Chinese influence in Malaysia

Chinese cemetery in Sandakan

The Chinese influence in Malaysia is evident especially since almost a quarter of the population is of Chinese descent. Most of the Chinese practice the Buddhist religion with the remainder primarily Christian. It's therefore not surprising that there are so many Chinese people, their temples, cemeteries, restaurants and dwellings. While there is also a significant Indian population on peninsular Malaysia, it's not so on Borneo. Here, it's predominantly Chinese and even a few roadsigns and menus in restaurants are in Chinese.

Contrary to the Malay Muslim and Indian restaurants that typically don't serve alcohol and pork, the Chinese have everything. Beer as well as animal entrails are readily available in Chinese restaurants.

Detail on a Chinese grave

I wandered into a Chinese cemetery in Sandakan, a city on Borneo where I spent a few days. It's different from any cemetery I have ever seen before, but then I have never been to China so I probably don't have a mental image of what a Chinese cemetery is supposed to look like. At the side edge of the cemetery there is a section where I could see graves marked with crosses, obviously the part of the cemetery where the Christian Chinese are buried.

Chinese New Year decorations

With the significant Chinese population it's also not surprising that everyone is getting ready to celebrate the Chinese New Year which falls on February 10th this year. There are decorations in public places that remind me of how we decorate for Christmas.