CULTURAL ADAPTATION AND IDENTITY OF NORA KHAEK IN MALAY SOCIETY: A CROSS-BORDER PERFORMING ART IN KELANTAN, MALAYSIA

Abstract

This qualitative study examines the cultural adaptation and distinctive identity of Nora Khaek, a cross-border performing art maintained by Siamese communities in Tumpat District, Kelantan, Malaysia. It investigates the historical formation, performance structure, conditions of continuity, and identity markers that distinguish Nora Khaek from Southern Thai Nora and Malay Mak Yong. Data were collected through documentary research, in-depth interviews with troupe leaders, performers, musicians, scholars, community leaders, and cultural practitioners, together with participant and non-participant observation of three Nora Khaek troupes. Triangulation and descriptive-interpretive analysis were employed, guided by cultural ecology and performance theory. The findings show that Nora Khaek developed through sustained contact between Nora and Mak Yong in the Thai-Malay borderland and was transformed after the Anglo-Siamese boundary settlement of 1909. Its survival does not depend on preserving an unchanged form; rather, it rests on adaptive continuity. Performers shorten programs, reorganize ritual sequences, combine Southern Thai and Kelantan Malay, incorporate Malay instruments and melodies, pause performances during Muslim prayer times, and rely on temples, kinship networks, and community events. Its identity is expressed through the crescent-eared headdress, bilingual performance, hybrid musical ensemble, Malay-dominant dramatic passages, and religiously sensitive practice. Nora Khaek is therefore not merely a mixture of two genres but a community-produced cultural system that negotiates minority identity, social coexistence, and continuity within Malay-Muslim society.

Keywords: Nora Khaek, Malay Society, Cultural Adaptation, Cultural Identity, Cross-Border Performing Art, Kelantan