Malaysia’s Local Superstitions
Malaysia is a multi-cultured country, and each culture has
it’s own superstitions beliefs.
Since I’m a Malay, I will try to elaborate more on Malay’s
superstitions beliefs from the ones that I heard and is aware of to the ones
that I found on the Internet.
Malaysia’s Local Superstitions Beliefs, also known as Malay’s
Superstitions Beliefs:
1) Don’t
sit or step on a book. If you do so, you will become stupid.
- The reason is actually because
it's a reading material, so, as a form of respect, the least we can do is not
to step or sit on it.2) Do not open an umbrella inside the house as it will bring bad luck.
- Actually the reason is that if you do so, you might poke someone or if the umbrella is wet, water will drip inside the house.
3) During Maghrib, Muslims kids are not allowed to play outside or they will be kidnapped by a ghost.
- The truth is that the kids need to be back home early, have their bath and pray on time.
4) Do not walk under the ladder or bad luck will befall you
- The truth is that if you walk under the ladder chances are people on top may drop something and fall on you, or worst, the ladder might fall on you.
5) If you cut your fingernails at night, your life span will be shortened.
- It is actually for safety reasons, because during night its dark so the possibilities of cutting or injuring your fingers are high.
6) If you peak on a girl during her shower, you will get an eye infection.
- It’s just to scare people so that they don’t go peeking at someone else during their shower.
7) If you drink water that contains ants in it, you will be forgetful.
- Why would you even do that haha
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Malaysian’s Chinese Superstitions Beliefs:
- Car number plates containing the number 8 (examples would be 8888, 888, 88, 8, 168, 668) are a sign of good fortune (the Cantonese pronunciation for 8 is "baat" which sounds similar to "fatt" which means prosperity; whereas 8 is pronounced as "ba" in Mandarin, which sounds similar to "fa" which means to prosper.)- The number 4 is often avoided. (Some buildings in Malaysia replaced "4th Floor" to 3A, and house address 44 and 4 to 43A and 3A.) The number "4" itself has a similar tone to the Chinese character for "death". This is very different than any other culture, in Malaysian Chinese culture the unlucky number is 14, because in Cantonese it sounds like “must/will die.”
- Red and yellow are the color of good fortune accepted by all, while black is a color of bad luck.
- Giving a clock as a gift is considered bad luck or curse. Traditional superstitions regard this as counting the seconds to the recipient's death. Another common interpretation of this is that the phrase "to give a clock" is a homophone of a phrase for "terminating" or "attending a funeral".
- Sharing a pear with friends or loved ones can be a mistake as it is a homophone of "separate", both pronounced "fēnlí" in Mandarin. Sharing with distant friends is okay.
- To protect your unborn baby from evil spirits, pregnant women are advised to place a knife under their bed.
- Pregnant women should not cut anything on the bed. Spiritually, it signifies cutting your unborn baby's umbilical cord.
- Using glue is believed to bring about difficult labor.
- It is important to have the house completely clean before New Year's Day for good luck in the coming year. However, never clean on New Year's Day, as it signifies sweeping all of your good luck out of the house.
- It is best to wear red coming into the new year, as it is considered to be the color that brings the most luck.
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Malaysian’s Indians Superstitions Beliefs:
- After moving into a new home, they will patch cow dungs on the wall of their entrance to prevent evil spirits from coming in.
- Seeing an elephant when one is leaving for a journey is considered lucky. This is because an elephant represents Lord Ganesha, the Indian God who is the harbinger of good luck and removes obstacles.
- Seeing a peacock on a journey is also considered lucky, but hearing its shrill sound is bad.
- Indians feel happy if a sparrow builds a nest in a new house because it signals good fortune.
- A dog howling near a sick man's chamber predicts his death.
- Even the daily life of Indians is governed by beliefs and superstitions. For example, Monday is not an auspicious day for shaving and Thursday is a bad day for washing one's hair.
- One of the common things not to do in public is for couples to hold hands. Now if you are married then it will be okay, but if you are just dating, holding hands in public whether or not it is among the Indian community is sometimes deemed inappropriate. This is due to an old tradition where it is not allowed in the society so there is always a fear of ‘what if people see us?’. Since holding hands are deemed inappropriate, then kissing and hugging are totally out of the question.
- For Indian girls, they are not encouraged to wear short skirts or short pants in public. This is very common in fact among all culture but it is regarded to be quite a serious taboo among the more traditional families because such fashion tends to promote promiscuity.
- Seeing an elephant when one is leaving for a journey is considered lucky. This is because an elephant represents Lord Ganesha, the Indian God who is the harbinger of good luck and removes obstacles.
- Seeing a peacock on a journey is also considered lucky, but hearing its shrill sound is bad.
- Indians feel happy if a sparrow builds a nest in a new house because it signals good fortune.
- A dog howling near a sick man's chamber predicts his death.
- Even the daily life of Indians is governed by beliefs and superstitions. For example, Monday is not an auspicious day for shaving and Thursday is a bad day for washing one's hair.
- One of the common things not to do in public is for couples to hold hands. Now if you are married then it will be okay, but if you are just dating, holding hands in public whether or not it is among the Indian community is sometimes deemed inappropriate. This is due to an old tradition where it is not allowed in the society so there is always a fear of ‘what if people see us?’. Since holding hands are deemed inappropriate, then kissing and hugging are totally out of the question.
- For Indian girls, they are not encouraged to wear short skirts or short pants in public. This is very common in fact among all culture but it is regarded to be quite a serious taboo among the more traditional families because such fashion tends to promote promiscuity.
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