Malaysia
| Malaysia مليسيا | |||||
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| Motto: Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu (English: "Unity Is Strength")[1] | |||||
| Anthem: "Negaraku" | |||||
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| Capital | Kuala Lumpur1 3°08′N 101°42′E | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Largest city | Kuala Lumpur | ||||
| Official languages | Malay | ||||
| Government | Federal constitutional monarchy | ||||
| - Paramount Ruler | Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin | ||||
| - Prime Minister | Abdullah Ahmad Badawi | ||||
| Independence | |||||
| - from the UK (Malaya only) | August 31 1957 | ||||
| - Federation (with Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore2) | September 16 1963 | ||||
| Area | |||||
| - Total | 329,847 km² (67th) 127,355 sq mi | ||||
| - Water (%) | 0.3 | ||||
| Population | |||||
| - Dec. 2006 estimate | 26,888,000 | ||||
| - 2000 census | 23,953,136 | ||||
| - Density | 82/km² 211/sq mi | ||||
| GDP (PPP) | 2006 estimate | ||||
| - Total | $290.7 billion | ||||
| - Per capita | $12,100 | ||||
| HDI (2006) | 0.805 (high) | ||||
| Currency | Ringgit (RM) (MYR)
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| Time zone | MST (UTC+8) | ||||
| - Summer (DST) | not observed (UTC+8) | ||||
| Internet TLD | .my | ||||
| Calling code | +60 | ||||
| 1 Putrajaya is the primary seat of government. 2 Singapore became an independent country on 9 August 1965. | |||||
Malaysia is a federation of 13 states in Southeast Asia. There are two distinct parts to Malaysia being Peninsular Malaysia to the west and East Malaysia to the East. Peninsular Malaysia is located south of Thailand, north of Singapore and east of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. East Malaysia is located on the island of Borneo and shares borders with Brunei and Indonesia.
The name "Malaysia" was adopted in 1963 when the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak formed a 14-state federation. Singapore was expelled from the federation in 1965 and subsequently become an independent country.
Although politically dominated by the Malay people, modern Malaysian society is heterogeneous, with substantial Chinese and Indian minorities. Malaysian politics have been noted for their allegedly communal nature. The three major component parties of the Barisan Nasional each restrict membership to those of one ethnic group. However, the only major intercommunal violence the country has seen since independence was the May 13 racial riots of 1969 that occurred in the wake of an election campaign that was dominated by racial issues.
Geography
West Malaysia (or Peninsular Malaysia) shares a land border on the north with Thailand and is connected by the Johor-Singapore Causeway and the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link to the south with Singapore, consists of nine sultanates (Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak]], Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu), two states headed by governors (Malacca and Penang), and two federal territories (Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur).
East Malaysia (or Malaysian Borneo) occupies the northern part of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia and surrounding the Sultanate of Brunei. It consists of the states of Sabah and Sarawak and the federal territory of Labuan.
At a total of 328,550 square kilometres, Malaysia is about the same size as New Mexico.
They share a largely similar landscape in that both feature coastal plains rising to often densely forested hills and mountains, the highest of which is Mount Kinabalu at 13,435.7 feet (4,095.2 meters) on the island of Borneo.
The local climate is equatorial and characterised by the annual southwest (April to October) and northeast (October to February) monsoons.
Tanjung Piai, located in the southern state of Johor, is the southernmost tip of continental Asia. The Strait of Malacca, lying between Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia, is arguably the most important shipping lane in the world.
Malaysia is well endowed with natural resources such as agriculture, forestry as well as minerals. In terms of agriculture, Malaysia is the world's primary exporter of natural rubber and palm oil, which together with saw logs and sawn timber, cocoa, black pepper, pineapple and tobacco dominate the growth of the sector. Palm oil is also a major foreign exchange earner.
Today an estimated 59 percent of Malaysia remains forested. The rapid expansion of the timber industry since the 1960s has caused serious erosion. Subsequently, fewer trees are being felled, degraded forest areas are being replanted with rattan under natural forest conditions and in rubber plantations as an intercrop. Fast-growing timber species such as meranti tembaga, merawan and sesenduk are being planted. The cultivation of high-value trees like teak and other trees for pulp and paper are encouraged.
Rubber, once the mainstay of the Malaysian economy, has been largely replaced by oil palm as Malaysia's leading agricultural export.
Environment issues include air pollution from industrial and vehicular emissions, water pollution from raw sewage, deforestation, and smoke haze from Indonesian forest fires.
Putrajaya is the newly created administrative capital for the federal government of Malaysia, aimed in part to ease growing congestion within Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur. Kuala Lumpur remains the seat of parliament, as well as the commercial and financial capital of the country. Other major cities include Georgetown, Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Alor Star and Malacca Town.
