The Malays Clothing And Its Cultural Connotation

The population in Malaysia consists mainly of the Malays, the Chinese, and the Indians, as well as other natives and immigrants. Kuala Lumpur represents the multi-ethnic and multicultural side of Malaysia, the impact of which is externalized in the clothing of the Malays. Based on the field study in Kuala Lumpur and the relevant literature, this study looks into the living conditions of the Malays and the diachronic changes of their clothing. On top of that, methodologies from applied ethnology, semiotics, and cultural anthropology are utilized to analyze the cultural representation of the clothing, revealing its culture connotations. The cultural representations in question include the style custom, the article custom, and the social custom of the clothing of the Malays. These representations indicate the roles of clothing in the social ritual and practices in Malaysia, as well as in the mentality, the sentiment and the aesthetics of the Malays.Discussion of the cultural connotation of Malay clothing against the globalization background would contribute to the protection and inheritance of the traditional culture of the Malays, as well as the multi-ethnic relation management in Malaysia.