Discussion: The Loss of Malay Customs (in Mr Hasni's class)

Malay wedding. Source: Wix

In the class, for the past few weeks, there are many who voted that the Malay customs are losing its followers. I cannot fathom on the reasoning given by my classmates. It saddens me that they considered culture as something that is rigid, strict, and fixed while they are actually living in that culture itself. Tradition does not restricted to whether we bow in front of the elderly or doing an act of respect – although they are a part of the Malay culture. The examples that they gave were acute and narrow!

In this essay, I would like to debunk on how people assume culture, customs, and traditions as a rigid entity. They are malleable, flexible, subject to changes, and has the ability to evolve. With this, I disagree that the Malay culture is losing its identity as time goes by. I hereby stand behind the unpopular opinion (within the class) that the Malay culture is still alive, still strong, and definitely, not dying.

Etymology and Definition

The world was, is and will be saturated with customs, traditions, and norms. One of the most prominent feature of those three earthly rationales is, in fact, law. Some of these laws are written – like The Federal Constitution of Malaysia – and unwritten laws – like Adat Perpatih and Islamic Sharia. Law generally refers to a system of rules created and enforced through social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior (Robertson, 1999), with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate (Willis, 1926; Gibbs, 1968; Akers, 1965). However, is tradition being considered as a corresponding idea as opposed to law? Social researchers believe that tradition differs greatly from law.

The differences of laws and tradition are categorized in the following rubrics: enforcers and followers. Law in general have the appointed enforcers and the followers that agree with the rules. Tradition on the other hand have ambiguous enforcement system and it is not clear who supposed to follow all the rules. Tradition, however, is a part of unwritten law – which is simply that portion of Malaysian law which is not being enacted by Parliament or the State Assemblies and which is not found in the written Federal and State Constitutions.

A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past (Green, 1997; Shils, 1981). The word tradition comes from the Latin ‘traditio’ via French, the noun from the verb ‘tradere’ – which means to transmit, to hand over, or to give for safekeeping. It was originally used in Roman law to refer to the concept of legal transfers and inheritance (Congar, 2004; Giddens, 2003).

Tradition can also refer to beliefs or customs that are Prehistoric, with lost or arcane origins, existing from time immemorial – an ancient time before people started to count days (Shils, 1981). Originally, traditions were passed orally, without the need for a writing system. Tools to aid this process include poetic devices such as rhyme and alliteration. The stories thus preserved are also referred to as tradition, or as part of an oral tradition. Even such traditions, however, are presumed to have originated or been invented by humans at some point (Shils, 1981; Giddens, 2003).

Traditions are often presumed to be ancient, unalterable, and deeply important, though they may sometimes be much less natural than is presumed (Hobsbawm, 2012). It is presumed that at least two transmissions over three generations are required for a practice, belief or object to be seen as traditional (Shils, 1982). Some traditions were intentionally invented for one reason or another, often to highlight or enhance the importance of a certain institution (Hobsbawm, 2012). For example, wearing white or muted colours during a Malay-Muslim funeral ceremonies. Essentially, there are no dress code imposed in Muslim funeral etiquettes. Just wear whatever as long as it is modest, covers the aurah, and clean. So, why do we wear white or muted colours during the ceremonies if there are no obligations by the religion to do so? It is simply because the society regards these colour as a sign of respect to the dead and the family of the dead – as they must be grieving due to the loss. Malay society sets that bright colours should be worn at happy and joyful events like Hari Raya, or weddings, or aqiqah. Wearing bright set of clothing during funeral signifies jolliness – which is rude and offensive. So, to respect the importance of funeral ceremonies, Malay-Muslims adheres to this dress code despite having no strong foundation in the Islamic or Malay etiquette.

Traditions may also be adapted to suit the needs of the day, and the changes can become accepted as a part of the ancient tradition (Langois, 2001; Hobsbawm, 2012). This can be seen as the Covid-19 attacked the human race. If traditionally, Malays would pay their respect to the elderly by doing ‘salam cium tangan’, now we opt for just nod our head or do a small bow to signify respectfulness and deference. Another tradition that changes along the course of mankind is the way knowledge is taught. Sometime in the past, teaching and learning was conducted humbly on the floor. Then, tables and chairs were introduced in the classroom. Nowadays, we use the technologies of internet and computers as a mean of teaching and learning. And maybe sometime in the future, this will be accepted as a tradition, who knows?

