The Concept of Diasporic Cultural Values of the Aceh Community in Yan, Kedah

Culture is embedded in the way of life of the society consisting oral traditions, languages, folklore, rites and faith, music and songs, performing arts, traditional herbal medicine, literature, traditional food as well as traditional sports and games. The culture of a society differs from one another. Value is a concept of culture that exists in the human mind and not in an object. Value can be defined as something that has benefits and interests shared by humanity. This study explores the culture of the diasporic community of Aceh in Yan, Kedah. The focus of the study are the cultural values of Aceh obtained from interviews, observations and library research. Aceh culture is filled with the diversity of prestigious values that are based from Islamic religious beliefs. This study will also describe the fundamentals of cultural values of the society's present Aceh in dealing with outside influences in the era of globalization and the problems faced by the community in the context of the Aceh nation. Furthermore, the study will focus on moral values found in Aceh’s culture. The definition of the diasporic Aceh community is emotionally and politically committing oneself to their motherland however, this perception had changed and developed through movements and migration around the world including their current place situated in Malaysia. They brought along cultural values and world viewto be inherited by the younger generation who are the foundation for the expansion of Aceh culture in nowadays community.


1.Introduction
Value is a concept of culture that exists in the human mind and not in objects. Value can be defined as something that has benefits and interests shared by humanity. Value is capable of satisfying an individual or a group of people without considering whether something that is deemed worthy is rational or otherwise. Certain values might be accepted and considered to be useful for some but not for others. Therefore, value is relative and subjective according to the tastes of humanity (Ismail Hamid, 1991). According to Wan Hashim et al. (1998), value is well liked and preferred, or such idealism in respect of social relationships between members in a society. This is because value is an abstract social phenomenon, therefore value can only be studied and formulated through observation of human behaviour and speech.
On the other hand, culture is a system of knowledge in which includes the values, rules, norms, views of life, the confidence and the punishment to be owned by the community through the learning process. This culture then becomes a guideline in the aspects of life and the range of the community concerned. The French thinker named Ernest Renan felt that the key element that drives the rebirth of a nation is the mental factor-ideologies, i.e. "the will to unite" (le desird'etre as well). Its meaning, leaving humanity or nation tribes who reside in an area may join and become a race if they have the will to unite and want to continuously unite (Hardi, 1993). The whole culture arose in a system called "spirit" in human life which is considered good value. Value of discipline is also the religious values that is God-consciousness and faith, which are the elements of artistic value, beautiful, subtle, joyful melancholic, dynamic and creative (Pirous, 2005). In conclusion, value is spread in the element of values including knowledge, religion, social, art and economy.
Therefore, this research has been focuses towards the Acehnese in Yan as a representation of a study regarding people and values. The research regarding the Acehnese in Yan is important due to their uniqueness as the only settlement in Malaysia that placed and gathered a group of people migrated from Aceh region in Sumatera to this country. It is hundred years of migration of people and civilization which established a new community or society that totally different from the original local people of Malays in Kedah. Thus, this objectives of the article are to highlight the history of the existence of Acehnese in Yan. Besides the discussion of the works of the Acehnese, the study also explored the values of the Acehnese in Yan socially, economically and politically. Most of the respondents of the study are the Malaysian Acehnese whom are the inhabitants of Kampung Aceh in district of Yan , Kedah. Due to the nature of the research, the main methods of the study are interviews and observation participation which help the researcher to establish the findings. Analysis has been done based on qualitative study of contents from interviews and observations analysed together with the secondary data.

