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This photo rightfully belongs to gettyimages page.

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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Badjao or Bajau brings the meaning of a man of the seas. This tribe is commonly known as the Sea Gypsies because they have a nomadic life and survived on what they can forage from the sea. Their entire lives play out on their boats and those where their dwellings are. There is a saying, the Badjao will only step their foot on land if they want to die which means they never leave their sea.  (Ronald, 2010)

In Malaysia, Badjao community mostly are found in Semporna Island, Sabah. They are the second largest ethnic group in Sabah (Marinsah & Ramli, 2017, p. 72).

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Majority of them are Muslims. There are also Christianity and Folk religion but those are very minorities in their community.
Folk religion is any ethnic or cultural religious practice that falls outside the doctrine of organized religion.

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They believe the spirits of dead people that kept in graves are alive and will make the deceased people return to the world on every period of Sha'ban month.

They have practice of Magombo'. Ombo' means the faith for the spirits of their deceased ancestors. This practice is where they will seek help from the spirits to obtain a harmony life or some helps that involve catastrophe and disaster. Based on their belief, the spirits must be given a full respect and some rituals are compulsory to be conducted to make it works.

They have a belief where the dead people can communicate with the living people through the rituals and exorcisms.

Magjamu in Magombo’ practice is a symbolic ceremony to feed the late ancestors and padi baru (paii-bahau) is the favourite food for the spirits. They believe that the ancestor spirits and evil spirits affect the people’s lives in this world.

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In this journal, I have highlighted the key points about Badjao beliefs that can be found in the page 75 - 76.

This journal is amazingly written by  Mr. Syamsul Azizul Marinsah and Mr. Mohd Anuar Ramli on 2017.

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THE TRADITIONAL PRACTICE OF MENGOMBO' IN  BAJAU COMMUNITY

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1) Introduction & Purpose of the e-Portfolio.
2) Religions & Beliefs of:

Badjao

Buginese

Lun Bawang

Malaysian Siamese

Minangkabau

3) Reflection on Cultural Mindfulness.
4) References.

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In this page, we will get to know more about the other tribes beside Malay tribe who are also part of indigenous peoples in Malaysia. Specifically, this page will discuss about the element of religions and beliefs of the five chosen communities (Badjao, Buginese, Lun Bawang, Malaysian Siamese & Minangkabau) as those are foundations of every culture.

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Photo is taken from UPKN Kelantan (Urus Setia Penerangan Dan Komunikasi Kerajaan Negeri Kelantan).

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Malaysian Siamese or also known as Thai Malaysians are a minority group who are full-fledged Malaysian citizens, born and bred here. This community has been living in Malaysia for many generations as their ancestors were born here.

Most of them stay in the border villages in the northern states of peninsula such as Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, Penang and Perak (Samrong, 2014).

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Most of them are Buddhists. The predominant form of their Buddhism is Theravāda Buddhism which is centred in their place of worship called Wat. Wat is a type of Buddhist temple.

There is also minority of Thai-speaking Muslim that called Samsam. However, the government has identified them under Bumiputera (specifically Malay) category. Majority of them has assimilated into Malay community and no longer identifying as Siamese.

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It is the southeast Asia's largest reclining Buddha.
This image is taken from flickr page.

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They have strong faith in Buddhism as their lives are closely tied to their temples (Wat). Almost every village has its own temple.

They have monks in their religion system. Monks play a big role in strengthening the communities and encouraging them to participate the Buddhist rituals on important religious days.

Some of the Buddhist rituals:

Uposatha Days. It is a day of observance, in existence from the Buddha's time.

Kathina. It is time of giving for the the laity to express gratitude to bhikkhus (Buddhist monks).

Vesak. It is to commemorate the birth, enlightenment (Budhahood) and death (Parinirvāna) of Gautama Buddha in Theravada and Tibetan Buddhism. Parinirvāna
is commonly used to refer to nirvana-after-death, which occurs upon the death of someone who has attained nirvana during their lifetime.

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This video will show us about the Malaysian Siamese community who live in Kelantan and how they practice their religion there.

This video is taken from Fedrick Chua Wei Jie YouTube channel.

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Photo credits to Sari Bundo page.

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Picture is taken from Jacky Dylan MPM 2017 (Facebook).

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Source of picture: Al-Jazeera

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Buginese people are acclaimed as the sea traders and legendary warriors from Indonesia. In the 16th century, they started to come to Malaysia and settled in several parts and of Malaysia in the states of Johor, Penang and Selangor.  They were once called as "The Best Merchants" by Francis Light who was the founder of the British colony of Penang (Joshua Project, n.d).

In Malaysia, our sixth Prime Minister, Dato' Sri Najib Razak, and our current Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, have Buginese ancestry.

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Minangkabau people originally came from West Sumatra, Indonesia. Pagaruyung was the seat of Minangkabau kings of Western Sumatra.

A majority of the Minangkabau or Minang community live in Negeri Sembilan. It is believed that the Minang of Malaysia have a distinct culture from Minang in West Sumatra. According to Joshua Project (n.d), "The Minang speak the national language of Malaysia but they have their own dialect that reflects lingual roots in the language of their Indonesian heritage. Within Malaysia, the Minang refer to themselves as Orang Negeri or person from Negeri."

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Islam has become the foundational aspect of their culture since the latter part of the 16th century. However, there is also a minority who are adhering to Christianity and pre-Islamic indigenous belief that called Tolotang.

According to Tunggono (2016), "Tolotang also called as Towani, is merged into Hinduism by the government because of their belief in multiple deities. But in reality, their traditions are completely different from Hinduism. Tolotang believes in One Almighty Entity they call as Dewata Seuwae."

