Start with food, end with belonging

Ahead of Malaysia Day, Malay Mail asked Sabahans and Sarawakians what Malaysia means to them. The answers open with sunsets and cooking, then move to something harder: belonging to a federation without dissolving into it.

Do not touch the rendang

Marine biologist Malinda Auluck, 40, says food is the first thing that comes to mind, along with the strong opinions attached to it.

“We are snobbish about our food. Want to cause an uproar? Ask for crispy skin rendang.”

Far from perfect, still home

Comedian Matt Brian, 29, admits his first association was the missing plane. Then he lands somewhere warmer.

“it's got the best food in the world, it's got the best sunsets in the world, and the best people”

1963 is part of the answer

Digital marketer Leon Kuan, 33, lists food, cultural diversity and multiple languages, then adds the Malaysia Agreement 1963, the deal that formed the federation. For him the founding document is everyday knowledge, not trivia.

Culture switching is automatic

Malinda grew up with so many cultures woven into daily life that moving between them takes no effort at all.

“is not something I consciously practise because it has become second nature”

Diversity is the identity

Entrepreneur Dinoza Mahruf, 51, puts the case plainly: difference is not a problem the country manages, it is the thing that defines it.

“For me, being Malaysian means being proud to call home a country where diversity is our identity and unity is our strength”

Part of a bigger family

Civil servant Sandra Sokial, 50, describes Malaysia as a larger family she belongs to while staying proud of where she comes from. The two are not a trade.

“I believe that being Malaysian should not mean having to set aside my Sabahan identity.”

Acceptance works differently here

Psychiatrist Liang Yoong, 33, says Sabah has a kind of understanding she has not always found in the Peninsula.

“We accept the differences and the similarities, we readily accommodate instead of insisting on basing everything on our own race or religion.”

Very, very chill

Brian calls Sabah idealistic and relaxed. People of different faiths share the same spaces without making an issue of what anyone else eats or drinks.

“We're very, very united. We're very chill, Sabahan amalgamation. We're tight, and we don't take things too seriously down here in Sabah.”

Two languages, one conversation

Rozzy Rajab, 39, was at a Kuala Lumpur company event switching between Sabah Malay and Mandarin with another Sabahan. The West Malaysian make-up artist was startled. Back home nobody would have noticed.

The gap you can see

For Malinda, growing up in Sabah means noticing that roads, schools, hospitals and opportunity are not shared out evenly. She doubts someone raised in Kuala Lumpur or Selangor would register it the same way.

“Growing up in Sabah, the development gap is much more visible”

Leave the identity politics home

Auditor Peter Wong, 35, asks for tolerance and understanding, and says not everything revolves around race, religion and politics. Brian is blunter about visitors who arrive looking for fault lines.

“Don't try to split us up according to race, according to religion, according to political party. We don't need that. We're doing just fine.”

Less developed is not cheaper

Malinda flags a misconception she hears often. Groceries and goods in Sabah can cost as much as the Peninsula or more, and flights across the South China Sea add their own tax on family and work.

“many things are just as expensive, if not more expensive, than in the Peninsula”

August 31 versus September 16

Leon points out the asymmetry in how the country remembers itself. Independence Day is the date everyone reaches for, while the day Malaysia actually came into being sits in its shadow.

“But September 16, the day Malaysia was formed, is not given the same prominence.”

Partners, not just a state

Sandra says Sabahans carry their own account of how Malaysia was built, and it shapes where they think they stand. The ask is recognition, not separation.

“We see ourselves not simply as another state, but as one of the partners that formed Malaysia”

Somehow it all works

Across the border in Sarawak, Kuching-born singer Dayang Nurfaizah describes home as warm and colourful, a place where the mix holds together better than it has any right to.

“Even with all our differences, somehow it all just..works”

Not the other side

Dayang wants Peninsular Malaysians to know Sarawak has its own languages, heritage and identity, and that it sits at the centre of the national story rather than off at its edge.

“We're not just 'the other side', we are just as Malaysian (as you are)”

Proud in every airport

Sibu-born actress and Mandopop star Stella Chung says travelling for work sharpened her attachment rather than loosening it. She invites Semenanjung Malaysians to come see Sarawak for themselves.

“To me, it's a strong sense of belonging, and I'm really proud to be a Malaysian.”

Manners keep the peace

Iban singer and news presenter Melissa Francis traces Sarawak's harmony to something ordinary: mutual respect, good manners, and people with different dietary rules eating at the same table.

“If we truly want a 'happily ever after' for Malaysia, stop fighting with each other”

We fought too

OAG frontman Muhammad Radhi Razali, also from Kuching, wants Borneo's own struggle against colonisers acknowledged. Asked what Malaysia means, he answers "Boleh!", then quotes the Iban warrior Rentap: Agi Idup Agi Ngelaban.

“I wish the Semenanjung know that we also fought hard and smart against the colonisers in order to gain Merdeka.”