An overview of Malay culture
Malays are among the largest indigenous peoples in South East Asia, who live in the Malay
Archipelago, a region with a predominantly Malay population. People of Malay origin also
live in Indonesia, Brunei, Southern Philippines, Singapore, Southern Thailand, Cambodia and
Vietnam as well as being minorities outside South East Asia such as in South Africa, Sri
Lanka, and Western Australia (Shellabear, 1977). Malays are differentiated from the other two
major Malaysian ethnic groups, the Chinese and the Indians, because they are closely
associated with the religion of Islam. Islam constitutes a key element in Malay ethnic identity
and therefore has critical impact on the development of Malay culture (Mastor et al. 2000). As
such, the concepts of religiosity and ethnicity of the Malay society are not mutually exclusive,
but rather multidimensional. A Malay is born into a culture and religion simultaneously, and
consequently, one who rejects Islam is no longer legally considered Malay. Thus, it is quite
impossible to delineate the essential cultural elements in measuring the Malay identity in such
a unique structure.
This is why ethnicity is not an easily definable term for the Malays in Malaysia, logically, due
to the presence of Islamic religion which is seen as an integral part of a Malay culture for 500
years. To conceptualize and operationalize Malay ethnicity will somehow or rather need to
overlap with religious dimension (Nagata, 1974). Malay ethnicity is believed to exert a
relatively stronger effect on the individual’s behavior because it is multidimensional. One set
of values is promulgated both by informal social interactions and religious instructions;
therefore, the individual experiences greater normative consistency. This congruence between
culture and religion stands in contrast to conditions prevailing in some other ethnic groups.
Irish ethnicity, for instance, may be exhibited quite differently, depending upon whether one is
Irish Protestant or Irish Catholic.