Kelantan -the cradle of Malay culture

Kelantan is situated at the North Eastern State of Peninsular Malaysia, bordering Thailand and the South China Sea. The capital of Kelantan is Kota Bharu in the district of Kota Bharu.

There are 10 districts in Kelantan, namely Tumpat, Bachok, Machang,Pasir Mas,Tanah Merah, Pasir Puteh, Kuala Krai, Gua Musang,and Jeli.

The people

This is the only state in Malaysia that has a predominatly Malay population. With a population of about 1.8million. Ninety five Percent of her people belongs to this ethnic group. Others include, Chinese, Indians and Thais and a small percentage are Muslim Cambodians who have since 1971 made their homes here.

Rich cultural Heritage.

Kelantan is known for its ability to preserve and maintained its rich Malay cultural heritage and is often referred to as the 'Cradle of Malay Cultures'. Traditional gold thread weaving is still alive here. The kain songket (gold threaded materials produced here is said to be one of the finest and often sought after by dignitaries to wear on special occasion or functions).Wood c arvers,kite makers and many traditional arts and crafts made from mengkuang leaves and rattans can be found here.

Malay cultural performances such as Wayang Kulit, Dikir Barat, Mak Yong,Manora and Rebana can still be found here, although many have died, due to political interventions.The state government has banned these performances as un-Islamic and moral degradation. Women are not allowed to participate in any of these performances because it is considered taboo by the state government.

Islamic influence

Kelantan has been the regional culture of Islamic learning for hundreds of years. Many Islamic scholars in the olden days were from Kelantan or Southern Thai Province of Pattani.

Lower cost of living

The cost of living here is much lower than other states in Malaysia. This could be due to the fact that the people here are very self sufficient and hard working. They are capable of producing their own consumer needs and practice a simple life style and are very comfortable with it.

Traditionally, most of the people are involved in traditional activities such as fishing, fruit and vegetable farming, padi farmers and poultry farming.

Business-spirited Malays

Kelantanese women are known for their shrewd business-mind,creative, enterprising and hard working.

It is very common to see women here involved in all kind of business activities;doing business everywhere; in front of their houses;by the road sides; in front of the mosques; in every nooks and corners of the state.

Their strong spirit for self sufficiency has led them to produce their own basic needs such fruit,vegetables, fruits and rear their own chicken or other poultry animals. They eat what ever they need and sell whatever left overs. So you will find plenty of fruits,vegetables, fish, poultry, food stuff, variety of handcrafts and souvenirs which they create and produce available almost every where, be it at weekly markets or by the roadsides stalls. At Bazaars and market places it is full of enterprising women and men offering every type of goodies to attract customers.

Special attractions

For those visiting the state for the first time it is worthy to note that Kelantan has it own special attractions. Women are in control in most business enterprise.Besides that you will find the dialect is also distintly different.Ancient terminolog such as 'pitis' for money, 'rial' for dollar,'samah' for fifty cents is used in their daily communication, which the 'outsiders' may find quite confusing. You will also notice that, most buildings and business premises belongs to the Malays. You will see many commercial buildings bears Malay names such as Wisma Nik Fatimah, Wisma Nik Kembang, Wisma Ibrahim and sons,Wisma Dato' Wan Hassan, just to name a few.

Another interesting feature is the eating habits of the Malays in Kelantan. Majority of them eat rice-based food at least three time a day. Breakfast mainly consist of a variety of take-aways or ready wrapped nasi berlauk, nasi kerabu , nasi dagang or nasi tumpang, which is normally prepared at roadside stalls near their homes. It is common to see people, young and old standing and waiting at these roadside stalls buying food for their families for breakfast. Lunch however is normally prepared at home but also consist of rice and an assortment of lauk pauk (accompanying dishes to go with the rice normally consists of fish,vegetables and meat dishes).

At dinner-time the family usually sits together and eat the best meals of the day after a hard days work.

The assimilation

Most Malays here are fair and have sharp feature. You will not be able to distinguish between one race from the other, based solely on their looks or appearance. Although they are multi racial, you will not be able to distinguish them by their looks and speeches. They all sound and look almost similar in their behavior and and their ways of life, until you enter their homes.

The assimilation of the races here is very visible. You will find The Chinese or the Siamese will be known, not by their Chinese or Thai name, but rather by their Malay names like Awang for Ah Yuan, Hussein for Chong Seng and so on. This peculiarity is only acceptable in Kelantan

You should not also be surprised if the Chinese shopkeeper here say 'Insyaallah' or make promises to go to your appointment 'lepas subuh' or ' lepas zohor'. Such situation has been accepted a part of our culture.The Chinese will follow the Malay tradition of 'Tunkuing' ( applying pressure with a hot rock on the stomach during confinements and 'mengurut' (massaging)and make pulut kuning (yellow rice) after confinement.They are all part and parcel of Kelantanese way of life.

