The majestic Orangutan lives in the dark rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia, and it is exclusively native to this part of the Asian continent. This intelligent species of ape is from the two big islands namely, Borneo and Sumatra. Orangutans like Gorillas and Chimpanzees are greatly similar to humans in terms of anatomy, physiology, and behavior. Orangutans spend their lives in trees where they make bontiful and lush nests. The body hair of the majestic Orangutan are reddish-brown and the males and females differ in size and appearance. Dominant adult males have distinctive cheek pads and produce long calls that attract females and intimidate rivals. Younger males do not have these features and resemble adult females. Orangutans mostly possess solitary existence, with social bonds occurring primarily between mothers and their dependent offspring, who stay together for the first two years.

A Bornean Orangutan – Image by Adam – flickr – Endangered

The name orangutan means “man of the forest” in the Malay language. Orangutans have an enormous arm span. A male may stretch his arms some 7 feet (2 meters) from fingertip to fingertip—a reach considerably longer than his standing height of about 5 feet (1.5 meters). When orangutans do stand, their hands nearly touch the ground. Orangutans have tremendous strength, which enables them to swing from branch to branch and hang upside-down from branches for long periods of time to retrieve fruit and eat young leaves.

A Sumatran Orangutan – Image by Heather Paul – Critically Endangered

The diet of this ape of Borneo and Sumatra mainly comes from the fruits and plantation. Over 400 food types have been documented as part of the orangutans’ diet, and although it consists mainly of fruit, in times of scarcity orangutans will shift their eating habits to lower quality food, such as bark, leaves & termites, rather than travel to a different area. Courtship lasts between 3-10 days and it is the female who, not wanting to share her food source, initiates the final separation. The male has no role in the raising of his offspring. It is thought that this solitary lifestyle evolved due to erratic fruiting, leading to competition for food. With a predominantly frugivorous diet, containing relatively few calories for such a large body size, the orangutan needs to forage for 60% of the day, with the other 40% spent sleeping and resting.

An Orangutam Mom with her 1 week old baby in the Sumatran Forest – Image by Paul Williams

Classified in the genus Pongo, orangutans were considered to be one species. However, since 1996, they have been divided into two species: the Bornean Orangutan (P. pygmaeus) and the Sumatran Orangutan (P. abelii). In addition, the Bornean species is divided into three subspecies.It’s estimated that there are fewer than 7,000 Sumatran Orangutans and 50,000 Bornean Orangutans living in the wild today. The Sumatran Orangutan is listed as critically endangered and the Bornean Orangutan as endangered.

Orangutans in a rainforest – An image by Rainforest Action Network – flickr

The habitats of the majestic Orangutan are disappearing at an alarming rate due to deforestation and clearing of the land for pulp paper and palm oil plantations, with the remaining forest degraded by drought and forest fires. The illegal logging, fires, extensive palm oil plantations, poaching and hunting are the serious threats to the lives of the remaining orangutans on the planet earth.

Habitat of Orangutans – An image of the nest of an Orangutan in a rainforest – Image By DrLianPinKoh – flickr

The Black-naped Fruit Dove is an adorable bird of Indonesia from the Columbidae family which is scientifically known as Ptilinopus melanospilus. The Black-naped Fruit Dove is a medium-sized, up to 24 cm long, green pigeon with yellowish bill and iris. The male has a pale grey head with black nape, yellow throat, and golden yellow and pink undertail coverts. The female and the young have an entirely green plumages. The population of the Black-naped Fruit Dove is widely distributed in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. In Indonesia, it is found in Jave, Lesser Sunda Islands and Sulawesi, where it inhabits the lowland and hill forests. The diet consists mainly of various fruits, figs and berries. The female usually lays one single white egg. The Black-naped Fruit Dove is an adorable bird of Indonesia evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

The Black-naped Fruit Dove of Indonesia and Malaysia – Image by coracii

When we talk about the cultural or traditional dress of Malaysia, we can’t ignore the dominance and influence of three cultures: Malay, Chinese and Indian. So we can classify the Malaysian traditional dress into four major categories ;

1- Malaysian Malay

2- Malaysian Chinese

3- Malaysian Indian

4- Orang Asal

Malaysia has remained a cordial land for many immigrants and invaders from different parts of the world. So whoever descended on this region, they introduced their own outfit and culture.

1- Malaysian Malay

The Malaysian men used to wear a loose tunic garment along with trousers and it is commonly known as the “baju melayu”. This Malaysian traditional dress was also accompanied with a “sampin“, which is a sarong which is wrapped around a man’s hips. Baju Melayu also included the traditional headdress called as ”songkok ”. Traditionally, the Malaysian men prefer  a silk or cotton skirt and shirt with a scarf like piece of cloth tied around his waist. This scarf is sewn together at the ends and is traditionally called a sarong or a kain. Most of the clothing is made up of bright and bold colors. The man also wears a religious hat.

Baju Melayu:Malaysian Malay Dress ( Image : Amrufm – flickr )

The Malaysian women wear the Malaysian traditional dress known as “Baju Kurung” which is actually a knee-length blouse worn over a long skirt. The women also wear a scarf or shawl on their traditional dress. In the Malaysian Pre-Islamic era, the Malay women used to wear”kemban“, which were sarongs, tied just above the chest.

The Malaysian women wearing Baju Kurung ( Malaysian Malay ) Image: Syed Muhammad Hafeez Bin Wan Muhammad

2- Malaysian Chinese

The Malaysian Chinese traditional dress for the men in Malaysia is a short sleeved shirt worn outside the trousers, light-weight trousers and informally, sandals for comfort.

