“Nuba Laya, Kinupi and Budu”

This book is a celebration of the diversity of cultural experiences amongst our Malaysian youths that is reflective of a small microcosm of Malaysia’s society. In these personal narratives, we can read of cultural practices we may or may not be familiar with, how cultures have evolved through modernisation, how each person uniquely experiences culture, how one may choose to affirm or reject aspects of her/his culture she/he deems worthy or unworthy of preserving, and the enduring power culture seems to have over us. It is our hope that these stories could be read for pleasure or utilised in the classroom as reading materials. This collection of personal narratives aims to challenge the perspectives on Malaysian culture that is often reduced to stereotypical representations particularly in Malaysian textbooks by using the students’ own lived experiences.