Malay - Kinship

Malay kinship terminology is structured by generation, each generation having its set; by gender, male and female being differentiated within generations; and by seniority, older and younger among siblings and birth order within a family. If other status terms are available, like titles, occupations, pilgrimage or other sorts of pangkat, they are preferred over personal names or kin terms. There are no descent groups among the Malay, except for the matrilineages and clans among the Minangkabau of Negri Sembilan, who follow a form of customary law ( adat ) based on matrilineal descent and inheritance; this is different from the rest of the Malays, who follow bilateral norms of inheritance and descent, without formal groups. The heirs, a category called waris, are stipulated in Islamic usage, but equal inheritance is followed just as often.