Malay

(Photo of Tuanku Sultan Otterman II)

Links to Articles:

* Malaysian: people of the federation of Malaysia

* Orang Asli: (lit, "original peoples" or "aboriginal peoples" in Malay) is a general term used for any indigenous groups that are found in Peninsular Malaysia. They are divided into three main tribal groups – Semang (negrito), Senoi, and Proto-Malay (Aboriginal Malay).

* Malaysian Indian (Chitty) are a group of Malaysians largely descended from those who migrated from southern India during the British colonization of Malaya. Prior to British colonization, Tamils had been conspicuous in the archipelago much earlier, especially since the period of the powerful South India kingdom of the Cholas in the 11th century.

* Malaysian Chinese (Peranakan) are Malaysians of Chinese origin. Most are descendants of Chinese who arrived between the fifteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries.

* Kristang People are a creole Eurasian ethnic group of people of mixed Portuguese and Malaccan descent based in Malaysia and Singapore. Many people of this ethnicity also have Chinese, Indian and other Asian heritage due to intermarriage, which was common among the Kristang.

* History of Jews in Malaysia

Culture

* Culture of Malaysia

* List of English Words of Malay Origin

* Differences Between Malay and Indonesian

* Malay-Based Creole Languages

* Malay Language

* Malayo-Polynesian Languages

* Islam in Malaysia

* Cuisine of Malaysia

* "Nyonya" Cuisine

* Silat (Malaysian Martial Arts)

* Malaysian Name

* Malay Supremacy (Ketuanan Melayu)

* Anti-Malay Racism

Malay Heritage Center

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Malay Crest

Malay Peninsula

Malaysia

History of Malaysia

Prehistoric Malaysia (60,000 - 2,000 BC)

Portuguese Malacca (1511 - 1641)

Dutch Malacca (1641 -1824)

British Malaya (1874 - 1946)

Independence Day (1957)

Malay Diaspora

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Colonial House in Penang

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur, often abbreviated as K.L., is the capital and largest city of Malaysia.

MALAY

Excerpts from Wikipedia.org

Malays (Malay: Melayu) are an ethnic group of Austronesian peoples predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula including the southernmost parts of Thailand, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and the smaller islands which lie between these locations. The Malay ethnic group is distinct from the concept of a Malay race, which encompasses a wider group of people, including most of Indonesia and the Philippines. The Malay language is a member of the Austronesian family of languages.

History

The Encyclopedia of Malaysia: Early History, has pointed out a total of three theories of the origin of Malay:

The Yunnan theory, Mekong river migration (published 1889)
The New Guinea theory (published 1965)
The Taiwan theory (published 1997)

The ancestor of Malays are believed to be seafarers knowledgeable in oceanography. They moved around from island to island in great distances between New Zealand and Madagascar, and they served as navigation guide, crew and labour to Indian, Arab, Persian and Chinese traders for nearly 2000 years. Over the years they settled at various places and adopted various cultures and religions. Notable Malay seafarers of today are Moken and Orang Laut.

Some historians suggested they were descendants of Austronesian-speakers who migrated from the Philippines and originally came from Taiwan. Malay culture reached its golden age during Srivijayan times and they practiced Buddhism, Hinduism, and their native Animism before reverting to Islam in the 15th century.

Alexander The Great

Kedah and Melaka Literature

According to Kedah Annals, Kadaram (Kedah Kingdom 630-1136) was founded by Maharaja Derbar Raja of Gemeron, Persia around 630 AD, and also alleged that the bloodline of Kedah royalties coming from Alexander The Great. The other Malay literature, Sejarah Melayu too alleged that they were the descendants of Alexander The Great.

Deutero Malays

Combination of the colonial Kambujas of Hindu-Buddhism faith, the Indo-Persian royalties and traders as well as traders from southern China and elsewhere along the ancient trade routes, these peoples together with the aborigine Negrito Orang Asli and native seafarers and Proto Malays intermarried each others and thus a new group of peoples was formed and became to be known as the Deutero Malays, today they are commonly known as the Malays.

Malay Race

The name Malay is sometimes used to describe the concept of a Malay race, which includes all the ethnic groups inhabiting the Malay Archipelago and which are not of older aboriginal stock.

The term Melayu (Malay person in the Malay Language), in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, refers to a person who professes Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, conforms to Malay custom and who has at least one ancestor from the Malay Peninsula or Singapore.

Ethnic Group vs. Cultural Sphere

The term "Malay" can refer to the ethnic group who live in the Malay peninsula (which include the southernmost part of Thailand called Patani and Satun) and east Sumatra as well as the cultural sphere that encompass a large part of the archipelago.

The Malay ethnic group is the majority in Malaysia and Brunei and a sizable minority in Singapore and Indonesia, and they form the majority in the five southernmost provinces of Thailand which historically made up the old Malay kingdom of Patani. These people speak various dialects of Malay language. The peninsular dialect as spoken in the Malaysian states of Pahang, Selangor and Johor is the standard speech among Malays in Malaysia and Singapore. In the Malay peninsula, the Kelantanese dialect in its purest form is the most difficult to understand. Other peninsula dialects include the Kedah-Perlis dialect, the Melakan dialect, the Minangkabau dialect of Negeri Sembilan, the Perak dialect and the Terengganu dialect. In Thailand, Malays of Satun speak the Kedah-Perlis dialect while those in the Patani provinces speak the Kelantanese lingo. Meanwhile, the Riau dialect of eastern Sumatra has been adopted as a national tongue, Indonesian, for the whole Indonesian population.The ethnic Malay have had a Muslim culture since the 15th century.

In Malaysia, the majority of the population is made up of ethnic Malays while the minorities consist of southern Chinese (e.g. Hokkien and Cantonese), southern Indians (mainly Tamils), non-ethnic Malay indigenous peoples (e.g. Iban and Kadazan), as well as Eurasians.

Malay cultural influences filtered out throughout the archipelago, such as the monarchical state, religion (Hinduism/Buddhism in the first millennium AD, Islam in the second millennium), and the Malay language. The influential Srivijaya kingdom had unified the various ethnic groups in southeast Asia into a convergent cultural sphere for almost a millennium. It was during that time that vast borrowing of Sanskrit words and concepts facilitated the advanced linguistic development of Malay as a language. Malay was the regional lingua franca, and Malay-based creole languages existed in most trading ports in Indonesia.

Malaysia

Map of Malaysia and Singapore

Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia consisting of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of 329,845 square kilometres (127,354 sq mi). The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million. The country is separated by the South China Sea into two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo (also known as East Malaysia).

Malaysia as a unified state did not exist until 1963. Previously, the United Kingdom had established influence in colonies in the territory from the late 18th century. The western half of modern Malaysia was composed of several separate kingdoms. This group of colonies was known as British Malaya until its dissolution in 1946, when it was reorganized as the Malayan Union. Due to widespread opposition, it was reorganized again as the Federation of Malaya in 1948 and later gained independence on 31 August 1957. Singapore, Sarawak, British North Borneo, and the Federation of Malaya merged to form Malaysia on 16 September 1963. Tensions in the early years of the new union sparked an armed conflict with Indonesia, and the expulsion of Singapore on 9 August 1965.

The Malay Archipelago by Alfred Wallace (e-book)

The Malay Archipelago became one of the most popular journals of scientific exploration of the 19th century, kept continuously in print by its original publisher (Macmillan) into the 2nd decade of the 20th century. It was praised by scientists such as Darwin (to whom the book was dedicated), and Charles Lyell, and by non scientists such as the novelist Joseph Conrad who called it his "favorite bedside companion", and used it as source of information for several of his novels, especially Lord Jim. (e-book)

Prehistoric Malaysia

Prehistoric Malaysia may be traced back as far as 200,000 years ago from stone tools found at Bukit Jawa, an archaeological site in Lenggong Perak. The earliest human skeleton in Peninsular Malaysia, Perak Man, dating back 11,000 years and Perak Woman aged 8000 years, were also discovered in Lenggong. The site has an undisturbed stone tool production area, created using equipment such as anvils and hammer stones. The Tambun Cave paintings are also situated in Perak. From East Malaysia, Sarawak's Niah Caves, there is evidence of the oldest human remains in Malaysia, dating back some 40,000 years.

Chronology

60,000-35,000 years ago- Paleolithic (Early Stone Age): Early peoples, probably from the first wave humans as postulated in the 'Out of Africa' theory, lived a simple lifestyle of hunting-gathering. Paleolithic Malaysia had no defined border or countries, no known government, religion, money, etc. Descendants of these early inhabitants still live in the hills of Malaysia, some of their villages are accessible, they are known as Orang Asli, meaning 'the original people' or aborigines. Today the Orang Asli, together with the Malays and indigenous peoples of Sabah and Sarawak, are known as Bumiputera ('the sons of the soil'). The Bumiputera make up 65% of the population.

35,000-10,000 years ago - Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age): Anthropologists traced a group of newcomers Proto Malay seafarers who migrated from Yunnan to Malaysia. Negrito and other Aborigines were forced by late comers into the hills. In this period, people learnt to dress, to cook, to hunt with advanced stone weapons. Communication techniques also improved.

10,000-5,000 years ago- Neolithic (New Stone Age): People learnt to build simple houses and to have families. Simple moral and simple society concept germinated.

2,500 years ago - Bronze Age: More people arrived, including new tribes and seafarers. The Malay Peninsula became the crossroads in maritime trades of the ancient age. Seafarers who came to Malaysia's shores included Indians, Egyptians, peoples of the Middle East, Javanese and Chinese. Ptolemy named the Malay Peninsula the Golden Chersonese.

Map of Mekong River

Mekong River Migration

Mekong River, approximately 4180km in length, originated from Tibet and runs through Yunnan province of China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and South Vietnam. Anthropologists traced the migration of Proto Malays, who were seafarers, to some 10,000 years ago when they sailed by boat (canoe or perahu) along the Mekong River from Yunnan to the South China Sea and eventually settled down at various places.

Yunnan: Inhabitants of early Yunnan may be traced back into prehistory from a homo erectus fossil, 'Yuanmou Man', which was unearthed in the 1960s. In year 221 BC, Qin Shihuang conquered Yunnan and unified China. Yunnan has since become a province of China. They were the ancestors of rice eating peoples, with their culture of cultivating rice spread throughout the entire region. The native name of the Mekong River peoples' home in Yunnan is Xishuangbanna (Sipsongpanna) which literally means "twelve thousand rice fields", it is the home of the Dai minority. Xishuangbanna sits at a lower altitude than most of the Yunnan mountainous ranges.

Yunnan Migration Theory: The theory of Proto Malay originating from Yunnan is supported by R.H Geldern, J.H.C Kern, J.R Foster, J.R Logen, Slametmuljana and Asmah Haji Omar. The Proto Malay (Melayu asli) who first arrived possessed agricultural skills while the second wave Deutero Malay (mixed blood) who joined in around 1500 BC and dwelled along the coastlines have advanced fishery skills. During the migration, both groups intermarried with peoples of the southern islands, such as those from Java (Indonesian), and also with aboriginal peoples of Australoid, Negrito and Melanesoid origin.

Other evidences that support this theory include:

Stone tools found at Malay archipelago are analogous to Central Asian tools.
Similarity of Malay customs and Assam customs.
Malay language & Cambodian language are kindred languages because the ancestral home of Cambodians originated from the source of Mekong River.

The Kamboja migrations through the Indian ocean

The Migration of Kambujas

Numerous scholars including J. Fergusson, G. Coedes, D. G. E. Hall, Dr B. R. Chatterjee, Dr Buddha Prakash and many others etc accept the ancient historical, political and cultural connections between the Ancient Kambojas of the north-west and the Kambujas of the Indochina archipelago.

A section of the Kambysene hordes settled on north-west of India later came to be known as Kambojas and their province as Kamboja in ancient Indian traditions. A section of these Scythianised Kambojas is believed to have reached Tibetan plateau where they mixed with the locals; as a result some Tibetans are still called Kambojas. Through Tibet, they went further to Mekong valley where they were called Kambujas (Cambodians), now represented by the Chams, still a tall, fair, dolichocephelic people with non-mongoloid eyes, of the Mon-Khmers.

Kedah and Melaka: According to Kedah Annals, Kadaram (Kedah Kingdom 630-1136) was founded by Maharaja Derbar Raja of Gemeron, Persia around 630 CE, and also alledged that the bloodline of Kedah royalties coming from Alexander The Great. The other Malay literature, Sejarah Melayu too alledged that they were the descendants of Alexander The Great.

Deutero Malays: Combination of the colonial Kambujas of Hindu-Buddhism faith, the Indo-Persian royalties and traders as well as traders from southern China and elsewhere along the ancient trade routes, these peoples together with the aborigine Negrito Orang Asli and native seafarers and Proto Malays intermarried each others and thus a new group of peoples was formed and became to be known as the Deutero Malays, today they are commonly known as the Malays.

