KELANTANESE – the indecipherable dialect, the clique attitudes and sheer suspicion of outsiders.
In fact, a driver of a vehicle with ‘D’ registration is automatically assumed to be lacking in road manners by many. There is also the perception that Kelantanese are lacking in personal hygiene.
It may be mean and untrue but these are but some of the common perceptions surrounding people of the East Coast state.
So much so that a Kelantanese social media influencer @bckupacc99 has posted a short video on the X platform urging Malaysians at large to stop such discrimination.
Stop Kelantan Hate. pic.twitter.com/TyH7qs9PPN
— ًِ (@bckupacc99) November 18, 2024
The narrator, Dennis, claimed that two out of three Kelantanese living in Kuala Lumpur face some form of discrimination with himself having stayed in the city for 15 years.
He even groused about the lame jokes as well as ladies claiming they smell bad; with the stench (pun fully intended) of negative perception that seems to hover around Kelantan folk.
The video may have been posted half in jest but it did elicit plenty of responses. One netizen quite simply listed out what Kelantanese needed to do to avoid being discriminated against.
Firstly, learn to expand their circle of friends and not limit them to just Kelantanese. Secondly, don’t be filthy and last but not least, “stop speaking in a dialect not taught in school”. He pointed out that nobody else behaves in such manner.
Another commented that the Chinese in Malaysia are subject to all sorts of discrimination when they are unable to speak the national language properly. On this note, it is most inappropriate for Kelantanese who cannot even speak proper Malay to be complaining of discrimination.
The dialect seems to be a sticking point as some asked why Kelantanese cannot converse in the language taught in the national curriculum.
One derided Dennis for playing the victim card when they were guilty of favouring their own when in other’s backyard. Another commenter shared his experience of a Kelantanese nasi lemak vendor “allowing 2-3 of her Kelantanese regular customers to cut queue”.
Some asked if Dennis was aware of the discrimination non-Kelantanese faced when in the East Coast state with a few pointing out that prices of goods differed significantly.
Some clarified that it is not Kelantanese per se that are disliked but the government of the state.
One netizen perhaps summed up the feelings of many best when he pointed out that the root cause seems to be Kelantanese themselves.
However, one netizen doled out some very sound advice. He stressed the need to always behave our best when away from home and that it is vital to adapt to one’s surroundings. And this applies to all Malaysians regardless of races. – Nov 22, 2024
