Taboo words and actions in Malay culture

Almost every part of Malaysia, the elders often use the same taboos and practiced those words to discipline youngsters so that in the future, the children will be well behaved. Here, we will show you the examples of Malay taboos for those who might not be familiar with these words and practice. :

1) "Jangan duduk atas bantal, nnt punggung bisul" ( do not sit on the pillow or else you will get sores on your backside). The reason is, the pillows are used of the head, so it is not polite to sit on it.

2) "Jangan menyanyi di dapur, nanti dapat suami tua" (do not sing in the kitchen, or you(woman) will marry someone who is way older than you expect) The reason is, you might be careless while cooking in order to avoid accidents.

3) "Jangan keluar senja, nanti kena sorok dengan hantu payu-dara". ( do not go out and play at dusk, or you might be kidnapped by boogey-woman :p ) The reason is, most Malays are Muslims, so it is not good to go out at dusk because the devils and djinns usually wander at dusk.

4) Jangan kencing dekat busut, nanti bengkak kemaluan(Malay words for private part). ( do not urinate on termite bunk, or your(male) penis might be swollen. The reason is first, it is impolite to wee-wee out of nowhere. Secondly, a bunk might be a resting place for supernatural spirits and it might curse anyone who mess up their place.

These are only few examples that we show to you. We are looking forward to your kind co-operation to add comments on other taboos that you might want to share with us so that we can use it as a reference to our project in the future.

As you can see, all of those examples that we show you have one thing in common. They are used for an indirect moral lesson to children so that the children will be well behaved and discipline. In Malay taboos, fear is repeatedly used to educate children.

In our research,back in the past,words or content of conversations which is considered as Malay taboos only involves sexual and religious matters. For example, one cannot discuss about sex in public places and also at home. Sex is not meant to be discussed among the people because it is considered as immoral. The problem is, every grownups know about sex and share their "knowledge" among themselves but at the same time they do not want to expose their "knowledge" to the youngsters because they believe that it is no use to do so. The other thing is about religion, in the past, only the Ulama' or Ustaz can talk about religion. In Malay culture, religion seems to be a very sensitive issues back in the old days until today. For instance, the Malays believe that questions such as "do god exist?","who created the universe and why?","is Islam the true religion of all?". Don't get us wrong, but these question can get you into deep trouble if you mention it at school or religious classes.

We strongly believe that all of those mentioned above as taboos not because the subjects are immoral or corrupted,but the Malays are sometimes being restricted to certain knowledge by certain authorities for their own benefit, not because the words are impolite.

Now we want to show you the modern taboos of Malays. Nowadays, the young generation have their own taboos created among themselves which is not used as moral lesson, but to curse and to address people in an impolite manners. What interest us is not only because of why the new generation taboo exist, but also these words are not allowed to be used back in the old days( twenty-thirty years ago).

1) Bodoh sial, bangang nak mampus, palat, kepala bapak engkau, lancau, bengap, benyut, sengal, etc. All of these words are cursing words so we do not bother to translate it into English.

The main reason why we want to show you these examples is because those words all pretty well known to Malaysian youngsters. Actually, all of these words are taboos and cannot be used at home, school and public places. However, these words are widely used among the youngsters in their daily conversation. It really worry us as the youngster are the future generation, however, they are using such words to address other people. What if those words become a common thing in the future and be widely used by the society? For sure, Malays will become a rude race and negative impressions will be given to the Malays by other races in Malaysia. We want the Malay youngsters to be aware of what they are saying because our words usually shows our personality and backgrounds. Do you want to be labeled rude and uneducated by your parents because other people see the first impression of you by the way you talk to your friends??

In history, the Malays are well known for their polite manners. Nowadays Malaysian Government starts introducing new terms to make a word more polite in order for the public to converse using polite language. For example, the introduction of OKU(orang kurang upaya), warga emas, pendatang tanpa izin (rather than pendatang haram),and meninggal dunia. There are many euphemism being used all over the Malay language, but the people have the freedom whether to use it or not.

In conclusion, taboos exist within a community, our perception on certain subjects or words will determine whether some words or doings are considered as taboos. So, we must use euphemism in our everyday conversation so that we will not hurt other people's feelings. Remember, use polite words to address other people and choose the words carefully before we open our mouth. For example, instead of saying "orang cacat"(disabled) use "insan istimewa"(special). Please take note! do not use bad words and misuse taboos for bad things so that we can be nice to each other and be happy.