Tradition changes slowly, with changes from one generation to the next being seen as significant (Shils, 1981). Thus, those carrying out the traditions will not be consciously aware of the change, and even if a tradition undergoes major changes over many generations, it will be seen as unchanged. Can anybody remember since when we started eating kuih raya for Hari Raya? Malay kuihs and cakes are traditionally made from rice flour, coconut, and palm sugar – often steamed, boiled, or fried. So, why is it a tradition to eat kuih raya that are made out of wheat flour, butter, and white sugar that are baked in the oven? Do eating kuih raya make you less of a Malay? No, they do not make us a lesser Malay. Wheat flour was being introduced to the people of this land through international trades, years before the occupation of western imperialist bastards. Chinese traders brought in wheat-based mian noodles while Indian and Arab merchants introduced us to their roti recipes. The Malays learned about these foreign recipes through the process of acculturation. As our great-grandparents acquired the art of gastronomy using wheat flour, it had been oblivious to them that they had adopted others’ tradition that now becomes our tradition.

Malay Customs and Islamic Teachings

It can be said that each race in the world has its own customs. That also applies to Malay community and within them, lies the expression which becomes the treasure of the race and is built from the past life experience. Customs in Malay community is a synonymous element with the life of the community. On the existence of customs in Malay community, some of the customs do comply with the teachings of Islam and some do.

Malay people classify customs into four main parts which are adat sebenar (genuine custom), adat yang teradat (communal custom), adat yang diadatkan (accustomed custom), and adat istiadat (ceremonial custom) (Ibrahim, Yusof, & Hasan, 2018). Based on this division, the usage of sayings such as ‘adat menang ada kalahnya’ (it is a custom where a winner present in the presence of a loser), ‘biar mati anak jangan mati adat’ (son may die, but the custom should not fade), ‘tak tahu adat’ (custom-ignorant), and adat istiadat (ceremonial custom) have different meanings between each other. Confusion on the real understanding of the custom always puts Malay custom to be considered as outdated and contradicting with Islamic teachings (Norhaslina, 2004). Adat sebenar exists according to observation to the natural occurrences happening to the circle of life. Natural attributes existing in a certain thing or situation become the base of differentiation between it and other natural element such the custom of cock to crow, the custom of water to wet, and others. Adat yang teradat is a custom built according to relationship between the surrounding communities. To make real the comfort of community life, a rule must be formed. Adat yang diadatkan refers to regular practice enforced in the community for the sake of community harmony and peace and it evolves with time (Zainal, 1996). Ceremonial custom refers to the regular ceremony in the community and it has certain principles to be followed. It is also exposed to the changing time (Kadir, 2000).

Malay community has a lot of their own unique taboos as other races in the world. Taboos become one of the heritages in the culture of Traditional Malay community that own a very high value. Within them, lies the expression which becomes the treasure of race, built from past life experiences. These experiences would become examples for life nowadays. Taboos of traditional Malay people are beliefs of ancient Malay community regarding customs and inherited culture of ancestors. Most of the taboos are inherited verbally (Ani Haji Omar, 2014).

Customs, taboos and tips in Malay community are a synonymous element with the life of the community (Irma, 2016). The position of tips, customs and taboos is closely related to the fatwa produced by mufti. The existence of tips, customs or taboos in Malay community which have been given fatwa; some of them are not compatible with Islamic sharia, some are. While discussing on the tips and taboos in Malay community, it actually relates to Malay customs. Customs in Malay community; some are acceptable and some should be rejected – if they are viewed in Islamic perspective. These customs encompass practices since a birth until a death. Among the customs in Malay community is birth reception customs, post-pregnancy customs, circumcision, marriage and others (Kamarudin & Liki, 2008).

Malay customs began to undergo Islamisation process by means of modification according to Islamic laws after Islam entered Melaka in the late 14th century. According to Tonel (1920), Malay customs at the beginning were based on Malay ceremonial customs which were practised in state of Temasik, Bentan, and Melaka. In Melaka era, the customs were Islamised due to king’s acceptance of Islam. The determination of sharia was considered as customs obeyed by community members, until a difficulty happened in differentiating between the pure customs and the ones coming from Islamic sharia.

