In
31 August 1957, Malaysia declared the independence after several
negotiations which among Malaysians lead by Tunku Abdul Rahman and the British. On that day, Tunku Abdul Rahman declared the independence of
Malaysia by shouting out "Merdeka" seven times proudly at the Merdeka Stadium. “ Different skin colour,
different culture, different religion and we are united, only in Malaysia!” Malaysian was outstanding with the social culture, intellectual,intergrity and
politeness. Therefore, Malaysian deserve a great view from other countries.
MALAYSIA FAMOUS SPORT ARTIST
Malaysia
famous with several sports such as badminton,
bowling, football, tennis, squash, golf, horse riding, martial arts and skate
boarding. But when it comes to sports, one sport in particular has a somewhat
universal appeal for Malaysians which is football and badminton. Some of the
most well-known athletes of Malaysia includes Datuk Soh Chin Aun, who was the
youngest player to be part of the national team at 21 was often referred to as
"Tauke" (boss) that recently been showing in the movie title “Ola Bola”.
But when it comes to football, there is none of a Malaysian can ever forget the
"Supermokh", Datuk Mokhtar Dahari.
Beside that, the
other sport icon is Dato' Lee Chong Wei . Dato' Lee Chong Wei as a badminton
player began when he was discovered by Misbun Sidek, a former national
badminton player turn coach. At the young age of 17, he was drafted into the
national squad. Dato' Lee is a professional badminton player. As we know, the match between Dato' Lee and Lin Dan from China is always very exhilarated.
MALAYSIAN FOOD
Other than that, to be a truly
Malaysian, we would say that Malaysian food is one of the category that is
including into this topic. None other places of overseas country could actually
have the exact same taste as what we are having in our own country, Malaysia.
We are actually very pleased to be Malaysian as this country do provide
multicultural types of food in the market. By what is the reason that Malaysian
food was named as a multiple culture food is because, it was actually influenced
by a few crossed country cuisines in the history, such as Thailand, Indonesia,
Chinese and Indian (SBS Food 2008, para 1).
Thus, Malaysian dishes that are always
pleasant to be recommended by us are, Nasi Lemak, Char Koay Teow, Laksa, Roti
Canai and more.
Pearce (no date, para 6) proposed that, Nasi Lemak is the national dish
for Malaysia, and they are also very well known to be Malay culture type of
food.
Besides that, Laksa, which is one of
the dish that is created by Malay and Chinese and now it is also a globally
known type of dish. Country such as Australia, normally in the Asian stall or
restaurant, they do serve Laksa, but they will usually name it as “Curry Laksa”
unless they do serve “Asam Laksa”, which has the same fish paste Laksa in
Malaysia (SBS Food 2008, para 4).
Among those, there is another kind of
Malaysian food, which is created by Indians with their traditional ways of
doing it such as Roti Canai, it is also known as Indian breads. Generally,there
are a lot of Malaysians will head to the restaurant which is always recognised
as the “Mamak Stall” just to have some Roti Canai there while chatting with their
friends, or to watch football matches during the night hours. Besides that,
some Malaysians might also have Roti Canai as their breakfast.
These are the Malaysian food that we
will proudly present to anyone from the overseas and for those who might not
knowing what is great to try when they are in Malaysia. Other than that, as a
Malaysian that do travel aboard to overseas for studies or work will also truly
miss their own hometown food, even if they did go to the Malaysian restaurant
in the overseas, they will still miss the original taste of Malaysian food from
their own nation country.
MALAYSIAN RACES & CULTURE
Malaysia is a multi-racial country that consists of Malays, Chinese,
Indians and other races. Malays, Chinese and Indians are the largest ethnic
group in Malaysia, while numerous indigenous people such as Baba-Nyonya,
Chitty, Orang Asli are the smallest ethnic group in Malaysia.
