A-C-H in South East Asia

Hello all! We are coming to an end for this theme. But before that happens, let us first look at Arts, Culture and Heritage in South East Asia!

Most countries in South East Asia except Thailand were once colonial countries, colonized by the Europeans.

South East Asia consist of these countries namely: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor- Leste and Vietnam. Each different country has its own unique Arts, Culture and Heritage.

Lets us head over to Malaysia for a head start!

Arts: A traditional form of Malay dance is Mak Yong, in which the performers sing, dance, and act out heroic tales about sultans and princesses.

The gamelan is an orchestral that accompanies most performances which consists mostly of metal percussion instruments, including gongs, xylophones, and drums.

Other artistic forms include ayang kulit (shadow-puppets), silat (a stylised martial art) and crafts such as batik, weaving and silver and brass work.


Culture: The traditional Malay wedding ceremony, which incorporates some elements of the Hindu traditions of southern India; the bride and groom dress in gorgeous brocades, sit in state, and feed each other yellow rice with hands painted with henna. Green packets are adapted from the chinese red packets, they have Arab writing on them.









Heritage: The best place to get to know more about Malaysia's heritage would be to visit Malacca. Some of these places can be found there such as:

The 'Straits Chinese', are also known as the Baba and Nyonya. They are Chinese of noble descent who adopted much of the Malay culture into theirs. Over the centuries, the Baba Nyonya have developed a distinct and highly interesting culture that is unique to Malaysia's west coast, particularly Melaka. Historical artefacts unique to this heritage can be viewed by the public which is run by the Babas and Nyonyas of Melaka as a private museum. The Heritage Museum offers guided tours (by appointment), research facilities and audio visuals.



The Portuguese colonised Melaka from 1511 to 1641. The first thing they did was build a fort overlooking the river, calling it A'Famosa. As Melaka was the centre of struggles between super powers of the time, and suffered the constant threat of attack, the A'Famosa fort was critical in Portugal maintaining its colonial foothold in the Far East.
Within the fort walls were housing and food stores, a castle, a meeting room for the Portuguese Council and five churches. A seven-month attack by the Dutch just about destroyed the entire fortress, leaving only the entrance façade and the structure of a church at the top of the hill.