However, there are many Malay customs that are being practiced nowadays that are improvisations (bid’ah) and some even against Islamic teachings. For example, custom related to death is such as sprinkling flower-mixed water onto the grave after the burying of the body. This custom does not contradict with Islam if it is done to tighten the soil structure of the grave and is not intended to help the dead. The custom of holding feast of death of tahlil of the 1st, 3rd, 44th and 100th day, building decoration on the grave such as marble and widening the grave after 100 days of death and mourning for 40 days, and custom of wearing certain clothes on the death of dignitary are something that had not exist back when Nabi Muhammad PBUH was alive. These deeds should be avoided and for the substitute, the practices closer to sunnah should be performed such as lifting the grave to a span height, submitting a lot of prayer, giving alms on behalf of the dead and not mourning for the death of dignitary of more than three days.

Malayness, Malayisation, and Being Less of a Malay

Malayness is the state of being Malay or of embodying Malay characteristics. The standard definitions and descriptions offered for these terms are based upon what has been written in the Malaysian constitution (Milne & Mauzy, 1980). Article 160 of the Constitution of Malaysia defines a Malay as a person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, and conforms to Malay custom (Barnard, 2003).

Malayisation is a process of assimilation and acculturation, that involves acquisition – as shown in a Malay term of Masuk Melayu (Benjamin & Chou, 2003; Gin, 2009; Milner, 2010; Kipp, 1996; Andaya & Andaya, 1984; Barnard, 2006) which literally means embracing Malayness – or imposition Pemelayuan (Nik Hassan Shuhaimi Nik Abdul Rahman, 1998) or Melayuisasi (Mohamed Anwar Omar Din, 2011) of elements of Malay culture, in particular, Islam and the Malay language, as experienced by non-Malay populations of territories fully controlled or partially influenced by historical Malay sultanates and modern Malay-speaking countries. It is often described as a process of civilisational expansion, drawing a wide range of indigenous peoples into the Muslim, Malay-speaking polities of Maritime Southeast Asia (Milner, 2010).

One of the famous example of Malayisation is the interrelation of Islam and Malay culture in interethnic marriages that involves a Malay and a non-Muslim, non-Malay. Since Islam and According to Nik Ammar Syaffian Nik Mohd Fadzil in his research on portrayal of interethnic marriage in motion pictures, Malay is synonymous (in the Malaysian context), when a non-Muslim, non-Malay marries a Malay, the person will be haunted by phrases like ‘Masuk Melayu’, ‘tukar nama’, or ‘apa nama Melayu awak?’ which have been discussed in numerous Yasmin Ahmad’s films. The occurrence is mostly caused by Malayisation of Islam that being a Malay will automatically makes you a Muslim and vice versa.

Some that is considered a Malay by the Malaysian Constitution may not consider themselves as a Malay or feel that they are lack of Malayness – which could be seen in a neutral, negative, or even positive subliminal connotations. Although there are many variables that could make a person feel lesser of a Malay, I would highlight three rationales behind this occurrence, which are: (1) globalization, (2) adopting liberal morality, and (3) xenocentrism.

The world has becoming a global village whereby everything is interconnected in a single click of a button. Nowadays, we are being bombarded with saturated amount of contents and informations. A person could be well informed on the history of Japan, wars and famines that the Japanese had gone through, intricate dining etiquettes, and daily menial activities that the Japanese enjoys during summer – and yet this person would know so little about Malay culture and traditions while he himself is a Malay.

Because of the saturated materials that every one of us received each seconds, minutes, hours, and days, we often only take a section that we are interested in and neglect a huge portion of other informations that could be useful to us. It is most certainly not wrong to do so as it is inevitable and humans have a limited capacity and brainpower to digest the knowledge. However, due to this, we may desert the importance of Malay identity. Someone with a background of scientific affiliation would most probably have the tendency to click on science-related data on the internet rather than Malay cultural and traditional events – if the happenings are not of their concern.

Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on liberty, consent of the governed and equality before the law (Kanazawa, 2010; Trivers, 1971; Dunn, 1993). Liberals advocate a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but they generally support free markets, free trade, limited government, individual rights (including civil rights and human rights), capitalism, democracy, secularism, gender equality, racial equality, internationalism, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion (Hashemi, 2009; Donohue, 2003; Wolin, 2004).

