3337 MALAYSIA - A roadside hut selling durians and rambutans

Named in some regions as the king of fruits, the durian is the fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus Durio. There are 9 recognised Durio species which produce edible fruit, with over 300 named varieties in Indonesia, 100 in Thailand and 100 in Malaysia. It is distinctive for its large size, strong odour, and thorn-covered rind. The fruit can grow as large as 30 cm long and 15 cm in diameter, and it typically weighs one to three kg. Its shape ranges from oblong to round, the colour of its husk green to brown, and its flesh pale yellow to red, depending on the species.

2919 MALAYSIA (Kedah) - A craftsman making a rattan chair

Rattan is the name for roughly 600 species of climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae, also known as manila, or malacca, named after the ports of shipment Manila and Malacca City, and as manau (from the Malay rotan manau, the trade name for Calamus manan canes in Southeast Asia). The climbing habit is associated with the characteristics of its woody stem, soft and flexible comparing to true wood derived from a typical secondary growth. They are not trees but are vine-like lianas, scrambling through and over other vegetation.

2122 MALAYSIA (Kelantan) - Siti Khadijah Market in Kota Bharu

Located in the northeastern part of Peninsular Malaysia, near the border with Thailand, Kota Bharu (Malay for New Castle) has colorful traditions and culture and its markets reflects this. Siti Khadijah Market (Pasar besar Siti Khadijah), as its name implies, is a local wet market. Its name after Prophet Muhammad's wife, whom is known for her entrepreneurial skill, as this market is mostly run by women.

0061, 1510, 1666 MALAYSIA (Sarawak) - Iban people

0061 - Ibans performing ngajat dance in a longhouse

Posted on 05.12.2011, 04.04.2015, 14.06.2015
The population of Borneo (the third largest island in the world, divided between Indonesia,  Malaysia, and  Brunei), totaling 20 million, mainly consists of Dayak ethnic groups, Malay, Banjar, Orang Ulu, Chinese and Kadazan-Dusun. Dayak is actually a generic term that designate six native clusters subdivided into approximately 450 sub-clusters, each with its own dialect, customs, laws, territory and culture. One of the most important branch of the Dayak are the Ibans, or Sea Dayak, located in Sarawak, Brunei, a small portion in Sabah and West Kalimantan.

1501 - An Iban with his grandson

In the past, the Dayak practiced the headhunting, and the Ibans were pioneers of this custom, but after conversion to Christianity the practice was banned and disappeared, only to resurface in WWII (against the Japanese) and in the late 90s, when Dayak attacked Madurese emigrants. The Ibans live in longhouses (rumah panjai), a massive communal structures usually located along a terraced river bank (there are over 4,500 longhouses only in Sarawak).

1666 - Iban people in tradition clothes

They might reach up to 12m in height and to hundreds of metres in lenght, at times bringing more than 100 families under one roof, and affording safety from attacks during times of warfare. A traditional longhouse is built of axe-hewn timber, tied with creeper fibre, roofed with leaf thatch. Inside, the families live in separate apartments arranged along a central corridor (ruai), which serves as a communal area. Lack of class distinction favors this way of life. Or maybe vice versa? Anyway, in nowadays many have abandoned this system in favour of individual houses.

0702 MALAYSIA - An Orang Asli playing the nose flute

Orang Asli ("original people" or "first people" in Malay) are the indigenous minority peoples of Peninsular Malaysia. Actually it is a collective term introduced by anthropologists and administrators for the 18 sub-ethnic groups generally classified for official purposes under three main groups according to their different languages and customs: Negrito, Senoi and Proto-Malay. They number about 150,000, representing a mere 0.5 per cent of the national population. They retained much of their identity to the present day because of their relative isolation from the other communities and the forces of change.