Mekong Delta

According to Khmer history, the earliest known civilisation was the 1st century Indianised-Khmer culture of Funan, in the Mekong Delta. The Khmer empire of Angkor was the last before the kingdom fled to various places seeking refuge. Palembang and later Malacca were among the places. Archeological evidences found that inhabitants of early Cambodia were peoples of Neolithic culture. They possessed good technical skills while the more advanced groups, who lived near the coast and in the lower delta of Mekong, cultivated irrigated rice. It is believed that they were the ancestors of the people living in insular Southeast Asia and islands of Pacific Ocean. They were also knowledgeable in iron and bronze works as well as possessing good navigational skills. (Source: Based on information from John F. Cady, Southeast Asia: Its Historical Development, New York, 1964.)

Oldest Malay Text: The Kedukan Bukit Inscription of 682 CE found at Palembang and the modern Yunnan Dai minority's traditional writings were of the same language family of Pallava, also known as Pallava Grantha. Dai ethnic (or Dai minority) of Yunnan is one of the aboriginal inhabitants of modern Yunnan province of China. (Picture) is taken from Jinghong city of Yunnan, a modern doorframe with Dai minority texts & Chinese, at right is the ancient Kedukan Bukit inscription.

Cham-Malay Relation: The similarity of the Cambodian Cham language and the Malay language can be found in names of places such as Kampong Cham, Kambujadesa, Kampong Chhnang, etc and Sejarah Melayu clearly mentioned a Cham community in Parameswara's Malacca around 1400s. Cham is related to the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Malaysia, Indonesia, Madagascar and the Philippines. In mid 1400s, when Cham was heavily defeated by the Vietnamese, some 120,000 were killed and in the 1600s the Champa king converted to Islam. In 1700s the last Champa Muslim king Pô Chien gathered his people and migrated south to Cambodia while those along the coastline migrated to the nearest peninsula state Terengganu, approximately 500km or less by boat, and Kelantan. Malaysian constitution recognises the Cham rights to Malaysian citizenship and their Bumiputera status. Now that the history is interlinked, there is a possibility that Parameswara's family were Cham refugees who fled to Palembang before he fled to Tumasik and finally to Malacca. Interestingly, one of the last Kings of Angkor of the Khmer Empire had the name Paramesvarapada.

Ethnic Groups in Malaysia

Malaysia's population comprises many ethnic groups, with the Malays making up the majority, close to 62% of the population. By constitutional definition, Malays are Muslim who practice Malay norms and culture. Therefore, technically, a Muslim of any race who practices Malay norms and culture can be considered a Malay and have equal rights when it comes to Malay rights as stated in the constitution. About 24% of the population are Malaysians of Chinese descent. Malaysians of Indian descent comprise about 8% of the population. About 90% of the Indian community are Tamils but various other groups are also present, including Malayalis, Punjabis and Gujaratis. There are also various non-Malay peoples who are designated as indigenous, mostly in East Malaysia. These make up about 7% of the population.

Non-Malay indigenous groups make up more than half of the state of Sarawak's population—constitute about 66% of Sabah's population—and also exist in much smaller numbers on the Peninsula, where they are collectively known as Orang Asli. The non-Malay indigenous population is divided into dozens of ethnic groups, but they share some general cultural similarities. Other Malaysians also include those of, inter alia, European, Middle Eastern, Cambodian, Thai and Vietnamese descent. Europeans and Eurasians include British who colonized and settled in Malaysia and some Portuguese. Most of the Middle Easterners are Arab descent. A small number of Cambodians and Vietnamese settled in Malaysia as Vietnam War refugees.

Population distribution is uneven, with some 20 million residents concentrated on the Malay Peninsula, while East Malaysia is relatively less populated.

Malaysian Malay

In Malaysia, the Malay population is defined by Article 160 of the Malaysian Constitution as someone born to a Malaysian citizen who professes to be a Muslim, habitually speaks the Malay language, adheres to Malay customs, and is domiciled in Malaysia or Singapore. This definition is loose enough to include people of a variety of ethnic backgrounds, and it therefore differs from the anthropological understanding of what constitutes an ethnic Malay. This understanding of the meaning of "Malay" in Malaysia has led to the creation of an ethnoreligious identity, where it has been suggested that a Malay cannot convert out of Islam as illustrated in the Federal Court decision in the case of Lina Joy. As of 2004, Malays made up an estimated 64.5% of the population of Malaysia. It is predicted that this proportion will rise due to birth rates higher than other ethnic groups.

Definition of a Malay: The article defines a Malay as a Malaysian citizen born to a Malaysian citizen who professes to be a Muslim, habitually speaks the Malay language, adheres to Malay customs, and is domiciled in Malaysia or Singapore. As a result, Malay citizens who convert out of Islam are no longer considered Malay under the law. Likewise, a non-Malay Malaysian who converts to Islam can claim to be a Malay, provided they meet the other conditions. An example of this is Jeanne Abdullah the wife of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is ethnically Portuguese-Eurasian.

A higher education textbook conforming to the government Malaysian studies syllabus states: "The non-Malay thought that is when a non-Malay embraces Islam, he is said to masuk Melayu, or become a Malay, due to the ethnoreligious identity of the Malay-Muslim. That person is automatically assumed to be fluent in the Malay language and to be living like a Malay as a result of his close association with the Malays." Hari Singh similarly observes that "[to] convert to Islam" means "assuming [a] Malay identity (masuk Melayu). In essence, it requires the non-Malay to renounce his cultural heritage and adopt Malay ways and customs."

Orang Asli

Orang Asli (lit, "original peoples" or "aboriginal peoples" in Malay) is a general term used for any indigenous groups that are found in Peninsular Malaysia. They are divided into three main tribal groups – Semang (negrito), Senoi, and Proto-Malay (Aboriginal Malay). The Orang Asli are further divided into 18 sub-ethnic group according to their different languages and customs. The Negritos are usually found in the northern region of the peninsula, the Senois in the central region, and the Proto-Malay in the southern region. There is an Orang Asli with a knot museum at Gombak, which is about 25 km north of Kuala Lumpur.

History: Orang Asli kept to themselves until the first traders from India arrived in first millennium AD. Living in the interior they bartered in land products like resins, incense woods and feathers for salt, cloth and iron tools. The rise of the Malay sultanates, coinciding with trade in Orang Asli slaves, forced the group to retreat further inland to avoid contact with outsiders. The arrival of British colonists brought further inroads in the lives of Orang Asli. They were the target of Christian missionary and subjects of anthropological research.

During the Malayan Emergency of 1948 to 1960, the Orang Asli became a vital component of national security, as with their help, the Malaysian army was able to defeat the communist insurgents. Two administrative initiatives were introduced to highlight the importance of Orang Asli as well to protect its identity. The initiatives were the establishment of the Department of Aborigines in 1950, and the enactment of the Aboriginal Peoples Ordinance in 1954. After independence, the development of Orang Asli become the prime objective of the government where the government adopted a policy in 1961 to integrate the Orang Asli into the wider Malaysian society.

Within the decades of 1970s and 1980s, Malaysia was in the period of sustained growth. With development that emphasize modernization and industrialization, new lands were developed. This development has resulted in encroachments on Orang Asli land. In response of this encroachment, the Orang Asli mobilized themselves and formed the Peninsular Malaysia Orang Asli Association (POASM). With this association, the Orang Asli has become more visible and vocal.

Slavery: Slave raids into Orang Asli settlements were quite common feature back in the 18th and 19th centuries. These slave-raiders were mainly local Malays and Bataks, who considered the Orang Asli as 'kafirs', 'non-humans', 'savages' and 'jungle-beasts.' The modus operandi was basically to swoop down a settlement and then kill off all the adult men. Women and children were captured alive as they are 'easier to tame.' The captives Orang Asli slaves were sold off or given to local rulers and chieftains to gain their favour. Slaves trade soon developed and even continued into the present century despite the official abolition of all forms of slavery in 1884. The derogatory term sakai is used to refer to the Orang Asli until the middle of the 20th century meant slave or dependent. Many of the elders Orang Asli still remember this sad period of their history, and they detest being called Sakai.

Demography: In 2000, the Orang Asli comprise only 0.5% of the total population in Malaysia. Their population is approximately 148,000. The largest group are the Senois, constituting about 54% of the total Orang Asli population. The Proto-Malays form 43%, and the Semang forming 3%.

Languages: The division of Orang Asli into three categories are not due to linguistic differences but merely sociological. The Semelai language, for example, is part of the Austro-Asiatic language group, whereas the other Proto-Malay groups, such as the Temuan language, are part of the Austronesian language group. The Semelai and the majority of Orang Asli sub-ethnics speak languages classified as Aslian languages. This is further divided into the Jahaic languages (North Aslian), Senoic languages, Semelaic languages (South Aslian), and Jah Hut. The languages which fall under the Jahaic language group are the Che Wong, Jahai, Bateq, Kensiu, Kintak, and Menriq languages. The Lanoh language, Temiar language, and Semai language fall into the Senoic language category. Languages that fall into the Semelaic group include the Semelai language, Semoq Beri language, and Besisi language (language spoken by the Mah Meri group). Meanwhile, some Orang Asli minorities speak languages classified as Aboriginal Malay languages. This includes the Jakun and Temuan languages among others.

Besides these, most Orang Aslis are fluent in the Malay language, the official language of Malaysia.

Negritos of Peninsular Malaysia: According to the Encyclopedia of Malaysia, the Negritos, who number approximately 2,000, are regarded as the earliest inhabitants of the Malay Peninsula. They are of Australo-Melanesian affinity and probably descend from the people of Hoabinhian cultural period, with many of their burials found dating back 10,000 years ago. They speak the Aslian languages which is part of the Austro-Asiatic language family, as do their Senoi agriculturalist neighbours. Negritos belong to various subgroups, namely the Kensiu, Kintak, Lanoh, Jahai, Mendriq and Bateq. Those from Perak, Kedah and Pahang are also known as Semang, the meaning of "Semang" is debt slaves, while those from Kelantan and Terengganu were called Pangan, the forest peoples. The Senoi and Proto-Malay arrived much later probably during the Neolithic period.

The Semang are a Negrito ethnic group of the Malay Peninsula. Lowland Semang tribes are also known as Sakai. They are probably the indigenous peoples of this area, and have been recorded to have lived here since before the 200s. They are ethnologically described as nomadic hunter-gatherers.

They are thought to be related to other Negritos, such as the natives of the Andaman Islands, and the Aetas of the Philippines. Their languages, however, are Aslian, in the Mon-Khmer family.

The men average about 153.6cm (5ft 1/2in), while the women are 142.7cm (4ft 8in). Their color is a very dark brown or black. The shape of the head is round, or intermediate between round and long. The forehead is low and rounded, and projects over the root of the nose, which is short, depressed and pyramid-shaped. The eyes are often wide open and round, even at times showing no obliquity, the iris being of a very rich, deep brown. Lips vary from moderate to full, the mouth is rather large, and the jaws are often slightly projecting.

The hair is very dark-brown black, never blue-black as among Chinese and Malays. It grows in short, spiral tufts, curling closely all over the head.

The Semangs live in caves or leaf-shelters formed between branches. A waistcloth for the men, made of tree bark hammered out with a wooden mallet from the bark of the terap, a species of wild bread-fruit tree, and a short petticoat of the same for the women, is the only dress worn; many go naked.

Tattooing, or rather scarring, is practised, by drawing the finely serrated edge of a sugarcane leaf across the skin and rubbing in charcoal powder.

They have bamboo musical instruments, a kind of Jew's harp and a nose flute. On festive occasions there is song and dance, both sexes decorating themselves with leaves. The Semangs bury their dead simply, food and drink being placed in the grave.

* Genetic Dendrograms and Malaysian Population History by Alan Fix

Abstract: From Darwin’s time in biology and even before Darwin in linguistics, the tree diagram has been the primary formal depiction of descent. The underlying logic of the dendrogram depends on a branching process: units fission, then diversify through time. This model of differentiation is generally correct for the evolution of species, languages, and genes. However, at the level of human populations, subject to the ramifying effects of gene flow and natural selection, a better model is a reticulating network. This paper will critically examine genetic dendrograms based on “classical” loci as well as mitochondrial DNA in the context of the history of Malaysian Orang Asli populations.

* DNA Study Yields Clues on First Migration of Early Humans by Nicholas Wade

Excerpt: With this approach, Dr. Macaulay's team calculates that the emigration from Africa occurred 65,000 years ago, pushed along the coasts of India and Southeast Asia and reached Australia by 50,000 years ago, the date of the earliest known archaeological site there.

The Malaysian people whom the geneticists studied are the Orang Asli. The term means ''original men'' in Malay.

They are probably descended from this first migration, because they have several ancient mitochondrial DNA lineages that are found nowhere else.

These lineages are 42,000 to 63,000 years old, the geneticists say. Subgroups of the Orang Asli, like the Semang, have probably been able to remain intact because they adapted to the harsh existence of living in forests, said Dr. Stephen Oppenheimer, the member of the geneticists' team who collected blood samples in Malaysia.

* Mitochondrial DNA profiling of Modern Malay and Orang Asli Populations in Peninsular Malaysia by Z. Zainuddin.

Abstract: A study was undertaken to assess the utility of mtDNA as a forensic tool in the Malay Peninsular. Two populations, modern Malay and Orang Asli, were sampled and their mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysed. Comparing the different haplogroups that were found, there are clear differences between the two populations. As a forensic tool, the use of mtDNA in the Orang Asli is limited as many individuals share the same haplotype, reducing the power of discrimination. In the Malay population, the power of discrimination is sufficiently high to make it a valuable tool

* A Mitochondrial Stratigraphy for Island Southeast Asia by Hill C, et al.

