Stereotyping in Malaysia Part 1

Growing up in basically one place and not attending a boarding school (SBP), I didn’t really get to meet kids from the other states in Malaysia until I went to college. It was then I realized people expect you to act a certain way just because you came from a certain place. Does this sound familiar to you:

Oh…kau dari [insert state here] ek? Patutla kau [insert stereotype here].

Honestly, I never liked these stereotypes. Most people find stereotyping funny as long as they’re not the ones being stereotyped. Not only are some stereotypes plain offensive, they’re not even that funny. These are some of the examples I’ve heard over the past few years, I’m sure others have heard many more, so do enlighten me. Starting with…

Terengganu :

You end every word that ends with an ‘n’ with a ‘g’. All of you live by the sea, most of you are fisherman and you eat keropok lekor all the time. Everyone knows about Rantau Abang because apparently that’s where all the turtles go when they want to lay eggs. Sad to say that you won’t find those turtles anymore because everyone steals those eggs for the purpose of selling or eating. I’m curious about those Muslims who have eaten turtle eggs. Are you allowed to eat their eggs? Because I thought turtles were haiwan dua alam. Plus, there’s always that stereotype that all orang Pantai Timur are warak. Anyway, you can test the ‘g’ stereotype when you go to a warung in Terengganu and asked them what sort of fried foods they offer. You’d probably imagine the menu goes something like this:

“Ayam gorenggg, telur gorenggg, nasik gorenggg, mi gorenggg, ikangg gorenggg,...“

Only 7 species of turtles exist in this world, and 4 of them lay eggs in Malaysia and are endangered species.

Clockwise from top: Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael.

The way the kids would sound like in school:

elekteghonggs = electrons

the ghoad not takenggg = the road not taken

Ready to avenge those who steal their eggs.

Sarawak:

Even though brochures and the media like to portray Sarawakians as Orang Aslis who run around wearing rainbow coloured cawats and chandelier headdresses, please don’t be disappointed when you step off the plane and discover that the people there actually wear jeans and T-shirts. Everyone assumes Sarawakians live on trees and eat animals that they hunted in the jungle. The Sarawakians are forced to hear things like this constantly:

“You’re from Sarawak? You live in a rumah panjang, right?” with a beaming shit ass face that’s so proud to be able to apply what he/she remembered from Standard 6 Kajian Tempatan. The Ibans live in rumah panjang. The Melanaus live in rumah tinggi.

And although this might be beyond your comprehension, some Sarawakians actually live in bungalows and drive Mercedes. And why not? They certainly travel around by planes.

Bohemian dress or a dress inspired by the Sarawak traditional costume? Hmm. Using Sienna Miller to launch that trend? Very smart, Hollywood.

Penang:

I think the biggest misconception about Penang is that everyone in Penang has a curry face (muka kari = anak mami/mamak). Do you know why I call it a misconception? Because Penang has a higher percentage of Chinese than Malays living in it. Apart from that, it is also the state has the lowest amount of Malays or Muslims in Peninsular Malaysia. People also assume you eat nasi kandar, rojak and laksa penang everyday.

Non-Penangite: Hari ni ko makan nasi kandar ek?

Penangite : Tak, nasi putih je.

Non-Penangite: Kat Penang ade nasi selain nasi kandar ke?[shocked expression, just discovered something that has never occurred to him/her before.]

I guess this is partly to blame because of movies like Anak Mami or Mami Jarum. While some might argue that the movie pretty much describes the mentality of Penangites accurately, I find that sort of hard to believe. How can Penang be the 3rd most economically advanced country in Malaysia if all of the them are super kepo with a ‘jaga tepi kain orang 24 jam sehari’ attitude and the biggest concern in their lives is finding a suitable partner for their unmarried daughters?

Pahang:

If you say you’re from Pahang, people will always imagine you live in the middle of a hutan, befriend orang utans or that you are an Orang Asli. The Pahangians are most unfortunate in being bombarded with questions like these and such:

“Ko duduk dalam hutan eh?Monyet curi spende ko tak bile ko sidai kat luar?”

“Lepas kelas ko nak pegi menyumpit ke?“

Possible basis for this stereotype? A famous Pahangian with her Orang Asli friend hanging out in a coffee place in the middle of a hutan.

