The official language is Bahasa Malaysia, which is the Malay language of the Malays, and is very similar to Indonesian.

While Bahasa Malaysia is the only official language, English is the language of business in general, and the people are widely able to converse in simple English, due to the fact that the current education system in Malaysia is a continuation of the one that existed during the British rule, and has only gradually switched to Bahasa Malaysia in the last 30 years. English is the language of instruction in most colleges and universities, especially in private schools.

There are many other languages spoken by other ethnic groups such as the Chinese. Most of the Chinese speak Mandarin and the dialects of southern China such as Cantonese, Teochew, Hakka, Hokkien and Hainanese. Because of the influence of these dialects, our Mandarin (Chinese) pronunciation is not quite correct. For example, "congee" is pronounced as "pawn" by many people [due to the influence of Cantonese].

Chinese dialects are more commonly spoken in Hokkien in northern West Malaysia such as Penang and Kedah, Cantonese in Central Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Seremban, etc.), Mandarin in South Malaysia, and Hakka in East Malaysia (Sabah, Sarawak, and other areas where both Foochow and Hakka are spoken).

The languages spoken by Malaysians of Indian/South Asian descent are Urdu, Tamil, Punjabi, and so on.

Extended information:

Malaysia is a place where Chinese, Western, Indian and Arab civilizations converge, and is particularly rich in language and culture. Malay is the official language, but English is a compulsory subject in schools and is widely used in government departments, shopping malls and at all levels of society. Other folk languages include Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien and Hindi.

Students who do not have a basic knowledge of English, or who are not proficient in English, can either take an English language course in China, or enter the program after passing the school's in-house language program.

While there are relatively more Chinese-Chinese in Malaysia, they are not nearly as many as some people think. Currently, the total number of Chinese-Chinese in Malaysia accounts for about 25% of the entire population, but not all of them speak Chinese, and only about 60% of them do, so the environment is still there for international students as long as they wish to learn English. The school also arranges to try to keep students from one country from living together.

Because Malaysian Chinese insist on defending the Chinese curriculum in Chinese elementary school, Chinese independent secondary schools and national secondary schools, and have the support of Chinese newspapers and media, as well as Chinese community organizations (Chinese education, Chinese media, and parliamentary parties are collectively referred to as the three main spiritual pillars of Malaysian Chinese), they are generally able to converse fluently in Chinese.

In everyday life and in informal situations, most Chinese speak a mixture of dialects, English and Malay, known as "Rojak Chinese". In Chinese schools, on radio and television, and in public formalities and speeches, Standard Mandarin is used. Some Cantonese and other dialects are spoken on radio stations such as 988 and MyFM at certain times of the day to prevent Chinese of all origins from forgetting their roots.

Chinese have been living in Malaysia for hundreds of years, and most of their ancestral homes are located in Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan. The various dialects have been passed down in Malaysia along with their ancestors.

The dialects that are still spoken by the people are listed from north to south according to their ancestral home, including Min Qing, Xinghua, Min Nan, Hakka, Chaozhou, Cantonese, Hainanese, Guangxi Cantonese and so on. In rural areas, there are more clusters of the same dialect group, and there is a more homogeneous dialect. In towns and cities, there are one or two strong dialects, but many of the people are fluent in all of them and are able to quickly switch between them.

The Malaysian Mandarin Council (MMC) was established on February 13, 2004 to regulate the use of Mandarin.

The traditional Malay dress for men and women is a collarless blouse, long pants, a short sarong around the waist, a sungu hat and leather shoes. Women's dress is also a blouse and sarong, clothes as wide as a robe, head draped in a single color brightly colored sarong. Except for members of the royal family, yellow clothing is generally not worn.

Working people in order to work in order to wear a convenient, generally with a light suit, only after work at home or visit friends and relatives or on major holidays, only with traditional clothing. On various formal occasions, men can wear long-sleeved badi shirts in addition to national dress or western-style clothes. Batiks are long-sleeved shirts made of batik fabric, which are thin and cool, and have gradually replaced the traditional Malay dress as the national dress of Malaysia.

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