Page 108 - E-BOOK SEJARAH DAN BUDAYA INDONESIA

namely: first, elements originating from Islamic teachings, second, elements originating from old
beliefs, third, elements originating from popular Islam.

These three elements are closely related and interrelated. In Malay society there is no clear
difference in treatment between elements originating from religion and elements originating from
belief, because elements originating from belief cannot be contradicted by elements originating
from religion. The two elements developed and merged in the midst of society and enriched the
Malay cultural treasures.

Malay language

Austronesian languagespoken by approximately more than 41 million people (13.5 million
in Malaysia, 5 million in Indonesia, without the number of speakersIndonesian) or more than 290
million people (with the number of speakersIndonesianabout 260 million) worldwide. The origin
of the growth of the Malay language comes from South Sumatra Indonesia.

Malay has manydialectand each dialect has a distinct difference in terms of pronunciation
and vocabulary. For example, Riau Malay has a different dialect from Palembang, Jambi, and
Bengkulu Malay. Riau Malay uses the "e" dialect while Palembang, Jambi, and Bengkulu Malay
uses the "o" dialect. In addition, the language used by the community cross breedor Straits Chinese
(a mixture of Chinese immigrants and natives) is a mixture of Malay and dialects Hokkien. This
language was formerly widely used in strait countries such asNorth Sumatra(especially in
Medan),Riau,Pinang Islandand Melaka. However, now the peranakans in Malaysia and Singapore
prefer to speak Hokkien or English.

Art

In Malay society, art can be divided into two: performing arts (dance, singing,
performances such as makyong, wayang kulit, ghazal, hadrah, horse braids) and visual arts
(carving, construction, decorative arts, craftsmanship, weaving, webbing etc). Traditional games
such as top, wau, cocky, are also included in the category of performing arts. Malay art activities
have their own identity which also shows a combination of various native and foreign elements.

Malay Literature Art

According to history, Malay literary manuscripts have existed since the 14th century, but
until now no manuscripts as old as that have been found. The oldest literature found is only
literature from the 16th century. Malay literature itself has various types that are adapted to its
formation and function. Pantun is a type of Malay literature that is still often found in traditional
Malay events. There is also a saga that can be said to be a Malay version of a biography. Besides
that, there are gurindam, seloka, syair, talibun, and karmina.

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