The Cultural Characteristics and Meanings of the Rite of Passage among Malays in Malaysia

말레이시아 말레이인 일생의례의 문화적 특징과 의미

Although Malaysia chooses Islam as national religion, the nation has really shown a variety of belief systems among which we would find Hinduism, Buddhism, and Animism. Most scholars having studied them regarded the aspect of Malay traditional belief systems as syncretism. This trait of the belief systems in Malaysia is revealed well in the sphere specifically as the rite of passage, to which I do rather prefer the rite of "life" from the sense of emphasizing the rituals varied by the cycle of life time. Under the perspective this paper examines the real phases of the rite of passage, or life of Malays. I will argue here the fact that in performing the rite of passage, Malays mobilize various arts on the basis of the syncretic faith accepting the supernatural, or keramat, with almighty power. Therefore, from the study of the rite of passage we can exactly scrutinize how Malays have altered and adjusted their belief systems in real world.