CHAPTER 4

RELIGION AND CULTURAL FACTORS

A. The Society

Malaysia is a multi-ethnic country with a diverse society. As discussed in the first chapter, the
main ethnic groups in the country are Malays, Chinese and Indians, with each group having its own
beliefs and traditions. The Malays or Bumiputra make up the largest ethnic group in the country and
have Islam as their religion, which plays an important role in determining attitudes and customs such
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as modest clothing for women (head scarves and long sleeves/hems), and praying five times a day.
They are a close knit community with emphasis on family values like respect of elders and parents.
The Malay culture emphasizes courtesy, moderation, tolerance, harmony and cordial relations among
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family members, neighbors and community.

The Chinese Malaysians maintain many of their Chinese customs and preferences. Traditions
and respect for family and ancestors are still practiced. Traditional Chinese family is still patriarchal,
has a strong preference for sons, and exhibits strong family ties with extended family. Similarly,
Malaysians of Indian background follow many of the practices and beliefs of their area of origin. They
maintain personal space between men and women. Also, marriage is considered sacred and eternal
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by Malaysian Indians. Hindu traditions, such as wedding ceremonies are planned by a Hindu
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astrologer.
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The Malaysian Family

While Malaysian society is culturally diverse, certain traits characterize them. In terms of
structure, families in Malaysia differ depending on where they are located. In rural areas, the typical
family consists of the extended family living together under one household. The extended family
consists of unmarried children, parents, grandparents, married sons and their families. Generally,
families living in rural areas have more children than those in the urban localities. Each family has an
average of two to three children and society is extremely patriarchal. Families in the urban areas are
nuclear in structure. This includes parents and unmarried children. These families usually have one
or two children. While predominantly patriarchal, they are more modern such that women have a say
in the decision making in the family. Families in Malaysia are typically monogamous.

A high value is placed on the family. It is prized more than the individual. Malaysians spend time
with their families. They also value seniority and obedience. The oldest male is highly respected and
children are always expected to be obedient to their elders and parents.

There are some customs common to every Malaysian family. Men and women live with their
parents until they get married and married couples still seek advice of their parents. Families get
together for holidays even if they live far apart. Moreover, strong family ties are maintained even if
family members move out of their ancestral homes.

B. Customs, Traditions and Practices

Marriage

Marriage customs and traditions vary depending on the religion. There is, however, a general
marriage custom practiced in Malaysia. Before the wedding, children in costumes carry gifts from the
groom in the form of lavish trays of food and money folded into flower or animal shapes to the home
of the bride in a procession. The bride and groom are treated as king and queen for a day. They
dress up in gorgeous and opaque brocades and the ceremony is opulent, with friends and family

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present. As a favor, each guest receives a beautifully-decorated hard boiled egg, which symbolizes
fertility.42

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Circumcision

Aside from marriage and death, circumcision (also known as either bersunat or berkhatan) is one
of the most important ceremonies in Malay society. This is performed by the tok mudin (the expert to
perform the ceremony) when a boy is between six and ten years old. Traditionally, the two-day
ceremony is a big affair as parents fix the date of the circumcision and send out invitations to
relatives, friends and neighbors. Group circumcisions are also common.

On the day before the circumcision, the boy's hair is cropped in a ceremony called beranda.
Dressed in appropriate attire (usually in baju Melayu with sampin or short sarong), he is taken in a
procession around the village, which ends when he is placed upon a dais (pelamin).

On the day of the circumcision, several items needed for the ceremony are prepared before the
arrival of the tok mudin – a length of white cloth, a jar of water, a live cockerel, a banana tree stem, a
tepak sirih (betelnut set), and a small amount of money (symbolic payment for services rendered by
the tok mudin).

