Page 60 - The Guide To Sarawak

58
THE PEOPLE
The Malays
By YAB Tan Sri Datuk Patinggi (Dr) Adenan Satem
Origin and History
Sarawak has almost 500,000 Malays, 22% of
the total population. They are found in all Divisions
in the state, but mainly in Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman and Betong Divisions. More than half live in the rural coastal areas practicing a peasant-fisherman economy, while most of
the remainder participate
in urban lifestyles, working in the civil service and
the private sector. Some Sarawak Malays are also prominent businessmen and entrepreneurs, a tradition
A padekawang (Sulawesi-built, tanjaq-rigged sailing galley) at anchor in Buntal Bay. These vessels were widely used by the Nakhoda class of merchant- adventurers during the mid-19th Century.
that predates Chinese migration to Sarawak.
Sarawak Malays originate from the Malay Archipelago, specifically those areas covered by the first kingdom of Kutai (4th Century Borneo), the first empire
the 15th Century. As a race they had mostly embraced Islam by the 14th Century, replacing Hinduism and Buddhism, whose syncretic traces are evident in their culture even today. Islam brought far-reaching effects in political and social lives throughout the entire archipelago.
Culture and Customs
Historically, many small Malay kingdoms and negeris (small fiefdoms) existed throughout the archipelago, each owing tribute to one
or more central powers, from whom they regularly
of Srivijaya (7th to 12th Century Sumatra), the empire of Brunei (15th to 7th Century Borneo) and the Melaka- Johor Empire of
Pangeran Raja Muda Hashim, the Bruneian noble sent to restore order to Sarawak in the 1830’s, who later ceded the state to James Brooke. He is depicted in typical Brunei Malay court dress of the era.
The less ornate dress of ordinary Malays of the period, as depicted by a British midshipman visiting Kuching in the 1840’s.