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Baju Melayu

The Baju Melayu is a traditional Malay outfit for men consisting of a long-sleeved shirt called a baju and trousers called seluar, made from the same fabric usually cotton or polyester-cotton blend. There are two main styles - the Cekak Musang collar style common in Malaysia and the Teluk Belanga style unique to Johor. The Baju Melayu is worn for religious occasions, festivals, and as formal dress, with black being the most formal color and white used for mourning. It remains an important part of traditional Malay attire in Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and to a lesser extent Singapore.

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713 views2 pages

Baju Melayu

The Baju Melayu is a traditional Malay outfit for men consisting of a long-sleeved shirt called a baju and trousers called seluar, made from the same fabric usually cotton or polyester-cotton blend. There are two main styles - the Cekak Musang collar style common in Malaysia and the Teluk Belanga style unique to Johor. The Baju Melayu is worn for religious occasions, festivals, and as formal dress, with black being the most formal color and white used for mourning. It remains an important part of traditional Malay attire in Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and to a lesser extent Singapore.

Uploaded by

Dimitri Khoo
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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GENERAL INFO

Baju Melayu is a traditional Malay outfit for men. It literally translates as 'Malay shirt' and consists of
two main parts. The first being the baju (long sleeved shirt) itself which has a raised stiff collar
known as the cekak musang collar (literally fox's lease). The second part is the trousers called
"seluar".[1] The two parts are made out of the same type of fabric which is usually cotton, or a
mixture of polyester and cotton. A skirt-type adornment is also commonly worn with the Baju
Melayu, which is either the "kain samping", made out of songket cloth or the kain sarung, made out
of cotton or a polyester mix. Both are loops of fabric which are folded around the wearer's waist. A
jet-black or dark coloured headgear called the songkok can also worn to complete the attire.

STYLES
Cekak Musang
In shirts made with the cekak musang collar, the placket of the baju will seem to form a third of the
baju from the top when it is worn beneath the kain samping or kain sarung. However, the hem line
of the baju actually runs to the middle of the lap. The placket typically has three to five buttonholes
and is fastened together by dress studs called kancing or "sitat" which are not unlike those used in
Western-style formal dress shirts. The studs usually have screw-in backs and can be made from a
variety of materials including gold, silver and precious or semi-precious stones. The studs may also
be connected with a light metal chain which will be concealed behind the shirt when the placket is
fastened.

Teluk Belanga
In the state of Johor, both the design and the wearing of Baju Melayu is somewhat different from
that of other areas. Here, the kain samping or kain sarung is worn below the baju rather than above
it. The baju itself does not have the cekak musang collar or any placket. Instead, the opening is
hemmed with stiff stitching called tulang belut (literally eel's spine) and ends with a small loop at the
top of one side to fit a singular kancing (similar to the collars of Baju Kurung worn by women). This
style is known as the Teluk Belanga style and was believed to be designed by Sultan Abu Bakar's
aides to commemorate the move of Johor's administrative capital from Teluk Belanga in Singapore
to Tanjung Puteri in 1866 (known as Johor Bahru from 1866).[2]

OCCASIONS OF USAGE
A black Baju Melayu with a black Kain Samping embroidered with gold thread is considered a form of
formal dress, and is the official attire required during official national events, especially highly formal
ones like the official celebration of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's birthday. Malaysian ambassadors
presenting their credentials to foreign heads of state are also required to wear the black Baju
Melayu. The white Baju Melayu is worn by Malaysian royalty when mourning the passing away of a
member of the royal family.

The Baju Melayu is commonly worn in Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore by Malay men, although its
use in Singapore is usually restricted to Fridays at mosques, and the Eid ul-Fitr (Malay: Hari Raya)
holiday. Bruneian and Malaysian men usually wear the shirt for general religious occasions, such as
visiting the mosque or for a religious gathering. In Brunei, it is commonly worn at formal events,
such as festivals and weddings. Some companies allow their male workers to wear Baju Melayu on
Fridays, whereas others have it as a policy. On the whole Singaporeans frequently refer to it as a
Baju Kurung, although this term in Malaysia usually refers only to the corresponding outfit for
women.

In Indonesia, both the Baju Melayu in both collar styles (and other Malay clothes such as Baju
Kurung) is popular in provinces with large Malay populations such as Riau, the Riau Islands, West
Kalimantan and a few other provinces mainly in Sumatera and other places where the presence of
ethnic Malays are dominant. Recently, the Baju Melayu has become more popular and is not only
worn at traditional events, but also in formal occasions. Government officials in Riau and other
places wear them proudly during official events (even national events). It is also worn as a uniform in
Silat, a traditional Malay martial arts. The Betawi version of Baju Melayu is called Baju Demang,
because Betawi are also part of the big Malay tradition, its customs and attire is similar to the Malay.
Other local indigenous Malay ethnics in Indonesia also have their own style of Baju Melayu probably
which have the same similarities such as the usage of the Songkok as the headdress for men and
kain samping.

The female version of the baju melayu is called the baju kurung.

SELUAR
The baju is traditionally worn by men with trousers called the seluar. The seluar are traditionally
wide at the top, fastened with a running string called tali, and closer at the legs where it extends to
below the knees. The styles of seluar include the Achenese seluar, seluar gadah which reaches to the
ankles and seluar pende which terminates about the middle of the thighs. The seluar panjang are
long and are sometimes buttoned at the feet.[3]

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