Composed primarily of Malays, Chinese and Indians, Malaysian culture is best described as cosmopolitan. Racial unity and interaction has formed a diverse and vibrant society that is exceptionally unique. Nowhere else in the world can one find three major races, various smaller indigenous tribes and a vast assortment of foreigners and expatriates sharing such an excellent relationship, for not only do these races tolerate each other, they actually actively share in one other's cultural richness. This has been the main catalyst for Malaysia's political stability and growth.

The shamanistic cultures and beliefs still practiced by the Malaysian aborigine's date back over 10 millennia. The presence of Hinduism in the Malay Peninsula has been documented as far back as the 3rd and 4th century AD, in Lembah Bujang (Bujang Valley) in the state Kedah. With the arrival of Arab traders during the rise of the Melaka Empire, Islam came to Malaysia. At about the same time the arrival of Chinese traders and the marriage of the Melaka Sultan and a Chinese princess added to the potpourri of cultures. The arrival of Portuguese, Dutch and English conquerors over the next 400 years also left their indelible mark on the Malaysian cultural makeup. All these influences have culminated in the Malaysian culture of today.

Many elements of Indian Hindu culture have insinuated themselves into the Malay adat the most obvious being the Malay marriage ceremony, vice versa the Indian Muslim community in the country share a common religion and hence a similar culture and religious observances as the Muslim Malays as do the Baba-Nyonya Muslim Chinese from Melaka that date back to the aforementioned Chinese princess in ancient times. The Malays have also very recently adopted an age old Chinese custom, the giving of "Ang Pows", or money gifts wrapped in colored envelopes. The Chinese use red, the Malays green.

Malaysians are usually at least bi-lingual, Bahasa Malaysia or the Malay language is the official language and English is the second most widely spoken. The Chinese and Indians are generally tri-lingual, speaking Malay, English and their mother tongue.
Following are brief descriptions on the various peoples and their ways of life in Malaysia.

The Malays

The modern Malaysian Malay can probably trace their ancestry to the myriad seafaring islander tribes in the region, from Indonesia, Phillipines and Borneo, they are widely believed to be the first civilization to take root in Malaysia and can be said, with the exception of the "Orang Asli" indigenous tribes, to be the original settlers to populate the Malay Peninsula.

Currently comprising roughly half the 22 million Malaysian population, the Malay people can be found virtually everywhere in the country though they are less concentrated in East Malaysia. In urban centers they are pervasive in all industries and businesses. The government in Malaysia is staffed predominantly by Malays and the Malays have held great political power ever since the country's independence. In the countryside the Malay population is even more omnipresent, their villages or "kampungs" are scattered far and wide all across the Peninsula.