Malay Padang

‘Sepak Takraw’ or ‘Ragey’ Malaysian martial arts ‘Silat’ now modified into a dance ‘Tari Lilin’ or the ‘Candle Dance’ ‘Pittu’, a cuisine gifted by the Malays to their Sri Lankan counterparts

Malay Cuisine

While some of us might be aware of Malay Rallies being held or ‘Malay Padangs’ uniting Malays from all over the country, many of us are ignorant as to what really goes on at these Malay events.

The Malay association has evolved a lot over time as a result of interconnections with other Sri Lankan communities. However, with all the distribution, Malays everywhere are united and they always gather every year with the rest to form peaceful co-existence and strengthen their ties.

Renowned and qualified Malay author of several Malay books, B. D. K. Saldin gave his views “The Malay culture is unique because we have our own culture, tradition, language, costumes, entertainment and delicious food. In order to preserve everything that is Malay the need to get together and have a Malay Rally at least once a year is vital”.

Malays from far-flung parts of the country come from 23 registered Malay associations to gather at the annual Malay Rally. They are all affiliated to the Sri Lanka Malay Association which provides the main administrative umbrella.

The President of the Sri Lanka Malay Association (SLMA) Iqram Cuttilan enlightened on Malay history “The Sri Lanka Malay Association, Sri Lanka’s first Malay organisation was previously known as the All Ceylon Malay Association.

The Colombo Malay Cricket Club where the Malay Association members congregate is Sri Lanka’s oldest cricket club and one of the first clubs to send cricket teams abroad”. The Colombo Malay Cricket Club was inaugurated by Malay officers of the Ceylon Rifle Regiment in 1872 at Slave Island.

The President of the Colombo Cricket Club Rohan Musafer stated that “We try as much as we can to ask Malays to join the Colombo Malay Cricket Club but it is disappointing to note that we don’t have a 100% Malay team playing for the club so we are trying our best to change the trend.” The aim of the Colombo Malay Cricket Club is to have an All Malay team by the year 2010.

“The Malay Rally has evolved and changed much during the past ten years the Malay Rally has changed which has been at the helm of promoting Malay religion, culture, co-existence and this year’s Malay Rally which will be held in August will revolve around the theme of reviving the Malay language” stated the SLMA president.

“We have already started Malay classes and have requested the Education Ministry to offer the Malay subject at the Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations”, he added. It is a necessity to preserve the Malay culture because intermarriages between the Malay community with the rest has been commonplace.

We are all Sri lankans but we should be proud to be Malays, it is such a shame that some Malays go to the extent of changing their names to get recognition but being an ethnic minority, the Malay community tries as much as they can to promote match making so that eligible young Malays can find a suitable partner.

The dazzling beauty of the Malay costumes shine prettily at the Malay Rally where the women wear the traditional Malay dress called ‘Baju Kurung’.

This dress consists of a skirt with a slit in the front and a long-sleeved blouse, where the styles can vary with a loose skirt like the Malay style or a tight more shapely skirt worn by Indonesians. The Malay men wear their attire of the maroon-coloured ‘sunku’ (Malay cap) with a ‘sampin’ cover over their trousers with a long shirt. Some others prefer to wear a batik shirt and trousers with the ‘sunku’.

The traditional Malay dances grace the stage during the night of the Malay Rally with Malay culture including the ‘Tari Lilin’ or candle dance, the ‘Retayang’ or umbrella dance and the more popular ‘Joget’ which is something like a mating dance where girls and boys participate together.

The Malay martial arts sport called ‘Silat’ has now been modified to a dance drill where boys line up and highlight the defensive moves. Sports like ‘Sepak Takraw’ or ‘Ragey’ is a game where three players on either side pass a ‘rattan’ ball on a field with a net (similiar to volleyball).

The game doesn’t allow one to use one’s hands but using of players’ elbows, legs and head to keep the ball from falling to their playing field. Points are tallied when the team hits the ball to the opposition’s territory.

Positively, there are games that are played both in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia that are influenced by one another. “The game of ‘Leekeli’ in Sri Lanka, when it reaches its climax the captain shouts ‘habits’ (finished) and the word for finish in Indonesian is ‘habis’ while in Sri Lankan Malay is ‘abis’.

The Indonesian indoor game ‘congcak’ played with shells is similiar to the Sinhala game of ‘pancha’” enlightens Saldin. All these games are played at the Malay Rally with much enthusiasm for they not only keep the games alive but also form unity within communities.

The Malay community has also gifted Sri Lankan cuisine with their dishes like ‘pittu’, Malay pickle ‘acharu’, ‘babath and puruth’ (tripe) and ‘nasi goreng’ (fried rice) which are firm favourites. Sri Lankan Malay cook books by veteran chef Karthini Mohammed (nee Drahaman) have been popular in not only uplifting Malay cooking but also have been modernising and reinventing the Malay taste.

However, today the Malay ethnic minority has to pressurise the government to voice their opinions because there is no Malay representation in parliament.

“The numbers aren’t many so the Malay community have difficulty in expressing their views”. The Malay community is keen to join other Sri Lankan communities in order to promote peace and livelihood in Sri Lanka together with the government.

- Nilma Dole