M.A.L.A.Y.S.I.A.

Cultures of Malaysia 

 Eve

                        Every country has a culture which its citizen practice, however, Malaysia has an unique 

culture because of the diversity of its' citizens.The Malaysian citizen are made of three main race which is 

Malay, Chinese and Indian. There are also other races in the country such as Sikh and Bumiputras. The 

Bumiputras are non-Malay indigenous people, including ethnic Thais, Khmers, Chams and the natives of 

Sabah and Sarawak. All these ethnic cultures have influenced each other, creating a truly Malaysian culture.

                      The basic attitude of a Malaysian is acceptance, courteous, respectful, honest, sincere, 

generous, modest, humble, helpful and hardworking.The Malaysians practice this attitudes on a daily basis 

with their elders and their peers. For Malaysians, family value is very important in their life. This is the reason 

why most Malaysians have such good manner towards others in society. Moving on, there are many belief 

within the Malaysian society which can be seen through the festivals celebrated in the country. For example, 

Thaipusam in January, Chinese New Year in February, Hari Gawai & Dragon Boat Festival in June, 

Independence Day & Hari Raya Aidilfitri in August and Christmas in December.

                      Beside that, the business culture in Malaysia is closely related with their beliefs and tradition. 

For example of tradition is the practice of the structure and hierarchy in Malaysian companies.Malaysian 

companies generally follow a vertical hierarchical structure where authority is directed from the top. Titles 

and job descriptions play a significant part in many Malaysian companies in order to emphasis the line of 

authority within the business. 

                      Furthermore, Malaysians' respect for authority is evident in most business dealings.The 

relationship between subordinates and their superiors for example is distinct and highly official with the use 

            of titles such as "Mr" and "Madam" followed by their honorific form of address. Relationships between 

Malaysian business colleagues are based on mutual respect and, as such, the same procedure used when 

addressing their superiors is also applied with their Malaysian business colleagues. 

                                                     MALAY

Makanan Nasi Lemak

Tarian Kudang Kepang

Hari Raya Aildifitri 

                        CHINESE

Mooncake Festival

Lion Dance Performance

Chinese New Year 

                     INDIAN

Roti Canai

Kuchipudi

Deepavali

Cultural Context 

        

       Malaysia is a high context society. This means that Malaysians are more likely to rely on implicit 

communication rather than explicit messages. Malaysians as a result read more into what is said than 

the words themselves may actually mean. For most Malaysians, what is meant matters more than

what is actually said. In Malaysia, meaning is usually communicated indirectly. As a result, 

Malaysians are likely to agree to things with which they disagree, allowing the context of the 

discussion or past relationship to convey their disagreement.

           Malaysians, as a high context culture, place a strong value on face saving.

The Malaysian conception of face-saving takes the form of the avoidance of shame. In Malaysia, 

one commonly holds to a contract to maintain appearances rather than from fear of a lawsuit. 

Malaysia is a polychromic culture. The Malaysians value friendship, personal commitments and the 

completion of task at hand at the expense of present schedules.

                 Non-Verbal Communication

                         There are three major phyletic groupings in Malaysia, the Malays, the Chinese, and the 

        Indians.There are also a number of other horde and gens of the native race in West and East Malaysia.

                  There are many types of non-verbal communication which including space and distance,

       physical contact , facial expressions , gestures and eye contact .Most of the Malaysians have the most 

     common gestures and facial expression . They tend to avoid speaking in a loud voice and standing while

      being introduced to someone . They will look at each other while communicating .

                    For gestures of non-verbal communication, people would tend to make some hand movements 

       that imply some symbols such as lifting one of the fingers of the opposite hands, place softly or pointing 

      softly .For personal appearance, people tend to find a way of grooming themselves. The traditional 

      Malay greeting of 'Salam' resembles a handshake with both hands but without the grasp. The man offers 

      both hands, lightlly touches his friend's outstretched hands, and then brings his hands to his chest to 

      mean, " I greet you from my heart". The visitor should requite the "Salam". "Salam" is not practiced by 

      the rest of  the community though, so a normal handshake will do.