History
The Malay Peninsula has thrived from its central position in the maritime trade routes between China and the Middle East. Ptolemy showed it on his early map with a label that translates as "Golden Chersonese", the Straits of Malacca were referred to as "Sinus Sabaricus".
The earliest recorded Malay kingdoms grew from coastal city-ports established in the tenth century C.E. These include Langkasuka and Lembah Bujang in Kedah, as well as Beruas and Gangga Negara in Perak and Pan Pan in Kelantan. It is thought that originally these were Hindu or Buddhist nations. The first evidence of Islam in the Malay peninsula dates from the fourteenth century in Terengganu, but according to the Kedah Annals, the ninth Maharaja Derbar Raja (1136-1179 C.E.) of the Sultanate of Kedah converted to Islam and changed his name to Sultan Muzaffar Shah. Since then there have been 27 Sultans who ruled Kedah.
There were numerous Malay kingdoms in the second and third century C.E., as many as 30 according to Chinese sources. Kedah – known as Kedaram or Kataha, in ancient Pallava or Sanskrit – was in the direct route of invasions of Indian traders and kings. Rajendra Chola, who is now thought to have laid Kota Gelanggi to waste, put Kedah to heel in 1025 but his successor, Vir Rajendra Chola, had to put down a Kedah rebellion to overthrow the invaders.
The Buddhist kingdom of Ligor took control of Kedah shortly after, and its King Chandrabhanu used it as a base to attack Sri Lanka in the eleventh century, an event noted in a stone inscription in Nagapattinum in Tamil Nadu and in the Sri Lankan epic, Mahavamsa. During the first millennium, the people of the Malay peninsula adopted Hinduism and Buddhism and the use of the Sanskrit language until they eventually converted to Islam, but not before Hinduism, Buddhism and Sanskrit became embedded into the Malay worldview. Traces of the influences in political ideas, social structure, rituals, language, arts and cultural practices still can be seen to this day.
There are reports of other areas older than Kedah – the ancient kingdom of Ganganegara, around Bruas in Perak, for instance – that pushes Malaysian history even further into antiquity. If that is not enough, a Tamil poem, Pattinapillai, of the second century C.E., describes goods from Kadaram heaped in the broad streets of the Chola capital; a seventh century Sanskrit drama, Kaumudhimahotsva, refers to Kedah as Kataha-nagari. The Agnipurana also mentions a territory known Anda-Kataha with one of its boundaries delineated by a peak, which scholars believe is Gunong Jerai. Stories from the Katasaritasagaram describe the life of elegance of life in Kataha.
In the early fifteenth century, the Sultanate of Malacca was established under a dynasty founded by Parameswara, a prince from Palembang, who fled from the island Temasek (now Singapore). Parameswara decided to establish his kingdom in Malacca after witnessing an astonishing incident where a white mouse deer kicked one of his hunting dogs. He took it as a sign of good luck and name his kingdom "Melaka" after the tree where he was resting under. At its height, the sultanate controlled the areas that are now Peninsula Malaysia, southern Thailand (Patani), and the eastern coast of Sumatra. It existed for more than a century, and within that time period Islam spread to most of the Malay Archipelago. Malacca was the foremost trading port at the time in Southeast Asia.
In 1511, Portugal conquered Malacca and established a colony there. The sons of the last sultan of Malacca established two sultanates elsewhere in the peninsula - the Sultanate of Perak to the north, and the Sultanate of Johor (originally a continuation of the old Malacca sultanate) to the south. After the fall of Malacca, three nations struggled for the control of Malacca Strait: the Portuguese (in Malacca), the Sultanate of Johor, and the Sultanate of Aceh. This conflict went on till 1641, when the Dutch (allied to the Sultanate of Johor) gained control of Malacca.
Britain established its first colony in the Malay peninsula in 1786, with the lease of the island of Penang to the British East India Company by the Sultan of Kedah. In 1824, the British took control of Malacca following the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 which divided the Malaya archipelago between Britain and the Netherlands, with Malaya in the British zone. In 1826, Britain established the crown colony of the Straits Settlements, uniting its three possessions in Malaya: Penang, Malacca and Singapore. The Straits Settlements were administered under the East India Company in Calcutta until 1867, when they were transferred to the Colonial Office in London.
During the late nineteenth century, many Malay states decided to obtain British help in settling their internal conflicts. The commercial importance of tin mining in the Malay states to merchants in the Straits Settlements led to British government intervention in the tin-producing states in the Malay Peninsula. British gunboat diplomacy was employed to bring about a peaceful resolution to civil disturbances caused by Chinese gangsters, and the Pangkor Treaty of 1874 paved the way for the expansion of British influence in Malaya. By the turn of the twentieth century the states of Pahang, Selangor, Perak, and Negeri Sembilan, known together as the Federated Malay States (not to be confused with the Federation of Malaya), were under the de facto control of British residents appointed to advise the Malay rulers. The British were "advisers" by name but in reality they were the puppet masters behind the Malay rulers.
