Malay Culture - Baju Kebaya

Malay girls are really beauty in baju kebaya.

Excerpt from Wikipedia:

The kebaya silhoutte gives emphasis to a womanly figure and that is the beauty of this ethnic wear.

Wikipedia

 

Malay culture - Baju Melayu

An excerpt from Wikipedia:

Baju Melayu is a traditional Malay outfit for men. It literally translates as 'Malay shirt' and consists of two main parts. The first being the baju (long sleeved shirt) itself which has a raised stiff collar known as the cekak musang collar (literally fox's lease). The second part is the trousers. The two parts are made out of the same type of fabric which is usually silk, cotton, or a mixture of polyester and cotton. A skirt-type adornment is also commonly worn with the Baju Melayu, which is either the "kain samping", made out of songket cloth or the kain sarung, made out of cotton or a polyester mix. Both are loops of fabric which are folded around the wearer's waist. A jet-black or dark coloured headgear called the songkok can also worn to complete the attire.

Wikipedia.

Pics of Baju Melayu:

Gadis Melayu - lyrics

Popular song about Gadis Melayu.

Siapa bilang gadis melayu tak menawan
Tak menarik hati, tiada memikat
Kalaulah memang tak mungkin aku tertarik
Kalaulah sungguh tak mungkin aku kan jatuh
Aduhai... lemah lembut gayanya
Serta manis senyumnya
Hitam pekat rambutnya
Ayuh ambil si dia
Di antara gadis gadis seluruh dunia
Tiada yang sehalus mulus oh setulus dia
Di antara gadis gadis seluruh dunia
Tiada yang sehalus mulus oh setulus dia
Budi bahasanya, pandangan matanya
Sentuhan jiwanya membuatku terlena

Malay Houses 'defined'

Malay houses are a highly evolved form of traditional dwelling, originating before the arrival of foreign or modern influences, constructed by the indigenous Malay and Orang Asli peoples of the Malay Peninsula and their related Bumiputra tribes of Sabah and Sarawak.

Whereas peninsular Malays have single extended-family houses, many of the Borneo people built rumah panjang or 'long-houses' hosting many families, each in its own 'apartment' with a common wide veranda linking the front.

Traditional architectural forms, such as tropically-suited roofs and harmonious proportions with decorative elements are considered by traditionalists to still have relevance. However traditional buildings require significant maintenance compared to modern construction. These traditional skills are gradually being lost as Malaysia continues to the process of industrialisation.

Wikipedia

Malay Nasi Lemak

Nasi Lemak, as all Malaysians know and adore, are the infamous breakfast in Malaysia among roti canai.

Its sambal and crunchy ikan bilis make the nasi that has coconut flavor a tasty and irresistible food, you'll never wanted to deny it.

Popular among the Malays, nasi lemak is also enjoyed by other races in Malaysia.

Below are the steps or guide to make Nasi Lemak, Malay style.

The ingredients:

• 2 cups rice
• 2 pandan leaves (tied in knot)
• 1 shallot - chopped
• 10 tsp thick coconut milk
• 1 small piece sliced ginger
• Salt and sugar to taste
• 1/2 cup dried ikan bilis (anchovies)
• 4 shallots *
• 1 small piece belacan (shrimp paste) *
• 1 clove garlic *
• 1 large onion - sliced *
• 1/2 cup tamarind juice *
• 8 dried chillies - soaked *

*Items to be pounded together

Preparing the rice:

• Wash and clean rice
• Add 2 cups of water and coconut milk
• Add shallots, gigner and pandan leaves
• Bring to boil, lower heat, simmer for about 10-15 minutes until water has been absorbed
• Loosen rice grains with wooden ladle
• Cover pot and leave rice to cook for 10-15 minutes

Preparing the sambal:

• Heat oil and fry ikan bilis until crisp
• Keep aside
• Heat oil in wok and fry pounded ingredients till fragrant
• Add sliced onions, tamarind juice, salt and sugar
• Cook till gravy thickens
• Add ikan bilis and mix well
• Remove from heat
• Serve with sambal ikan bilis, garnished with cucumber slices, sliced hard-boiled egg and roasted peanuts

You can add more items like chickens, meats or whatever that you like to eat with nasi lemak.

