Mamak

Mamak is a term (derived from a Tamil word meaning uncle) used in Malaysia to describe the Tamil Muslim community and culture. Most Indian Muslims consider this term to be pejorative.

• [[MThe Malaysian Mamak (commonly known as Mamak) are Tamil Muslims of Malaysian nationality, whose forefathers mostly migrated from South India to the Malay Peninsula and various locations in Southeast Asia centuries ago. They are regarded as part of the Malaysian Indian community. Indian Muslims were believed to first arrive at Samudera (now Aceh in Sumatra, Indonesia) back in the early 10th century, and later settled down in Peninsular Malaysia.

Chulia street in Penang, was named after Chulias, Tamil Muslim from Tamil Naidu along the Cocromandel Coast of Southern India. The area is one of the early Penang road,named by Capt Francis Light(founder of Penang),which is within the Tamil Muslim concentration area. It is near Pitt Street (now rename Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling) where Kapitan Keling Mosque was located, which was also built at the same time as Nagore Durgha in Penang, Chulia Street. (Note: "Keling" also refer to Malaysian or Singapore Indian. The origin of the term is rooted in the former cultural and economic influence of the Kalinga kingdom over south east Asian kingdoms. India was then referred to by the Malays as benua keling. Sejarah Melayu (the Annals of Malay history), written in the 15th century, used the term keling to refer to India and traced the origin of Malay sultans to Indian princes. source: www.wikipedia.org.) It was a historical term for Malaysian Indian,just like Cina for Malaysian Chinese. This is just historical fact that Mamak are Indian Muslim from India(Keling).

They may be Chulias or Tamil Muslims from the famous Chola Kingdom of Tamil Naidu along the Coromandel Coast of Southern India). The land of the Chola dynasty was called Cholamandalam in Tamil, literally translated as The realm of the Cholas, from which Coromandel is derived. Another research shows that the coast along the Chola country was called Cholamandalam which was later corrupted to Coromandel by the Europeans. According to The Periplus of the Erythræan Sea By Wilfred Harvey Schoff, the Chola coast was derived from the native Tamil name Chola-mandalam, from which the Portuguese derived our modern word Coromandel.

By late 1530 the Coromandel Coast was home to three Portuguese settlements at Nagapattinam, São Tomé de Meliapore, and Pulicat. Later, in the 17th and 18th century, the Coromandel Coast was the scene of rivalries among European powers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries for control of the India trade. The British established themselves at Fort St George (Madras) and Masulipatnam, the Dutch at Pulicat, Sadras and Covelong, the French at Pondicherry, Karaikal and Nizampatnam, the Danish in Dansborg at Tharangambadi.Eventually the British won out, although France retained the tiny enclaves of Pondicherry and Karaikal until 1954.

There is Nagore Durgha in Penang, Chulia Street, which was build in 1880. The Nagore Durgha Shrine commemorates Syed Shahul Hamid, a 13th century Muslim Saint of Nagore. In Nagore, there's a religious complex dedicated to him. The Nagore Durgha Sheriff Shrine’s design had a distinct mix of Hindu and Muslims elements. The two domes on the roof were surrounded by four minarets that looked like pagodas. A songkok maker, a jeweler and a grocery store operated from the side of the shrine. Seeing that there was still light for us to walk around for a while more, we explored the further ends of the inner city.The blue-and-white Nagore Shrine is founded by the Maricans (Mericans) from Tamilnadu in memory of the most celebrated saint of Nagore,Meeran Sahib Abdul Qadir Shahul Hamid Badshah, the famous 13th century Muslim Saint Nagore, the most celebrated saint of South India. This is the earliest Indian Muslim shrine in Penang which survives in its original condition. (source: www,wikipedia.org). The historical evidence further proved that Mamak are from Tamilnaidu of South India.

Many of the Mamak married with Malay woman, and meet the requirement of being a Malay or bumiputra under Malaysian constitution(3). Some of them are considered themselves Malay. Most of Malay Mamak are from Penang, some of them still speak Tamil at home , but speak Malay outside. They are powerful community in Penang's business community, and politic. Some of them are top political leaders in UMNO. The community is now in the main stream of Malaysian business and politic. There are supermarket chain, restaurant chain owned by them....but deny themselves as Tamil Muslim or Mamak.

The word 'Mamak' is from the Tamil term for maternal uncle, or 'maa-ma'. In the context of Singapore and Malaysia, children of all ethnic groups are taught to refer to adult neighbours, shopkeepers and even strangers as 'uncle' and 'auntie', as a form of respect for and deference towards elders. This term is used even though the adult may not be a member of the child's family, clan or even ethnic group/'race'.

The word "Mamak" was make famous by the Mamak stall. The origin of the term 'mamak stall' is likely from the practice of children addressing the shopkeeper as 'uncle', or 'mamak', in his native Tamil language, as a form of respect when interacting with him, and patronizing his shop.

Mamak also operated Nasi Kandar stall,which is one of the popular Indian Muslim food in Penang. Most of the small food stalls in the corner of the coffee shops, are now expanded into big restaurants, and some of them are restaurant chains in all over Malaysia. Another popular food is Roti Canai( Roti is bread in Hindi, Urdu, most other North Indian Language and Malay.Canai means the place called Chennai, formerly Madras,the 4th largest metropolitan in India, capital of state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, South India). Even from the name of the food, we can strongly derived the connection of Mamak with South India.

They are also in the money changers business and money lending business.

Mamak may also refer to:

• Mamak rojak (or Indian rojak), the Malaysian version of a dish commonly prepared in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia
• Mamak stall, a type of food establishment that serves mamak food
• Mamak, Ankara, a district of Ankara, Turkey
• Mamak Gang , a Malaysian gang active since the early 1990s

References

(3)Indian Community in South East Asia(1993), by Kemial Singh Sandhu, A Mani, Institute of SEA Studies, Singapore. (4)Indian Muslim in Penang, Role & Contributions(2001) by Seeni Naina Mohamed