Abstract: Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) was first colonized by modern humans at least 45,000 years ago, but the extent to which the modern inhabitants trace their ancestry to the first settlers is a matter of debate. It is widely held, in both archaeology and linguistics, that they are largely descended from a second wave of dispersal, proto-Austronesian–speaking agriculturalists who originated in China and spread to Taiwan ∼5,500 years ago. From there, they are thought to have dispersed into ISEA ∼4,000 years ago, assimilating the indigenous populations. Here, we demonstrate that mitochondrial DNA diversity in the region is extremely high and includes a large number of indigenous clades. Only a fraction of these date back to the time of first settlement, and the majority appear to mark dispersals in the late-Pleistocene or early-Holocene epoch most likely triggered by postglacial flooding. There are much closer genetic links to Taiwan than to the mainland, but most of these probably predated the mid-Holocene “Out of Taiwan” event as traditionally envisioned. Only ∼20% at most of modern mitochondrial DNAs in ISEA could be linked to such an event, suggesting that, if an agriculturalist migration did take place, it was demographically minor, at least with regard to the involvement of women.

* Phylogeography and Ethnogenesis of Aboriginal Southeast Asians by C. Hill, et al.

Plot of First 2 Principal Components of Malaysian and Sumatran mtDNA Haplogroup Frequencies

Abstract: Studying the genetic history of the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia can provide crucial clues to the peopling of Southeast Asia as a whole. We have analyzed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNAs) control-region and coding-region markers in 447 mtDNAs from the region, including 260 Orang Asli, representative of each of the traditional groupings, the Semang, the Senoi, and the Aboriginal Malays, allowing us to test hypotheses about their origins. All of the Orang Asli groups have undergone high levels of genetic drift, but phylogeographic traces nevertheless remain of the ancestry of their maternal lineages. The Semang have a deep ancestry within the Malay Peninsula, dating to the initial settlement from Africa >50,000 years ago. The Senoi appear to be a composite group, with approximately half of the maternal lineages tracing back to the ancestors of the Semang and about half to Indochina. This is in agreement with the suggestion that they represent the descendants of early Austroasiatic speaking agriculturalists, who brought both their language and their technology to the southern part of the peninsula approximately 4,000 years ago and coalesced with the indigenous population. The Aboriginal Malays are more diverse, and although they show some connections with island Southeast Asia, as expected, they also harbor haplogroups that are either novel or rare elsewhere. Contrary to expectations, complete mtDNA genome sequences from one of these, R9b, suggest an ancestry in Indochina around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, followed by an early-Holocene dispersal through the Malay Peninsula into island Southeast Asia.

* Ancient Mitochondrial DNA from Malaysian Hair Samples: Some indications of Southeast Asian population movements by F.X. Ricaut, et al.

Abstract: The late Pleistocene and early Holocene population history of Southeast Asia is not well-known. Our study provides new data on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages of the aboriginal inhabitants of the Malay Peninsula, and through an extensive comparison to the known mtDNA diversity in Southeast and East Asia, provides some new insights into the origins and historical geography of certain mtDNA lineages in the region. We extracted DNA from hair samples (dating back 100 years) preserved in the Duckworth Collection and belonging to two Peninsular Malaysian individuals identified as "Negrito." Ancient DNA was analyzed by sequencing hypervariable region I (HVS-I) of the mtDNA control region and the mtDNA region V length polymorphism. The results show that the maternal lineages of these individuals belong to a recently defined haplogroup B sub-branch called B4c2. A comparison of mitochondrial haplotypes and haplogroups with those of 10,349 East Asian individuals indicates their very restricted geographical distribution (southwestern China, Southeast Asia Peninsula, and Indonesia). Recalculation of the B4c2 age across all of East Asia ( approximately 13,000 years) and in different subregions/populations suggests its rapid diffusion in Southeast Asia between the end of the Last Glacial Maximum and the Neolithic expansion of the Holocene.

* Paternal Population History of East Asia: Sources, Patterns, and Microevolutionary Processes by Tatiana Karafet, et al.

Northern Han (Nha), Hui (Hui), Tibetans (Tib), Manchu (Man), Chinese Evenks (Cev), Oroqen (Oro), Uygurs (Uyg), Mongolians (Mon), Siberian Evenks (Sev), Buryats (Bur), Koreans (Kor), Yizu (Yiz), Tujians (Tuj), Southern Han (Sha), Taiwanese Han (Tha), Zhuang (Zhu), She (She), Miao (Mia), Yao (Yao), Vietnamese (Vie), Malaysian (Mal), Kazakhs (Kaz), Altai (Alt), Uzbeks (Uzb), Kirghiz (Kir)

* The Human Y Chromosome: An evolutionary marker comes of age by Mark A. Jobling, et al.

Global Distribution of Y Haplogroups

1, !Kung; 2, Biaka Pygmies; 3, Bamileke; 4, Fali; 5, Senegalese; 6, Berbers; 7, Ethiopians; 8, Sudanese; 9, Basques; 10, Greeks; 11, Polish; 12, Saami; 13, Russians; 14, Lebanese; 15, Iranians; 16, Kazbegi (Georgia); 17, Kazaks; 18, Punjabis; 19, Uzbeks; 20, Forest Nentsi; 21, Khants; 22, Eastern Evenks; 23, Buryats; 24, Evens; 25, Eskimos; 26, Mongolians; 27, Evenks; 28, Northern Han; 29, Tibetans; 30, Taiwanese; 31, Japanese; 32, Koreans; 33, Filipinos; 34, Javanese; 35, Malaysians; 36, West New Guineans (highlands); 37, Papua New Guineans (coast); 38, Australians (Arnhem); 39, Australians (Sandy Desert); 40, Cook Islanders; 41, Tahitians; 42, Maori; 43, Navajos; 44, Cheyenne; 45, Mixtecs; 46, Makiritare; 47, Cayapa; 48, Greenland Inuit.

* Malays in Peninsular Malaysia May Have the Lowest Incidence of Stomach Cancer in the World by KG Lim

Abstract: The Malaysian National Cancer Registry (NCR) report for the period 2003-2005 shows an incidence of stomach cancer of 2.2 for Malay, 11.3 for Chinese and 11.9 for Indian males per 100,000 population. Malay (1.3), Chinese (7.2) and Indian (7.2) women have rates lower than men. Malays in Peninsular Malaysia have five times less stomach cancer than Chinese and Indians. This racial difference is more marked than that noted in the Singapore cancer registry. Regional data from Kelantan has an even lower rate for Malays there (1.5 for males and 0.9 for females per 100,000 population). The incidence of Helicobacter pylori infection, a known risk factor for stomach cancer, is low among Malays.

* Y-Chromosome Evidence of Southern Origin of the East Asian–Specific Haplogroup O3-M122 by Hong Shi, et al.

Abstract: The prehistoric peopling of East Asia by modern humans remains controversial with respect to early population migrations. Here, we present a systematic sampling and genetic screening of an East Asian–specific Y-chromosome haplogroup (O3-M122) in 2,332 individuals from diverse East Asian populations. Our results indicate that the O3-M122 lineage is dominant in East Asian populations, with an average frequency of 44.3%. The microsatellite data show that the O3-M122 haplotypes in southern East Asia are more diverse than those in northern East Asia, suggesting a southern origin of the O3-M122 mutation. It was estimated that the early northward migration of the O3-M122 lineages in East Asia occurred ~25,000–30,000 years ago, consistent with the fossil records of modern humans in East Asia.

The Frequency Distribution of the O3-M122 Haplotypes in East Asian and Other Continental Populations

* Polymorphic Distribution of Y-chromosome Haplotype and Mitochondrial DNA in the Bouyei People in China by Li Yong-nian, et al.

Y-chromosome Haplotype Frequency Distribution in China and World Populations

* A Nomenclature System for the Tree of Human Y-Chromosomal Binary Haplogroups by The Y Chromosome Consortium

* mtDNA Control Region Sequence Polymorphisms and Phylogenetic Analysis of Malay Population Living in or around Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia by S. Maruyama, et al.

Abstract: Control region polymorphisms in the mitochondrial DNA of 124 unrelated individuals from the Malay population living in or around Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia were investigated and phylogenetic haplogroup lineages were determined. The intergenic COII/tRNALys 9-bp deletion, 3010 and 5178 mutations, and several coding region polymorphisms were examined to discriminate some phylogenetic haplogroups. Sequence comparison of the control regions led to the identification of 117 mitochondrial haplotypes, in which 103 types were observed in only one individual and the other nine types were shared by more than two individuals. Gene diversity was estimated to be 0.997. Phylogenetic haplogroup determination revealed that the gene pool of the modern Malay population in Malaysia consisted mainly of southeast Asian, east Asian, unidentified and unique, and aboriginal southeast-specific haplogroups. These results suggest a multi-original nature for the modern Malay population. The present database may help not only in personal identification but also in determining geographic origin in forensic casework in Malaysian, Southeast Asian and East Asian populations.

* Ancient Jades Map 3,000 Years of Prehistoric Exchange in Southeast Asia by Hsiao-Chun Hung, et al.

The distribution of Taiwan nephrite artifacts in Southeast Asia (from Ancient Jades Map 3,000 Years of Prehistoric Exchange in Southeast Asia by Hsiao-Chun Hung, et al.) . The green zone represents the currently known distribution of Taiwan nephrite artifacts. The green triangle locates the Fengtian nephrite deposit. Yellow stars represent sites outside Taiwan with positively identified Fengtian nephrite artifacts (Taiwan itself has >108 jade-bearing sites, and these cannot be shown individually). Blue stars represent sites with jade artifacts of possible Fengtian origin. Black circles represent sites that have identified nephrite of non-Fengtian origin.

Excerpt: We have used electron probe microanalysis to examine Southeast Asian nephrite (jade) artifacts, many archeologically excavated, dating from 3000 B.C. through the first millennium A.D. The research has revealed the existence of one of the most extensive sea-based trade networks of a single geological material in the prehistoric world. Green nephrite from a source in eastern Taiwan was used to make two very specific forms of ear pendant that were distributed, between 500 B.C. and 500 A.D., through the Philippines, East Malaysia, southern Vietnam, and peninsular Thailand, forming a 3,000-km-diameter halo around the southern and eastern coastlines of the South China Sea. Other Taiwan nephrite artifacts, especially beads and bracelets, were distributed earlier during Neolithic times throughout Taiwan and from Taiwan into the Philippines.

* Y-Chromosome Evidence for a Northward Migration of Modern Humans into Eastern Asia during the Last Ice Age by Bing Su, et al.

Abstract: The timing and nature of the arrival and the subsequent expansion of modern humans into eastern Asia remains controversial. Using Y-chromosome biallelic markers, we investigated the ancient human-migration patterns in eastern Asia. Our data indicate that southern populations in eastern Asia are much more polymorphic than northern populations, which have only a subset of the southern haplotypes. This pattern indicates that the first settlement of modern humans in eastern Asia occurred in mainland Southeast Asia during the last Ice Age, coinciding with the absence of human fossils in eastern Asia, 50,000–100,000 years ago. After the initial peopling, a great northward migration extended into northern China and Siberia.

Principal-component Analysis of Y-chromosome Haplotype Frequencies of 30 Eastern-Asian Populations from

* Genetic Origins of the Ainu Inferred from Combined DNA Analyses of Maternal and Paternal Lineages by Atsushi Tajima, et al.

Asian Population Tree

* Patterns of Ancestral Human Diversity: An Analysis of Alu-Insertion and Restriction-Site Polymorphisms by W. S. Watkins, et al.

Neighbor-joining Networks of Genetic Distances, Based on 35 Polymorphic Alu Loci (a) and 30 RSP Loci (b)

* From East to West: Patterns of genetic diversity of populations living in four Eurasian regions by I. Kutuev, et al.

* The GM Genetic Polymorphism in Taiwan Aborigines: New data revealing remarkable differentiation patterns
by Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, et al.

Multidimensional Scaling Analysis among 63 Populations from Southeast Asia
Excluding all Sino-Tibetans but the Southern Chinese (grouped)

The ‘mixed’ sample is composed of individuals from Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Hunan. ST-SC: Sino-Tibetan, Southern Chinese (Min, Xiang, Gan, Hakka, Yue); AA: Austroasiatic; KA: Tai-Kadai; AN-EF: Extra-Formosan Austronesian; AN-TW: Autronesian from Taiwan; HM: Hmong-Mien.

* Mitochondrial DNA Diversity in Southeast Asian Populations by TG Schurr, et al.

