Total population | |
---|---|
80,000 | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Kedah, Kelantan, Penang, Perak, Perlis | |
Languages | |
Southern Thai (native); Standard Malay, Kedah Malay, Kelantan-Patani Malay, Standard Thai, Chinese languages, English | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Theravada Buddhism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
|
The Malaysian Siamese (Malay: Orang Siam Malaysia) are an ethnicity or community who principally resides in Peninsular Malaysia which is a relatively homogeneous cultural region to southern Burma and southern Thailand but was separated by the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Siam. The treaty established the modern Malaysia-Thailand Border which starts from Golok River in Kelantan and ends at Padang Besar in Perlis. Before this, there was a mass migration of Siamese from Nakhon Si Thammarat to the northern Malay states seeking refuge following a civil war waged by Taksin of Thonburi against Nakhon ruler Nu in 1769. [2]
In 2000, the national statistics cited 50,211 individuals of Siamese ethnicity in Malaysia. Among these, 38,353 (or 76.4% of them) hold Malaysian citizenship. [3]
The Malaysian Siamese community share cultural similarities with the natives who inhabit the Malay Peninsula. Community activities, ethnolinguistic identity and languages spoken by Malaysian Siamese are similar to their brethren in the fourteen provinces of Southern Thailand as well as the southernmost Burmese.
The Malaysian Siamese lead a way of life similar to other Malaysian Malays. Malaysian Siamese still have the strong belief and practices of Buddhism while the Malaysian Malays have adopted Islam since the 14th century. The Malaysian Siamese are well established in the northernmost states of Malaysia, namely Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Kelantan. [4] One could not differentiate a Malay or a Siamese if they are not speaking their mother tongue. The only distinctive mark among them is their religion and language. [5] Otherwise Malaysian Siamese are like Malays as they also speak fluent local Malay dialects. Majority of Malaysian Siamese can read and write in Thai because there is Thai language learning and teaching in the schools which were established inside the village temples since 1943. They also often follow news in Thailand, watch Thai dramas and listen to Thai music. [6]
The Malaysian Siamese often get patronage from the state governments for their community's well-being. Often, temples are given generous fundings by Thailand's government. [7] Their community are also known for the making of traditional medicine. [8]
The Malaysian Siamese predominantly profess Buddhism and the predominant form of Buddhism is Theravāda Buddhism which is centred in their place of worship called Wat. The Malaysian Siamese's lives are closely tied to their temples (Wat). Monks have a significant role in strengthening communities and encouraging villagers to participate in traditional Buddhist ceremonies and rituals on important religious days like (Uposatha Days, Magha Puja, Visakha Puja, Buddhist Lent (Vassa), and End of Buddhist Lent (Kathina)) to preserve the Siamese-Buddhist cultural identity. Most of them settled around temples and consider them as centers for holding religious ceremonies, cultural and social activities. [6]
There also exist a small Thai-speaking Muslim minority called Samsam. The government has put them in the Bumiputera (specifically Malay) category and most have already assimilated into the Malay populace, no longer identifying as Siamese. [9] [10] [5]
Kelantan is a state in Malaysia. The capital, Kota Bharu, includes the royal seat of Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is Darul Naim. Kelantan is the only state outside of East Malaysia that does not use the term district in its second-level administrative division. Instead, the divisions are called colonies or collectivities with one autonomous subdistrict.
Perlis, is a state of Malaysia in the northwestern coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is the smallest state in Malaysia by area and population, as well as the northernmost in the country. The state borders the Thai provinces of Satun and Songkhla to the north and the Malaysian state of Kedah to the south. Perlis is the only Malaysian state that is not divided into districts, due to its small size, but it is still divided into several communes. It was called Palit by the Siamese when it was under their influence. Perlis had a population of 227,025 as of the 2010 census.
Kedah, also known by its honorific Darul Aman and historically as Queda, is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km2, and consists of a mainland portion and the Langkawi islands. The mainland has relatively flat terrain, which is used to grow rice, while Langkawi is composed of mostly of uninhabited islands.
Buddhism is the second largest religion in Malaysia, after Islam, with 18.7% of Malaysia's population being Buddhist, although some estimates put that figure at 21.6% when combining estimates of numbers of Buddhists with figures for adherents of Chinese religions which incorporate elements of Buddhism. Buddhism in Malaysia is mainly practised by the ethnic Malaysian Chinese, but there are also Malaysian Siamese, Malaysian Sri Lankans and Burmese in Malaysia that practice Buddhism such as Ananda Krishnan and K. Sri Dhammananda and a sizeable population of Malaysian Indians.
Kelantan–Pattani Malay is an Austronesian language of the Malayic subfamily spoken in the Malaysian state of Kelantan, as well as in Besut and Setiu districts of Terengganu state and the Perhentian Islands, and in the southernmost provinces of Thailand. It is the primary spoken language of Thai Malays and used as a lingua franca by ethnic Southern Thais in rural areas, Muslim and non-Muslim and the Sam-Sam, a mostly Thai-speaking population of mixed Malay and Thai ancestry.