In Malaysia, liberalism has many negative connotations – which I could not deny its threat. Despite the negative undertone, liberalism had done many things in favour of the working communities and common people as the idea of it had sought to replace the norms of hereditary privilege, absolute monarchy, the divine right of kings, and traditional conservatism – with representative democracy and the rule of law. Liberals also ended mercantilist policies, royal monopolies and other barriers to trade, instead promoting free trade and free markets. Like everything in this world, liberalism also has boons and banes.

So, how does liberalism morality make someone swerve from understanding and appreciating their Malayness? Well, for a start, liberalism values individualism – which is the opposite for community-reliant Malay culture that values collectivism. If an individual does not feel the need to mingle around with the community or have interest on the political shifts that are continuously happening around them, then it is their right to do so. The government has no right to forcefully impose nationalism or propagandas onto these people because of the freedom-oriented ideology. Since Malaysia supports a few liberalism values – as per mentioned in the Federal Constitution about a few topics, like: (1) freedom of speech, (2) democracy, (3) freedom of practicing religion, (4) equality to be prosecuted in the name of law, and (5) individual rights among other things. Thus, if a Malaysian Malay adopted liberalism – especially the value of individualism – and decided to veer off from relying onto the rest of the community, then they did not violate any rules of the country. By adopting such value, the Malayness and Malay identity becomes less cohesive – but affirmatively not deteriorating.

Xenocentrism is the preference for the products, style, culture, people, significant others, and food of others, rather than of one's own (Johnson, 2000). This could be shown through someone’s adoration on anything that are not Malaysian or Malaysian-made.

I believe that we could easily detect xenocentrism everywhere, even in our own selves. A high school girl would most probably loves to listen to her favourite K-pop idols singing their songs in Korean. She buys Monami pens – a Korean stationery brand instead of locally manufactured Pilot pens. Her favourite food is Korean ramen noodles that are sold in Korean mart five minutes away from where she lives. She will buy the new Samsung smartphone to replace her old phone. She tries to include Korean phrases or exclamations when she talks with her friends which also have the same interest as her. We can see that her preferences are revolving around South Korean related things and persons.

Other ways that are considered as a xenocentric behavior are by preferring German-made cars like Porsche, Audi, Mercedez, and BMW instead of local Proton, Perodua, and Naza; going to the strip of Gold Coast instead of Pantai Cherating; and using Kenwood, Toshiba, and Sony than using Khind, Gintell, or Pensonic products.

Evidence that Malaysians are Embracing Malay Traditions

Caklempong takes on Kpop in viral Blackpink cover by Joe Lee on 28 January 2019. Retrieved from https://www.malaymail.com/news/showbiz/2019/01/28/caklempong-takes-on-kpop-in-viral-blackpink-cover/1717183

Caklempong is a percussion ensemble traditional to the Minangkabau ethnic in West Sumatra. Migration from West Sumatra to Negeri Sembilan happened even before the imperialism era caused acculturation of music to transfer to the locals in Malaya. This article tells us about a group of high school students who plays pop music by using caklempong. Caklempong is just a tool to communicate harmonious sounds. By using pop music and world-famous Blackpink’s Ddu-Du Ddu-Du, caklempong would garner new fans - especially the younger generation.

Why does this news article is not showing that the Malay customs are diminishing?

This is a news article that Mr. Hasni sent at the WhatsApp group. It mainly tells about how a 37 years old man went amok under the influence of drugs and attacked his three family members. The cause of the ruckus was when the father told his son to quiet down as it was in the middle of the night. On a quick glance, we would often blame this generation for being so reckless and unnecessarily rude. However, maybe the root of the cause is way beyond what is seen with the naked eye. The questions that we should ask ourselves are, why does he take drugs? Could it be another case of poverty? Depression? Unemployment? Of course I do not condone with drug addicts for whatever reasons there might be. Justifying addictions to poverty or any social problems does not solve any problems. But, there are always reasons behind every actions – and not blindly blaming that a generation is simply rotten and incurable.

People who simply say that this generation (or any other generation) has screwed up obviously do not know history. Slavery happened throughout the history and yet do we call those idiots’ generation a fook’d up generation? Do we call the generation of capitalistic, cronyistic, and nepotistic a fook’d up generation? Do we call the generation of racists, name-calling, and fascists a fook’d up generation? Did we?

Through all sorts of timeline, there are parents or even grandparents who abuses their children, sons and daughters who smack the hell out of their parents; there will always a person who will hurt the other mercilessly. Now, does that problem specifically cursed onto a certain generation? I do not think so.

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