April 19, 2022

Inter- and intracultural encounters in the shape of religions, language, material objects and food allow for the blurring of boundaries established by official ethnic categories. The single racial category “Malay” is in fact comprised of different ethnic groups such as the Bugis, Boyanese, Javanese, and many others.

The “Malay” category has historically been characterized by openness, dynamicity, and inclusivity, which extends to material and cultural forms such as “Malay food”. Malay cuisine is well-renowned for its rich and vibrant flavours, extensive influences, and entangled regional histories. During Hari Raya Puasa, which will take place on May 2^nd, 2022, special dishes such as ketupat and rendang are typically served.

In ‘Inter-cultural encounters with Malay food: Ethnicity, hybridity, cosmopolitanism’ (from Beyond Bicentennial: Perspectives on Malays (2020)), Dr Noorman Abdullah (NUS Departments of Sociology and Malay Studies) argues that “Malay food” in Singapore’s multicultural society is socio-historically a product of hybridization and cross-cultural encounters. This is especially due to the positioning of Singapore within Southeast Asia, and the culinary heritage which it shares with its neighbouring regions of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Southern Thailand. Other factors such as the introduction of new food ingredients to Southeast Asian cuisine by the Europeans and the sustained presence of Chinese, Indian, and Indonesian migrant workers have also significantly shaped and developed local Malay food. The history of Malay food reveals that elements of Chinese food have been incorporated into Malay cuisine, yet due to the thorough processes of appropriation that they have undergone, these hybridized dishes are typically defined as Malay.

Dr Abdullah contends that since culture is malleable, the demarcation of whether certain Malay food items are considered “authentic” or not will always be an ongoing and adaptable process. This is further exacerbated by the intensified rate of globalization taking place today, given the ever-changing social, cultural, and political conditions in Singapore and beyond.

During this process of demarcation, one needs to examine the ingredients, names, places of origin, and circulation of the Malay food items in question. However, Malay food has witnessed numerous improvisations which have resulted in the emergence of diverse new forms and is not strictly associated with “traditions” and the past. Therefore, not all “Malay food” necessarily has single “origins” but could instead be formed by association with two or more cultural sources. With the continuous reinvention and creation of new hybrid dishes, Dr Abdullah asserts that what is referred to as “Malay food” will always be an ongoing, fluid, and organic process.

This is not to say that every cultural form and practice can be “mixed”. For example, since a substantial majority of Malays in Singapore are Muslims, an important characteristic of Malay food is that it is usually halal. Religious rules and taboos such as the prohibition of pork and alcohol also influence Malay culinary preferences and behaviour.

Given Singapore’s highly cosmopolitan society, individuals from various backgrounds are typically more open to establish relations of mutual respect with other cultures within and beyond their own nation. Growing affluence among Malays has also led to increased demand for culinary innovation, with “traditional” Malay dishes being repackaged to cater to more cosmopolitan palettes. Many local and multinational food vendors have also begun to offer dishes once regarded as exclusive to a particular culture.

Read the chapter here.