Highlights of the Work
The Sultanate of Aceh is a ruling nation which exists in Northern Sumatra (Anthony Reid, 1969).The emergence of Aceh people in Kampung Aceh, Yan is said to stem from the migration of religious scholars and people from the Dutch colonial. The war between Aceh with the Netherlands lasted for 35 years. The war ended in 1908 when Aceh was won by the Dutch. As a result of not willing to be under the reign of the Netherlands, a bunch of people especially Aceh people together with their scholars decided to migrate to neighbouring states and countries. Abdul Majeed bin Hussin (2001).
Kedah became the ultimate target for them to migrate as it was the nearest to Aceh, hence they headed straight to the beach in the district of Yan, and some even headed to Perak, Penang and Langkawi Island. According to Professor Dato ' Dr. Yahaya, who is the Dean of a faculty at the University of Sultan Zainal Abidin (UDM), Terengganu (Interviewed on 20 th February 2018) said that when the fishermen of Aceh went down to the sea, they were to be able to see the Summit of Gunung Jerai and the mountain had guided them towards the Malay Peninsula. Factors that led to the occurrence of migration of the Aceh society were mostly caused by economic problems, political conflicts, discrimination and war that resulted in the formation of nationalist from long distance such as in Yan, Kedah (Haslinda Hasan, 2017). Migration is one of the important aspects in the study of population (Peterson, 1968). The immigrants' also brought their tomb stones together as a symbol of pride if something happens to them.The use of tomb stones also shows the high status of the influence of Islam on the people of Aceh.Aceh people's tomb stones or nisan is the symbol of the value of the arts in Kedah. The original tomb stones develops through the coastal Barus and West coast of Sumatra, and then directly to the Southeast to Lampung, while on the East Coast diffusion of Samudra Pasai to Peninsular Malaysia, Bintan, Jawa such as Banten and Jakarta.The great migration of the Aceh community was identified to have occurred from the year 1900-1960.The Aceh people who came to Yan, Kedah can be classified into three groups. The first class consists of scholars, the second are land restorers that had created their villages and community and third are business owners.
The first batch of migrates arrived to Kedah in 1900, known as the class of scholars led by Tengku in Balai or real name Tengku Arshad. He is a well-known Islamic scholar from Aceh. He brought his family and was also followed by his disciples, namely male students who want to study Islamic religion with him. They landed on a base half a mile to the South of the town of Yan, which later was given the name Ruat. After living in Kampung Ruat for 7 years, they found the place to be inappropriate, they later moved to Kampung Aceh. At that time, the village of Aceh was known as Lubuk Kasai . Although the place was covered with thick jungle they were happy to live there because of the natural environment they could easily get living supplies with water flowing from Mount Jerai and fertile lands to plant black pepper and rice.
Once they open the Kampung Aceh, they erected huts (meunasah) for male student residence which were still single. Soon after that, many of their relatives had migrated to Yan. These include the arrival of well-known Aceh scholars such as Teuku Badi'ul-Hafiz and Teuku Arshad or Teuku Balei the scholar who founded Kampung Aceh, and the village huts there. The Sultan of Kedah also promotes Islamic education which had caused the flock of entries of other scholars which are Teuku Lam Surau (Haji Musa) and Teuku Lam U (Sheikh Omar). Teuku Muhammad Dahan founded the religious schools ' Attarbiatul-Auladiah-Addiniah ' temporary Teacher Nyak Budima Nyak Gading (Budiman Radzi) is the author of religious scriptures that are prolific (Haslinda Hasan, 2017). This followed the arrival of their turn with the advent of the Aceh people to another.
The second group of people that came to Kampung Aceh consists of land restorers. The custom of migrating people is that they will run the restoration of the forests and lands in search of new residence and cultivation. Yan district has been the focus of the Aceh community who loves gardening and cultivating plants such as pepper and rubber (Abdullah Hussain, 1980). Indeed it's in the blood of the Aceh people to conduct activities such as farming, gardening, breeding etc. (Alfian, 1977). Those who migrated to Yan had not forgotten to bring some supplies along with them mostly in the form of money and also employees. The land restorers had bought land owned by Malays from those surrounding Kampung Aceh and also applied for government land which has not been redeveloped by anyone else. Their acquired land were planted with peppers and other sorts of crops. When rubber prices soared before the age of Japan, the entrepreneurs destroyed the vines and replaced them with rubber trees.
The third group of peoplewho came to Kampung Aceh consists of businessmen. Inthe year 1802, an estimation of 29,468 black pepper have been exported from the East coast of Aceh and Sumatra to Penang Salina Haji Zainal (1996). They engaged in business transactions with Aceh merchants in Penang by converting local items such as oil and pepper to take home goods from Penang to be sold in Kampung Aceh in the middle of the town of Yan and the neighborhood around it. They conducted business with Tengku Hamzah, Aceh's Chief trader in Penang, based in a building on the edge of a prominent Mosque, in Penang. The three groups of Aceh people were the first to make up the residents in Kampung Aceh.
Following Nyak Osman b. Nyak Daud, out of the total number of Aceh people who came to Kampung Aceh, only 25 percent of them had returned to Aceh after completing their Islamic religious studies in Kampung Aceh. The other 35 per cent lived at the village, while the remainder, 40 per cent of them did not return to Aceh. The group that had stayed behind were those who failed in their studies, they were too ashamed to return to Aceh and to be living at the Kampung Aceh. Thus, they continued to migrate to other districts in Malaya, to Langkawi Island, to the districts of Kuala Muda in Kedah, Penang and Perak. The table below shows the number of Aceh people that had migrated from Kampung Aceh to the island of Langkawi and Kuala Muda in Kedah: Census 1931Vieland (1932) and census of 1947(Del Tufo, 1949: Since the establishment of Kampung Aceh until 40 years later, their leaders were The Tengku's. As the prominent scholars of Islam, they promote Islamic religious studies. Huts built in abundance around the village for single independent boys single. Each person must pray five times a day, and Maghrib prayers was compulsory to be performed at the madrasah in the village. Tengku in Balai (Yan) also donated a piece of land, 3 acres in the village, and until today, anyone of the Aceh people from the village who died are buried in the cemetery.
The initial group of Aceh people who came to the site had brought along a variety of traditional clothing, kitchen appliances and even their weapons. Among the weapons that they had brought along with them were Kris or daggers, spears, javelin, sword and others. These weapons were often seen stored in their homes as decorations.
The local Malays do not object to the arrival of the Aceh people to the village there. Even the local Malay people accepted them as company. There were also Malays who sold forest lands that were without owners to the Aceh for a farm to grow peppers. A close and friendly relationship between the Aceh's and local Malay residents still exists until today. However, in terms of marriage, mixed marriage rarely happen between the Malays and Aceh community. They are more emphasize on marriage among their own community to prolong their descendants but this culture no longer occur nowadays.
The Aceh people had been focusing on their jobs in the field of business and revenue, and buying daily necessities such as rice and fish with their hard earned money. This was the influence brought in by businessmen from Aceh. Dealer groups have influenced the policies of life in Kampung Aceh in the past and today, that is, every Aceh person firmly believes the principle that they should always be determined to collect their own financial needs and property by means of trade. Their determination leads them to be out for several months for business around Malaya and will only return to Kampung Aceh when their revenue were satisfactory. They do not like to depend on their paid salary but instead strive to self-employ and earn their property.
People who come to Kampung Aceh usually bring along their rituals from the State of Aceh who are greatly influenced by Hinduism. In addition, the customs there have a lot of similarities with the customs of the local Malays, such as customary marriage, and consuming betel leaves.
Most of the houses built in Kampung Aceh since then until now are shaped like local Malay houses as well, but the difference is that the homes in Aceh are built closely between one another. This allowed them to socialize, chat and joke straight from their windows or front door which creates a tight knitted community. The Aceh community even though staying far from their own place they still converse in their own language at all times, however, the Malays would have trouble understanding them. Even so they still fluent in using the Malay language.

