Malays are an Austronesian ethnoreligious group native to eastern Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and coastal Borneo, as well as the smaller islands that lie between these locations. These locations are today part of the countries of Malaysia, Indonesia, the southern part of Thailand, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.
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.
Batik is a dyeing technique using wax resist. The term is also used to describe patterned textiles created with that technique. Batik is made by drawing or stamping wax on a cloth to prevent colour absorption during the dyeing process. This creates a patterned negative when the wax is removed from the dyed cloth. Artisans may create intricate coloured patterns with multiple cycles of wax application and dyeing. Patterns and motifs vary widely even within countries. Some pattern hold symbolic significance and are used only in certain occasions, while others were created to satisfy market demand and fashion trends.
South Sumatra is a province of Indonesia, located in the southeast of the island of Sumatra. The capital and largest city of the province is the city of Palembang. The province borders the provinces of Jambi to the north, Bengkulu to the west and Lampung to the south, as well a maritime border with the Bangka Belitung Islands to the east. It is the largest province in the island of Sumatra, and it is slightly smaller than Portugal, the department of Boquerón in Paraguay or the U.S. state of Maine. The Bangka Strait in the east separates South Sumatra and the island of Bangka, which is part of the Bangka Belitung Islands province. The province has an area of 91,592.43 km2 (35,364 sq mi) and had a population of 8,467,432 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid-2023 was 8,743,522. The province is rich in natural resources, such as petroleum, natural gas and coal. The province is inhabited by many different malay sub ethnic groups, with Palembangese being largest ethnic group. Most speak the Palembang language, which is mutually intelligible to both Indonesian and local Palembang Malay. Other ethnic groups include the Javanese, Sundanese, Minangkabau and Chinese. Most are concentrated in urban areas and are largely immigrants from other parts of Indonesia.
Jawi is a writing system used for writing several languages of Southeast Asia, such as Acehnese, Magindanawn, Malay, Mëranaw, Minangkabau, Tausūg, and Ternate. Jawi is based on the Arabic script, consisting of all 31 original Arabic letters, six letters constructed to fit phonemes native to Malay, and one additional phoneme used in foreign loanwords, but not found in Classical Arabic, which are ca, nga, pa, ga, va, and nya.
A sarong or a sarung is a large tube or length of fabric, often wrapped around the waist, worn in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, Northern Africa, East Africa, West Africa, and on many Pacific islands. The fabric often employs woven plaid or checkered patterns or may be brightly colored by means of batik or ikat dyeing. Many modern sarongs have printed designs, often depicting animals or plants. Different types of sarongs are worn in different places in the world, notably the lungi in the Indian subcontinent and the izaar in the Arabian Peninsula.
Malay houses refer to the vernacular dwellings of the Malays, an ethno-linguistic group inhabiting Sumatra, coastal Borneo and the Malay Peninsula.
A kebaya is an upper garment traditionally worn by women in Southeast Asia, notably in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Southern Thailand. It is also worn in parts of southern Philippines and Cambodia.
Songket or sungkit is a tenun fabric that belongs to the brocade family of textiles of Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. It is hand-woven in silk or cotton, and intricately patterned with gold or silver threads. The metallic threads stand out against the background cloth to create a shimmering effect. In the weaving process the metallic threads are inserted in between the silk or cotton weft (latitudinal) threads in a technique called supplementary weft weaving technique.
The Melayu Kingdom was a classical Buddhist kingdom located in what is now the Indonesian province of West Sumatra and Jambi.
Baju Kurung is a traditional attire of Malays and traditionally worn by women in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and southern Thailand. This type of traditional attire is the national dress of Brunei and Malaysia. In Indonesia, this dress is also worn as a regional attire, commonly observed on the island of Sumatra, particularly by the ethnic Malay and Minangkabau women.
Obin, real name Josephine Komara, is a textile designer from Indonesia. She is sometimes called a "national treasure" due to her passion for and promotion of traditional Indonesian batik techniques. Her work has achieved worldwide recognition, with fellow Indonesian designers such as Edward Hutabarat and Ghea Panggabean describing her as the real authority and leader of the mid-2000s movement to update and modernise batik. Despite this, Obin describes herself as simply a tukang kain, or vendor of cloth, stating that the genuine artists and designers are the craftsmen who make the textiles retailed through Bin House, her business.
The national costume of Indonesia is the national attire that represents the Republic of Indonesia. It is derived from Indonesian culture and Indonesian traditional textile traditions. Today the most widely recognized Indonesian national attires include batik and kebaya, although originally those attires mainly belong within the island of Java and Bali, most prominently within Javanese, Sundanese and Balinese culture. Since Java has been the political and population center of Indonesia, folk attire from the island has become elevated into national status.
Pahang Malay is a Malayic language spoken in the Malaysian state of Pahang. It is regarded as the dominant Malay dialect spoken along the vast riverine systems of Pahang, but co-exists with other Malay dialects traditionally spoken in the state. Along the coastline of Pahang, Terengganu Malay is spoken in a narrow strip of sometimes discontiguous fishing villages and towns. Another dialect spoken in Tioman island is a distinct Malay variant and most closely related to Riau Archipelago Malay subdialect spoken in Natuna and Anambas islands in the South China Sea, together forming a dialect continuum between the Bornean Malay and the Mainland Peninsular/Sumatran Malay.
Tengkolok, also known as Tanjak, Destar is a traditional Malay or Indonesian and male headgear. It is made from long songket cloth folded and tied in a particular style (solek). Nowadays, it is usually worn in ceremonial functions, such as royal ceremonies by royalties, and wedding ceremonies by grooms.
Pahang Malays are a sub-group of Malay people native to the state of Pahang, in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. With population of approximately 1.08 million people, they constitutes 70% of Pahang state's population, making them the dominant ethnic group in the state. Their language, Pahang Malay is one of many Malayan languages spoken in the region that belong to the Malayo-Polynesian group of Austronesian family.
Nasi minyak is an Indonesian dish from Palembang cuisine of cooked rice with minyak samin (ghee) and spices. This rice dish is commonly associated with Palembang city, the capital of South Sumatra province. However, it is also common in neighboring Jambi as far north to Medan in North Sumatra. Nasi minyak looks and tastes similar to nasi kebuli, this is because both rice dishes are influenced by Indian and Middle Eastern cuisines, as evidence in the use of ghee and certain spices. Bumbu spice mixture being used including cardamom, anise, clove, caraway, cinnamon, onion, garlic and curry powder.
Traditional Malaysian art is primarily composed of Malay art and Bornean art, is very similar with the other styles from Southeast Asia, such as Bruneian, Indonesian and Singaporean. Art has a long tradition in Malaysia, with Malay art that dating back to the Malay sultanates, has always been influenced by Chinese, Indian and Islamic arts, and also present, due to large population of Chinese and Indian in today's Malaysian demographics.
Batik plays multiple roles in the culture of Indonesia. The wax resist-dyeing technique has been used for centuries in Java, and has been adopted in varying forms in other parts of the country. Java is home to several batik museums.
