On the diversity of Kelantanese

1. Lately there were Kelantanese bashings. Firstly, when the Kelantan fans were said to damage some chairs at the Bukit Jalil stadium; secondly when Kelantanese went home to celebrate the Hari Raya Haji and caused mad traffic jams; and thirdly there were people creating some political instability in the PAS government. I would like to share some thoughts about who the Kelantaese are and why their behaviour has been misunderstood.

2. These Kelantanese share many things in common among themselves. They speak a great dialect; they love sweet food; they are famous for their budu (fish sauce); they love songket and shadow play; they did many crazy things; they are said to be very religious; they love to fight; they work very hard to survive; they are very competitive; they dominate good schools and universities etc etc

3. There is the royal Kelantanese whose names begin with Tengku. They are the royal households who were said to migrate from Pattani, South Thailand some years ago. When the Tengku married the commoners, we have the Engku and the Tuan. The Raja are also said to be royal in origin but they were not the ruling elites.

3. The Syed who were thought to have brought Islam to Kelantanese via Pattani were reverred as royal too.

4. Then there are the Nik. There two kinds of Nik, the first were the Chinese origin who became the workers and slaves in the royal households then there were the Ni' who originated from Pagar Ruyong in Sumatera who also were the workers and slaves in the palace. Since then they had inter-married among their kinds and also with the commoners and they are very localised in their distribution.

5. There are the Wan whose origin is uncertain for there are Wan all over the country notably in Terengganu, Perak, Negeri Sembilan etc

6. Then there are the Che, whose origin is uncertain too.

7. Then there are the others without the title in front of their names. They are mostly from Pattani. The Javanese came to Kelantan to build the Kampung laut mosque and the Minangkabau came to open rice restaurants. There are Chinese too and many of them had assimilated in the villages. Of course there are also Chinese in towns. Then there are the Siamese especially in Tumpat, Bachok, Jeli, Pasir Mas and Tanah Merah districts. Kelantanese has very few Indians. The Orang Asli or Pangans are the Bateq and Temiars who are found in the districts of Kuala Kerai and Gua Musang. Then of course there are those from other states who made Kelantan their homes.

8. After all there is nothing special about us!