The term "British Malaya" loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. Unlike the term "British India", which excludes the Indian princely states, British Malaya is often used to refer to the Federated and the Unfederated Malay States, which were British protectorates with their own local rulers, as well as the Straits Settlements, which were under the sovereignty and direct rule of the British Crown, after a period of control by the East India Company.
This article lists important figures and events in Malaysian public affairs during the year 1969, together with births and deaths of notable Malaysians. Race riots following the general election of 10 May led to the dissolution of parliament and an interim legislative council being put in place.
This article lists important figures and events in Malayan public affairs during the year 1951, together with births and deaths of significant Malayans.
This article lists important figures and events in the public affairs of British Malaya during the year 1946, together with births and deaths of prominent Malayans. Malaya remained under British Military Administration until the establishment of the Malayan Union on 1 April.
Kedahan Malays or commonly known as Orang Utara ('Northerners'), are a sub-group of Malays native to northern Malay Peninsula in areas of both current and historical area of Kedah. They are among the oldest ethnic groups in the Malay peninsula with a history dating back 2,800 years as proven by the discovery of sites in Bujang Valley and historical documents from India, China and Arabia. Kedahan Malays are one of the largest Malay sub-groups in Malaysia, comprising at least 15% of the total Malaysian Malay population including those with Kedahan ancestry.
Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya, also known as West Malaysia or the "Malaysian Peninsula", is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the nearby islands. Its area totals approximately 132,490 km2 (51,150 sq mi), which is nearly 40% of the total area of the country; the other 60% is in East Malaysia on the island of Borneo.
Burmese Malays is a Malay ethnic primarily live in Tanintharyi Region in the southern part of Myanmar. There are some dispersed Malay from the northernmost states of Malaysia and from southern Thailand. They are believed to be of Kedahan Malay descent. Some of the Moken people in the Mergui Archipelago speak a Malay.
Kelantanese Malays are a sub-ethnic group of Malays indigenous to the state of Kelantan, Malaysia as well as in Northern Terengganu. The Kelantanese Malays are closely related to Thai Malays and Terengganuan Malays in neighbouring Terengganu, these two Malay sub-ethnic groups shared historical, cultural and linguistic as well as kinship ties with the Kelantanese Malays. Kelantanese Malays form 94% of Kelantan's population, which makes them the largest ethnic group in Kelantan and around 150,000 in Besut, Terengganu.
The orders, decorations, and medals of the Malaysian states and federal territories, in which each state and federal territory of Malaysia has devised a system of orders and awards to honour residents for actions or deeds that benefit their local community or state, are in turn subsumed within the Malaysian honours system. Each state sets their own rules and criteria on eligibility and also how each medal is awarded and presented. Most of the orders allow for the recipient to wear their orders in public, and most grant the recipients the use of post-nominal letters in their names.
This article lists important figures and events in Malayan public affairs during the year 1953, together with births and deaths of significant Malayans.
This article lists important figures and events in the public affairs of British Malaya during the year 1909.
This article lists important figures and events in the public affairs of British Malaya during the year 1931, together with births and deaths of prominent Malayans.
Zulkifli Zainal Abidin is a Malaysian general who served as the 20th Chief of Defence Forces. He served as the Chief of Army from June 14, 2011 to June 13, 2013.
The Minangkabau Malaysians are citizens of the Malaysia whose ancestral roots are from Minangkabau of central Sumatra. This includes people born in the Malaysia who are of Minangkabau origin as well as Minangkabau who have migrated to Malaysia. Today, Minangkabau comprise about 989,000 people in Malaysia, and Malaysian law considers most of them to be Malays. They are majority in urban areas, which has traditionally had the highest education and a strong entrepreneurial spirit. The history of the Minangkabau migration to Malay peninsula has been recorded to have lasted a very long time. When the means of transportation were still using the ships by down the rivers and crossing the strait, many Minang people migrated to various regions such as Negeri Sembilan, Malacca, Penang, Kedah, Perak, and Pahang. Some scholars noted that the arrival of the Minangkabau to the Malay Peninsula occurred in the 12th century. This ethnic group moved in to peninsula at the height of the Sultanate of Malacca, and maintains the Adat Perpatih of matrilineal kinships system in Negeri Sembilan and north Malacca.
Penang is a diverse multiethnic and multicultural society. Residents of the state are colloquially known as Penangites or "Penang-lang". Traditionally regarded as a Chinese-majority state, the Bumiputera population, which includes ethnic Malays, has reached parity with that of the Chinese in recent years.
Masyarakat Siam di Malaysia kebanyakannya menetap di kawasan Utara Semenanjung Malaysia iaitu di Kedah, Perlis, Perak, Kelantan dan sebahagian kecil di negeri Terengganu. Sebahagian besar masyarakat Siam menetap di Kedah iaitu berjumlah 30,000 orang, 13,000 orang di Kelantan, 6,000 di Perlis dan 2,000 di Perak.