Life, Culture and Leisure in Malaysia

Malaysians are well known to be friendly people and the best way to experience life in Malaysia is to make friends with the local students. Malaysians have a strong sense of national identity and will be proud to help you discover their country. Islam is the main religion but others cultures and religions are well accepted. Number of colourful festival and holidays are elebrated there. The main festival is Eid, celebrated by Muslims at the end of the fasting month of Ramadhan. Chinese New year and the Hindu Deepavali(festival of lights) are also celebrated. A tradition during these festivities is the ‘open house’ concept, where friends, family and neighbours are all welcomed to drop by to celebrate.

Just as many languages are represented in Malaysia so are cuisines. Whatever  your taste, you will find something to suit you: Malay, Indian, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Mexican, Middle-Eastern or Western. A good way to experience local food is to do what the locals do and go to open-air stalls and food courts, which feature a wide range of foods. Most popular are:

• satay (grilled meat on coconut skewers) served with peanut sauce
• mee goreng mamak (spicy Indian fried noodles)
• yong tau fu (fresh vegetables stuffed with meat and fish)
• ais kacang (a dessert of shaved ice topped with a sweet syrup and toppings)