The Everyday life of the people of the Malay Peninsula [c. 1943]

Nutrition and Cooking

The article appeared in 1943 in Nutrition and Cooking (栄養と料理) (Vol. 9 no. 2, pp. 10–15), a popular magazine launched in 1935 by Kagawa Shozo (香川昇三) and his wife Kagawa Aya (香川綾). Both were doctors at the University of Tokyo Hospital, and they jointly founded the Kagawa Education Foundation, which, after World War II, became Kagawa Nutrition Junior College and subsequently Kagawa Nutrition University. The magazine continues to be published until today (see https://eiyotoryori.jp/).

The article is part of the Digital Archives Collection of older volumes of the magazine Nutrition and Cooking on the Kagawa Nutrition University website. This text is the only one in this volume that concerns Malaya. In the article, 馬来 or 'Malai' denote a few different things, including the Malay Peninsula (commonly known in English as Malaya or British Malaya, including Singapore), the Malay language, and Malay people. In this translation, when the term refers to a place, 'Malay Peninsula' is used.

Josko Kozic prepared the translation with assistance from Shota Tadano, and Sandra Khor Manickam wrote the notes.

Before talking about Shonanto [Singapore], let me mention my first impressions after coming back to Japan after more than twenty years.¹ The strongest impression I had was that the skeletal structure of female Japanese students had become impressively good. Compared to them, Japanese boys' bones were almost sticking out, which bothered me. Seeing that those of you destined to become splendid mothers are carrying strong bodies is indeed very delightful.

The Tropical Climate

Well, let us now move on to talk about the tropics. Throughout the tropics, there are seasonal winds ('monsoons'). Starting from one period to another, the wind blows in the same direction. From now (the end of November) until next year around February and March, winds blow from the north-east, while in all other seasons the winds come from the south-west. The reason for the importance of those winds lies in their effect on the growth of plants and flowers. Also, the amount of rainfall changes depending on the winds' direction. They even affect diseases. Right now, winds from the north-east are blowing and bringing rain from the north, turning this time into the rainy season. The rain starts about 20 miles from the coast and weather conditions become very different from the way they are normally. Also, the whole island of Singapore is controlled by the monsoon which brings the rainy season. The other day when the third battle of the Solomon sea took place [12th–15th November 1942], the word 'squall' came up, something that happens in Singapore mostly due to winds blowing from the direction of Sumatra, which is why they sometimes say a 'Sumatra is blowing'.

The Native's Everyday Life Circumstances: Food, Clothing and Shelter

The Malay peninsula has a population of about 6 million people, (p. 11) of which 700,000 are in Singapore. 60 percent of them are Chinese and the rest are Malays and Indians. There is no doubt that the Chinese's vitality is great and strong. That is because the Chinese people's diet is good. Pork, soybean sprouts, if you calculate Chinese food's caloric and vitamin values, it becomes clear that it is the best and supports strong vitality. The Malays have a simple diet. They add meat, fish and curry to their main rice meals. The curry is made by using some of the local and delicious palm juice. Since they eat it several times a day, their nutrition is the worst of all; they get tired while working and are lazy. But there is one more reason for Malays' slothfulness and that is malaria, which has always existed. It destroys the red blood cells, making the people look pale and tired from work and therefore turning them into sloths. Hence, almost none of the pure Malays have achieved success.

The King, the prince and all their relatives lead a very carefree life, only sleeping and eating, keeping around three concubines. Previously, they might have led such a life, but since at the present...