TUMPAT: Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) researcher Kenneth Lee Tze Wui found himself in a different kind of classroom in Kg Terbak, where children chanted lessons in Thai, their voices carrying through the temple grounds as parents waited under the shade of a 300-year-old Phikul tree.
The temple anchors daily life in a village that, at first glance, looks like any other in Kelantan: single-storey houses line narrow roads, children cycle past paddy fields and life unfolds quietly, giving little hint of the distinct ethnic identity of its residents.
It could just as easily be a Malay settlement in a state where Malays comprise about 95 per cent of the population.
Yet the sight of Theravada wats rising above the rooftops signals that this is home to the Siamese community, a lesser-known but longstanding part of Malaysia’s multicultural fabric.
Beneath the village’s calm streets, a community works quietly to preserve its heritage. Everyday practices, from the language spoken at home to Buddhist rituals and local traditions, sustain their ethnocultural identity.
The effort to preserve heritage comes alive on weekends — Friday and Saturday in Kelantan — when Wat Phikulthong Vararam buzzes with activity.
To Lee, this weekend bustle is more than a routine of lessons; it is the “heartbeat” that keeps Terbak’s Siamese identity alive.
College and university students return home as volunteer teachers, giving up their weekends to nurture a heritage that might otherwise fade.
Parents and community leaders watch with pride, knowing these sacrifices form the backbone of the community’s cultural identity.
The Siamese are among Malaysia’s lesser-known minorities, concentrated in Kedah, Kelantan, Penang, Perak and Perlis. Their history was reshaped by the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909, which transferred Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu from Siam (present-day Thailand) to British control.
This formalised the modern Malaysia-Thailand border, placing Siamese communities like Kg Terbak within British Malaya, later Malaysia.
“Among outsiders, the community prefers to be known simply as ‘Siamese’ to distinguish themselves from the Thais living across the border,” observed Lee, senior lecturer at UTAR and longtime researcher of the Siamese in Kg Terbak.
Today, their lives are deeply interwoven with Malaysian society, with many Siamese in Kelantan speaking Kelantanese Malay fluently, often indistinguishable from their Malay counterparts. Their complexion also closely resembles that of the Malays.
Yet their identity often goes unnoticed, as they are frequently mistaken for Thais rather than recognised as a distinct community within Malaysia.
“Among themselves, they can quickly code-switch to Che’ He, a southern Thai dialect,” he said, adding that this helps preserve their ancestral language and cultural identity.
Wat Phikulthong, dubbed the “Standing Buddha Temple” and a local landmark, lies at the heart of Kg Terbak.
More than a place of worship, it houses the Thai Language, Dhamma, and Culture School, where instruction in Thai language, culture, and Buddhist teachings complements the national curriculum, bridging Siamese heritage and Malaysian schooling.
Some 15 to 20 volunteer teachers, mostly undergraduates, lead weekend sessions at the school, guiding students and helping preserve knowledge across generations.
Maintaining this learning tradition requires sacrifice: children give up weekends for lessons, volunteers dedicate time and travel for minimal compensation and parents entrust the temple and teachers with their children’s cultural education.
Ong Shin Row, 29, the school’s vice-principal, revealed that while many in the community can speak Thai, not all can read or write it.
Ong, of Chinese-Siamese parentage, earned degrees in Thai language and education from Thaksin University in Songkhla, Thailand.
“We want to equip students with literacy skills while also teaching traditions, Buddhist practices and cultural performances so that they can engage with their heritage in a living, meaningful way,” she said.
While the Thai-based curriculum grounds students in their heritage, local traditions have evolved, evident in Malay-influenced dishes and a Che’ He dialect laced with Kelantanese words.
“Since the existing school curriculum comes from Thailand, we are now working with a foundation that designs the syllabus, so we can customise it to include these local elements,” Ong shared.
Lee, who heads the Department of Mass Communication at UTAR’s Faculty of Creative Industries, said the syllabus revisions, along with other subtle adaptations in Siamese traditions and celebrations observed during his fieldwork, reflect the community’s cultural resilience, built on flexibility and integration within Kelantan society.
“By blending their traditions with local influences and using the temple school to sustain their cultural and religious identity, the community engages with the dominant Malay-Muslim societal structures while ensuring the continuity of their heritage,” he explained.
Through this approach, children experience their heritage up close, learning what it means to be Siamese while participating in modern Malaysian society.
Research support from institutions like UTAR helps bring the experiences of Terbak’s Siamese to light, fostering a more inclusive national conversation.
Such initiatives also situate UTAR’s research within a broader global framework, connecting local heritage preservation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on education and sustainable communities.
For the Siamese, preserving heritage is a living commitment and a reminder that Malaysia’s strength lies in embracing all its communities, where even the smallest voices count.
For more information, visit www.utar.edu.my or call 05-468 8888 (Kampar campus), 03-9086 0288 (Sungai Long campus). Visitors can walk in or call for any enquiries on weekdays from 9am to 5pm (closed on public holidays).
