Culture and Religion in Malaysia

Malaysia is a multicultural society, with Malays, Chinese and Indians living side by side. The Malays be the largest community. They are Muslims and speak Bahasa. Malays in the main control the political power in Malaysia. The Chinese comprise about a third of the macrocosm. They are Buddhists and Taoists, speak Hokkein, Hakka and Cantonese, and are dominant in the melodic line community. The Indians account for about 10% of the population. They are mainly Hindu Tamils from southern India. They speak Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi, and live mainly in the larger towns on the west rim of the peninsula.Eurasians and indigenous tribes make up the remaining population. Iban of Sarawak is the main indigenous tribe of Malaysia. They number around 3, 95,000. They are largely longhouse dwellers and live along the Rejang and Baram rivers. The Bidayuh (107,000) are hard on Sarawaks Skrang River. The Orang Asli (80,000) live in small scattered groups in Peninsular Malaysia. The tribals were m ainly nomadic agriculturists but gradually they are being negligent in the modern Malaysian society.The traditional architectural elbow room of Malaysia is the long-house, found particularly along the rivers of Sarawak. Families live together (though they have their own private space) in one long building, raised on stilts, sharing the open verandah which runs the whole length of the building. Also raised on stilts are the wooden houses in other parts of rural Malaysia. These stilt-houses are around two meters above the ground to protect against floods and wild animals, while providing extra ventilation and also supply for the familys domestic animals.The style of the houses varies from region to region, the most famous being the saddle-shaped roofs, which rise up into what are known as buffalo horns. A third style of home common in Malaysia is the Chinese shop-house where the ground floor is a shop, with the family living above. Malaysian unison is heavily influenced by Chinese and Islamic forms. The music is based largely around the gendang (drum), but includes percussion instruments (some made of shells), flutes, trumpets and gongs.The country has a strong tradition of dance and dance dramas. Some of them are of Thai, Indian and Portuguese origin. Other artistic forms include wayang kulit (shadow-puppets), silat (a stylised martial art) and crafts such as batik, weaving and silver and brasswork. Religion More than half of the population (52%) follows Islam. Other religions followed in Malaysia are Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Sikhism. In addition Shamanism is practiced in East Malaysia.