of which language is primary ways of organizing society, from
kinship groups to states and multi-national corporations the distinctive
techniques of a group and their characteristic products.
Several important principles follow from this
definition
of culture: If the process of learning is an essential characteristic of
culture, then teaching also is a crucial characteristic. The way culture is
taught and reproduced is itself an important component of culture.
Since the relationship between what is taught
and what is learned is not absolute (some of what is taught is lost, while new
discoveries are constantly being made), culture exists in a constant state of
change. Meaning systems consist of negotiated agreements. Members of a human
society must agree to relationships between a word, behavior, or other symbol
and its corresponding significance or meaning.
To the extent that culture consists of
systems of meaning, it also consists of negotiated agreements and processes of
negotiation. Because meaning systems involve relationships which are not
essential and universal (the word "door" has no essential connection
to the physical object - we simply agree that it shall have that meaning when
we speak or write in English), different human societies will inevitably agree
upon different relationships and meanings; this a relativistic way of
describing culture.
Conclusion
With this, The
Malay World is divided into 5 major sections:
- Social
- Tools and Needs
- Aesthetics
- Language and Literature
- Beliefs and Practices
There are also
2 additional segments in the Introduction section:
- Historical Background of the
Malays
- Definition of Culture (which
you are viewing now)
HISTORY
Introduction
Malay is the race of the people who inhabit the Malay Peninsula (now known as Peninsular/West Malaysia) and portion of adjacent islands of Southeast Asia, including the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo and smaller islands that lie between these areas.
Origin of the Malays
The Malays originated in Yunnan, China. They
Proto-Malays were also known as Jakun.
They were seafaring people. Probably because
of their seafaring way of life or trading, they were believed to have lived in
coastal Borneo. They then expanded into Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. A
Portuguese historian, Godinho de Eredia, referred to the Malays as Saletes (Orang Selat, or People of the Straits).
The Malays played a major part in the Making
of great Malay empires of Malacca and Johor. Present day Malays of the
Peninsula and the coasts of the Malay Archipelago are described
anthropologically as deutero-Malays. They are descendants of the tribal
proto-Malays mixed with modern Indian, Thai, Arab and Chinese blood.
External Influences
Malay culture has been strongly influenced by
that of other people. They include the Siamese, Javanese, Sumatrans and the
Indians.
Hindu Influence
Hindu influence on Malay culture was
historically very great. A large number of the Malays were Hindus before they
were converted to Islam in the 15th century.
For nearly two thousand years, there was
intense traffic of traders between the Malay Archipelago and India. This had
resulted in the frequent intermarriages along the whole of the west coast of
the Peninsula, especially Tamils and Gujeratis.
Only some Hindu rituals survive in Malay
culture e.g. the second part of the marriage ceremony and in various ceremonies
of state.
The Malays also preserved some of their
ancient, animistic beliefs in the spirits of the soil and jungle etc. Some of
them still consult medicine men or shamans (also known as bomohs)
for the treatment of ailments.
Other Influences
In the northern states of Perlis and Kedah,
intermarriages with Thais were common.
East-coast of Kelantan still has traces of
Javanese culture that date back of the era of the Majapahit Empire of the 14th
century. Sumatran kingdom of Aceh dominated Perak for over a century.
The Bugis (for the Celebes Islands) colonized
Selangor and fought for rulers in States along the length of the Peninsula from
Kedah to Johor.
The Minangkabaus from Sumatra had their own
independent chiefdoms in what is today Negeri Sembilan.
When traders from other countries (e.g. Arab)
came to trade in the Malay Archipelago, intermarriages often occur. This mix of
different races to form what is the modern Malay can clearly be seen on the
lineage of, for example, Malacca royalty. Sultan Muhammad Shah married a Tamil
from South India. Sultan Mansur Shah married a Javanese, Chinese and a Siamese,
where the Siamese wife gave birth to two Sultans of Pahang.
It was this diversity of races, cultures and
influences that has the given the modern Malay race the rich and unique
historical heritage it has today.
SOCIAL STATE
Introduction
The social state of the Malays has changed
according to time.
In the old days, they would live life the old
way i.e. what we would consider now as ancient.
Now everything has changed, although the
social system of the Malays now is based on the old system.
Social
Classes
In the old days
there were two distinct classes of life, the upper class and the lower class.
The upper class is obviously the one ruling and has a great influence to the
lower class of people. The upper class utilizes the energy from the lower class
for life to continue.
In the same
time the upper class practise slavery, in the form of farmers, fishermen or
even as servants. The lower class gives in to the upper class that has the
power to control their lives.
Some of the
practices of the social system from the traditional ways are:
1.
Distinct
difference between the upper class (kings, advisors, wealthy men etc.) and the
lower class (farmers and fishermen etc.).
2.
The
upper class has the right to receive free services from the lower class that is
employed.
3.
The
farmers who work on the farms belonging to the upper class owner has no right
to receive more profits.
4.
The
upper class has the right to make the lower class people their slaves if they
do not have enough money to pay their debts etc.
Ruling Empires
The Malay community as usual have lots of
Malay ruling empires before the Europeans powers step onto the Malay land.
These Malay ruling empires are such as, The Malay Melaka Empire, and the
Riau-Johor Empire and many other empires.
The Malay Melaka Empire has brought the Malay
Empire to be one of the most respected empires till the 15th
century. This shows that the Malay empire is as powerful as any other empires
in the world.
The leadership of the Malay kings, which were
supported by the rich men, shows that they have a good form of social
organisation.
The economic aspects of the Malay society
that thrives on trade, which developed into a huge entrepot system, which
carries other trade activities, again help to bring up Melaka at that time.
CHANGES IN SOCIAL STATE
British Influence
Since the British government’s take over, the
social system of the Malay society began to change. The British government’s
more effective laws now replace the laws set up by the Malay empire.
The British government had full control over
the political and economic power. The Sultan only became the symbol of the
Malay society then. The Sultan now only take charge of matters that concern the
Malay society and Islamic matters, since the British had total power over the
political and economic arena.
This drastic change has slowly withdrew the
power the upper class had and slowly both classes were at somewhat the same
living standards and status.
Other Asian Influence
Once again, the Malay society has face a
change here by brought by the English when they introduce immigrants from China
and India. The Chinese lived in the mines and city area where the Indians lived
in the field area. This change did not bring a drastic change to the Malay
society because the Malay society has not yet been influenced in the earlier
stages.
When the government persuaded the Malay
society to live in places near where the Chinese and Indians stayed, the
influence started to spread. The Malay society had the chance to interact and
share different cultures. That’s why the Malay society has some influence from
the Chinese and Indians in their way of life and culture.
Nowadays, the Malay culture shares the
political, economical and social aspects from the Chinese and Indians.
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