Before the circumcision, the tok mudin recites a spell (jampi) over the water in the jar, then bathes
the boy - who is made to stand on the top rung of a short ladder. After this, the boy who is dressed
only in a sarong, sits astride on a banana tree stem. The circumcision takes place with the tok mudin
using a blade to make the incision. It is believed that the cockerel would tell or determine the boy’s
potential sex life and if he would marry more than once. The ceremony ends once the wound is
dressed but the tok mudin will periodically check on the boy in the following days until the wound
heals. The bird, together with the length of white cloth and the betelnut set containing the money, are
then handed over to the tok mudin as gifts. This traditional bersunat ceremony is rare nowadays as
more and more parents choose to send their children to the hospitals and clinics for circumcision.

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Physical contact

Physical contact in public between members of the opposite sex is frowned upon in Malaysian
society. Casual touching is generally avoided, even in public places such as in crowded buses or
trains. This practice was derived from Islam.

In theory, the practice of embracing, hugging and even shaking of hands between members of the
opposite sex is absent. In general, the universal Islamic greeting “Assalamu Alaikum” is made when
acknowledging someone of the opposite sex. They may smile at each other or bow a little but they
may not touch. Even married couples avoid physical contact in public.

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 Box 3. Role of Islam in Malaysian Culture

Islam is central and dominant in Malay culture. It is the official religion in the country.
Islam is said to be liberally interpreted in Malaysia compared to other Islamic countries.
Muslim females generally wear the tudung (Hijab or headscarf) over their heads but this
does not usually cover the face. Malay women not wearing any head gear are not
reprimanded or penalized.

In general, males and females can mix easily like any other liberal Western countries.
However, exposing dressing codes and intimacy such a kissing is still rare among
Muslims in public. In some conservative states such as Kelantan, theoretically at least,
there is gender segregation in public places like the cinema and the supermarket.

Source: Islam in Malaysia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Malaysia)

Religious and cultural beliefs and attitudes on various sexuality issues

Sexual relations outside marriage

Sexual relations and pregnancies outside of marriage are deemed socially unacceptable.
However, if it is man who engages in pre-marital or extramarital sexual relations he is not usually
condemned but often excused by the “insatiable male sexual needs” myth. When it is a women, she
is censured and demonized, more so if pregnancy results from it. There seems to be this double-
standard on the matter. Moreover, sexually active unmarried women, whether Muslim or non-Muslim,
have difficulty accessing state health services because they are primarily allocated for “married
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woman’s reproductive role.”
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Same-sex relations

Homosexuality and homosexual or same-sex relations are not condoned in Malaysian society.
Under the tenets of Islam, homosexuality is considered morally worse than adultery because it is
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against nature and the divine objective of creation and reproduction. Same-sexual relations are
criminalized in several laws:

Section 377B of the Penal Code criminalizes specific acts, such as anal sex or fellatio, as
“unnatural offences against the order of nature,” regardless of who is involved and whether it
is consensual.

Shariah laws that criminalize sexual “offences” including prostitution, heterosexual adultery,
lesbianism, and sodomy. There is a RM5,000 (USD1,700) fine, and six strokes of the cane
and/or three years in jail. In 1999, Ramakrishnan reported that 111 men were arrested in
Kuala Lumpur on public tip-offs for “attempting to commit homosexual acts” (165 in 1998, 166
in 1997). He also said that the head of education and research at Malaysia’s Islamic Affairs
Department reportedly said that the men are put through “Islamic counseling sessions…They
recite the Qur’an everyday, and we will tell them they have committed a grave sin.” So far,
no lesbians have been arrested as they are said to be more difficult to identify (“it is hard to
gauge who is a lesbian”).

The hudud laws of Kelantan and Terangganu prescribe the punishment of stoning to death
for married persons caught for the crime of liwat (sexual relations between male persons),
and 100 lashes “if unmarried.”

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Contradicting socially prescribed masculinity and femininity

Women who display or sport masculine traits or attire regardless of sexual preference catch the
eyes of people and may be attacked verbally. However, men who display effeminate or “soft” traits
face greater scrutiny and ridicule. Transsexuals are put-down but at the same time accepted as part
of community, often as comic relief. They are often characterized as friendly and entertaining and
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deemed as the make-up artist, or fashion designer, or the “misguided” Muslim that must repent.

