What is it to be truly Malaysian?

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 19^th 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 7^th 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 !!

(1812 words)

OUR REFERENCES

1. 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>
2. 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/>
3. 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>
4. Malaysia Truly Asia, The People, viewed onth 19th March 2016  <http://www.malaysiatrulyasia.com/tourism/the_people.htm>
5. Members tripod, Adat Resam, viewed on 19th March 2016  <http://members.tripod.com/kidd_cruz/adat_resam.htm>
6. The Malaysia Site, Deepavali / Divali, viewed on 19th March 2016 <http://www.malaysiasite.nl/deepavali.htm>
7. Penang Vacations, Delicious Malaysian Cuisine Penang Style!, viewed on 20th March 2016 <http://www.penang-vacations.com/malaysian-cuisine.html>
8. 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>
9. Wonderful Malaysia, Genting Highlands, viewed on 20th March 2016 <http://www.wonderfulmalaysia.com/genting-highlands-malaysia.htm>
10. Back Packing Malaysia, Genting Highlands, viewed on 20th March 2016 <http://www.backpackingmalaysia.com/things-to-do/genting_highlands>