Image below shows a ceremony of Tolotang religion that has been practiced by Buginese in Indonesia. This photo is taken from Brilio website.

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When they eat fish, they must remove and throw away the skeleton of the fish before proceeding to eat the other side. It is believed that if they do not throw the skeleton, it will bring bad lucks to them.

When they are dressing, they must fasten the buttons from the bottom first but it is the other way around when to unfasten the buttons. It is to show a proper ordering of events.

If they want to open the windows, they must start opening the latches from the bottom first while praying to drive away all the evils and bad lucks.

They have Mappesona ri dewata seuwae which is the principle of religiosity in which every human being has to submit himself or herself to the will of God. The implication of this principle is that every Buginese should have a religion and they should always follow the teaching of the religion they belong to.

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This interesting video is sharing about the incantations which some of Buginese practice them for some purposes. This YouTube video is from Cora Wali Production.

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This explanatory journal is written by Mr. Nurman Said on 2004. In this document, there are strong points that relate to religions and beliefs of Buginese community have been highlighted (page 12, 15, 19) for further reading.

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Religion and Cultural Identity among Bugis

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This informative video will give us better understanding about the way of life of  Sea Gypsies community in Sabah.

This great video is taken from Wellz Official Channel.

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Bajau Laut Sabah Merupakan Raja Lautan; Kenali Sejarah, Asal Usul dan Kehidupan Sea Gypsies

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Lun Bawang (formerly known as Southern Murut) is an ethnic group that found in Central Northern Borneo. They are indigenous to the southwest of Sabah and the northern region of Sarawak.

In Sarawak, the Lun Bawang community are officially recognised by the Constitution as a native of Sarawak and they are categorised under Orang Ulu people. Meanwhile, in Sabah, they are sometimes named as Lundayeh or Lun Daye. They are known to be hunters and fishermen.

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That is the Pagaruyung sign located behind the Pagaruyung Palace. This photo was taken by my uncle when we were having vacation at Padang, Indonesia.

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Majority of them are Christians. In the 1920s, they were mostly animists. Then, under the rule of White Rajahs in Sarawak, the Christian missionaries had started to preach the Lun Bawang people as they had the accessibility to their settlements in the interior and highlands.

For the Christians, they are predominantly of the Borneo Evangelical Church. Meanwhile, the minority of other Christian denominations such as True Jesus Church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Roman Catholic Church. There is also minority for other religions such as Islam, Buddhism and Animism.

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They perform scripture prayers. Scripture is the sacred writings of Christianity contained in the Bible.

According to Joshua Project (n.d), many of the Lun Bawang people called themselves as the nominal Christians. The evangelical Lausanne Movement has defined a nominal Christian as a person who has not responded in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour and Lord.

The nominal Christians might be the practising or non-practising church members.

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It can be said that all of Minangkabau in Malaysia are Muslims. They are strongly profess Islam and at the same time, they are still following and preserving their ethnic traditions and customs as the way of life.

It is believed that Minangkabau customs or adat was derived from Animist and Buddhist beliefs before the arrival of Islam religion.

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This PDF file contains about the guides in performing the scripture prayers.
This file is taken from Joshua Project website.

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This is their worship song titled "O' God, Listen to Our Prayer".
It is taken from ClarenceCkye Barog YouTube channel.

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"Oh Tuhan Ninger Sembayang Kai"Lun Bawang Worship Song//Lagu Rohani(Ba'kelalan)

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This proves they live in harmony although they are minority in the state of Kelantan.

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For further readings, this is a detailed research that conducted by Thatsanawadi Kaeosanit about Malaysian Siamese community.

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DYNAMIC CONSTRUCTION OF THE SIAMESE-MALAYSIANS’

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This video informs us about the history of Islam arrival in Minangkabau. This is taken from Fasya & Faldi YouTube channel.

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This journal elaborates more about the superstitions in Minangkabau society. I have highlighted the key points about the superstition and it can be found in the page 427 -428. These findings are written by The State University of Padang students.

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Cultural manifestation in superstition of Minangkabau society

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Polygamy is rare within the Minang culture because it conflicts with a pure inheritance line.

Both male and female need to be circumcised. For girls, it will be done when they are still babies. For boys, there is no fixed age for them but usually they will circumcise in the age range of seven to ten years old. Only circumcision for male will be celebrated.

After the girls start their periods, they are obligated to cover all their body parts except for face and forehands. They will wear hijab to cover their hair.

Some of the Kubuang Tigo Baleh society superstitions:

“Indak buliah mamintak barang yang alah wak agiahan ka urang beko panjang lidah awak beko.” It means that we cannot take back the thing that already given to other people, if not, our tongue will be long. It is to educate the society for not to be stingy.

“Indak buliah makan basiso beko managih nasi tu beko.” It means it is not allowed to leave the leftover food because the food will cry. It is to educate them for not wasting the food.

“Indak buliah maalau kupu-kupu naiak kaateh rumah sabab itu tando ado urang jauah dating karumah.” It means it is not allowed to chase away the butterfly inside the house, the butterfly is the sign of guests will come to the house. It is actually to prohibit people from disturbing and killing the butterfly as it is based on their religion belief.

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Welcome to my cultural page where we can discover new knowledge in our diverse country! I am Nurliyana in the Bachelor of Applied Language Studies (Hons), English for Intercultural Communication (LG243) programme at UiTM Shah Alam. This e-Portfolio is dedicated for my subject called Cultural Perspectives in Malaysia (EIC404).