Methodology of the Study
Data for this study was obtained through field work conducted in Kampung Aceh, Yan, Kedah. Field work is done by using two main methods, namely data collection and interviews participating observation. The first method used by researchers is the systematic interview. This interview involves many informants so that the information gathered about the phenomenon studied will act as a ' representative ' or represent members of the public concerned. The interview was conducted openly and unstructured.Researchers also participated in the observation to help the informants with the questionnaires.
Next the data obtained were analysed. Researchers use perspective emic and ethics. Emic perspective and ethics refers to the analysis of perceptions and actions the perpetrator in a cultural phenomenon. Emic perspective allows observations analyzed based on the matter from the point of view of the community surveyed. While the perspectives of ethics refers to the ability of researchers to see shape, l inkages and the meaning of a thing according to the perspective of researchers themselves (Nanda and Warms, 2007).
After making observations, researchers had written the elaborations. Parsing in emic made in accordance with the explanations and descriptions that arose from the knowledge, thoughts and impression of members of the community itself. While parsing is pursued according to the views of researchers themselves based on form, function and meaning. The form is external aspects observed by researchers, the function is the contribution of the cultural elements to the retention and development of culture in general and the meaning is the suitability of the phenomena in everyday life with cultural trends and customs in the communities surveyed (Hashim Awang, 1988). Both of these perspectives are combined to obtain an analysis and elaboration of scientific and coherent writing.

