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Malay women, as those of other nations, are 
largely occupied with the care of the house and 
their children, but they also find time for other 
employments besides these two and the planting, 
tending and reaping of the rice. They make the 
Pandanus mats which cover the floor of the house 
and which also serve as beds. In Malacca Territory, 
and around Port Dickson, they are skilled basket- 
makers ; while in parts of Kelantan, Trengganu and 
Pahang there are colonies of Malay women who 
are skilful weavers of cloths of various kinds, both 
silk and cotton. Embroidery, at which the women 
of Kota Lama, near Kuala Kangsar in Perak, excel is 
another spare-time occupation, while lace-making — 
a Dutch or Portuguese-introduced art — is in vogue 
around Malacca. 
Malay dress. The full dress of the Malay man, at 
the present day, consists of a pair of 
loose Chinese trousers, a tubular skirt ( sarong ) 
rolled up around the waist to leave a greater or 
lesser portion of the trousers exposed, and a loose, 
sleeved coat, which is buttonless and is donned by 
slipping it over the head. There is a V-shaped 
opening in front and this is secured above by a 
fastening of some kind. To appear in public, on 
ceremonial occasions, wearing only trousers, or only 
a sarong, is considered impolite, and in Pahang the 
wearing of a sarong only is considered effeminate. 
In the western states, however, the sarong is fre- 
quently worn without trousers or any underclothing, 
and trousers without a sarong. The proper Perak 
custom is that only royalty and chiefs should wear 
the coat tucked in under the sarong, but this custom 
is now largely disregarded. 
Ur 
