CHINESE CULTURE

Malaysia has a population that consist of different ethnics and cultures. There are Chinese, Malays, Indians and more. But today I want to share about the second largest ethnic group in Malaysia after Malays which is Chinese. They are 22.4% of the Malaysian population. Malaysian Chinese also form the second largest community of Overseas Chinese in the world. Most of them are descendants of Southern Chinese immigrants who arrived  in Malaysia between early 19^th and mid 20^th century. They are traditionally dominant in business sector of the Malaysian economy.

George Town, Penang in 1950's

               Most of Malaysian Chinese have maintained their Chinese heritage. However, the earliest Chinese migrants who arrived between 13^th and 17^th centuries have assimilated aspects of the indigenous Malay cultures and formed distinct sub-ethnic groups such as the Peranakans in Kelantan and Terengganu, Baba-Nyonya in Malacca and Penang, and the Sino-Natives in Sabah. The Malaysian Chinese is known as ‘Orang Cina’ in Malay, ‘Sina’ or ’Kina’ among groups in Borneo, ‘Cinar’ in Tamil and ‘Huaren’ or ‘Huaqiao’ in Mandarin by the local Chinese themselves.