Greeting Gestures of Malays

Greeting gestures of Chinese

Greeting gestures of Indians 

                  

                        Social Customs

                There are many races and religions in Malaysia. Every race or religions have their own beliefs and 

     customs to follow. All of the Malaysians are able to live together in a harmony multicultural living

     environment as they want to achieve peace and unity by respecting each others' beliefs and customs. 

                 Although handshakes are generally enough for both men and women, some of the Muslim ladies 

   may also agree with using nodding head and smiling as a greeting with a gentleman. For Muslims, the way 

   to greet with each others is "Salam" and it has the same meaning with a handshake. A younger person

   usually offers the "Salam" by taking hold of the hands of the elder people. Then, that's usually followed by

  

   a verbal greeting "Assalamualaikum", which means that 'peace be upon you'. For a non-Muslim, they 

   should know that in Islam, physical contact between the opposite sex is not allowed. So, when a non- 

   Muslim  is offering a handshake to a member of the opposite sex which is Muslim, he/she should not be 

   frightened if the handshake is not accepted. For Chinese, they are always calling their family names by 

   adding Mr., Mrs.,or Miss and then a handshake and a "hello" or "hi" are suitable to be used when you 

   are greeting to each other.

How Malay Greet with Each Other 

How Chinese Greet with Each Other 

How Indian Greet with Each Other 

Next , shoes are not allowed if you want to enter someone's house, mosque or temples. So, we must 

remove our shoes first before we are going to enter a Malaysian's house, mosque, Indian temple or a 

Buddhist temple. Besides that, ladies are advised to wear long sleeves and loose pants or long skirts when 

entering mosques and temples. Also, we need to call people politely first before we visit a home. For 

example, when we want to enter a people's house, we need to ask for permission politely first.

Malay Mosque

Chinese Temple

Indian Temple

          In Malaysia , right hand is always used when eating with one's hand or giving and receiving objects . 

Also,the left hand isn't used because most of the Muslims use their left hand to clean their lower body.

In addition, the business card is always exchanged with each other and should be giving or receiving with 

both of our hands at all the times. It is because that if we receive something with both hands, it will show that 

we respect the people. Next, we have to read the business card first and understand what is the job or 

position of the people, then only we keep it inside our pocket. It will show we are paying fully respectful to 

the people so that the people will respect us too. Besides that, we should never give alcohol drinks

to Muslims because alcohol drinks are prohibited and not allowed in the Muslim religion. So, toasting is

not famous in Malaysia because Malaysia has a large Muslim population, those cannot having an alcohol

drink.So, we can only see people toasting when someone is organizing a party. Also, we should never give 

clock,watches, knives or white flowers to a Chinese person because the white flowers signify to death in 

Chinese culture, so are the clocks, knives and watches, there are the words those are related to death.

 Legal & Ethics

           Malaysia is no different than other countries with regards to the business laws, but, it has been

 written to suit the culture of its’ citizens. For example, prior permission of the Foreign Investment 

Committee (FIC) has to be obtained before an acquisition of a substantial fixed asset in Malaysia by 

a foreign interest which includes non-Malaysian individuals, companies incorporated outside 

Malaysia, and Malaysian incorporated companies in which foreign interests hold more than 50% of

 the voting shares or has management control. Other than that, Malaysia also practices Islamic law

 for the Muslim citizen.

     Additionally, there are many business etiquette that one must follow and practice when doing 

business in Malaysia. One must be patient during business negotiations. The process is often a 

long and detailed one that should not be hastened. One should remain polite and demonstrate good 

etiquette at all times. Elderly Malaysian business people for example should be treated with respect 

and always be acknowledged before younger members of the organization.  Take time to establish 

productive business relationships with your colleagues. Initial meetings are generally orientated 

towards developing such relationships and will be maintained throughout and beyond the 

negotiations. Besides that, do not assume that a signed contract signifies a final agreement. It is 

common for negotiations to continue after a contract has been signed. Do not be surprised if your 

colleagues ask what you may consider to be personal questions. In Malaysia, for example, 

asking people about their age, income and marital status is not uncommon and is viewed as 

an acceptable approach to initial conversations. 

Traditional attires are accepted as office wear in Malaysia.

Men's Office Wear 

Women's Office Wear

Men and Women Office Wear

Prepared by : Chow Kha Hong (Louis)