Malay
Malays are the largest ethnic group among all the
other races. The terms of Malay refers to the religion of a person is Islam. Their
traditional attire is dictated by the Islamic dress code. Therefore, the Malay
formal dress for men is baju melayu. Baju kurung is Malay’s traditional
for women. Mostly they wear the traditional attire as Islamic dress code to
attend the annual festivals. Besides that, they also wear the traditional attire to mosque.
Usually, the Islamic manner of greeting “Assalamu Alaikum” which means peace be
upon you, is greeting to the person they visited. Thus, following the shaking
of hands is one of the Islamic manner of greeting as well. Malays use their right hand when eating. It is taboo to
use their left hand for eating purposes, even touching someone, giving or
receiving something are using right hand. Next, they celebrate Hari
Raya Puasa as their new year celebration. It is the first
day of the Islamic month of Ramadan, which is a month of fasting and prayer.
Chinese
Chinese is the second largest ethnic group in Malaysia. Most of the
descendents of Chinese immigranted to Malaysia during the 19th
century. Thus, they have different spoken, such as Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew and Chiese. Most
of the Chinese religion is either Buddhism or Taoism. Chinese New Year
represent the first day of new year in chinese calender. All the chinese family members will have the reunion dinner at home during Chinese New Year’s eve. During the first day of Chinese New
Year, it is taboo to sweep the floor, wash hair, cut finger nails and being rude because these actions may cause bad luck. The
elderly will give out “ang pau” as greetings and wishes to the people who are single.
On the other hand, they celebrate other traditional festivals, such as Lantern Festival and Dragon Boat Festival. Chinese traditional
costumes play an important role in Chinese history and culture. Therefore, “Tang
Zhuang” is Chinese traditional suit for men, while women tradition cloth is “Cheongsam”.
Indian
Most of the
Indians religion is identified as Hinduism while some of them are Christian. Next, the Indian clothing is
closely identified with the colourful silk saris worn by many Indian women. The
traditional attire for men is the Dhoti. On the other hand, Indians celebrate
their traditional festivals, such as Thaipusam, Hari Deevapali. They celebrate
Thaipusam as their first festival among the other festivals every year because
Thaipusam always take place in January or early February as the festival
follows the Hindu calender. Next, Deepavali Festival, also known as Divali or
the festival of lights is observed by Hindus in recognition of the triumph of
good over evil in the seventh month of Hindu Calender. Deepavali is celebrated
on the Hindu month of Kartik in October or November. Thus, they decorate their
entrance homes with the “kolam”, an intricate floral design which signifies
religious believes. Many Indians believe that the Goddess Lakshimi would only
enter a home with a “kolam” at the entrance of their home. They would prepare
some traditional cakes and sweets for the day, such as “murukku” and “achi murukku”. Lastly, they will share the cakes and sweets to their neighbours and
friends, many of them have “open house” for their non-Hindu friends in
Malaysia.
MALAYSIAN TRAVEL DESTINATION
Malaysia
is the country which is free from natural disaster. Due to the unique geographical
location and full with different and unique aspect such as races, language,
cultureband religion, it had been attract a very huge number
of the people attention from other countries to travel in Malaysia successfully. Malaysia
have 13 states and 3 federal territories. Some of the travel destination in Malaysia is very well-known such as
Penang, Genting Highlands, Langkawi Island and Melacca. Meanwhile, the travel
destination is not only famous in local, it is also famous globally.
PENANG
Penang Bridge, Penang Hill, Komtar Tower and ''Food Heaven'' are the iconic trademark and landmark for
Penang. George Town is the capital for Penang. In Penang, anywhere and anytime can
get a nice and delicious food such as Char Kuey Teow, Roti Canai, Nasi Lemak,
Asam Laksa etc. Penang not just only famous in food. There were many street arts
along all around the corner on the street in George Town. George Town is full
with the cultural and historical building which is very well maintained. On 7th
of July 2008, Penang become a member of UNESCO World Heritage Site (2009,
Penang Travel Tips). Meanwhile, Penang Hill is the best place to have a
360 degree barrier free view to have a look for the whole of Penang and enjoy
the cool air on there. The elevation for Penang Hill is about 833m (no
date, Penang Vacation).