Religious Values
One factor that defines and portray Malays-Aceh is that they are Muslims. It is concerned by the fact that generally the Malays are Muslim and their traditions were influenced by Islam. The attitude of the Aceh people a very conscious field of religion in everyday life. Therefore, almost all practices are bound by Sharia which includes the field of faith, moral and fiqh. This is in line with the principles that are often held strong by the Aceh's that is,

Umong meu ateung, ureung meu puetua, Adat, Seine Rumoh meu meu kaja.
Which means, there is a limit in each person's behavior by customary, like the paddocks by the fields, causing the limitation of water needed by crops which will not flow out. Therefore, humans who live together should also have the leadership that is arranged through customs. Like a net in a sheets of ropes, which is used to take a fish out of net (Muhammad Hakim Nyak Pha, 1996).
In terms of religious values, the Aceh society emphasizes that every parent should send their children between the ages of 5 to 12 years old to claim the knowledge of religion (intat intat teungku beuet or bak). Children are taught to obediently obey the teacher to become a person who is knowledgeable and diligently perform their responsibilities. In bahasa Aceh mentioned: takzem keu gure meurumpok tuah, takzem keu nang-bah meurumpok areuta Religious values have also limited the interactions between boys and girls after puberty (akil baliq). Boys and girls must know their boundaries in interacting between men and women, including siblings. This is in line with Islamic law which highly emphasize and limit the interactions between boys and girls after puberty. The son is not allowed to be in the kitchen as the kitchen is just for women. When the son is often seen in the kitchen, it will be called mie dapu (cat kitchen) (Muhammad Hakim Nyak Pha, 1996).
In addition, religious values shape the character of a person. The son should always be able to act as "the company answer" according to their respective positions. This is to instill the knowledge, independence, confidence and strength, honesty in making opinions, agile, courageous and responsible. While a daughter is strict, honest, courageous and all rounded.
Religious values of the Aceh people driven by the roles of influential scholars during the time. The war between Aceh and the Netherlands has caused many scholars who decided to leave Aceh and to other areas especially the migrating monarchies. This statement about the fact that further strengthen relations of scholar are very closely related to the Aceh community "Like the bamboo and the riverbanks" they are inseperable. Sometimes the words coming from the mouth of scholars becomes a rule that lasts in the Aceh community. A Pasee ethnic in Aceh called Ureung Aceh is said to be one of the finest quarter of knowledgeable and pious scholars. In the Aceh community, scholars are given the title "Teungku". The title given to a large number of people in Aceh. Other than that, they are also called by the title "Teungku Chik". (Upright and Jakobi, 1998).
Religious values in their society cannot be separated by tradition and culture as every person in Aceh are accustomed to its culture. Tradition and culture which portray the uniqueness of people from Aceh. The custom has several levels, namely Adatullah (absolute law based on the Islamic law), Muhakamah (regulation and legislation), and Adatunnah (a common custom does not conflict with Islamic law ). (Muhammad Hakim Nyak Pha, 1996).

The Value of Love and the Role of Women
One of the famous romance of the past is Hikayat Srang Manyang. It describe the story of si Malin Kundang in Minangkabau, the story begin with a life of a mother who is very poor and her husband had gone again. The mother's misery is multiplied as it should in turn assume the burden of nurturing and bringing up a son that is loved. For the sake of love for her son she gained incredible strength to be able to withstand and never gave up on continuing their poor lives (Alfian, 1977). This shows how this Aceh community raised the position of a mother in their lives to make the story up as a romance of the Manyang Srang which must be elevated to become a guideline to the community.
The value of love in Aceh community raised the role of a woman in particular mother as an important element in the lives of Acehnese. There are many female figure in the history of Aceh that has an important role both in terms of political, economic or social. Since the age of Samudra Pasai, the role of women in politics and the military were prominent. Queen Nihrasiyah (1400-1428) was the first woman Superintendent in the Islamic Government. (Upright and Jakobi, 1998). Some of the greatest women were famous in the history of the reign of Aceh were Admiral Malahayati, Admiral Meurah Gantis, Cut Nyak Dien, Cut Meutia and Cutpo Fatimah. These names are highlighted in Aceh Community institutions or their business premises in conjunction to lift the position of a mother. Mother is the source of strength and spirit in weathering the life for the community of Aceh. Figure-1. the Aceh people-owned shop using the name "mother" symbolizes the love of the mother. (Haslinda Hasan, 2017)

