More tea please!

– Malaysia is a multicultural society, with Malays, Chinese and Indians living side by side. The Malays are the largest community. Malays mainly control the political power in Malaysia. The Chinese comprise about a third of the population. The Indians account for about 10% of the population. Eurasians and indigenous tribes make up the remaining population.

– Population: 27 million

– Religion: More than half of the population follows Islam. 17% Buddhist, 12% Taoist, 8% Christian, 8% Hindu, 2% Tribal.

– Hungry?: Since Malaysia is such a multicultural society you will find food options from all 3 cultures. Our contact is from India so we’ve mainly been eating Indian food and we’ve only eaten true Malay food so far twice.

– Languages: The national language of Malaysia is Bahasa Malay but you will also hear Tamil (Indian), various forms of Chinese, Indigenous languages and English as well. We have been to church services conducted in English, Tamil, Chinese and Malay.

– Climate: Malaysia is supposed to be hot and humid all year round but we’ve actually found it to be nice (maybe just in comparision to Cambodia and Australia?). The wet season here just ended in March so we’ve been pretty blessed with only a few rainy days.

– The traditioinal greeting in Malaysia is a light handshake with both hands then bring your hands to your chest. This means, “I greet you from my heart”. You see this mainly with Malay people but we’ve also seen the same greeting but then touching one’s nose, not sure what the meaning is behind this. For the most part we just give a light handshake.

– Right only: Always use your right hand to give & recieve gifts, handing money, and eating. It is seen as disrespectful and dirty to use your left hand for anything. Pointing is normally done using the thumb as using the right forefinger is considered rude.

– More tea please: We have drank more tea this month than I can count. When visiting someones house you will be offered tea (or some weird hot milky rice drink), even if you are not thirsty you must take the tea and finish it. This is difficult when you do 6 house visits right after eachother.

– Just say ‘no’ doesn’t work here: If someone is offered a drink or food and then says no it is actually taken as yes. People here see saying no as more of a ‘Oh thanks I actually want some but don’t want to trouble you, but yes I want some’ or ‘I dont want to look greedy but yes I want it’. It doesn’t matter if you say yes or no, you will still get the drink or food offered.