The remaining five states in the peninsula, known as the Unfederated Malay States, while not directly under rule from London, also accepted British advisors around the turn of the twentieth century. Of these, the four northern states of Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu had previously been under Siamese control.
On the island of Borneo, Sabah was governed as the crown colony of British North Borneo, while Sarawak was acquired from Brunei as the personal kingdom of the Brooke family, who ruled as White Rajahs.
Following the Japanese occupation of Malaya (1942-1945) during World War II, popular support for independence grew. Post-war British plans to unite the administration of Malaya under a single crown colony called the Malayan Union foundered on strong opposition from the ethnic Malays, who opposed the emasculation of the Malay rulers and the granting of citizenship to the ethnic Chinese. The Malayan Union, established in 1946 and consisting of all the British possessions in Malaya with the exception of Singapore, was dissolved in 1948 and replaced by the Federation of Malaya, which restored the autonomy of the rulers of the Malay states under British protection.
During this time, rebels under the leadership of the Communist Party of Malaya launched guerrilla operations designed to force the British out of Malaya. The Malayan Emergency, as it was known, lasted from 1948 to 1960, and involved a long anti-insurgency campaign by Commonwealth troops in Malaya. Against this backdrop, independence for the Federation within the Commonwealth was granted on 31 August, 1957.
In 1963 the Federation was renamed Malaysia with the admission of the then-British crown colonies of Singapore, Sabah (British North Borneo) and Sarawak. The Sultanate of Brunei, though initially expressing interest in joining the federation, withdrew from the planned merger due to opposition from certain segments of the population as well as arguments over the payment of oil royalties and the status of the Sultan in the planned merger.
The early years of independence were marred by conflict with Indonesia over the formation of Malaysia, Singapore's eventual exit in 1965, and racial strife in the form of May 13 racial riots in 1969. The Philippines also made an active claim on Sabah in that period based upon the Sultanate of Brunei's cession of its north-east territories to the Sultanate of Sulu in 1704. The claim is still ongoing.
After the May 13 racial riots of 1969, Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak launched the controversial New Economic Policy - intended to increase the share of the economic pie owned by the “Bumiputras” ("indigenous people", which includes the majority Malays, but not always the indigenous population) as opposed to other ethnic groups. Malaysia has since maintained a delicate ethno-political balance, with a system of government that has attempted to combine overall economic development with political and economic policies that favour Bumiputras.
Between the 1980s and the mid 1990s, Malaysia experienced significant economic growth under the premiership of Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad. A shift from an agriculture-based economy to one based on manufacturing of computers and consumer electronics occurred. The emergence of numerous mega-projects, during this period, changed the physical landscape. The most notable of these projects are the Petronas Twin Towers (at the time the tallest building in the world), KL International Airport (KLIA), the Sepang F1 Circuit, the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), the Bakun hydroelectric dam and Putrajaya, a new federal administrative capital.
In the late 1990s, the Asian financial crisis and political unrest caused by the sacking of the deputy prime minister Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim shook Malaysia. In 2003, Dr Mahathir, Malaysia's longest serving prime minister, retired in favour of his deputy, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, commonly known as Pak Lah.
Politics
Malaysia is a federal, constitutional, elective monarchy. The system of government is closely modeled on that of the Westminster parliamentary system, a legacy of British colonial rule. In practice however, more power is vested in the executive branch of government than in the legislative, and the judiciary has been weakened by sustained attacks by the government during the Mahathir era.
The federal head of state is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, commonly referred to as the King of Malaysia, who is elected to a five-year term among the nine hereditary Sultans of the Malay states. The other four states, which have titular governors, do not participate in the selection.
The prime minister is designated from among the members of the House of Representatives. The leader of the party that wins a plurality of seats in the House of Representatives in legislative elections becomes prime minister.
Executive power is vested in the cabinet appointed and led by the prime minister with the consent of the head of state. The cabinet is chosen from among members of both houses of Parliament and is responsible to that body.
The bicameral Parliament or Parlimen consists of the Senate or Dewan Negara (70 seats — 44 appointed by the paramount ruler, 26 appointed by the state legislatures) and the House of Representatives or Dewan Rakyat (219 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
The 219 members of the House of Representatives are elected from single-member constituencies that are drawn based on population for a maximum term of five years. All 70 senators sit for three-year terms; 26 are elected by the 13 state assemblies, two representing the federal territory of Kuala Lumpur, one each from federal territories of Labuan and Putrajaya, and 40 are appointed by the king.
Registered voters of age 21 and above may vote for the members of the House of Representatives and in most of the states, the state legislative chamber as well. Voting is not compulsory.