Economic Value
Islam teaches humans to strive and work hard. The word of God in the surah Ar-Ra'du in verse 11: Allah will not change the fate of the people unless the tribe seeks to change the fate of themselves (Drs. Zulkifli, 2001). Residents of Pidie in Acheh are famous as the nomads, a strong working population, farmers, great traders from the district of Pidie are compact compared to other districts (Drs. Zulkifli, 2001). Based on the theory of Mandel noted these talents are passed down to generation by generations going down to their children (Abdul Majeed bin Hussin, 2001). Therefore, their presence in Yan continues to rise especially in Sungai Limau Yan. It is also the birthplace of the Malaysian national Laureate i.e.
In Malaysia there is a term that describes that a son will follow in the footsteps of his father as mentioned in the the idiom "Bapak borek, anak rintik". While in Aceh, in turn is famous for its "Pakriban U meunen miyeuk" (Drs. Zulkifli, 2001). Once the children growing to age of baligh it is the responsibility of the elder people to teach the children.. This is done by means of an obligation to the children to help their parents according to type and their respective capabilities. If not, then the parents will be looked down by the community. Children will also be mocked with a speech by aneuk lam geutiek (son under the armpits of his mother). This is an insult against their families.
This value has led people to work earnestly. There is an expression in the society, namely Aceh, nyang nyang haih, meulekcok si pantaih cok si deupa (who's stupid will have inches and who fast and skilled human will have more). This article clearly has competition going on in the community in search of a better life. There were phrases that forced not only to give up on destiny, but had to work hard. Gallant, tuah Raseuki ta ta mita (the only sustenance derived with hard work). This is evident from the expression of the Aceh community that there is a real term "determination and diligence" to achieve their dreams.
Aceh community absolutely do not tolerate lazy behaviour inside a person. Bak si beu-ohle ilaih, bak si malaih le claims. Means those who are lazy are those who endlessly look for excuses. Therefore, Aceh society calls for this with the title si beu-o lam tapeh (a lazy handyman sleep) (Muhammad Hakim Nyak Pha, 1996).

The Value of Courage and Assertiveness
The Acehnese have a high level of courage in their enthusiasm that creates them to become great and fearinspiring force. Their ability is also due to the application of the values of Islamic teachings practiced in their lives. The noble values in Islam are spread through the usual means of communication, among them through poetry. One of the hikayat or stories that was considered the most influential which had knocked on the people's conscience to go against the Dutch at that time was the Hikayat Perang Sabil. The symbols of the madrasahs have evoked the spirit of the people of Aceh to oppose the Dutch occupation (Alfian, 1977). The Aceh community in Yan also managed to maintain its cultural roots, especially in terms of language, cuisine, clothing (wedding dresses in the wedding ceremony especially) and their way of life up to now. The Great Aceh language is used in speech and informal writing and the most complete is still maintained in Kampung Aceh, Yan. (Haslinda Hasan, 2017) There are written articles that tells the story of the Portuguese fleet that facing continuous defeat in a series of wars with Aceh. There were many officers killed during the wars including Admiral Jorge de Brito (927H) and Admiral Simon de Souza. Indeed, the Aceh people are concerned with "Quality of death" rather than "Quality of life". The Acehnese are not afraid to die as they strongly believe in the term martyrs. Even in Aceh author's writing of they often use the term martyrs in describing the death of Aceh warriors.
The Dutch officers had mentioned about Aceh women with great admiration and respect for their courage. Aceh women are not afraid to risk their entire being for something that is regarded as a religious and national concern. The Aceh women were close to the battlefield. They live with war. When they were small, still in the cradle they were often sung with songs such as: "Susu lemak manih, santan kelapa muda, Anak jangan menangis, bila besar bunuh Belanda" oleh ibu mereka. Which subtly means do not cry my child when you grow up you must kill the Dutch. Zentgraaf, a Dutch journalist who had served in Indonesia in his book De Acehers, quoted: "... there is no nation so enthusiastic and fanatical in the face of the enemy other than the Aceh people with their women far superior to all other nations in the courage of death." The Acehnese when viewed in terms of character has clearly shown the character of its firmness both by men and women. Raja Iskandar was said to have condemned his own son for violating the law.

