Malaysian Airlines(MAS) stewardess have an elegant kebaya design for their stewardess uniforms. I wonder who between Malaysian airlines and Singapore Airlines copied(drew inspiration) the kebaya idea from the other. I'm told the
Singapore Airlines Kebaya came way ahead from the Malaysian Airlines so MAS must have drawn some inspiration from SQ?
For those not in the know,
a Kebaya is a traditional blouse-dress combination worn by women in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Burma, Singapore, southern Thailand. Sort of like the traditional dress for the South East Asian peoples! And it looks good on their stewardesses too. Have a look at Singapore Airlines Flight Attendants in their kebaya. Here's how Royal Brunei Airlines draws some inspiration from the traditional dress to design an elegant cabin crew uniform. Thai Airways has a more Western look and Vietnam Airlines has an elegant fusion of traditional and Western look.
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| Malaysian Airlines Stewardesses in their kebaya |
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| Malaysian Hospitality: Malaysian Airline stewardess serving a passenger |
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| Malaysian stewardesses in the line of duty |
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| Malaysian Airlines Flight attendants |
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ReplyDeletefor your information, the Malaysian Airlines (MAS) uniform is the REAL kebaya because of the 'V' shape on its neck...that is the pattern from the original traditional Malay kebaya...
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAs a Malaysian, I am deeply offended by the term 'copying one another's traditional uniforms' whenever the baseless accusation exists! Malaysia did not copy anyone's Kebaya!
ReplyDeleteIt's Our Nation's Kebaya of the Malay race!
For Your Information, whoever you are, I hazard in guessing that you're not an Asian, as for that understanding in cross culture differences and less knowledge about our MALAY KEBAYA, I shall be forgiving your ignorance.
Allow me to explain, first let me ask, did you even conduct a proper online research (wikipedia, example) prior to posting these crude REMARKS? Let me guess, No, you didn't.
Okay, these arguments and misunderstandings about where and which country this KEBAYA originally belongs to has been a very sensitive issue so I'll just highlight on the original Malay Kebaya.
In the early 50s-60s, the airline was called MAS Airways, Malaysia AND Singapore Airways, the country was once united! And during Tunku Abdul Rahman's reign in Tanah Melayu, he approves Singapore's appeal to be separated from Malaya, and consented by the British Commonwealth, Singapore Act in 1966 (Singapore as an independent country from Tanah Melayu-Malaysia). As for the result, Sir, how can the Kebaya claimed to either Malaysia or Singapore whilst the country was ONE!
No, the Kebaya was once belonged to Tanah Melayu (now Malaysia & Singapore) by historical records.
So the answer is, the Kebaya has progressed over time throughout its unique and Malay authenticity preserved, and not in a any way affiliated with the Indonesians or other Polinesian / South East Asians ethnic's traditional so called Kebayas!
Royalty: The Malay Sultanate (Monarchical Kingdom) invented these cultural tradition, and the Kebaya was restricted to be worn on high ranking noble women of Tanah Melayu! It means, middle class or lower class women only gets to wear normal clothing because they couldn't afford the imperial Kebaya!
The Malaysian Kebaya is a MALAY BATIK Kebaya with a V neck, yes, and Kelarai Motives, a type of flower, and it wasn't a copycat work of cheap artists! It was designed by a Malay student of UITM University of Shah Alam, from the Fashion Designing faculty in early 80s.
It has nothing to do with Temasek (present day Singapore) round neck Kebaya due to its accent influences based on many Polinesian and archaic feminine Kebaya.
Singapore Airlines' Kebaya in called SARONG Kebaya by the way, influenced by the Indonesian traditional Kebaya.
Singapore's Malays are far untraditionalist than the Malaysian Malays (including Peranakan 'Baba & Nyonya') and all of their cutural essenses are missing in some traditions.
Malaysians still practices Islamic / Malay traditional customs. So we know our history very well.
Thank you very much for your time.