GENTING HIGHLANDS
Genting
Highlands is a perfect destination for Malaysian. Genting highland located in
Pahang state, on the peak of Titiwangsa Mountain Range and the elevation
of the mountain is about 1,800 meter (no date, Back Packing Malaysia). Genting Highland is a resort city which combine
hotels, theme park, casino and huge shopping complex into one at the same place.
Genting Highlands also can be know as “Las Vegas of Malaysia” or “Little Las
Vegas”. The casino in Genting Highland was only just the only one which get the permit issue by Malaysia government to run the casino business in Malaysia. Beside that, one of the hotel at there,
First World Hotel is one of the biggest hotel in the world which come with 6,118
rooms. The weather at Genting Highland is cold because the weather at there is
about 16 to 24 degree (no date, Wonderful Malaysia).
CONCLUSION
In
the conclusion, Malaysia is a multi-racial country which consist different
races. The conflict between the races sometime might be happen because of
different culture and language. It is not difficult to avoid the conflict
between the races. Try to understand what the culture, language and other
aspect for other races. We live in a country which is multi-racial.
As a truly Malaysian, it is our responsibility to avoid the conflict with other races by understanding them. Besides that, we have to make our country become more innovative compare to the past. Time is moving forward, not moving backward. To make our country to be more innovative than the past is not only the government responsibility, it also our responsibility because we are one part of the Malaysia members.
Lastly, we are always appreciate that we born as Malaysian because of our country do not have any war and any natural disaster and our country rich with natural resources, such as petroleum and palm oil.
WE ARE TRULY MALAYSIAN !!
OUR REFERENCES
As a truly Malaysian, it is our responsibility to avoid the conflict with other races by understanding them. Besides that, we have to make our country become more innovative compare to the past. Time is moving forward, not moving backward. To make our country to be more innovative than the past is not only the government responsibility, it also our responsibility because we are one part of the Malaysia members.
Lastly, we are always appreciate that we born as Malaysian because of our country do not have any war and any natural disaster and our country rich with natural resources, such as petroleum and palm oil.
WE ARE TRULY MALAYSIAN !!
(1812 words)
OUR REFERENCES
- SBS Food, 6 May 2015, About Malaysian Food, viewed on 17th March 2016 <http://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2008/07/01/about-malaysian-food>
- Melissa Pearce, no date, Malay Cuisine, Blending Spice and Culture ,viewed on 17th March 2016 <http://theculturetrip.com/asia/malaysia/articles/malay-cuisine-blending-spice-and-culture/>
- UK Essays, Road Of The Independent Malaysia History Essay, viewed on 18th March 2016 <http://www.ukessays.com/essays/history/road-of-the-independent-malaysia-history-essay.php>
- Malaysia Truly Asia, The People, viewed onth 19th March 2016 <http://www.malaysiatrulyasia.com/tourism/the_people.htm>
- Members tripod, Adat Resam, viewed on 19th March 2016 <http://members.tripod.com/kidd_cruz/adat_resam.htm>
- The Malaysia Site, Deepavali / Divali, viewed on 19th March 2016 <http://www.malaysiasite.nl/deepavali.htm>
- Penang Vacations, Delicious Malaysian Cuisine Penang Style!, viewed on 20th March 2016 <http://www.penang-vacations.com/malaysian-cuisine.html>
- Penang Travel Tips, George Town World Heritage Site, viewed on 20th March 2016 <http://www.penang-traveltips.com/george-town-unesco-world-heritage-site.htm>
- Wonderful Malaysia, Genting Highlands, viewed on 20th March 2016 <http://www.wonderfulmalaysia.com/genting-highlands-malaysia.htm>
- Back Packing Malaysia, Genting Highlands, viewed on 20th March 2016 <http://www.backpackingmalaysia.com/things-to-do/genting_highlands>