The uniqueness of Malay Food

Every type of food vary among different cultures or tribes in any country. And that's including the Malays. Their food have its own unique identity and unique Malay flavors that makes them irresistible. Some excerpts about Malay food:

Malay cooking incorporates ingredients such as lemon grass, pandan (screwpine) leaves, and kaffir lime leaves. Fresh herbs, such as daun kemangi (a type of basil), daun kesum (polygonum or laksa leaf), nutmeg, kunyit (turmeric) and bunga kantan (wild ginger buds) are often used. Traditional spices such as cumin and coriander are used in conjunction with Indian and Chinese spices such as pepper, cardamom, star anise and fenugreek. Seasonings play an important role in Malay cooking as they often enhance the food taste and flavors. Many of the seasonings are not dried spices but are fresh ingredients such as fresh turmeric, galangal, fresh chili paste, onions, and garlic. A combination of fresh seasonings and dried spices are normally pounded together to make a fine paste and cooked in oil. Fresh coconut milk is often added.

marimari

Siam Laksa and kueh Melayu

Siamese laksa has been around in Malay (Melayu) community for a long time. The food also has been evolved with more variety and it also has own originality. Malay (Melayu) laksa for example laksa Johor and laksa Penang are the infamous ones among Malaysians.

Below are excerpt from blog I found about Siam Laksa and kueh Melayu.

They also serve Malay kuehs in these small plastic containers. I ordered the koleh kacang, that purple thingy which I forget the name and kueh talam. The kueh talam is a little disappointing but the rest were nice.

This place is a refreshing change from the standard beehoon, mee goreng, nasi lemak and nasi Melayu offerings sold by the vendors outside.

Lilian

Nasi Melayu

Finally nasi Melayu has landed in Pulau Tikus!!! The stall is in Hai Beng coffeeshop (famous for its lor mee) which is located at the Burmah - Jones intersection. This owner is related to the nasi Melayu food stall at Lay Hong coffeeshop @ Mcalister Road which is famous for its fried ikan cincaru with chili and onions stuffing.

Business starts around 10.30am right through lunch hour. From then onwards the boss will continue selling the food in a makeshift stall just outside the coffeeshop facing the second-hand car dealer under a big colourful umbrella (only for take-away only). Most of the food will be sold off by 7pm.

It nice that we get to savour nasi Melayu for lunch and also dinner especially in Pulau Tikus area which is known to have only a few such stalls. Rest day is on Thursday.

CK Lam

Malay Language (Bahasa Melayu)

Want to know about Malay? The Malay language is of Austronesian stock, spoken mainly in the Malay Archipelago of Southeast Asia namely the countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Southern Thailand, the Southern Philippines and even as far as Christmas Island in Australia. The language achieved the status of lingua franca in the region during the height of the Malaccan Sultanate in the 15th and 16th century. As of late the importance of Malay as a language is being noted worldwide.

more: Melayu (Wikipedia.)

Malay (Melayu) version:

Ingin tahu tentang Bahasa Melayu? Bahasa Melayu adalah sebuah bahasa Austronesia dan mempunyai kaitan yang rapat dengan bahasa-bahasa etnik lain yang dituturkan di Nusantara. Bahasa ini dituturkan di seluruh Kepulauan Melayu Nusantara yang antaranya di Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapura, Selatan Thailand, Selatan Filipina malah sehingga Pulau Christmas di Australia. Bahasa Melayu juga pernah menjadi bahasa lingua franca pada kemuncak Kesultanan Melayu Melaka. Sejak kebelakangan ini kepentingan Bahasa Melayu semakin disedari oleh masyarakat di dunia.