Malaysia is a multi–ethnic, multicultural, and multilingual society, and the many ethnic groups in Malaysia maintain separate cultural identities.The original culture of the area stemmed from its indigenous tribes, along with the Malay who moved there in ancient times.Substantial influence exists from the Chinese and Indian cultures, back to when trade with those countries began in the area.
Other cultures that heavily influenced that of Malaysia include Persian,Arabic, and British.The many different ethnicities that currently exist in Malaysia have their own unique and distinctive cultural identities, with some crossover.
The Malays, who account for over half the Malaysian population, play a dominant role politically and are included in a grouping identified as bumiputra. Their native language, Bahasa Malaysia, is the national language of the country. By definition of the Malaysian constitution, all Malays are Muslims. The Orang Asali who are the earliest inhabitants of Malaya,but represented a majority in East Malaysia. In Sarawak, most of the non-Muslim indigenous groups are classified as Dayaks, and they constitute about 40 percent of the population in the state.
The Chinese have been settling in Malaysia for many centuries, and form the second-largest ethnic group. The first Chinese to settle in theStraits Settlements, primarily in and around Malacca, gradually adopted elements of Malaysian culture and intermarried with the Malaysian community and with this, a new ethnic group called emerged, the Peranakan ("Straits Chinese"). These Chinese have adopted Malay traditions while maintaining elements of Chinese culture such as religion. The more common dialects of Chinese spoken in Peninsular Malaysia are Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainanese, and Foochow.
The Indian community in Malaysia is the smallest of the three main ethnic groups, accounting for about 10 percent of the country's population. They speak a variety of South Asian languages. Tamils, Malayalees-speaking, and Telugu people make up over 85 percent of the people of Indian origin in the country. Indian immigrants to Malaysia brought with them theHindu and Sikh cultures. This included temples and Gurdwaras, cuisine, and clothing. Hindu tradition remains strong in the Indian community of Malaysia. A community of Indians who have adopted Malay cultural practices also exists in Malacca. Though they remain Hindu, the Chitties speak Bahasa Malaysia and dress and act as Malays.
Arts and music have a long tradition in Malaysia, with Malay art dating back to the Malay sultanates. Traditional art was centred around fields such as carving, silversmithing, and weaving.Performing arts and shadow puppet shows are popular, and often show Indian influences. Architecture exhibits various influences, both from within Malaysia and from other countries; the country boasts the tallest twin buildings in the world, the Petronas Twin Towers. Malaysian music has a variety of origins, and is largely percussion. Much early Malaysian literature was based on Indian epics, which remained unchanged even as Malays converted to Islam; this has expanded in recent decades. English literature remained restricted to the higher class until the arrival of the printing press. Locally-created Chinese and Indian literature appeared in the 19th century.
The Malaysian government has taken the step of defining Malaysian Culture by issuing the "1971 National Culture Policy", which defined what was considered official culture, basing it around Malay culture and integrating Islamic influences. This especially affected language; only Malay texts are considered official cultural texts. Government control over the media is strong, and most media outlets are related to the government in some way.
