There weren’t any Malaysian handicrafts displayed on the tables, which was disappointing. I told myself that I had better correctly identify the mannequins draped in traditional clothes from Malaysia, and I spotted them immediately! It felt very good to see something from my home country.

On display are Baju Kebaya Nyonya, Baju Kadazan, Baju Orang Ulu, Baju Orang Bidayuh, and Baju Songket. “Baju” means clothes, dress, or shirt. These five are a good selection, but there are many more beautiful traditional costumes in “Malaezia”.

In 1459, the Chinese Emperor sent Princess Hang Li Po as a gift to the Malacca Sultan. Many of the 500 men in her entourage married local women. Their male and female descendants are called Baba and Nyonya respectively. Kadazan, Orang Ulu, and Bidayuh are indigenous ethnic groups in East Malaysia. From what I remember, Songket is a type of woven fabric. To me, what they label here as Songket is more batik/batique. Maybe my Malaysian friends can chime in about this. EDIT: It is indeed batik, and not songket.

It’s already September 11th here in Romania. I invite you to look through these photos to appreciate a small slice of the beauty the different countries and cultures offer. Let us all do our part to bring people closer, or at a minimum, respect each other’s differences.