Kota Bharu, has it own delightful charms

There are many interesting places that will delight and charm visitors to Kelantan, especially in Kota Bharu, its state capital.

Beside its beautiful beaches and charming people, visitors will find Kota Bharu, a place to sample typical Malay cuisines.Assortments of delicious Malay apread such as Jala mas, akok, piyana, buah tanjung, serabey with exquisite taste and exotic names can be found here.Ayam Percik, Nasi Dagang,Nasi Kerabu, Nasi Belauk, Nasi tumpang and an array of local favorites such as laksa,laksam,colek,kerabu,rojak and nasi with an assortment of salads or ulam (normally gathered from their backyards) to go with our local favorite fish sauce 'budu'.'Budu' is a must in every household.

For bargain hunters

Kota Bharu will not disappoint you. Pasar Borong Wakaf Che Yeh,where good are sold at whole sale price. It is open 7 days a week. Bazaar Buluh Kubu for your batik and songket, other local handicrafts and souveniors.Visit the various cottage industries in Penambang and see how songket are made. Kelantan is also famous for its silver handcrafts.Pay a visit to these places and see how these handicraft are made. You might also want to see how Kites are made

See the Women power in Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah.
Visit the Batik Factory in Kampung Sirih
The War museums adjacent to the Kelantan river

Come and enjoy Nasi ulam with budu at the Handicraft centre

If you wake in the middle of the night and feel like eating, just drive to town and enjoy the cool nigh breeze of Sungai Kelantan.It is usually open until 3.00 or 4.00 o-clock in the morning.

Take a boat ride to Kampung Laut and see how dodol and Serunding are made.
If you like serunding there are a few sambal daging (local name for serunding)processors in Jalan Kubur Maras.Not far from Hotel Renaissance, in Kota Bharu.

If people has been telling you that our local favorite 'Budu' or fish sauce is made from berbudu (they are not true), you had better visit our Budu factory and see for yourself how our 'yummy appetizer Budu' is made.

If you are interested in tax-free goods,visit our border towns of Rantau Panjang and Pengkalan Kubur. If you are adventurous and brought your international passport, you can cross over to Sungai Golok or Takbai in Thailand, only a few minutes away by ferry from Pengkalan Kubur or drive across to Sungai Golok.

Visit the Largest Sleeping Buddha in the world.just a few minutes away from Kota Bharu.

Kelantan is also known for its traditional games of Top spinning (Gasing) and Bird singing competitions, kite flying competitions. More information on these please go to Kelantan tourism information centre in Jalan Ibrahim, Kota Bharu

The weekly Friday Religious talks given by Tok guru Haji Nik Aziz (He is the Menteri Besar of Kelantan) at the Pas Headquarters in Kota Bharu. This is also a crowd puller for those who are politically inclined or interested to see what 'Serambi Mekkah' has to offer.

Maybe to those of you who wants to spend some time here either listening to religious talks or look around for local dishes, clothes or any local produced goods.

Here you will be able to mingle around with the locals in their weekly bazaar. There are plenty of things on sale here. You can feast your eyes on a variety of goods and foodstuffs, clothes, herbs and other local handcrafts such as batiks and selendang (local head cover), scarves are on sale here.

Beaches and waterfalls

Kelantan has stretches and stretches of beautiful beaches and waterfalls, but most of the beaches are not recommended for swimming, because of its strong under current(maybe because it is facing the South china Seas) especially during the monsoon season. The beaches are however suitable for sun bathers who likes to tan themselves as the sun is very strong in the afternoon.

How about a ride in the Trishaw?

This is another mode of transportation in Kelantan. Take a ride in one of this decorated man-paddled three-wheeled bicycles( the locals call it teksi and see the town.The peddlers are mostly very experienced and would love to show you around for a fee. They are mostly from nearby villages.

Shopping at Bazaar Buluh Kubu and it surroundings

Here you can spend your time looking around the display of local handcrafts products, such as Batik, songket, gold and silver ornaments bracelets,necklaces, brooches; all hand-crafted by our own people. You can spend hours here looking for the right bargain. Beautiful hand-made batiks and locally woven materials are available here.

Adjacent to it is the Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah where you can feast your eyes or buy a variety of local products at very reasonable prices.

Food and Restaurants. Food are abundant here. Cheap and delicious.