Abstract: In a previous study of Southeast Asian genetic variation, we characterized mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs) from six populations through high-resolution restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. Our analysis revealed that these Southeast Asian populations were genetically similar to each other, suggesting they had a common origin. However, other patterns of population associations also emerged. Haplotypes from a major founding haplogroup in Papua New Guinea were present in Malaysia; the Vietnamese and Malaysian aborigines (Orang Asli) had high frequencies of haplogroup F, which was also seen in most other Southeast Asian populations; and haplogroup B, defined by the Region V 9-base-pair deletion, was present throughout the region. In addition, the Malaysian and Sabah (Borneo) aborigine populations exhibited a number of unique mtDNA clusters that were not observed in other populations. Unfortunately, it has been difficult to compare these patterns of genetic diversity with those shown in subsequent studies of mtDNA variation in Southeast Asian populations because the latter have typically sequenced the first hypervariable segment (HVS-I) of the control region (CR) sequencing rather than used RFLP haplotyping to characterize the mtDNAs present in them. For this reason, we sequenced the HVS-I of Southeast Asian mtDNAs that had previously been subjected to RFLP analysis, and compared the resulting data with published information from other Southeast Asian and Oceanic groups. Our findings reveal broad patterns of mtDNA haplogroup distribution in Southeast Asia that may reflect different population expansion events in this region over the past 50,000-5,000 years.

Haplogroup E (mtDNA)

haplogroup E is a human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup typical for the Malay Archipelago. It is a subgroup of haplogroup M9.

Origin: After a point of view, it was arisen in Northeast Sundaland or around Sulawesi and Sulu Seas. On the other hand, it might be related with the Austronesian languages expansion from Taiwan to Insulinde, indicating a common origin of the populations of insular Southeast Asia and suggesting a prevalence in the Taiwanese aboriginal gene pool (mainly E with B4, B5a, F1a, F3b and M7) of its initial late Pleistocene settlers.

Distribution: Haplogroup E has a southern Asia distribution. Until now it has been detected in the Malay peninsula populations and in the Sabah of Borneo; and it is also present in coastal Papua New Guinea as well as in Taiwan, in the Philippines, and in some Pacific islands such as Guam.

Subclades: This phylogenetic tree of haplogroup E subclades is based on the paper by Mannis van Oven and Manfred Kayser Updated comprehensive phylogenetic tree of global human mitochondrial DNA variation and subsequent published research.

E
- E1
  - E1a
    - E1a1
      - E1a1a
        
        E1a1a1
    - E1a2
  - E1b
    - E1b1
- E2
  - E2a
  - E2b
    - E2b1
    - E2b2

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Sarawak

Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang ("Land of the Hornbills"), it is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia; the second largest, Sabah, lies to the northeast.

The administrative capital is Kuching.

Sarawak has more than 40 sub-ethnic groups, each with its own distinct language, culture and lifestyle. Cities and larger towns are populated predominantly by Malays, Melanaus, Chinese, and a smaller percentage of Ibans and Bidayuhs who have migrated from their home-villages for employment reasons. Sarawak is rather distinctive from the rest of Malaysia in that there is only a small community of Indians living in the state.

Ethnic Groups

Dayak Iban: The Ibans comprise the largest percentage (almost 34%) of Sarawak's population. Formerly reputed to be the most formidable headhunters on the island of Borneo, the Ibans of today are a generous, hospitable and placid people. Because of their history as pirates and fishermen, they were conventionally referred to as the "Sea Dayaks". The early Iban settlers who migrated from Kalimantan (the Indonesian part of Borneo south of Sarawak) via the Kapuas River and crossed over the Kelingkang range and set up home in the river valleys of Batang Ai, the Skrang River, Saribas, and the Rajang River. The Ibans dwell in longhouses, a stilted structure comprising many rooms housing a whole community of families.

An Iban longhouse may still display head trophies or antu pala. These suspended heads mark a tribal victory and were a source of honor. The Dayak Iban ceased practicing headhunting in the 1930s.

The Ibans are renowned for their Pua Kumbu (traditional Iban weavings), silver craft, wooden carvings and bead work. Iban tattoos, which were originally symbols of bravery among Iban warriors, have become amongst the most distinctive in the world. The Ibans are also famous for their tuak, a sweet rice wine which is served during big celebrations and festive occasions.

The majority of Ibans currently practice Christianity. However, like most other ethnic groups in Sarawak, they still observe many of their traditional rituals and beliefs. Sarawak celebrates colourful festivals such as the Gawai Dayak (harvest festival), Gawai Kenyalang (hornbill, or the god of war festival), penuaian padi and Gawai Antu (festival of the dead).

Chinese: The Chinese first came to Sarawak as traders and explorers in the 6th century. Today, they make up 26% of the population of Sarawak and consist of communities built from the economic migrants of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The first Chinese (Hakka) migrants worked as labourers in the gold mines at Bau or on plantations. Through their clan associations, business acumen and work ethic, the Chinese organised themselves economically and rapidly dominated commerce. Today, the Chinese are amongst Sarawak's most prosperous ethnic groups.

The Sarawak Chinese belong to a wide range of dialect groups, the most significant being Hakka, Hokkien, Foochow, Teochew, Cantonese and Henghua. The Chinese maintain their ethnic heritage and culture and celebrate all the major cultural festivals, most notably Chinese New Year and the Hungry Ghost Festival. The Sarawak Chinese are predominantly Buddhists and Christians.

Malay: The Malays make up 21% of the population in Sarawak. Traditionally fishermen, these seafaring people chose to form settlements on the banks of the many rivers of Sarawak. Today, many Malays have migrated to the cities where they are heavily involved in the public and private sectors and taken up various professions. Malay villages (kampungs) - a cluster of wooden houses on stilts, many of which are still located by rivers on the outskirts of major towns and cities, play home to traditional cottage industries. The Malays are famed for their wood carvings, silver and brass craftings as well as traditional Malays textile weaving with silver and gold thread (kain songket).

Malays are Muslim by religion, having been converted to the faith some 600 years ago with the Islamification of the area. Their religion is reflected in their culture and art and Islamic symbolism is evident in local architecture - from homes to government buildings.

Melanau: The Melanaus have been thought to be amongst the original settlers of Sarawak. Originally from Mukah (the 10th Administrative Division as launched in March 2002), the Melanaus traditionally lived in tall houses. Nowadays, they have adopted a Malay lifestyle, living in kampong-type settlements. Traditionally, Melanaus were fishermen and still today, they are reputed as some of the finest boat-builders and craftsmen.

While the Melanaus are ethnically different from the Malays, their lifestyles and practices are quite similar especially in the larger towns and cities where most Melanau have adopted the Islamic faith.

The Melanaus were believed to originally worship spirits in a practice verging on paganism. Today most of them are Muslim and some are Christians, though they still celebrate traditional animist festivals such as the annual Kaul Festival.

Dayak Bidayuh: Concentrated mainly on the West end of Borneo, the Bidayuhs make up 10% of the population in Sarawak are now most numerous in the hill counties of Bau and Serian, within half an hour drive from Kuching.

Historically, as other tribes were migrating into Sarawak and forming settlements (particularly the Malays from the neighbouring archipelagos as they shore up along the coastal areas and riversides) the peace-loving, meek-natured Bidayuhs retreated further inland, hence earning them the name of "Land Dayaks n land owners". The word Bidayuh in itself literally means "land people" in Biatah dialect. In Bau-Jagoi/Singai dialect, the pronunciation is "Bidoyoh" which also carry the same meaning.
The traditional community construction of the Bidayuh is the "baruk", a roundhouse that rises about 1.5 metres off the ground. It serves as the granary and the meeting house for the settlement's community. Longhouses were typical in the olden days, similar to that of the Ibans.
Typical of the Sarawak indigenous groups, the Bidayuhs are well-known for their hospitality, and are reputed to be the best makers of tuak, or rice wine. They also do arak tonok,some kind of moonshine.
The Bidayuhs speak a number of different but related dialects. To some Bidayuhs they either speak English (thanks to the British colonial era James Brooke) or Malay as their main language. While some of them still practice traditional religions, the majority of modern-day Bidayuhs have adopted the Christian faith.

Dayak Orang Ulu: The phrase Orang Ulu means upriver people and is a term used to collectively describe the numerous tribes that live upriver in Sarawak's vast interior. Such groups include the major Kayan and Kenyah tribes, and the smaller neighbouring groups of the Kajang, Kejaman, Punan, Ukit, and Penan. Nowadays, the definition also includes the down-river tribes of the Lun Bawang, Lun Dayeh(mean upriver/far upstream), Berawan, Saban as well as the plateau-dwelling Kelabits. The various Orang Ulu groups together make up roughly 5.5% of Sarawak's population. The Orang Ulu are artistic people with longhouses elaborately decorated with murals and woodcarvings. They are also well-known for their intricate beadwork and detailed tattoos. The Orang Ulu tribe can also be identified by their unique music - distinctive sounds from their sape, a stringed instrument not unlike the mandolin.

Dayak

Dayaks in their war dress, 1864

The Dayak or Dyak are the peoples indigenous to Borneo. It is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic subgroups, located principally in the interior of Borneo, each with its own dialect, customs, laws, territory and culture, although common distinguishing traits are readily identifiable. Dayaks are categorised as part of wider Austronesian-speaking populations in Asia. The Dayak were animist in belief; however many converted to Christianity, and some to Islam more recently. Estimates for the Dayak population range from 2 to 4 million.

History of the Dayak People: Common interpretations in modern anthropology agree that nearly all indigenous peoples of South East Asia, including the Dayaks, are descendants of a larger more common Austronesian migration from Asia, regarded to have settled in the South East Asian Archipelago some 3,000 years ago. The first populations spoke various languages and dialects now termed under the collective Austronesian Lingua, from which Dayak languages are traced. About 2,450 years ago, metallurgy was introduced and subsequently became widespread.

The main ethnic groups of Dayaks are the Bakumpai and Dayak Bukit of South Kalimantan, The Ngajus, Baritos, Benuaqs of East Kalimantan, the Kayan and Kenyah groups and their subtribes in Central Borneo and the Ibans, Embaloh (Maloh), Kayan, Kenyah, Penan, Kelabit, Lun Bawang and Taman populations in the Kapuas and Sarawak regions. Other populations include the Ahe, Jagoi, Selakau, Bidayuh, and Kutais.

The Dayak people of Borneo possess an indigenous account of their history, partly in writing and partly in common cultural customary practices. In addition, colonial accounts and reports of Dayak activity in Borneo detail carefully cultivated economic and political relationships with other communities as well as an ample body of research and study considering historical Dayak migrations. In particular, the Iban or the Sea Dayak exploits in the South China Seas are documented, owing to their ferocity and aggressive culture of war against sea dwelling groups and emerging Western trade interests in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Coastal populations in Borneo are largely Muslim in belief, however these groups (Ilanun, Melanau, Kadayan, Bakumpai, Bisayah) are generally considered to be Islamized Dayaks, native to Borneo, and governed by the relatively high cultural influences of the Javanese Majapahit Kingdoms and Islamic Malay Sultanates, periodically covering South East Asian history.

Society: Kinship in Dayak society is traced in both lines. Although, in Dayak Iban society, men and women possess equal rights in status and property ownership, political office has strictly been the occupation of the traditional Iban Patriarch. Overall Dayak leadership in any given region, is marked by titles, a Penghulu for instance would have invested authority on behalf of a network of Tuai Rumah's, and so on to a Temenggung or Panglima. It must be noted that individual Dayak groups have their social and hierarchy systems defined internally, and these differ widely from Ibans to Ngajus and Benuaqs to Kayans.

The most salient feature of Dayak social organisation is the practice of Longhouse domicile. This is a structure supported by hardwood posts that can be hundreds of metres long, usually located along a terraced river bank. At one side is a long communal platform, from which the individual households can be reached. The Iban of the Kapuas and Sarawak have organized their Longhouse settlements in response to their migratory patterns. Iban Longhouses vary in size, from those slightly over 100 metres in length to large settlements over 500 metres in length. Longhouses have a door and apartment for every family living in the longhouse. For example, a Longhouse of 200 doors is equivalent to a settlement of 200 families.

Headhunting was an important part of Dayak culture, in particular to the Iban and Kenyah. There used to be a tradition of retaliation for old headhunts, which kept the practise alive. External interference by the reign of the Brooke Rajahs in Sarawak and the Dutch in Kalimantan Borneo curtailed and limited this tradition. Apart from massed raids, the practice of headhunting was limited to individual retaliation attacks or the result of chance encounters. Early Brooke Government reports describe Dayak Iban and Kenyah War parties with captured enemy heads. At various times, there have been massive coordinated raids in the interior, and throughout coastal Borneo, directed by the Raj during Brooke's reign in Sarawak. This may have given rise to the term, Sea Dayak, although, throughout the 19th Century, Sarawak Government raids and independent expeditions appeared to have been carried out as far as Brunei, Mindanao, East coast Malaya, Jawa and Celebes. Tandem diplomatic relations between the Sarawak Government (Brooke Rajah) and Britain (East India Company and the Royal Navy) acted as a pivot and a deterrence to the former's territorial ambitions, against the Dutch administration in the Kalimantan regions and client Sultanates.

Metal-working is elaborately used for making mandaus (machetes - 'parang' in Indonesian). The blade is made of a softer iron, to prevent breakage, with a narrow strip of a harder iron wedged into a slot in the cutting edge for sharpness. The headhunting necessitated being able to draw the parang quickly. For this purpose, the mandau is fairly short, which also better serves the purpose of trailcutting in dense forest. It is holstered with the cutting edge facing upwards and at that side there is an upward protrusion on the handle, so it can be drawn very quickly with the side of the hand without having to reach over and grasp the handle first. The hand can then grasp the handle while it is being drawn. The combination of these three factors (short, cutting edge up and protrusion) makes for an extremely fast drawing-action. The ceremonial mandaus used for dances are as beautifully adorned with feathers as the dresses are. There are various terms to describe different types of Dayak blades. The Nyabor is the traditional Iban Scimitar, Parang Ilang is common to Kayan and Kenyah Swordsmiths, and Duku is a multipurpose farm tool and machete of sorts.