Malaysian Chinese dress – Cheongsam ( Image: rushdi 13 )

Cheongsam is a one-piece dress usually comprising of silk cloth and having a high collar, diagonally closed with small clips or toggles (fabric clasps). This Malaysian traditional dress is extremely popular among the Malaysian Chinese community not only as a day to day wear but also as a formal attire also. The old aged women also use a garment known as samfoo, which looks like pajamas with a separate loose fitting top fastened by toggles and ankle length, or above the ankle, pants.

3- Malaysian Indian

Most of the Indian women wear Sari or Saree which is also the Malaysian traditional dress having the usual length  about 4 to 9 meters and it is dressed up with a blouse or pullover which is locally known as Choli. Similarly the Indian women migrated from the Northern parts of India wear Shalwar Kameez which is a long attire normally going below the knees. For men it is a two piece dress, shalwar (trousers) with Kameez (Long tunic shirt) and for women it is a three piece dress, i-e Shalwar (trousers also known as the pajama), Kameez (top which is also known as kurta) with Duppata (Scarf).

The traditional Malay Indian model wearing Sari – Image: Samuel Xavier

The Malaysian traditional dress for the Indian men includes; Sherwani, Lungi, Dhoti and Kurta-Pajama.The Sherwani: a coat like garment fitted close to the body, of knee-length or longer and opening in front with button-fastenings. Below the men wear a garment for the lower part of the body, baggy and wide at the top tied with a string at the waist, and tight around the legs and ankles.

4- Orang Asal

Orang Asal is actually the Malaysian traditional dress for the aboriginal people of Malaysia. These traditional costumes were hand-crafted and decorated with beads. Even today, the aboriginal Malaysian still wear clothing of natural materials, often out of treebark and skirt. Leaf fronds are sometimes crafted into headbands or other ornaments. 

Aboriginal Malaysians in their traditional costumes – Image: Tian Yake

As the aboriginal community of Malaysia is scattered in different parts of the country, so the clothing of different tribes differs with different amounts.

The women and children from the Orang Asli village – Malaysia ( Image: Jamie Carter )

The Malaysian traditional dress is no doubt a blend of multi-cultured prerogatives and it is enriched with the colors of different ethnicity and intricate embellishments.

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The Hindu temple of the Batu Caves in Malaysia is one of the top rated sacred sites for the Hindus all around the lovely planet. The temple attracts more than 1 million pilgrims annually who pay their visit via Kuala Lampur, the capital of Malaysia. A very good railway track as well as a phenomenal road leads towards the Batu caves. The limestone forming of the Batu Caves is said to be around 400 million years old. This temple has a ceiling of 100 meters above the ground and its massive chamber is brightened by numerous holes that allow the daylight to come in.

A view of the Hindu Temple of the Batu Caves-Temple - Image: McKay Savage

The temple of Batu caves is erected almost 100 m above the ground which consists of three main caves along with some smaller ones. The biggest, referred to as Cathedral Cave or Temple Cave, has a very high ceiling and features ornate Hindu shrines. To reach it, visitors must climb a steep flight of 272 steps.

Some idols put at the temple of the Batu caves - Image: Alexander Baxevanis

The Hindu temple of the Batu caves is dedicated to the Hindu Lord Murugun and it is particularly famous for the Hindu festival of Thaipusam in Malaysia. This temple was constructed by the Hindu settlers in Malaya almost 113 years ago. The rocky massif on which the Hindu temple of the Batu Caves is built is called Bukit Batu, which is located just near to the Sungai Batu River. The Thaipusam festival is held every year on the full moon day between 14^th January and 15^th of February.

The Murugan Statue of the temple of the Batu caves ( Image: rchia712 )

The Hindu temple of the Batu Caves in Malaysia has another fabulous feature which is the world’s tallest Murugan statue standing at 42.7 m (140 ft) high. This statue represents the Hindu deity Murugan or Murugun and it is made of 1550 cubic meters of concrete, 250 tons of steel bars and 300 liters of gold paint.

The Malayan tiger is the national animal of Malaysia which inhabits mainly in the Malay Peninsula. The Malayan tiger is biologically known as Panthera tigris jacksoni and it is very much close to the Indochinese tiger in characteristics. In 2004, the Malayan tiger was declared a separate species from the Indochinese tiger.  The Malayan Tiger is one of the smallest tigers of all of the subspecies and the average length of a male Malayan tiger is 8 ft 6 in (259 cm), and of a female Malayan tiger is 7 ft 10 in (239 cm). The males reach about 235 centimeters from head to tail, while females are approximately two meters long.

A proud Malayan Tiger - Image by Rene Mantej

The natural habitat of the Malayan tiger; the Malay Peninsula is located in the southern tip of Thailand and the Malaysian Peninsular. The Malay Peninsula comprises of small and dense forests and abandoned agricultural lands. Being a carnivore and a powerful tiger species, the Malayan tiger usually prey large mammals like wild boars, deer and wild goats.

A Malayan tigress sitting after a nap - Image by Al Notter

The average age of the Malayan Tiger is about 15 years in the ideal circumstances. The gestation period in a Malayan tigress is of about 3.5 months and she gives birth to three or four cubs. The males are solitary creatures, and will not usually be found hunting or living in packs. The cubs remain under the shelter of their mother till the age of 18 months old and after that they will break away and live independently.

Cute Malayan tiger cubs playing together - Image: Karl Drilling

Habitat destruction and poaching are the main enemies of the Malayan tiger; the national animal of Malaysia. The commercial  plantations have resulted in more frequent encounters between tigers and livestock. The local people also kill the Malayan tiger to safeguard their cattle and their number in Malaysia is reached to an alarming stage.