Language Values
The Acehnese people have very strong identity despite the people of Aceh having diverse languages. The Aceh language has many similarities with the Malay language such as baja, cawan, camca, tingkap, cermin, pinggan and more. There are also Acehnese languages whose language is just different from the last letters such as baju -bajee, batu -bate, jambu-jambee, kayu -kayee, tebu -tebee, siku-singke, malu -male, bubu -bubee and more other words. (Drs. Zulkifli, 2001). The language used by the Aceh Rayeuk tribe in Aceh has the same dialect as the Malays in Malaysia such as Peu Habe (Apa Khabar -How are you) and Saye (Saya -Me).
The Acehnese in Malaysia, especially in Yan, still use the Aceh language in daily communication. Although the language of Aceh is different, Malay is still used as the medium of instruction. The Malay language is not only a language of communication between the societies but the language of instruction in education. Bahasa Melayu is used as the official language for official matters of the Aceh government until its development until now. Correspondence in Malay is no stranger to the Acehnese people

Cultural Values
The Aceh community in Yan have all claimed to be local Malays. They have also followed the customs of the Malays in Malaya. Clothing of the Aceh's are much like the Malay dresses such as sarong, peci, baju teluk belanga, kebaya and bun. In terms of food there is also not much differences from Malay food such as lemang, glutinous rice and nasi lemak. Averrhoa Bilimbi is very famous in Acehnese society. According to Ms Rahman, a resident of Kampung Yan, Kedah, said that the bilimbi have always been cooked in dry form. Historically, sun-dried bilimbi are the main dishes during the war. It will last longer. The buffalo skin that is slaughtered will also be chewed and sliced thinly and made into crackers.
Custom dresses also are retained by the Aceh people until now. E.g. bridal dresses are in colourful songket cloth. At the wedding ceremony, Aceh community in Malaysia especially in Yan still retains traditional customs of Aceh from Indonesia. Equipment such as wedding shirts, soft and another appliance is brought directly from mainland Aceh. Men wear clothes such as shirts and sarongs. Women wear long sleeves, sarongs and scarves. (Alfian, 1977).
Other cultural values can be seen in terms of weapons usage such as javelin, keris daggers, sword, machete and spears that most Malays use.
There are some similarities in the custom of the Acehnese people and the Malays in Malaya in terms of dowry, mahr and wedding gifts in the form of food (yellow pulp, dodol), clothing (wedding dress for the bride), and jewelry (personal care equipment, , hand bag). (Nelly Tobing, Mrs. Sjamsidar & Mrs. Izarwisma). There are some relics of the first generation of the Acehnese traditional houses in Kampung Yan, Kedah which remains to this day. Traditional Acehnese houses are divided into three parts: the front porch, the main room and the back porch.

Conclusion
This study clearly shows that the main factors affecting the Aceh culture. Their culture is still strong and continues to grow among members of the public until today for several reasons. Firstly, members of the Aceh community in Kampung Aceh have solidarity and kinsman which consists of very close family members and relatives. Most of the members of this community are among the members and member of the married family itself. Although there are married to people outside but they still continue to live in the village. This is no surprise as every aspect of their lives including the values, customs and language learned and information is provided from generation to generation. Secondly, members of the public are still strong to defend their values and norms so as not to lose just because of cultural detachment and pride themselves as a society in Aceh. Aceh community has its own identity and self-esteem that can distinguish them from other communities, for instance the Malay community. Third, although the Aceh society receive waves of cultural influences that come from the outside but they are still able to maintain certain parts of their tradition and customs. Cultural adaptation process to their own culture that comes from outside is one of the strategies in preserving and maintaining their own identity.