I’ve looked left and right. Being a minimalist in Malaysia can feel pretty lonely.
Let’s consider Facebook, the nearest place with a diverse demographic, if you compare it to other social media platforms. A group named “Minimalist Life Asia – Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesian and Beyond” has over 300 members, which is impressive but includes at least three countries. Meanwhile, “Minimalist Living in Malaysia” has 38 members, and I’m the 39th—yeay!
Another Facebook page, “Minimalist Malaysia,” has over 500 likes. These numbers are ‘minimalist’ themselves, and I’ve come to realise that minimalism isn’t really trendy here, unlike duCk scarves, the Dukun movie, and the upcoming PRU (Pilihan Raya Umum, national election voting on 9 May). These aren’t comparable, I know, but my point is, we are not as well-known as minimalists in Japan, the United States, and Thailand. I can accept that; I don’t need to be well-known all the time, right?
Perhaps our society does not really understand the minimalism lifestyle yet.
A Different Perspective: The Older Generation
The older generation might view this differently. Without knowing the minimalism concept, our fathers already led simple lives. Most likely, they just had no choice; life was hard back then. They had a pair of shoes and a pair of slippers that they wouldn’t replace or add to until those pairs were really worn out. This was probably the case before many malls and supermarkets were built here in our beautiful country or before online shopping became as easy as going to the toilet.
Feeling the urge? Fill your toilet bowl, flush. Feeling the urge? Add to cart, check out.
Modern Minimalism: A Contradiction?
Being a minimalist is not easy and not as attractive as having all patterns and colours of the latest Neelofar Hijab, Bokitta, or again, the duCk scarves. Don’t get me wrong, you can buy a duCk scarf and still be a minimalist. Own an iPhone X and still be a minimalist. Own a car and still be a minimalist. Have four kids and still be a minimalist, and, er, two wives and still be a minimalist.
Kidding.
I’ll try to write a separate post on what qualifies you to be a minimalist, but first, look at this quote:
“It’s quite simple: to be a minimalist, you must live with less than 100 things, you can’t own a car or a home or a television, you can’t have a career, you must live in exotic, hard-to-pronounce places all over the world, you must start a blog, you can’t have children, and you must be a young white male from a privileged background.” (What Is Minimalism? by The Minimalists)
They were joking, don’t take that seriously. Go read the post!
Minimalism in Malaysia
Apart from the Facebook groups and pages, I searched for “minimalism in Malaysia” on the internet. Most results brought me to topics like minimalist home decor, fashion, and website design—not really what I was looking for. However, I did find a few interesting articles worth my time:
- How Minimalism Can Improve Your Finances
- Mandatory Read: The Trouble with Owning Things
- A Malaysian Minimalist in Adelaide
- Can I Be a Minimalist in Malaysia?
- Kelebihan Hidup Secara Minimalist
- How Minimalism Changed Me
While I’m looking for a minimalist friend who blogs, writes, doesn’t have a career, and is also single (in Malaysia) to hang out and write with me, you guys can hang on and read these articles.
Moshi
7 November 2018 at 1:14 amDo you think minimalism correlates with ‘kesederhanaan’? I want to live as a minimalist but the clothes I wear are not quite minimal in price even though they are plain and not colourful.
A'ishah K.
14 November 2018 at 8:55 pmI think it does correlate, but the price of the item is not really the key as long as it is reasonable. The colors are also not the main thing.
For example, it’s better to have one quality (but more expensive) shoes than having 10 pairs of just-OK cheaper shoes you ended up not really wearing. However, how much you’re willing to pay for your possession is still subjective to whether you can afford it or not.
Practically, if you talk about clothes – for me, it’s ok and it’s good to buy expensive quality clothes no matter what the colors/design are as long as they spark joy, what you enjoy wearing and suit your personality. They key is with the quantity – for example, I have just enough clothes to be worn in 1-2 weeks cycle. Other than that, are just excess. Something I don’t wear for more than 6 months definitely have to go. (just my personal guideline)
Omid
1 November 2019 at 7:48 pmI love the idea of minimalism. Though I’m not a pure minimalist, but me and my wife are trying to own lesser things and live with whatever we have and buy things that are necessary and avoid compulsive shopping.
One and a half year have passed for you.. I want to check if you are still practicing minimalism? How is it going?
A'ishah K.
4 November 2019 at 5:50 pmHi Omid, YES I’m still practicing minimalism and have discovered more and more benefits of minimalism in my life. There are few times that I fell back into the habits of consumerism but whenever I did, I was overwhelmed with the clutter and the amount of things that kept piling up – I’ve returned on track and still progressing in this journey. Trying to simplify more aspects in my life (i.e. relationship and commitment). All the best to you. Thanks for dropping by!
Elizabeth Tai
29 November 2019 at 11:59 amYa know, I’m been thinking that I was one of the few minimalists in Malaysia too! Yes, I don’t quite blog that much about minimalism, but I’m a practicing minimalist. Here’s one such post from me: http://www.elizabethtai.com/blog/how-minimalism-changed-me and http://www.elizabethtai.com/blog/why-i-became-a-minimalist
Nice to “meet” a fellow Malaysian minimalist. And hey, thanks for citing my former blog – Malaysia 2 Adelaide 😉
A'ishah K.
5 December 2019 at 2:36 pmThanks for sharing Elizabeth. Going to read it now 🙂
Naim
5 May 2020 at 8:43 pmGood write up! Yes it’s true that minimalism in Malaysia is lonely. But I think you’ll be fine as long as you keep your good work of writing it and preaching the practice of minimalism in Malaysia.
I’m just starting to write about minimalism and the way of living our life in a simple way. Hoping that I can be as good as you!
A'ishah K.
6 May 2020 at 12:13 pmThank youu and please share your link here, would love to read it!
Mumtaz
4 August 2020 at 11:35 amThanks for sharing sis, Love it!
For me minimalist is like ‘zuhd’ in Islam, idk but ya Islam has practically have this.