A person who is convicted of crime may be pardoned by the datu, but he becomes a slave. In times of war, the captured enemy is made a slave of his captors. .
How Could a Slave Become Free? A slave may become free by purchase. This happens if a friend of the slave buys his freedom from his master. Sometimes, a slave runs away. If he is not captured he becomes free. A slave who marries a freeman also becomes free. Sometimes a master, out of kindness, may voluntarily set a slave free.
Our Early Family. We may well say that we acquired closeness of family ties from our ancestors. During their time, they were even more closely knit than our present family.
In their times, the father was virtual monarch. The children respected their parents so much that to mention their names was considered a sacrilege. The children recognized their duties and obligations to their parents. Even after the children married, they rendered absolute obedience to their parents. The parents, in return, supported and protected their children. There were times when the families of their children continued to live with them. When their parents became old and weak, the children took care of them. Thus our tradition of family solidarity was an early trait of Malay social life.
If their parents got sick, the children made offerings to their gods for the recovery of their parents. The death of their parents was felt as a great loss by children. They carved idols of their dead parents and considered them as among their household gods or anitos. The members of a Malay family had great sentiments for one another.
The Manners of Our Ancestors. Our ancestors took great care not to offend anybody. They were very courteous to others. When a person met his superior or elder, he took off his headwear (potong) and bowed with courtesy. He would sit on the ground or on his heelbones for it was considered impolite to remain standing before his superior.