Box 4. The Case of Transsexuals

Islam permits `khunsa' (hermaphrodites) to undergo a sex change operation so that the
person can be either a female or a male. However, Islam forbids `mukhannis' or `mukhannas'
who are males to behave like females in terms of cross-dressing, putting on make-up,
injecting hormones to enlarge their breasts, undergoing sex change operations, etc..

In 1983, the Conference of Rulers in Malaysia decided that a fatwa prohibiting the sex change
operation should be imposed on all Muslims as it was against the Islamic religion. Cross-
dressing was also prohibited. However, the Conference of Rulers agreed that in the case of a
hermaphrodite, such surgery is permitted. Thus, Muslim mak nyahs (transsexuals) are
essentially non-entities in the Malaysian society. Many of them have accepted the fact that
Islam does not accept transsexualism as stated in the Hadith. For example, the Hadith in
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book72, Number 774, states that:

Narrated Ibn ‘Abbas: The Prophet cursed effeminate men and those women who
assume the manners of men, and he said, "Turn them
out of your houses."

The Hadith in Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 32, Number 4087, states that:

Narrated Abu Hurayrah: The Apostle of Allah cursed the man who dressed
like a woman and the woman who dressed like a man.

Muslim mak nyahs have been brought up with this in mind. While they feel they will be happier
with a sex change operation they hesitate to undergo one for fear that nobody will carry out
the burial rites for them when they die as they are not considered as females and neither are
they accepted as males. Some even believe that their souls will float aimlessly when they die
because their bodies are not what God has originally given them.

The non-Muslim mak nyahs are mainly Buddhists, Christians, or Hindus. In Malaysia,
transsexualism is not acceptable to Christianity while Buddhism and Hinduism could accept
the phenomenon. However, since Islam is the official religion, it is the only religion that has
religious rulings against some of the practices of the transsexuals. Since there are no official
restrictions imposed on non- Muslim mak nyahs like their Muslim counterparts, even though
their religion may not accept transsexualism, many do lead the life they wanted, including
going for the sex change operation if they could afford it. They also have fewer problems with
their family members on their chosen lifestyle compared to their Muslim counterparts.
Occasionally, they could be caught by the police during their raids for indecent behaviour
under section 21 of the Minor Offences Act 1955.

Source: Teh, Yik Koon (2002).

(http://web.hku.hk/~sjwinter/TransgenderASIA/country_report_malaysia.htm)

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References
37
Tourism Queensland. 2005. Malaysia. http://www.tq.com.au/industry/international/understanding-
asia/malaysia.cfm, last accessed 7 June 2006
38
Kementarian Penerangan Malaysia. n.d. Malaysia: Culture and Information. Website:
www.kempen.gov.my/coci/malaysia_bg.htm (Accessed 17 May 2007)
39
Tourism Queensland. 2005. Malaysia.
40
Asianinfo.org. 2006. Family Customs in Malaysia. http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/malaysia/pro-
family_customs.htm (Accessed 17 May 2007)
41
Erica and Marie. 2001. Family Life in Malaysia
http://www.ri.net/schools/East_Greenwich/Cole/malaysiafamily.html (Accessed 17 May 2007)
42
Ibid.
43
Star Publications. 2006. Circumcision, Social Customs and Traditions.
http://allmalaysia.info/msiaknow/socialcustoms/rites_circum.asp (Accessed 17 May 2007)
44
The Asian Centre. Customs and Traditions, Traditional Malay Culture.
http://www.geocities.com/malayculture/cus_condu.htm (Accessed 17 May 2007)
45
Kasim, Zaitum Mohamed. 2006. Sexuality Under Attack: The Political Discourse on Sexuality in Malaysia.
Women in Action, No.1. http://www.isiswomen.org/pub/wia/wia2006-1/kasim.html (Accessed 17 May 2007)
46
Ibid.
47
Center for Reproductive Rights. 2005. Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting Their Reproductive
Livesh: East and Southeast Asia. http://www.crlp.org/pub_bo_seasia.html (Accessed 16 May 2007)
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Kasim. Sexuality Under Attack…

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