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INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
Modernization and the Alterations of the Malay
Wedding Foodways in the Urban Area
Mohd Salehuddin Mohd Zahari, Mohd Zain Kutut
Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management
University Technology MARA, 40450, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
Rabiatul Adawiyah, Norhayati Mohd Yusof
Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management
University Technology MARA, Permatang Pauh, Penang, Malaysia
Abstract
Preparation and consumption of food has long been a central position and one of the most
essential components in the Malay wedding. These wedding foodways practices are not
only act as social event but as well catalyst the interrelationship, interaction and social
bonding among the individuals in the community. Waves of modernization however are
believed to perceptually alter the Malays wedding foodways. This study empirically
investigates factor moderating the alteration, level of changes and the impact of the
alteration of Malay wedding foodways in the urban area through the waves of
modernization. Using self reported questionnaire survey among the Malay community
some meaningful insights was revealed. Modernization through the changes in socioeconomics,
lifestyle and community culture moderates the alteration not only in the
preparation, cooking but also the serving and eating decorum of Malay wedding in the
urban area. This alteration is further support with the local regulation, limited space, the
emergence of modern equipments and the urban living. Results of this study also show
that though the adoption the modern aspects in the Malay wedding foodways giving a lot
of advantages, the alteration somehow reduced cohesiveness, social bonding and
interaction among the individual of Malay society in the urban area. The functions
foodways as mechanism to knit the bond between people in a society is perpetually
faded.
Key words: Modernization, Alteration, Malay, Wedding, Foodways, Urban Area
1. Intoduction
Wedding is one of the most important social cultures practices for almost all nations in
the world. It is a ceremony in which two individual (male and female) are united in
institution called marriage. It encompasses an elaborate customs and traditions in every
step of the processes from planning stage to the actual wedding day. Abdullah (2009) and
Fukutomi (2002) argued that weddings are influences by both culture and religion and
vary greatly between ethnic groups, countries and social classes. For muslim ‗Akad
Nikah‘ for instance is the laws which solemnize the marriage while the reception is the
cultural and customs practices. For Buddhists, Hindus and Christian, the process of tying
the wedding knot for is first withheld in the temples, chapels or churches. The reception
is then held either in the bride or the groom‘s house, community halls, banquet halls,
restaurants, hotels, or anywhere else. Most of wedding ceremonies involve an exchange
of wedding vows, presentation of a gift offering, ring, symbolic items, flowers and
money. Yassin (1999) however posits for whatever reasons, the wedding ceremony
COPY RIGHT © 2011 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 121
JANUARY 2011
VOL 2, NO 9
Listed in ULRICH’S