Iban

Iban girls dressed in full Iban (women) attire during Gawai festivals

The Ibans are a branch of the Dayak peoples of Borneo. They were formerly known during the colonial period by the British as Sea Dayaks. Ibans were renowned for practising headhunting and tribal/territorial expansion. A long time ago, being a very strong and successful warring tribe, the Ibans were a very feared tribe in Borneo. They speak the Iban language.

Today, the days of headhunting and piracy are long gone and in has come the modern era of globalization and technology for the Ibans. The Iban population is concentrated in Sarawak, Brunei, in the West Kalimantan region of Indonesia. They live in longhouses called rumah panjai or rumah panjang. Most of the Iban longhouses are equipped with modern facilities such as electricity and water supply and other facilities such as (tar sealed) roads, telephone lines and the internet. Younger Ibans are mostly found in urban areas and visit their hometowns during the holidays. The Ibans today are becoming increasingly urbanised while (surprisingly) retaining most of their traditional heritage and culture.

History: The origin of the name Iban is a mystery, although many theories exist. During the British colonial era, the Ibans were called Sea Dayaks. Some believe that the word Iban was an ancient original Iban word for people or man. The modern-day Iban word for people or man is mensia, a slightly modified Malay loan word of the same meaning (manusia).

The Ibans were the original inhabitants of Borneo Island. Like the other Dayak tribes, they were originally farmers, hunters, and gatherers. Not much is known about Iban people before the arrival of the Western expeditions to Asia. Nothing was ever recorded by any voyagers about them.

The Ibans were unfortunately branded for being pioneers of headhunting. Headhunting among the Ibans is believed to have started when the lands occupied by the Ibans became over-populated. In those days, before the arrival of western civilization, intruding on lands belonging to other tribes resulted in death. Confrontation was the only way of survival.

In those days, the way of war was the only way that any Dayak tribe could achieve prosperity and fortune. Dayak warfare was brutal and bloody, to the point of ethnic cleansing. Many extinct tribes, such as the Seru and Bliun, are believed to have been assimilated or wiped out by the Ibans. Tribes like the Bukitan, who were the original inhabitants of Saribas, are believed to have been assimilated or forced northwards as far as Bintulu by the Ibans. The Ukits were also believed to have been nearly wiped out by the Ibans.

The Ibans started moving to areas in what is today's Sarawak around the 15th century. After an initial phase of colonising and settling the river valleys, displacing or absorbing the local tribes, a phase of internecine warfare began. Local leaders were forced to resist the tax collectors of the sultans of Brunei. At the same time, Malay influence was felt, and Iban leaders began to be known by Malay titles such as Datu (Datuk), Nakhoda and Orang Kaya.

In later years, the Iban encountered the Bajau and Illanun, coming in galleys from the Philippines. These were seafaring tribes who came plundering throughout Borneo. However, the Ibans feared no tribe, and fought the Bajaus and Illanuns. One famous Iban legendary figure known as Lebor Menoa from Entanak, near modern-day Betong, fought and successfully defeated the Bajaus and Illanuns. It is likely that the Ibans learned seafaring skills from the Bajau and the Illanun, using these skills to plunder other tribes living in coastal areas, such as the Melanaus and the Selakos. This is evident with the existence of the seldom-used Iban boat with sail, called the bandung. This may also be one of the reasons James Brooke, who arrived in Sarawak around 1838, called the Ibans Sea Dayaks. For more than a century, the Ibans were known as Sea Dayaks to Westerners.

Musical & Dancing Heritage: Iban music is percussion-oriented. The Iban have a musical heritage consisting of various types of agung ensembles - percussion ensembles composed of large hanging, suspended or held, bossed/knobbed gongs which act as drones without any accompanying melodic instrument. The typical Iban agung ensemble will include a set of engkerumungs (small agungs arranged together side by side and played like a xylophone), a tawak (the so-called 'bass'), a bendai (which acts as a snare) and also a set of ketebung (a single sided drum/percussion).

The Iban as well as the Kayan also play an instrument resembling the flute called 'Sapek'. The Sapek is the official musical instrument for the Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is played similarly to the way rock guitarists play guitar solos, albeit a little slower, but not as slow as blues. One example of Iban traditional music is the taboh.

The Ibans perform a unique dance called the ngajat. It serves many purposes depending on the occasion. During Gawais, it is used to entertain the people who in the olden days enjoy graceful ngajats as a form of entertainment. Iban men and women have different styles of ngajat. The ngajat involves a lot of precise body-turning movements. The ngajat for men is more aggressive and depicts a man going to war, or a bird flying (as a respect to the Iban god of war, Singalang Burong). The women's form of ngajat consists of soft, graceful movements with very precise body turns. Each ngajat is accompanied by the taboh.

Branches of the Iban People: Although Ibans generally speak a dialect which is mutually intelligible, they can be divided into different branches which are named after the geographical areas where they reside.

Majority of Ibans who live around the Lundu and Samarahan region are called Sebuyaus.

Ibans who settled in areas in Serian district (places like Kampung Lebor, Kampung Tanah Mawang & others) are called Remuns. They may be the earliest Iban group to migrate to Sarawak.

Ibans who originated from Sri Aman area are called Balaus.

Ibans who come from Betong, Saratok & parts of Sarikei are called Saribas.

The Lubok Antu Ibans are classed by anthropologist as Ulu Ai Ibans.

Ibans from Undup are called Undup Ibans. Their dialect is somewhat a cross between the Ulu Ai dialect & the Balau dialect.

Ibans living in areas from Sarikei to Miri are called Rajang Ibans. They are the majority group of the Iban people. They can be found along the Rajang River, Sibu, Kapit, Belaga, Kanowit, Song, Sarikei, Bintangor, Bintulu and Miri. Their dialect is somewhat similar to the Ulu Ai dialect.

In Kalimantan (Indonesian part of Borneo), Iban people are even more diverse. The Kantu, Air Tabun, Semberuang, Sebaru' , Bugau, Mualang & along with many other groups are classed as "Ibanic people" by anthropologist. They can be related to the Iban either by the dialect they speak or their custom, ritual & their way of life.

Iban of Sarawak: Chronicle of a Vanishing World by Vinson H. Sutlive

The Women's Warpath: Iban Ritual Fabrics from Borneo by Traude Gavin

Media and Nation Building: How the Iban Became Malaysian by John Postill

Iban Art: Sexual Selection and Severed Heads by Michael Heppell, Limbang Anak Melak, Enian Anak Usen

Bidayuh

(Photo From terencelau.com)

Bidayuh is the collective name for several indigenous groups found in southern Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, that are broadly similar in language and culture (see also Issues below). The name "Bidayuh" means 'inhabitants of land'. Originally from the western part of Borneo, the collective name Land Dayaks was first used during the period of Rajah James Brooke, the White Rajah of Sarawak. They constitute one of the main indigenous groups in Sarawak and live in towns and villages around Kuching and Samarahan in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Related groups are also found in west Kalimantan. In Sarawak, most of Bidayuh population are found within 40 km of the geographical area known as Greater Kuching, within the Kuching and Samarahan division. They are the second largest Dayak ethnic group in Sarawak after the Iban.

Predominantly Bidayuh areas are: Lundu, Bau, Penrissen, Padawan, and Serian. Most of the Bidayuh villages can be found in the rural areas of Lundu, Bau, Padawan, Penrissen and Serian district. The area in which they live is mainly in the basin of the Sarawak River and hilly to mountainous forest, traditionally worked by rotational agriculture and hunting based around farms populated from parent villages situated on the hills for protection. Today, almost all the traditional longhouse-villages have been replaced by individual houses, by roads and there is some plantation agriculture and a reduced emphasis on the growing of hill-padi. Fruit trees, especially durian, remain important property markers. The distinctive architectural and cultural feature of the Bidayuh is the headhouse, now adopted as a symbol.

The Bidayuh have a musical heritage consisting of various types of agung ensembles - ensembles composed of large hanging, suspended or held, bossed/knobbed gongs which act as drone without any accompanying melodic instrument

* Dayak Bidayuh Reference List by Kron Aken

* Kalimantan Dayaks by everyculture.com

* The Bidayuh - Sarawak by journeymalaysia.com

* The Land Dayaks of Sarawak by W. R. Geddes

* Anti-Brunei Movement 1836 (Bau Native Rebellion 1836) by bau.com.my

The Bidayuh Language: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow by Calvin R. Rensch, Carolyn M. Rensch, Jonas Noeb, Robert Sulis Ridu

The Peoples of Borneo by Victor T. King

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Singapore

Singapore Coat of Arms

Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, 137 kilometres (85 mi) north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At 710.2 km2 (274.2 sq mi), Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast Asia. It is substantially larger than Monaco and Vatican City, the only other present-day sovereign city-states.

Singapore is an alpha World City. The population of Singapore is highly cosmopolitan and diverse. It includes Chinese, Malays, Indians, Eurasians, Caucasians and Asians of different origins. The total population including non-residents is approximately 4.99 million.

Singapore has one of the highest percentage of foreigners in the world. 36% of the population in Singapore are foreigners and foreigners make up 50% of the service sector in Singapore.

Even before independence in 1965, Singapore was already one of the richest states in East Asia due to its strategic location as a trading port.

* History of Singapore, Culture of Singapore, Singlish, Cuisine of Singapore, Literature of Singapore, Cinema of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, Human Rights in Singapore

* Arab Singaporean, Eurasians in Singapore, Chinese in Singapore, Indians in Singapore

The Malays in Singapore

Yusof bin Ishak was the first President of Singapore

Malays in Singapore (Malay: Orang Melayu Singapura), while being the people indigenous to Singapore, now make up just 14% of the country's population, as based on the broader definition of a "Malay race" rather than the more specific "Malay ethnic group". This is due to the influx of Chinese immigrants, who flocked to Singapore throughout the past 200 years. The result is that the Chinese are now the majority ethnic group in Singapore, making up around 75% of the country's population.

Population of the Malay in Singapore: The figures below show the ethnic composition of the resident population in Singapore over the last 30 years.

**Ethnic composition (%) of resident population**
Ethnic	1970	1980	1990	2000	2006
Chinese	77.0	78.3	77.7	76.8	75.2
Malays	14.8	14.4	14.1	13.9	13.6
Indians	7.0	6.3	7.1	7.9	8.8
Others	1.2	1.0	1.1	1.4	2.4

Source: Singapore Department of Statistics.

History of the Malay Kings of Singapore: The seventeenth-century Malay chronicle, the Sejarah Melayu or Malay Annals, tells of the founding of a great trading city on the island of Temasek in 1299 AD by a prince from Palembang. Palembang was then the capital of the diminishing Srivijayan Empire. The prince, Sri Tri Buana, (also known as Sang Nila Utama) was said to be a descendant of Alexander the Great and an Indian princess called Shahru Al-Bariyah. Legend states that he renamed the city Singapura ("lion city") after sighting a strange beast that he took to be a lion although there is no real historical evidence of this.

In the mid-fourteenth century, Singapura suffered raids by the expanding Javanese Majapahit Empire to the south and the emerging Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya to the north, both at various times claiming the island as a vassal state. Around 1388, the ruler of Palembang, Parameswara, came to Singapore to flee from Majapahit control. He murdered the king and seized power. It was a futile act. The Srivijayan Empire, already in decline, finally met its end when Majapahit attacked its capital Palembang in 1391. In 1396, Majapahit or Ayutthaya forces drove out Parameswara, who fled northward and founded kingdom of Malacca in 1400.

When the Portuguese captured Malacca in 1511, the last Malaccan sultan, Mahmud Shah, fled to Johore, where he established the new Johore Sultanate. Singapura became part of this sultanate. In 1613, however, the Portuguese reported burning down a trading outpost at the mouth of the Temasek (Singapore) River, and Singapura passed into history.

The territory controlled by the Johore Riau Lingga Pahang Sultanate in the late eighteenth century still included Singapore as part of its territory. The sultanate had become increasingly weakened by a division into a Malay faction, which controlled the peninsula and Singapore, and a Bugis faction which controlled the Riau Archipelago and Sumatra. When Sultan Mahmud Riayat Shah III died in 1812, the Bugis had proclaimed the younger of his two sons, Abdul Rahman, as sultan instead of the elder son, Tengku Long. While the sultan was the nominal ruler of his domain, senior officials actually governed the sultanate. In control of Singapore and the neighboring islands was Temenggong Abdul Rahman, Tengku Long’s father-in-law. In 1818, he and some of his followers left Riau for Singapore shortly after the Dutch signed a treaty with the Sultan Abdul Rahman, allowing the Dutch to station a garrison at Riau.

In 1819, Tengku Long signed a treaty with the British led by Sir Stamford Raffles. In exchange for British protection and recognising him as Sultan of Johore, Tengku Long agreed to allow the British to establish a trading post in Singapore. Proclaimed as Sultan Hussein Shah, he became the Sultan of Johore.

