Living in a Cultural Melting Pot

Where else in the world would you find a community that comes together to enjoy crowd favourites such as nasi lemak, roti canai and char kuay teow regardless of their race and skin colour?

Malaysia is home to people from diverse cultures, with the Malays, Chinese and Indians forming the three most prominent ethnic groups. There are also other minority groups such as the orang asli, who are the natives mostly from East Malaysia.

There were evidently some racial issues and clashes during the past which had marred racial relations, and these incidents happened because there were people from different backgrounds in the same country, with no understanding of each other.
Therefore, it is important and crucial for all Malaysians to understand other cultures and traditions of those who are of a different race from themselves, as it holds the key to national unity.

I was taught from an early age to differentiate the different races in Malaysia, and till today I still nurture an intense curiosity to learn and find out more about other people’s cultures and traditional customs, especially the festivals they celebrate as they often showcase the richness of these aspects.

As I attended Malay instruction schools throughout my elementary and secondary life, it was there that I met other peers from various cultures. Some were from mixed marriages that often shared various celebrations and festivities with me. What was more interesting was they would embrace both parents’ cultures and traditions, so diverse yet harmonious.

It fascinated me to learn about cultures which were different from mine, their celebrations, superstitions and daily rituals. Whenever an important festival is celebrated regardless of race, the mood of festivity is thick in the air for the rest. My friends and I even asked for treats from those who went back to their kampungs for the festivities as those were more authentic so to speak.

Learning the national language was not a big challenge for me as I was exposed to Malay words through my maternal grandfather’s relatives in Malacca. They spoke a mixture of Malay and Hokkien as they were Peranakan. Usually I would eavesdrop on their conversations, but they speak so fast and often left me scratching my head to figure out even the gist of the story!

But a lesson that I learned was the national language has brought all races together. No matter where you go and who you speak to, you will get your message across. Bahasa Malaysia is truly ‘Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa‘, which translated means the ‘soul of the nation’.

Living in Malaysia is akin to a life-long education of sorts on different cultures and traditions. We Malaysians get to explore many new things without even stepping out of the country!

I am proud to be born a Malaysian citizen and also grateful that I am living in a country where people from various races converge together to form a cultural melting pot, and so should the rest of Malaysians out there.

So let’s all come together to share and unite in the spirit of harmony for our beloved country Malaysia.