ARTICLES
Is Sri Lankan Malay Language doomed?
Language is the soul of the race. A community is identified by the language its people speak. The Sri Lankan Malays are a minority group which seems to be drifting away from the Malay language .Even in their homes Malay language takes second preference. There is even a marked absence in the use of Malay language among some Malay organizations. This is critical when no Malay language is used. Most Malays communicate in English or in Sinhala thus creating the way for the language to meet.............. See more >>
Malays in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, hailed as the pearl of the Indian Ocean, is in the throes of a long drawn out ethnic conflict between the majority Sinhalese population and the minority Tamils who form nearly 70 per cent and 20 per cent respectively of the population...................... See more >>
What lured Malays to Sri Lanka?
There were some good reasons for the Malay migration to Sri Lanka until the early half of the nineteenth century. They moved not just as individuals, but brought along their families and children by uprooting themselves from their indigenous environment............... See more >>
Elite and cultured Malays
By the early 19th century the original Malay community (the "Ceylon Malays") that had gradually formed during the previous century had firmly established itself within Sri Lankan society. Many of them came from cultured families around the Archipelago............... See more >>
Orang Melayu: The story of Sri Lanka's Malay folk
Renowned for their martial prowess and happy go-lucky attitude, Sri Lanka"s Malay folk have but a relatively short history in the country, albeit a very fascinating one........................................... See more >>
Malay Padang
While some of us might be aware of Malay Rallies being held or ‘Malay Padangs’ uniting Malays from all over the country, many of us are ignorant as to what really goes on at these.............. See more >>
Malay community in Sri Lanka
Police Commemoration Day falls on March 21, 2012. Every year PC Sahaban’s name appears in the print media on Police Commemoration Day as the first policeman who was killed by Mamala Marikkar, the Lieutenant of Sardiel, on 21.03.1884 at Mawanella. Malays have been sincerely serving the governments.... See more >>
Malay Heroism in Sri Lanka
The transformation of the Sri Lankan Malay community into a martial race became more complete under the British rule than under the Dutch who surrendered their coastal possessions in 1796. Strangely enough, while the soldierly capabilities of Malays in Sri Lanka came in for their praise, the British treated the Malays in the peninsular as unfit for military duties. Similarly in Sri Lanka, they considered the indigenous Sinhalese as unsuitable to bear arms........... See more >>
Islam and learning among Malays
The Sri Lankan Malays are among the strongest adherents of Islam on an island where a 70% of the population are Buddhists while others follow Hinduism and Christianity. Unlike the South African Malays who underwent religious crisis during 18th and 19th centuries as a result of settling in a remote part of the world where Islam was hardly known, the Sri Lankan Malays, lived among a strong Muslim community in the island -the Moors - whose................... See more >>
Life after the Regiment
Police Commemoration Day falls on March 21, 2012. Every year PC Sahaban’s name appears in the print media on Police Commemoration Day as the first policeman who was killed by Mamala Marikkar, the Lieutenant of Sardiel, on 21.03.1884 at Mawanella. Malays have been sincerely serving the......................... See more >>
Malays of Sri Lanka
In year 2001 census, the total number of Malays in Sri Lanka was 47,558 amounting to 0.28 percent of the entire population. Most often the Malays are classified together with the Moors, the Borahs and the Memons under the title Sri Lankan "Muslims", resulting in confusion to the true identity of the Malays. The Sri Lankan Malays with regard to ancestry have a greater claim to being called "Indonesians" or "Javanese" than "Malay" or "Malaysians". Sri Lankan Malays are descendants of those exiles and other recruits brought to Sri Lanka during the Dutch period................. See more >>