In 1835, Sultan Hussein Shah died and was succeeded by his eldest son, Tengku Ali. Sultan Hussein had signed away his rights over the island in exchange for the land at Kampong Gelam plus an annual stipend for his family. After the Sultan's death, disputes broke out among his descendants. In the late 1890s, they went to court, where it was decided that no one in the family had the rights as the successor to the sultanate and the land at Kampong Gelam should be reverted to the state [Tengku Mahmud vs. Tengku Ali, Straits Settlements Laws Report 1897 (Vol. 5)]. This ended the reign of the Malay kings in Singapore.

Migration of Malays to Singapore After 1819: Singapore was not uninhabited when Sir Stamford Raffles came in January 1819.The waters of Telok Blangah, the Kallang River and other rivers had been home to the Orang Laut or Sea Nomads for a very long time. Here were also Malay settlements along the Kallang River Basin and the Singapore River. Turnbull reported that there was an estimated 1,000 people living in Singapore. There were about 500 Orang Kallang, 200 Orang Seletar, 150 Orang Gelam, 100 Orang Lauts , 20-30 Malays who were the followers of Temenggong Abdul Rahman and about 20-30 Chinese.

In the first census taken in 1824, it was revealed that the Malays (including the Bugis) then made up 60.9 per cent of the total population of 10,683.

**Ethnic number of resident population in 1824**
Ethnic Group	Population
Europeans	74
Armenians	16
Arabs	15
Malays	4,580
Bugis	1,925
Chinese	3,317
Indians	756
Total population	10,683

The Orang Laut (Sea Nomads): According to Sopher (1977), the Orang Kallang, Orang Seletar, Orang Selat and Orang Gelam were the Orang Laut that lived in Singapore. The Orang Kallang (also called the Orang Biduanda Kallang) lived in the swampy areas in the Kallang River. They lived on boats and sustained their lives by fishing and collecting other materials from the forests. After 1819, they were relocated by Temenggong Abdul Rahman to the northern Singapore Straits at Sungai Pulau. Tragically in 1848, the Orang Kallang were wiped out by a smallpox epidemic.

The Orang Seletar lived in the river swamps and the small islands surrounding mainland Singapore. They would often gather on the coastal areas especially on the estuary of the Seletar River. They lived a nomadic lifestyle until the 1850s when they started living on land and followed the lifestyles of others living in Singapore.

The Orang Selat lived in the harbour waters of Keppel Singapore. They were believed to have traversed the waters of Keppel Harbour since the early 16th century, making them one of the earliest settlers of the island. They sold fish and fruits to the trading vessels that passed the area.

The Orang Gelam came from a tribe in Batam Island. They were brought by the Temenggong of Johor together with a group of his followers to establish a settlement in the first decade of the 19th century. Many of the Orang Gelam who lived along the Singapore River served as boatmen for merchant ships while their womenfolk were fruit sellers on boats.

The Orang Laut differed from the Malays in that they lived a nomadic lifestyle and lived at sea in their boats whereas the Malays lived in settlements in the villages on the land.

The Malays: When Raffles came to Singapore, there were already hundreds of indigenous Malays living there. They were made up of the nobility that were headed by the Temenggong, the palace officials and his followers as well as the Orang Laut. Subsequently, the numbers increased with the arrivals of other Malays from Malaya and the Malay Archipelago.

In a matter of several months, hundreds of Malays from Malacca came to Singapore, encouraged by the British who wanted to develop Singapore as a centre for trade and administration (Siebel, 1961:27). When Singapore became more developed and there were better economic opportunities, many Malays from Riau, Sumatra, Penang, Malacca and Johore came to Singapore (Roff, 1967:33; Census 1931:72). Many of these Malays lived in the towns and worked there (Siebel, 1961:35). The census for 1931 showed that the total number of Malay men working here were as many as 11,290. Out of this number, 18% worked as fisherman and as many as 12% lived by farming the land.

In the 1930s and 1950s, many Malay residents from Malaya were working in the British uniformed services. In 1957 alone, there were more than 10,000 Malays working in the uniform services because the British preferred them to the Javanese or Malays from Indonesia (Betts, 1975:41; Djamour, 1959:5). However, during the period 1957-1970, most of them returned to Malaysia when their terms of services ended.

The Javanese: The second largest group were the Javanese. They came from Java in the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia). In the 1931 Population Census, the number of Javanese in Singapore was 16,063. The 1981 Population Census, however, showed that they made up 6% of the Malay population. However, many Javanese had actually registered themselves as 'Malay'. It is likely that the actual percentage of the Javanese within the Malay population was much higher. The Javanese came to Singapore in stages. In the mid-19th century, they came and worked as ironsmiths, leather makers as well as spice merchants and religious books dealers. There were also a group of Javanese printers and publishers in the Arab Street area. There were also community of pilgrim brokers that played an important role in encouraging the migration of the Javanese to Singapore.

The political situation in the Dutch East Indies created by the Dutch government caused many Javanese go through Singapore to travel to Mecca to perform the hajj. From the mid-19th century until 1910, between 2,000 to 7,000 Javanese travelled to Mecca through Singapore until the regulations were eased (Roff 1967:39). Usually, these pilgrims would work in Singapore for several months or years before or after performing the hajj to earn money or pay their debts to their pilgrim brokers. Many of them stayed on in Singapore and became part of the Muslim community in the city (Roff, 1967:43).

A number of Javanese also came to Singapore with the help of the pilgrim brokers. They came voluntarily and a majority of them were young men who stayed in the lodgings of the pilgrim brokers until they found work. They worked as food sellers, gardeners and provided labour for the pilgrim brokers to build lodging homes for them. The pilgrim brokers also took in bonded labourers who worked for Malay or Javanese employers to clear forests to set up settlements in Johore, Malaya (Roff, 1967:37). The activities with these bonded labourers continued until the 1920s. From 1886 till 1890, as many as 21,000 Javanese became bonded labourers with the Singapore Chinese Protectorate, an organisation formed by the British in 1877 to monitor the Chinese population. They performed manual labour in the rubber plantations. After their bond ended, they continued to open up the land and stayed on in Johore.

After the Second World War, the total number of Javanese coming to Singapore continued to increase. The first wave consisted of conscript labour that were brought by the Japanese and their numbers were estimated to be about 10,000 (Turnbull, 1976:216). The second wave were those who moved to Singapore through Malaya. The 1970 Population Census showed that a total of 21,324 Malays who were born in Malaya (later Malaysia) had moved to Singapore in the years 1946-1955; and as many as 29,679 moved to Singapore from 1956-1970 (Census 1970:262-3). Interviews conducted showed that a majority of them were young men of Javanese descent from Johore who wanted to find a better life in Singapore. Most of them were not educated and not highly skilled and worked as manual labourers in the post war years.

The Baweanese (Boyanese): The Baweanese or Boyanese came from the Bawean Island in the Dutch East Indies. They built the Kampung Boyan (Boyanese Village) by the banks of the Rochor River, between Jalan Besar and Syed Alwi Road since the time of Munshi Abdullah. Most of them came to Singapore in the late 19th century until the end of Second World War. The majority of them worked as horse cart drivers and later as motorcar drivers. They could not be considered poor as their lands in Bawean were fertile; they had come in search of cash earnings. They wanted to purchase jewellery made of gold and goods that they could bring back to their villages. Some also wanted to build a better life for themselves in Singapore.

Most of them were young men who came and supported themselves, living in communal houses. There were several such houses built in Singapore. They were found in places like Adam Communal House in Ann Siang Hill, Teluk Dalam Communal House in Dixon Road and Dedawang Communal House in Sophie Road. There was also a village within the town area that was inhabited by the Baweanese called Kampung Kapur (literally ‘Lime Village’) in the western part of Kampung Boyan (Boyan Village). A mosque called the Masjid Bawean Kampung Kapur (Bawean Mosque of Lime Village) located at Weld Road was built in 1932. There was also a communal house that became the gathering point for writers and their friends from the literary group called Jejak Kembara (literally ‘Wandering Steps’) in the late 1970s.

Due to the fact that they shared the same religion and were closely related racially, both the Baweanese and the Javanese were able to mix freely and even intermarried with the Malays. In time, this caused the differences between them to be less obvious and more Baweanese and Javanese began identifying themselves as Malays.

The Bugis: The Bugis came from the Celebes Islands in Indonesia. They were well known for a long time as maritime traders. In the mid-seventeenth century, the Bugis were spreading out from Celebes to set up trading centres throughout the region. Often they had to sail to distant lands and fight indigenous tribes. They rarely lost and acquired a reputation as fierce warriors.

The Dutch control of the Dutch East Indies and their blockades cut off the Bugis from their traditional spice trade routes from Celebes to Java. This forced them to migrate to other areas to continue trading. Their migration to what is today Malaysia, Singapore and Riau began around the 18th century or even earlier. At the beginning of the 19th century, the number of Bugis traders in the region increased. Their influence in Riau was strong. Among the Bugis traders were also members of the nobility like Engku Karaeng Talibak who married the daughter of Raja Ali Haji. According to Raja Ali Haji in his work, Tuhfat al-Nafis, the presence of Karaeng Talibak brought more Bugis traders to Riau.

The establishment of a free port in Singapore allowed the Bugis to expand their network in the archipelago. Sailing from Sumatra to north Australia, the Bugis ships brought cargoes of cotton cloth, gold dust, birds-of-paradise feathers, pepper, trepang (sea slugs), sandalwood, tortoiseshell, coffee and rice to Singapore. Most of these goods were very much in demand by the Chinese merchants in Singapore. The Bugis also traded in slaves.

James Cameron gave a description in 1865 of the various ships that would visit Singapore’s harbour. According to him, each year during October and November, the Bugis ships would come from Bali and the Celebes.

By the 1830s, the Bugis had established themselves in Singapore and formed the majority of the pioneer communities in the Kampung Gelam area. By 1881, the Census of Population reported 2,053 Bugis in Singapore. The Bugis gradually formed kampongs and settlements in places like Kampung Bugis (around the Kallang River), Kampung Soopoo, Jalan Pelatok and Jalan Pergam.

The Minangkabaus: The Minangkabau people came from Western Sumatra. The Minangkabaus are known for their matrilineal social system and their tradition for travelling. The Minangkabaus would leave their homes and travel in search of work, knowledge and experience. They would usually return home once they had fulfilled their objective. This tradition of travelling was a rite of passage for the young Minangkabau men and was considered a way for them to be in touch with the outside world.

The Minangkabaus have been migrating to Malaysia and Singapore since long ago. This only stopped when Malaya achieved independence from the British in 1957, when the immigration laws were tightened. The majority of Minangkabaus who came to Singapore came from Pariaman and Agam in Western Sumatra. The majority of them were engaged in business, especially in selling nasi padang (a rice dish made of meat, vegetables and tempeh). The Minangkabaus also sold religious items, toys and clothes. They had shops in Arab Street and Geylang. They also worked as taxi drivers, gardeners and joined uniformed services. Many Minangkabaus also worked as sailors on ships owned by trading companies. The Minangkabaus even formed an association at one time but this was subsequently banned during the 1962-66 Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation.

After Singapore became an independent state in 1965, the majority of Minangkabaus either migrated to Malaysia or returned back to Sumatra. Those who stayed in Singapore assimilated into the Malay community. Not many Minangkabaus brought their wives or women with them to Singapore. As such, many married the local Malay women and did not maintain strong ties with the other Minangkabau communities. By 1973, it was estimated that there were 200 Minangkabaus family in Singapore and almost all of them were Singapore citizens.

The Banjar: The Banjar people originated from the southern and eastern coast of Kalimantan in Borneo. Most came from Banjarmasin in the area surrounding the Barito basin. These areas were used for the cultivation of paddy. The Banjarese who migrated to the Malay Peninsula were farmers who were experienced in paddy cultivation. They also migrated to spread Islam to the region, to escape poverty and the oppressive Dutch rule of their homeland. Some also wanted to escape the presence of wild animals that threatened their farms in Kalimantan.

The Banjarese generally did not like to be employees. They preferred to be self-employed, working as either farmers or businessmen. The Banjar were also well known as jewel cutters and dealers in the region. Many came to Singapore to deal in the jewellery trade and had their shops in Arab Street. They even formed a Kalimantan Association in Singapore.

The Banjarese made up a very small percentage of the Malay population in Singapore. In 1931, they numbered 445 out of a total Malay population of 65,104 (0.7%). In 1947, they formed only 0.3 % of the population. This dropped to 0.2% in 1957 and 0.1% in 1970. By 1980 and 1990, the total numbers could not be determined, probably because the Banjarese have effectively assimilated into the Malay community.

The Batak: The Batak people are the smallest Malay group in Singapore. Up till 1978, there were less than 350 Bataks in Singapore. Unlike other Malay groups that are predominantly Muslim, there are many Christians in the Batak community (Seventh-day Adventists, Lutherans, Jehovah's Witnesses).

The Batak had been coming to Singapore before the 20th century. Not much is known about the Bataks that came to Singapore in the 19th century and before World War 2. Most were young men in their twenties who were from the Toba, Mandailing and Angkola.

