''Mat Salleh'' is a Malay term used as a

colloquial Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation amo ...

expression to refer to

white people White is a Race (human categorization), racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry. It is also a Human skin color, skin color specifier, although the definition can var ...

. The exact origins of the expression are difficult to ascertain, due to there being several versions of the term's origin being passed down via

word of mouth Word of mouth is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others a ...

, with little or no official documentation to support such oral claims. The term arose during the colonial period of Malaysian history and is still commonly used.

Etymology

One etymological story claims the word might have been derived from the

expression "mad sailor". The first encounter many Malays had with

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

foreigners were dignified and

upper-class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status. Usually, these are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper cla ...

colonial officials, leading the Malays to both admire these foreigners and assume all white people behaved as such. When

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...

s began to put into Malayan ports to collect supplies,

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

s were given leave to disembark their ships and spend time in port. These were typically

working-class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

men who enjoyed getting

drunk Alcohol intoxication, commonly described in higher doses as drunkenness or inebriation, and known in overdose as alcohol poisoning, is the behavior and physical effects caused by recent consumption of alcohol. The technical term ''intoxication ...

and brawling amongst themselves. These behaviours shocked the Malays, who swiftly inquired to the colonial officials concerning the puzzling behaviour of the sailors. The colonial officials, not wishing the Malay image of them to dissipate, dismissed them as mere "mad sailors". Another etymological story claims the term derives from another term which was applied to shipwrecked sailors who became stranded on Malayan shores. Upon encountering the native Malays, the story claims that many of these sailors ran away, assuming the Malays to be

cannibals Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well documente ...

, with their erratic actions being deemed as "mad sailors" by other Europeans the Malays encountered. It could also be from the words 'mat salih', which meant 'weird person'. Tambunan Sabab Mat-Salleh-Memorial-02

In the Malaysian state of

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

, the term ''Mat Salleh'' was an utterance of defiance by Sabahans to remind the ''Orang Puteh'' (White People) of the

Mat Salleh Rebellion The Mat Salleh Rebellion was a series of major armed disturbances against the British North Borneo Chartered Company administration in North Borneo, now the Malaysian state of Sabah. It was instigated by Datu Muhammad Salleh (also known as ), a ...

against the military forces of the British North Borneo Chartered Company from 1895 to circa 1905. The enigmatic led the 1897 attack on the Company's fort on Gaya island burning it to the ground. After 6 years of insurrection, his fort at Tambunan was shelled by artillery and destroyed in 1900 and he died by machine-gun fire. About 1,000 rebels died in that battle.

References

External links

Pusat Rujukan Persuratan MelayuKamus Bahasa Indonesia dalam jaringan
{{White people terms Stereotypes of white people Ethno-cultural designations Culture of Malaysia Malay words and phrases Manglish