Malaysia is a melting pot of several major cultural traditions that stem from archipelagic Southeast Asia as well as from China, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West. Malay culture and Bornean culture are indigenous to the area. In the first one and a half millennia AD, indigenous Malay culture in the Malay Peninsula and in other parts of Southeast Asia was strongly marked by pre-Islamic Indian and early Islamic influences. Indian contact with the Malay Peninsula extended from about the 2nd or 3rd to the late 14th century, exerting a profound influence on religion (Hinduism and Buddhism), art, and literature. Islam, introduced to Malacca (now Melaka) in the 15th century, soon became the dominant religion of the Malays. The introduction of Western cultural influences in the 19th century affected many aspects of Malay life, especially in technology, law, social organization, and economics. Contemporary Malay culture is thus multifaceted, consisting of many strands—animistic, early Hindu, early and modern Islamic, and, especially in the cities, Western—and the collective pattern is distinct from other cultures and recognizably Malay.

Malaysia reflects different cultural traditions, including those of China, India, the Middle East, Europe, and the entire Malay Archipelago. Early Malay empires absorbed Indian influences, such as Hindu epics and the Sanskrit language. The kingdom of Malacca, centered in the present-day state of Melaka, developed as an Islamic state, or sultanate, in the 1400s. Later, new cultural influences from Europe and China mixed with Hindu and Islamic traditions. A collective but distinctively Malay cultural pattern has emerged out of all these influences, with artistic expressions in literature, music, dance, and art forms.

External cultural influences have made the least impact in music, dancing, literature, and the decorative arts. In East Malaysia the indigenous cultural background includes no written history or literature. Architecture is little developed, and the principal art forms are dancing and handicrafts, represented notably by the textiles handwoven by the Punan tribe, cloth made by the Bajau people, patterned rattan mats and basketwork, and wood carvings. Particularly on the peninsula, the artistic manifestations of Malay culture are mainly in literature, music, dancing, and the decorative arts. Painting and sculpture are poorly developed, primarily because Islam does not encourage the representation of the human form. Examples of Malay decorative arts include batik cloth (cloth hand-dyed by using a special technique), silverware, the handmade kris (a short sword or heavy dagger with a wavy blade), wood carving, and basketwork. Malaysian Chinese culture is derived from Chinese civilization and is represented by literature, drama, music, painting, and architecture. Some Malaysian artists—of Malay, Chinese, and Indian origin—also have begun to produce new, synthesized, and distinctively Malaysian art forms, especially in painting and architecture.