I love my
hometown, Kelantan state. Last week I just travelled my hometown, Kota Bharu,
Kelantan. So, I make use this chance to write this blog post…
Kelantan is a
state in north-eastern of Peninsula Malaysia which is also enriched with its
Malay culture compared to the other states. This is because of Kelantan state
is one of the states along with Terengganu have homogenous population, which
predominately made up by the Malays (about 95%) then followed by Chinese (about
3.5%) as well as Indians, Siamese and Orang Asli (each less than 1 %). Thus,
Kelantan is also deemed as the traditional “Malay Cradle” of the Peninsula
Malaysia.
Kelantan State's flag
The way of
living in Kelantan is differing than in other states of Malaysia (especially
bustling west coast of Peninsula Malaysia where that side has a few
metropolitans such as KL, Penang and Johor Bahru.). The life here is quite laid
back and chill and most of the places in Kelantan are still retaining
traditional “kampung” style of housing. All over Kelantan, only Kota Bharu has
a city status, whereas the rest of the capital districts (Jajahan or Daerah in
Malay) are still remaining the status of small town. So, only Kota Bharu, the
capital city of Kelantan state is more prosperous and bustling compared to the
other towns and districts in Kelantan.
The non-malays
there are being more assimilated to the malay culture compared to the other
states in Peninsula Malaysia. This is in light of fact that most of the
non-malays here are at least being able to understand and converse in
Kelantanese Malay dialect. Most of them have got used to speak and listen in
Kelantanese Malay dialect since they are young. Besides, that dialect is also used
in the business field since the business persons are mostly dealing with the
Malay customers there. For your information, Kelantanese Malay dialect is being
prevalent in Kelantan state compared to the standard version of Malay language.
Therefore, you will be blur and left out when you don’t understand Kelantanese
Malay dialect in Kelantan state, if you are outsider lah…
In fact, Kelantan
has a few places to travel. Many people from other states of Malaysia may think
that Kelantan is so ‘ulu’ (outdated) and reluctant to visit there… However,
actually there are a few places for us to travel in Kelantan. For example,
there are a few Siamese Buddhist temples in the district of Tumpat such as Wat
Pothivihan and Wat Machimaram for us to travel (visited during this year’s
Chinese New Year). After travelling finish the temples, you can even Pantai
Seri Tujoh in the district of Tumpat (this year I not yet visited). There is
also a beach in the district of Kota Bharu, which is Pantai Cahaya Bulan. It is
roughly 10 km away from town centre. That beach used to be a sandy beach.
However, due to erosion of the wave, the beach shoreline is shortening.
Therefore, the beach now has many of the stones to form a barrier to deter from
wave erosion. Besides, there are also a few tourist destinations to travel in
the capital city of Kota Bharu as well (look at the photos…)
Wat Photivihan
Wat Machimaram
Arch of Kota Sultan Ismail Petra
Pantai Cahaya Bulan...
Random old shop lots in Kota Bharu town centre
Padang Merdeka...
Sungai Kelantan riverfront
Kampung Kraftangan right behind Kota Sultan Ismail Petra.
This video is about Kelantan food...
Apart from that,
Kelantan has a few prestigious local delicacies that you barely can find in
other part of Malaysia (except its neighboring state of Terengganu). Firstly,
Kelantan has also its own type of Laksa, Laksa is not only got in Penang but
also in Kelantan. The main differences of Laksa in Penang and in Kelantan are
their soup and ingredients. Asam Laksa Penang soup is made up of tamarind,
while Laksa Kelantan is made up of coconut milk. The ingredient of Asam Laksa are fishes (and prawns), cucumber and lime, while Laksa Kelantan is onions, sliced dried tamarind and lemon grass. Futhermore,
nasi kerabu and khao jam are also the main local delicacies of Kelantan. Both
are actually they same in method of processing and using same ingredients. The
only difference is Nasi Kerabu is more of Kelantan Malay style, while Khao Jam
is more of Thai style…
Laksa Kelantan
Khao Jam
Thus, Kelantan
state is one of the laid back and tranquil states in Malaysia but has a few of
destinations to travel and local delicacies to eat.
