ROLE PLAY: DIVERSE CULTURE

Emy Jackson, a Canadian visits Malaysia to learn and experience the diverse of different
cultures in the country. So, she hires a personal trip advisor to guide along her trip. Here
goes the flow of her travelling!

Emy: Hi, I’m Emy here. I’ve reached the airport and waiting near the arrival gate.
So, where can I meet you?
Trip Advisor: Hey Emy, just wait there, I’m heading towards your place now.
Emy: Alright!
Trip Advisor: Hello Emy, Welcome to Malaysia!
Emy: Hi Pria. Thank you for your warm welcome and nice to meet you..
Trip Advisor: Thank you. Let’s get to the car to start our journey.
Airport Selamat Datang. (Smiles)
Receptionist:
Emy: What does it mean?
Trip Advisor: It means ‘Welcome’ in Malay. Since, Malaysia is an Islamic Country, they
greet us using their national language.
Emy: Oh, that’s great! So, will the Malaysians only use Malay to communicate with
others?
Trip Advisor: No, although Malay is the official language of Malaysia, people here will also
use other languages according to their races and ethnics.
Emy: Can I know how many languages are being spoken in your country?
Trip Advisor: Sure Emy. The main ethnic groups within Malaysia comprise the Malays,
Chinese and Indians, with their languages such as Malay, Mandarin and
Tamil. The Malays speak Malay language, the Chinese speak Mandarin and
the Indians speak Tamil.
Emy: Wow, it’s great knowing that people in Malaysia can have the opportunity to
speak & learn various languages.
Trip Advisor: That’s true.
Emy: Ermm, Pria I’m so hungry. Can I get some food here?
Trip Advisor: Hey, trying Malaysian food is bound to be unlike any other. Follow me to the
restaurant to taste them.
Emy: Is it? I’m so excited & my mouth is watering. Let’s go!
Trip Advisor: We’ve reached the restaurant Emy. You can try any types of food here.
Emy: Oh, what dish is this?
Trip Advisor: This is Nasi Lemak, literally ‘fat rice’ is comprised of coconut rice, prawn
sambal, fried anchovies, peanuts, cucumber slices, and ayam rendang.
There might be variations with regards to the accompaniments, but the rice,
cucumber, and peanuts are pretty much staple.
Emy: Wow, the accompaniments are looking attractive! Hey, look here, the rice is
blue in colour!
Trip Advisor: Oh, that is called Nasi Kerabu. This famous Malaysian rice dish is distinct for
its blue rice, which is served with fried chicken, egg, and fried keropok.
 Besides, there are also Indians traditional food here. Let me show to you that
dish. This is called as Thosai. Thosai is a thin pancake made from a batter
various of fermented pulses and rice flour, which is then cooked on a flat
griddle. This dish is usually eaten with accompaniments such as sambar, an
Indian vegetabe stew, curry and chutney.
Emy: I will try this out for sure. Hey is this Vada?
Trip Advisor: Yes, how do you know that?
Emy: I’ve read about this at net. Vada is a category of savoury fried snacks from
India. Different types of vadas can be described variously as fritters, cutlets,
doughnuts or dumplings. Am I right?
Trip Advisor: Exactly Emy!
Emy: So, where are the traditional food of Chinese?
Trip Advisor: This is Hainanese chicken rice. Braised, silky chicken served on a bed of rice
that has been cooked with chicken broth to deliver the ultimate chicken
flavour.
Emy: Oh my god! It looks so tasty!
Trip Advisor: Hahahaha, try it out Emy! You’ll like it for sure. Anyways, do you know the
dish called Bak kut teh?
Emy: Yes yes. I’ve eaten it also. There are few pleasures as fatty at bak kut the, a
pork rib stew with a salty broth, perfect for dipping savoury yau char kwai in.
It comes in a large pot, so order to share with bowls of rice as
accompaniment.
Trip Advisor: That’s correct! Here’s the bak kut the Emy.
Emy: Thank you Pria.
Emy: (Hears a bell sound) What sound is that?
Trip Advisor: That’s Hindu’s temple’s bell ringing sound. They usually do prayers called at
Pooja at this time.
Emy: I really want to know about Malaysia’s religious sites. Can we go and visit the
temples you mentioned just now?
Trip Advisor: Sure, Emy. I know a lady there. She can briefly explain to you about the
Malaysians belief in their religious.
Emy: Great then. Let’s meet her.
Trip Advisor: Hi Maveenna. How are you? This is my client Emy, a foreigner who is here to
know about the Malaysians religious from you. If you don’t mind can you help
her to learn about it?
Maveenna: Hi Pria. I’m doing great. Sure, I’d love to do it! Hello Emy, nice meeting you.
Emy: Hi, nice knowing you too.
Maveenna: Many places of worship have been highlighted due to Malaysia’s multi-racial
population for decades. Mosques, Buddhist and Taoist temples, Indian and
Sikh temples and churches of different denominations dot the streets of
Malaysia. What is more interesting is that it is not impossible to find various
religious houses attesting to different faiths within the same area. There are
places where a mosque, Buddhist temple, Hindu temple and a church co-
 exist on the same street, if not side by side.
Emy: Interesting. Do they celebrate any festivals here?
Maveenna: With so many cultures co-existing in harmony with its shores, Malaysia also
naturally boasts a myriad of festivals celebrated throughout the year. The
major festivals are Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Chinese New Year, Deepavali and
Christmas. The Malays celeberate Hari Raya AIdilfitri, Indians Deepavali and
the Chinese celeberate Chinese New Year.
Emy: I wanted to ask you regarding the issue happened at Malaysia which was
about some months ago. It is about the riots erupted at a Hindu Temple.
Maveenna: Oh, that happened on last year November. The brawl erupted after a large
group of masked men ambushed worshippers at Seafield temple. The temple
is at the center of a land dispute with real estate company One City
Development, which has owned the land on which the temple is located since
2007. In this case, the temple was built on illegal land and the court has
issued a notice to move out and gave them a place to relocate the temple.
The fault is on the temple community members also. So, we cannot blame
anyone in this case as justice plays role here.
Emy: True indeed. In fact, I am just realizing the reality of this issue. Thank you for
that information Maveenna. It’s too useful and that is so sweet of you for
making some time to sit and talk with me. Thanks again for that.
Maveenna: Glad that you’ve gained some input from me and my pleasure dear.
Trip Advisor: So, we would like to make a move right now. Thank you Maveenna. See you
soon.
Maveenna: Bye guys. Take care.
Emy: So, it is time for me to leave Malaysia also. I need to go to the Airport in a
while. Thank you so much for guiding me all this while. I really appreciate
your guidance and I hope I can get a chance to meet you again. See you till
then Pria. Bye, take care.
Trip Advisor: I hope you had a pleasant time travelling with me Emy. Hope to meet you
again too. I’ll miss you and goodbye. Have a safe flight.
Emy: Thank you. Bye