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The Melting Pot would certainly be an appropriate term to describe Malaysia’s multi-racial and multi-cultural society.
Malaysians truly live together with acceptance and deference towards each other’s cultural composition and religious
background. |
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The Malays, who form the majority of the population, lead this unique makeup. The Chinese and south Indians are the
second and third largest groups. Other minority groups include Eurasians, North Indians, Sikhs, Peranakans (Straits
Chinese) and Portuguese in West Malaysia, and indigenous groups such as the Bidayuh, Iban, Kadazan, Dayak and
Melanau in East Malaysia. |
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The major religious and cultural celebrations continue to show a closeness few other multi-racial countries have been
able to emulate successfully. These celebrations are Hari Raya among the Muslims; Chinese New Year among the
Chinese; Deepavali by the Hindus and Christmas by the Christians and Catholics. The uniqueness of these
celebrations is the tradition of open houses where friends and neighbours are invited to each other’s homes to make
the festivities more meaningful and fun. |
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Religion & Language |
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Islamisation took place in the country as early as the 1400s, thanks in part to the influence of the Arabs and Indian
Muslims during the periods they made their way here. Notwithstanding Islam as Malaysia’s official religion, the
Constitution guarantees the free practice of religion. The myriad places of worship bear testament to this and it is
not uncommon to come across a grand mosque, a Buddhist temple, an Indian temple or a church in the same vicinity. |
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Although the official language is Bahasa Malaysia (the Malay language), English is widely taught, spoken and written
in Malaysia. You need not worry about reading signs or instructions, ordering something from a food or drink menu or
simply communicating with a local. |
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In addition, many Malaysians are either bi- or tri-lingual. The most common tongues are the Malay language,
Cantonese, Mandarin, Foochow, Hakka, Hokkien or Teochew among the Chinese and Tamil, Malayalam, Punjabi or
Hindi among the Indians. |
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