Understand
Kelantan is the most deeply conservative of all Malay states and has with just one interruption been governed by the opposition Islamic Party of Malaysia Parti Islam SeMalaysia or PAS since 1958. The party's green flag with a white full moon flutters throughout the state. Highways seem to have more signs with quotes from the Koran than actual traffic instructions; many signs are written in Jawi, the old Arabic script for Malay; and even some Chinese women wear head scarves here.
Whilst Malays make up 95% of the population of 2.4 million and there is also the usual smattering of Chinese and Indians, Kelantan is also home to the Orang Siam, a group of 7,000-8,000 Buddhist Thais. The Thais have lived in Kelantan for centuries.
One strong point that differentiates between Kelantan and the rest of Malaysian states is the way that the Kelantanese categorize people based on their place of origin rather than the color of the skin. All Kelantanese are considered as Oghe Kito Our People or Orang Kita in standard Malay no matter which race or religion they belong to. This sometimes gives the wrong impression to the non-Kelantanese Malaysians, to whom the term Orang Kita usually refers to people of the same race.