The Bataks came to Singapore for economic, educational and social reasons. Most of those who came to Singapore before the War had received their primary education in the Batak and Malay language. Some came to Singapore to continue their education in the private and Christian schools. For example, the Seventh-day Adventist organisation had students' amenities in Singapore in 1915 and they encouraged the Bataks from Spirok, Angkola and Permatang Siantar in Sumatra to send their children to continue their studies in Singapore. An English education was prized as it was seen as a passport to getting a white-collar job in the plantations in Eastern Sumatra that were owned by the Dutch and the Americans. After receiving their education in Singapore, the Bataks would return to their homeland. Some would marry and bring their wives to Singapore. The Batak Christians were the first Bataks to bring their wives to Singapore.

Most of the Bataks who came before World War 2 worked as gardeners, peons and manual labourers. During the Japanese Occupation, the Bataks were conscripted as foot soldiers or forced labourers by the Japanese. Some were sent to Singapore for military training. After the War, many of the Bataks returned home. At the same time, many others came to Singapore from places like Medan, Palembang and the Riau Islands. Some managed to find work as clerks, storekeepers and some started businesses with non-Bataks partners. Some also joined the British army as soldiers, technicians and electricians. Others started identifying themselves as Malays so that they could join the military or get jobs given to local Malays.

In 1947, the Bataks in Singapore formed a welfare organisation called Saroha (“one heart” in the Batak language). The aim of the organisation was to help the Bataks in Singapore. The organisation lasted until 1954 and was disbanded due to leadership problems and a lack of support from its members. Attempts to revive it later in 1958 proved futile.

There were Bataks who took Malay wives and converted to Islam. The majority of them and their descendants were assimilated into the Malay community and preferred to be known as Malays. A well-known Batak Muslim in Singapore is the radio personality, Aminah Siregar.

Ethnic composition of Malay population 1931-1990: The following figures show the composition of the various Malay ethnic population in Singapore for the past 60 years. The great increase shown in the other Malay groups, especially the Javanese, in 1990 is likely due to the increase in the employment of Indonesian domestic workers in Singapore.

**Ethnic Composition of Malay population in Singapore 1931-1990**
Malay Ethnic Group	1931	1947	1957	1970	1980	1990
Total	65,104	113,803	197,059	311,379	351,508	384,338
Malay	57.5%	61.8%	68.8%	86.1%	89.0%	68.3%
Javanese	24.5%	21.7%	18.3%	7.7%	6.0%	17.2%
Baweanese (Boyanese)	14.4%	13.5%	11.3%	5.5%	4.1%	11.3%
Bugis	1.2%	0.6%	0.6%	0.2%	0.1%	0.4%
Banjar	0.7%	0.3%	0.2%	0.1%	N.A.	N.A.
Other Malay Groups / Indonesians	1.7%	2.1%	0.9%	0.4%	0.8%	2.9%

(Reference: Arumainathan 1973, Vol 1:254; Pang, 1984, Appendix m; Sunday Times, 28 June 1992)

Culture: The majority of Malays in Singapore generally share a similar culture with those in Peninsula Malaysia.

Linguistically, most Malays in Singapore speak the Johore-Riau variant of Malay similar to that spoken in the west Malaysian peninsular rather than that of Indonesia. Some of the older generation who migrated here or whose parents were immigrants can speak Javanese. However, most of the Malays here do not speak the language of their ancestors from Indonesia.

English is also widely spoken. Arabic is more common among the Muslim religious teachers, and is the preferred language learnt by the more religious Malay Muslims.

Status of Malays in Singapore: Although many Malays in Singapore are generally of mixed descent, they are still recognised as the indigenous people of Singapore by the Singapore Constitution, Part XIII, General Provisions, Minorities and special position of Malays, section 152:

The Government shall exercise its functions in such manner as to recognise the special position of the Malays, who are the indigenous people of Singapore, and accordingly it shall be the responsibility of the Government to protect, safeguard, support, foster and promote their political, educational, religious, economic, social and cultural interests and the Malay language.

* Association of Y Chromosome Variation with Paternal Ancestry Origin of Three Ethnic Populations in Singapore by Y.Y. Yong, et al.

Sample Profile - Malay (Singapore) by DNA Tribes

Native Population Match: Malay (Singapore), Malay (Malaysia), Malay, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Thailand, Thailand, Javanese, Sumatra (Indonesia), Indonesian (Surabaya, East Java), Bidayuh (Sarawak, Malaysia), Vietnam, Macau (China), Cambodia, Java (Indonesia), Java (Indonesia), Vietnamese (Hanoi, Vietnam), Sulawesi (Indonesia), East Timor, Tu (Qinghai, China), Philippines.

* Singapore Genome Variation Project: A haplotype map of three Southeast Asian populations by YY Teo, et al.

Abstract: The Singapore Genome Variation Project (SGVP) provides a publicly available resource of 1.6 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyped in 268 individuals from the Chinese, Malay, and Indian population groups in Southeast Asia. This online database catalogs information and summaries on genotype and phased haplotype data, including allele frequencies, assessment of linkage disequilibrium (LD), and recombination rates in a format similar to the International HapMap Project. Here, we introduce this resource and describe the analysis of human genomic variation upon agglomerating data from the HapMap and the Human Genome Diversity Project, providing useful insights into the population structure of the three major population groups in Asia. In addition, this resource also surveyed across the genome for variation in regional patterns of LD between the HapMap and SGVP populations, and for signatures of positive natural selection using two well-established metrics: iHS and XP-EHH. The raw and processed genetic data, together with all population genetic summaries, are publicly available for download and browsing through a web browser modeled with the Generic Genome Browser.

* The Peopling of Korea Revealed by Analyses of Mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosomal Markers by Han-Jun Jin, et al.

Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) Plot Based on RST distances of Y chromosome STRs

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Riau Islands

The Riau Islands Province is a province of Indonesia, consisting of Riau Archipelago, Natuna Islands, Anambas, and Lingga Islands.

The official language of the Riau Islands is Riau. The Riau Islands are considered the birthplace of the Malay language. It is the official standard for Malay, as agreed upon by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

History: From Srivijayan times until the 16th century, Riau was a natural part of greater Malay kingdoms or sultanates, in the heart of what is often called the Malay World, which stretches from eastern Sumatra to Borneo. The Malay-related Orang Laut tribes inhabited the islands and formed the backbone of most Malay kingdoms from Srivijaya to the Sultanate of Johor for the control of trade routes going through the straits.

After the fall of Melaka in 1511, the Riau islands became the center of political power of the mighty Sultanate of Johor or Johor-Riau, based on Bintan island, and were for long considered the center of Malay culture.

But history changed the fate of Riau as a political, cultural or economic center when European powers struggled to control the regional trade routes and took advantage of political weaknesses within the sultanate. Singapore island, that had been for centuries part of the same greater Malay kingdoms and sultanates, and under direct control of the Sultan of Johor, came under control of the British.

The creation of a European-controlled territory in the heart of the Johor-Riau natural boundaries broke the sultanate into two parts, destroying the cultural and political unity that had existed for centuries. The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 consolidated this separation, with the British controlling all territories north of the Singapore strait and the Dutch controlling territories from Riau to Java.

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Malaysian Chinese

A Malaysian Chinese is an overseas Chinese who is a citizen or long-term resident of Malaysia. Most are descendants of Chinese who arrived between the fifteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries. Within Malaysia, they are usually simply referred to as "Chinese" in all languages. The term Chinese Malaysian is also sometimes used to refer to this community. Early Chinese settlers (from the fifteenth century in Malacca; eighteenth century in Penang) form to a sub-group called Peranakan or Straits Chinese, who adopted many Malay customs and to varying extents (limited in Penang, almost complete in Malacca) the Malay language, but retained Chinese religious practices. In contrast, the newer arrivals (nineteenth century and later) who retained Chinese customs were known as sinkheh (新客 - literally "new guests"). The Chinese in Malaysia maintain a distinct communal identity and rarely intermarry with native Muslim Malays for religious and cultural reasons. Most Malaysian Chinese consider their being "Chinese" at once an ethnic, cultural and political identity.

Most Chinese immigrants of Malaya came from southern China, mostly from the province of Fujian and Guangdong. In the nineteenth century, many came as indentured labourers, known as coolies (苦力). Others came freely to work, and were supported by Clan Associations. By 1911, the Chinese population in Malaya had reached 269,854, and around a million circa 1949. The number of Chinese speakers has increased to 5,365,846 in year 2000, comprising 26% of total population in Malaysia.

There are, in general, three sub-linguistic groups of Malaysian Chinese with three metropolitan centers. The Penang, Klang and Malacca groups are predominantly Hokkien-speaking and the Kuala Lumpur, Seremban & Ipoh group is predominantly Cantonese and Hakka-speaking. To the south of Peninsular Malaysia, in Johor, Mandarin is predominantly spoken among the Chinese communities there, which is a result of the Mandarin media influence from Singapore, and the use of Mandarin in formal education. This has resulted in many people, especially the younger generation, to discard and neglect the usage of Chinese dialects, especially Teochew and Cantonese. Whereas in East Malaysia (Malaysian Borneo), Hakka and Mandarin is widely spoken, except in Sibu, Fuzhou and in Sandakan, Cantonese. Modern movements to unify and organize Malaysian, Singaporean and Indonesian Chinese communities introduced Standard Mandarin as the language of diaspora ethnic nationalism.

The new immigrants who have not learned the colonial trading language of English are often jealous of the older immigrants who have integrated into an English-speaking colonial system. As such, the majority of Chinese-speaking immigrants often attack the older immigrants in British Civil Service using derogatory cultural remarks, a typical intra-racial infighting that explained the weak national identifications and identities that gave foreign colonization under British power an upper-hand. The essentially ironic but racist term banana (香蕉人), "white on the inside, yellow on the outside" was invented. The ungrammatical construction of the term reflects its linguistic origin and basis - from various dialects. However, with development of Greater China's economy, this intra-racial infighting is reducing because many of the English-educated families sent their children to learn Chinese language.

Chinese Singaporean

Chinese Singaporeans are people of Chinese descent who are born in or immigrated to Singapore. As of 2000, Chinese Singaporeans constitute 78% of Singapore's population, or approximately three out of four Singaporeans. Outside Greater China, Singapore is the only country in which overseas Chinese forms the majority of the population.

Chinese in Singapore today commonly recognize themselves first as Singaporeans (新加坡人), and then Chinese (Huaren 华人). Peranakans are ethnic Chinese who had married ethnic Malays somewhere in their ancestral line and thus developed a culture of their own comprising a mixture of Chinese and Malay culture.

Language Groups: The majority of Chinese in Singapore are Han Chinese with the exception of the Peranakans and a few Chinese of Non-han ancestry such as Manchu. The Peranakans are classified as a separate ethnic group whose ancestry is not directly traceable to China.

In general, the Chinese in Singapore are grouped according to their respective Chinese language/dialect groups (dialect roots) or linguistic-cultural groups. Inter-language group marriage is quite common in Singapore, but association of language roots will follow the respective language roots of the father's side. For instance, if father is of Hokkien language roots and mother is of Teochew language roots, the children will tend to associate themselves as Hokkien (i.e. following the language roots of the father). Some Chinese Singaporeans also tend to associate themselves with their clans and ancestry origin, as seen in Singapore Chinese Clan Associations.

Most of the Chinese in Singapore belong to several linguistic-cultural groups, originating from mainly the southern parts of China. The Hokkien, Teochew and Hainanese, all of whom belong to the Min-nan group, jointly form more than three-quarters of the Chinese population. The Cantonese, Hakka and other minor groups account for most of the remainder.

Hokkien (Fujian): The Hokkiens constitute around 41% of the Chinese Singaporean population. Most originated from the southern parts of the Fujian province (福建省), primarily Xiamen (厦门), Zhangzhou (漳州) and Quanzhou (泉州). They speak the Amoy dialect of Hokkien.

The Hokkien language was a lingua franca amongst the various Chinese language groups and was also used by other ethnic groups such as the Malays and Indians to communicate with Chinese before Mandarin came into dominance during 1980s and 1990s.

Early Hokkien migrants settled around Amoy Street and Telok Ayer Street, forming enclaves around the Thian Hock Kheng Temple. They subsequently set up clan headquarters (Hokkien Huey Kuan) there and later expanded to Hokkien St and the vicinity of China Street. The Hokkiens were the most active in early trading that centered along the Singapore River.

Teochew (Chaozhou): The Teochew in Singapore constitute about 21% of the Chinese population in Singapore. Teochews originated from the Chaoshan region in Guangdong Province of China, namely Jieyang, Shantou, Chaozhou, Chaoyang, Puning, Chao'an, Raoping, Huilai, Chenghai and Nan'ao.

The Teochew people speak Teochew, another Min-Nan language, which is 50.4% mutually intelligible with Hokkien. The Teochews, like the Hainanese, trace their ancestry to southern Fujian (闽南). Their migration from southern Fujian to their new homes in the Chaoshan region and Hainan Island respectively were mainly due to overpopulation and famine in the southern Fujian region. Despite linguistic and cultural similarities, the Teochews and Hokkiens considered themselves distinct and did not get along well during their early settlement in Singapore, especially during the British colonial era.