Apart from that, most people don’t really know other places in Pahang besides Kuantan and Bentong. I don’t really know much about Pahang myself except once I heard Pulau Tioman looks like a chicken drumstick when viewed from above. And that even though Tioman is on the border of Johor and Pahang, it belongs to Pahang. And oh yeah, if I was Pahang, I wouldn’t say anything at all. People who stepped on my land and insulted me will mysteriously be disumpit by darts that magically shoot up from the ground.

The resemblance is uncanny.

Perlis:

The “Perlis is sooo small that…” jokes.

“Don’t blink when you’re driving past Kulim or you might miss Perlis.”

“Perlis is like Labuan… the only difference is, you can see Labuan on the map.”

Honestly, the way people talk it’s as if whole state has a population of only 200 people. So I decided to wiki Perlis. A rough amount of 215,000 people reside in Perlis as of the year 2007. I also discovered that one of the four main sugar factories in Malaysia is located in Perlis (Kilang Gula Felda Perlis).

If Perlis was human and that human was me, I’d be like, “You insulted me, asshole? How dare you call me kecik and everyone in me kampong? Well don’t touch my beras and gula. Go enjoy your sugarless Teh Tarik. Apa! Kau ada susu cap junjung? Fine. Pegi buat Apam Gula Hangus kau tanpa gula.”

Special bonding moment between a kid and his pet snake. Snakes are said to be ‘tetamu khas’ in Perlis homes.

Kelantan:

Most people would say the stereotypes about the Kelantanese are the most controversial. I disagree. I find stereotypes being made about the people from Negeri Sembilan are far worse. However, I do think that the Kelantanese are the most stereotyped people in Malaysia. In fact, there are so many stereotypes about them that I have to list them in bullet forms.

• All Kelantanese food are sweet, even the lauk pauk. They eat nasi kerabu, nasi dagang, budu and ayam percik all the time. Kelantanese can’t handle eating spicy food. Tidak boleh sama sekali.
• They don’t like to mingle with other people from other states. If you want to join their conversation, they will kecek Kelate so that you will not be able to.
• They don’t like non-Kelantanese people to kecek Kelate because they feel you will do a shitty job of it and murder their language.
• Semua orang Kelantan sokong PAS and are very religious. However lately, that stereotype has taken an opposite direction when videos of the Kelantanese youth doing immoral things on Youtube surfaced.
• Their parents don’t approve their children of marrying people from other states. If their child is a female, then it is discouraged but still acceptable to marry a male from another state. If their child is a male, the mother will forbid him to marry a girl who is not a Kelantanese.
• All the makciks either work in a kilang batik or songket.
• For some reason, Kelantanese have a reputation for being lazy and messy, even the women.
• The men like to criticize people, especially from the physical aspects.
• Kelantan women are the best looking women in Malaysia, especially those from Pasir Mas, where their beauty is legendary.

I’m starting to believe that last stereotype although I have never set a foot in Kelantan because:

Me : Cantiknye pompuan tu.

Kelantanese : Haa tu la, ko tak tau, muka macam tu kat Kelantan banyak je kat tepi pasar.

Me : [Astounded]

It isn’t really that suprising actually. Pasir Mas women are renowned for their Tok Seh (Middle Eastern) looks and fair skin. I read that this is partly due to their mixed heritage, some are descendants of Afghans and Pakistanis who were traders and merchants who came to Kelantan to set up their businesses in the early days [source: NST 31 Oct 2006 by Syed Umar Ariff]. I also heard that lots of Kelantanese (not only from Pasir Mas) have Japanese, Arabic and Thai blood in them.Not to say that Kelantan doesn’t have its fair share of ugly women.

One of my closest friends is from Kelantan, and she could eat food that’s spicier than anything I could ever handle. As far as supporting PAS, I’ve met stronger supporters from KL.

As far as stereotyping goes, it’s a case of the blind leading the blind. One idiot decides it would be fun to start it, and the rest follows. There’s only one problem – generalization is never a good idea and most of the time, there’s no basis in these accusations. It’s like expecting all the children to look identical because they came from the same womb. Take note that I do not in any way believe or support these stereotypes.

Coming soon: stereotypes about the other states in Malaysia that I haven’t mentioned.