Where have traditional Malay names gone?

According to some, Malay culture is slipping towards similarity with Arab culture.

COMMENT

I read a story recently concerning a group of Chinese who converted to Islam but insisted on keeping their names. The sentiment is beautiful. They do not wish to lose their cultural identity and the connection they have with their families through their names, rejecting the current practice of adopting a new name that seems to be a matter of course for Muslim converts in Malaysia.

A name given to you by your parents, especially in Chinese culture, holds weight because each part of the name expresses the hopes of the nuclear and expanded families. Keeping it shows how much respect you have for your roots.

A lot has been made of the Arabization of Malay culture over the past few years. For some reason, we have chosen to discard the traditional Malay names for festivities and celebrations, preferring the Arabic versions. Our culture, to some, is slipping towards similarity with Arab culture and gradually losing its Malay character.

Our defensiveness over race and language seems odd when we ourselves are slowly giving up our cultural identity by allowing the encroachment of Arabic cultural norms.

So what does this have to do with the names of the Chinese-Muslim converts? So what if they’re proud of the names given to them, and refuse to change them into something more “Islamic”? Brothers and sisters, have you considered the names we give our children? There has always been an overlap with Arabic or Islamic names ever since Islam came to Malaysia, but we have always tended to retain Melati, Jebat, Anggerik and other names that carry the sweet flavour of Malayness about them.

That is, until quite recently. It seems as if names like these are becoming increasingly rare, making way for Arabic-style names which are admittedly more universally identifiable given the prominence of Arab culture. However, we are losing sight of our cultural roots and along with it comes an overabundance of people carrying the same names. Throw a stone in the middle of a crowd at the pasar Ramadan, and you’ll probably hit four or five Hafizes and maybe as many Najwas before that stone reaches the ground.

There are many poetic and beautiful traditional Malay names that these days are all too commonly assigned only as classroom names, and it is such a shame to lose such a rich part of our culture. Even as we look towards a global platform, we would do well to remember to preserve our legacy for the sake of future generations.