The Teochews were the dominant Chinese Language group for a period of time during the 19th century. Mass immigration of Chinese from Fujian later caused the Hokkiens to outnumber the Teochews, especially in the south. The majority of the Chinese living along the banks of the Straits of Johor were largely Teochew until the HDB initiated mass redevelopment from the 1980s onwards.

The majority of the Teochew settled along the banks of the Singapore River in Chinatown during the 19th and early 20th century. Teochews who settled in Chinatown worked in many commercial sectors as well as fishery. Traditional commercial sectors of Chinatown once dominated by Teochews include Circular Road and South Bridge Road.

Others Teochew businessmen set up gambier and pepper plantations in the dense forests of Singapore, parts of northern Singapore as well as Johor Bahru. The Chinese first started their plantations with the approval of the Sultan of Johor from the nineteenth century onwards. This attracted more Teochews to start their plantations in those areas over the years. As such, the "Kangchu" system eventually started to form. The Chinese word "Kang" (江) means river, while "Chu" (厝) means house. However, in this context, "Chu" is the clan's name of the first headman in charge of the plantations in the area. The "Kangchus" gave rise to modern place names such as Choa Chu Kang, Lim Chu Kang and Yio Chu Kang, all of which were largely plantation areas prior to urban redevelopment.

Early Chinese immigrants clustered themselves to form clan and Language associations. These clan associations or Kongsi served as unions for the mostly illiterate Chinese laborers and represented them when dealing with their colonial rulers or employers. One of the more prominent clan assosciations for the Teochew was the Ngee Ann Kongsi, a Teochew-oriented association formed in 1845 that is still in existence.

The Straits Times highlighted that Hougang has a relatively high concentration of Teochew residents.

Cantonese (Guangdong): The Cantonese make up 15% of the Chinese Singaporean population. Unlike the Hokkien, Teochew and the Hainanese, the Cantonese speak a language belonging to the Yue family. The Cantonese community is also further sub-divided into several dialect groups. Yue Hai is considered to be the purest form of Cantonese because of its close proximity with Guangzhou. Other variants include Luoguang, Seiyap and Gouyeung. The Gwainaam variant is largely based in Guangxi and shares close affinity with Pinghua.

The Cantonese mainly worked as goldsmiths, tailors and restaurateurs during the early and mid 20th century, and their businesses predominated the shophouses along Temple Street, Pagoda Street, and Mosque Street.

Cantonese women from the Samsui district (三水区), worked in construction sites, and contributed greatly towards the development of Singapore. These Samsui women left their families behind in China and came to Singapore to work in construction sites for a living during the early 20th century. They were noted for their distinctive navy blue outfits and bright red headgear, which were meant for protecting their hair as they worked. The headgear was first worn by Wang Chao Yun (王朝云字子霞), a concubine of Su Dongpo, in the Hakka Fui Chiu district of Guangdong province and it eventually became the traditional headgear of Hakkas. Cantonese women who worked alongside female Hakka labourers adopted the use of the headgear.

Cantonese women from the Seiyap (四邑) district in Jiangmen prefecture wore black headgear similar to the Samsui women. Seiyap women who wore black headgear mainly worked in shipyards at the old harbour along Singapore river as well as at Keppel Harbour.

Today Chinatown is known among Singaporeans for having a large number of Cantonese people.

Hakka (Kejia): The Hakka constitute 11.4% of the Chinese Singaporean population. Since their language is somewhat similar to Mandarin, albeit strongly influenced by Min-nan and Yue, they were long thought to have migrated from Northern China between the 16th and the 17th century. Recent genetic studies, however, have shown that the Hakkas originate from Southern China, like the other Chinese language groups in Singapore.

Many Hakka women who came to Singapore during the early 20th century worked in construction sites and wore headgear similar to the Samsui women. However, unlike the Samsui women, those Hakka women wore black, rather than red headgear.

Hainanese and Eastern Min: This group constitutes 5% of the Chinese Singaporean population. Of them, the majority are Hainanese, from Hainan, speaking Hainanese.

The others, who included the Hockchew (Fuzhou), Hockchia and the Hinghwas, who came from Northeastern Fujian and Southern Zhejiang. They spoke various Eastern Min languages. As late-comers to Singapore (late 19th century), most of them worked as shop helpers, chefs, and waiters in the hospitality sector. Hainanese Chicken Rice is a famous dish.

The Singaporean Hainanese were also known for their Western food, as many of the early Hainanese migrants worked as cooks on European ships.

* Singapore Genome Variation Project: A haplotype map of three Southeast Asian populations by Yik-Ying Teo, et al.

Excerpt: It has been historically documented that Chinese migrants into early Singapore predominantly consisted of people from the southern provinces of China. Our analysis of population structure in East Asia where CHS clustered together with Chinese sub-ethnicities from Southern China and Southeast Asia supported this claim, together with the observation at FABP2 that Singapore Chinese are less likely to carry the genetic variant that confers greater tolerance to cold climates compared with the Han Chinese in Beijing from Northern China. As this variant is similarly found at low frequency in the Malays with equatorial habitats, this suggests that the difference between Singapore Chinese and the Han Chinese from Beijing reflects the genetic diversity found between the northern and southern parts of China.

* The Origin of Minnan & Hakka, the So-Called "Taiwanese" Inferred by HLA Study by M. Lin

* Genetic Link Between Chaoshan and Other Chinese Han Populations: Evidence from HLA-A and HLA-B allele frequency distribution by Sheng-Ping Hu, et al.

Neighbor-Joining Tree

* A Homeland or Hostland? The power and challenges of genetic studies on Austronesian’s expansion by Mutsu Hsu and Shu-Juo Chen

Neighbor-joining Tree of Taiwan AN Populations, East Asians, Southeast Asians and Other Populations Worldwide (from Chu et al. 2001)

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Map of Southeast Asia

Map of the Silk Road

The Silk Road, or Silk Route, is a series of trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting East and West by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads and urban dwellers from China to the Mediterranean Sea during various periods of time. The trade route was initiated around 114 BC by the Han Dynasty (114 BC), although earlier trade across the continents had already existed. Geographically, The Silk Road or Silk Route is an interconnected series of ancient trade routes connecting Chang'an (today's Xi'an) in China, with Asia Minor and the Mediterranean, extending over 8,000 km (5,000 miles) on land and sea. Trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the great civilizations of China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Indian subcontinent, and Rome, and helped to lay the foundations for the modern world.

The Sea route: As long as 14 hundred years ago, during the Eastern Han Dynasty in China, the sea route led from the mouth of the Red River near modern Hanoi, all the way through the Malacca Straits to Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka and India, and then on to the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. From ports on the Red Sea goods, including silks, were transported overland to the Nile and then down to Alexandria from where they were shipped to Rome and other Mediterranean ports. The Silk Road on the Sea extends from southern China to present day Brunei, Thailand, Malacca, Ceylon, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Iran. In Europe it extends from Israel, Lebanon, Egypt, and Italy in the Mediterranean Sea to Portugal and Sweden.

Europe Reaching for Asia: The disappearance of the Silk Road following the end of the Mongols was one of the main factors that stimulated the Europeans to reach the prosperous Chinese empire through another route, especially by the sea. Tremendous profits were to be obtained for anyone who could achieve a direct trade connection with Asia.

When he went West in 1492, Christopher Columbus reportedly wished to create yet another Silk Route to China. It was allegedly one of the great disappointments of western nations to have found a continent "in-between" before recognizing the potential of a "New World."

In effect, the spirit of the Silk Road and the will to foster exchange between the East and West, and the lure of the huge profits attached to it, has affected much of the history of the world during these last three millennia.

TaiwanDNA.com

Origins and Diversity of the Taiwanese People

(Photo of Tuanku Sultan Otterman II)

Links to Articles:

Culture

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Colonial House in Penang

MALAY

Excerpts from Wikipedia.org

History

Kedah and Melaka Literature

Deutero Malays

Malay Race

Ethnic Group vs. Cultural Sphere

Malaysia

Map of Malaysia and Singapore

The Malay Archipelago by Alfred Wallace (e-book)

Prehistoric Malaysia

Chronology

Map of Mekong River

Mekong River Migration

The Kamboja migrations through the Indian ocean

The Migration of Kambujas

Mekong Delta

Ethnic Groups in Malaysia

Malaysian Malay

Orang Asli

* Genetic Dendrograms and Malaysian Population History by Alan Fix

* DNA Study Yields Clues on First Migration of Early Humans by Nicholas Wade

* Mitochondrial DNA profiling of Modern Malay and Orang Asli Populations in Peninsular Malaysia by Z. Zainuddin.

* A Mitochondrial Stratigraphy for Island Southeast Asia by Hill C, et al.

* Phylogeography and Ethnogenesis of Aboriginal Southeast Asians by C. Hill, et al.

Plot of First 2 Principal Components of Malaysian and Sumatran mtDNA Haplogroup Frequencies

* Ancient Mitochondrial DNA from Malaysian Hair Samples: Some indications of Southeast Asian population movements by F.X. Ricaut, et al.

* Paternal Population History of East Asia: Sources, Patterns, and Microevolutionary Processes by Tatiana Karafet, et al.

* The Human Y Chromosome: An evolutionary marker comes of age by Mark A. Jobling, et al.

Global Distribution of Y Haplogroups

* Malays in Peninsular Malaysia May Have the Lowest Incidence of Stomach Cancer in the World by KG Lim

* Y-Chromosome Evidence of Southern Origin of the East Asian–Specific Haplogroup O3-M122 by Hong Shi, et al.

The Frequency Distribution of the O3-M122 Haplotypes in East Asian and Other Continental Populations

* Polymorphic Distribution of Y-chromosome Haplotype and Mitochondrial DNA in the Bouyei People in China by Li Yong-nian, et al.

Y-chromosome Haplotype Frequency Distribution in China and World Populations

* A Nomenclature System for the Tree of Human Y-Chromosomal Binary Haplogroups by The Y Chromosome Consortium

* mtDNA Control Region Sequence Polymorphisms and Phylogenetic Analysis of Malay Population Living in or around Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia by S. Maruyama, et al.

* Ancient Jades Map 3,000 Years of Prehistoric Exchange in Southeast Asia by Hsiao-Chun Hung, et al.

* Y-Chromosome Evidence for a Northward Migration of Modern Humans into Eastern Asia during the Last Ice Age by Bing Su, et al.

Principal-component Analysis of Y-chromosome Haplotype Frequencies of 30 Eastern-Asian Populations from

* Genetic Origins of the Ainu Inferred from Combined DNA Analyses of Maternal and Paternal Lineages by Atsushi Tajima, et al.

Asian Population Tree

* Patterns of Ancestral Human Diversity: An Analysis of Alu-Insertion and Restriction-Site Polymorphisms by W. S. Watkins, et al.

Neighbor-joining Networks of Genetic Distances, Based on 35 Polymorphic Alu Loci (a) and 30 RSP Loci (b)

* From East to West: Patterns of genetic diversity of populations living in four Eurasian regions by I. Kutuev, et al.

* The GM Genetic Polymorphism in Taiwan Aborigines: New data revealing remarkable differentiation patterns by Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, et al.

Multidimensional Scaling Analysis among 63 Populations from Southeast Asia Excluding all Sino-Tibetans but the Southern Chinese (grouped)

The ‘mixed’ sample is composed of individuals from Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Hunan. ST-SC: Sino-Tibetan, Southern Chinese (Min, Xiang, Gan, Hakka, Yue); AA: Austroasiatic; KA: Tai-Kadai; AN-EF: Extra-Formosan Austronesian; AN-TW: Autronesian from Taiwan; HM: Hmong-Mien.

* Mitochondrial DNA Diversity in Southeast Asian Populations by TG Schurr, et al.

Haplogroup E (mtDNA)

Sarawak

Ethnic Groups

Dayak

Dayaks in their war dress, 1864

Iban

Iban girls dressed in full Iban (women) attire during Gawai festivals

Iban of Sarawak: Chronicle of a Vanishing World by Vinson H. Sutlive

The Women's Warpath: Iban Ritual Fabrics from Borneo by Traude Gavin

Media and Nation Building: How the Iban Became Malaysian by John Postill

Iban Art: Sexual Selection and Severed Heads by Michael Heppell, Limbang Anak Melak, Enian Anak Usen

Bidayuh

(Photo From terencelau.com)

The Bidayuh Language: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow by Calvin R. Rensch, Carolyn M. Rensch, Jonas Noeb, Robert Sulis Ridu

The Peoples of Borneo by Victor T. King

Singapore

Singapore Coat of Arms

Yusof bin Ishak was the first President of Singapore

Sample Profile - Malay (Singapore) by DNA Tribes

* Singapore Genome Variation Project: A haplotype map of three Southeast Asian populations by YY Teo, et al.

* The Peopling of Korea Revealed by Analyses of Mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosomal Markers by Han-Jun Jin, et al.

Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) Plot Based on RST distances of Y chromosome STRs

* The GM Genetic Polymorphism in Taiwan Aborigines: New data revealing remarkable differentiation patterns
by Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, et al.

Multidimensional Scaling Analysis among 63 Populations from Southeast Asia
Excluding all Sino-Tibetans but the Southern Chinese (grouped)