Since independence in 1957, Malaysia has been governed by a multi-party coalition known as the Barisan Nasional (formerly known as the Alliance), comprising a broadly representative group of 13 parties. There are five opposition parties.
Each state has a unicameral state legislative chamber or Dewan Undangan Negeri) whose members are elected from single-member constituencies. Chief ministers selected by the state assemblies lead the state governments and advise their respective sultans or governors.
The national holiday is Malaysia Day, 31 August, which marks independence attained in 1957.
Regarding the judiciary, the paramount ruler appoints judges to the Federal Court on the advice of the prime minister. The legal system is based on English common law. Legislative acts may be subject to judicial review in the Supreme Court at request of supreme head of the federation. Malaysia has not accepted compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction. Islamic law is applied to Muslims in matters of family law.
Caning is a standard punishment for more than 40 crimes in Malaysia, ranging from sexual abuse to drug use. Administered with a thick rattan stick, it splits the skin and leaves scars.
Service in the Malaysian Armed Forces, comprising army, navy and airforce, is voluntary from age 18. About two percent of GDP is spent on the military.
Malaysia is involved in a dispute over sovereignty over the Spratly Islands together with China, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei. The dispute revolves around oil prospecting. There are disputes over deliveries of fresh water to Singapore, Singapore's land reclamation, bridge construction, and maritime boundaries. There are also disputes over the maritime boundary of Ligitan and Sipadan islands, in the hydrocarbon-rich Celebes Sea in dispute.
Separatist violence in Thailand's predominantly Muslim southern provinces prompts measures to close and monitor the border with Malaysia to stem terrorist activities. Malaysia's land boundary with Brunei around Limbang is in dispute. Piracy remains a problem in the Malacca Strait
Economy
The Malay Peninsula and indeed Southeast Asia has been a centre of trade for centuries. Various items such as porcelain and spice were actively traded even before Sultanate of Malacca and Singapore rose to prominence.
In the seventeenth century, large deposits of tin were found in several Malay states. Later, as the British started to take over as administrators of Malaya, rubber and palm oil trees were introduced for commercial purposes. Over time, Malaya became the world's largest major producer of tin, rubber, and palm oil. These three commodities, along with other raw materials, firmly set Malaysia's economic tempo well into the mid-twentieth century.
Instead of relying on the local Malays as a source of labour, the British brought in Chinese and Indians to work on the mines and plantations. Although many of them returned to their respective home countries after their agreed tenure ended, some remained in Malaysia and settled permanently.
As Malaya moved towards independence, the government began implementing economic five-year plans, beginning with the First Malayan Five Year Plan in 1955. Upon the establishment of Malaysia, the plans were re-titled and renumbered, beginning with the First Malaysia Plan in 1965.
In 1970s, Malaysia began to imitate the footsteps of the original four Asian Tigers and committed itself to a transition from being reliant on mining and agriculture to an economy that depends more on manufacturing. With Japanese investment, heavy industries flourished and in a matter of years, Malaysian exports became the country's primary growth engine. Malaysia consistently achieved more than seven percent GDP growth along with low inflation in the 1980s and the 1990s.
During the same period, the government tried to eradicate poverty with the controversial New Economic Policy (NEP), after the May 13 Incident of racial rioting in 1969. Its main objective was the elimination of the association of race with economic function, and the first five-year plan to begin implementing the NEP was the Second Malaysia Plan. The success or failure of the NEP is the subject of much debate, although it was officially retired in 1990 and replaced by the National Development Policy (NDP).
The rapid economic boom led to a variety of supply problems, however. Labour shortages soon resulted in an influx of millions of foreign workers, many illegal. Cash-rich companies and consortiums of banks eager to benefit from increased and rapid development began large infrastructure projects. This all ended when the Asian Financial Crisis hit in the fall of 1997, delivering a massive shock to Malaysia's economy.
As with other countries affected by the crisis, there was speculative short selling of the Malaysian currency, the ringgit. Foreign direct investment fell at an alarming rate and, as capital flowed out of the country, the value of the ringgit dropped from MYR 2.50 per USD to, at one point, MYR 4.80 per USD. The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's composite index plummeted from approximately 1300 points to nearly merely 400 points in a matter of weeks. After the controversial sacking of finance minister Anwar Ibrahim, a National Economic Action Council was formed to deal with the monetary crisis. Bank Negara imposed capital controls and pegged the Malaysian ringgit at 3.80 to the US dollar. Malaysia refused economic aid packages from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, however, surprising many analysts.
In March 2005, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) published a paper on the sources and pace of Malaysia's recovery, written by Jomo K.S. of the applied economics department, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. The paper concluded that the controls imposed by Malaysia's government neither hurt nor helped recovery. The chief factor was an increase in electronics components exports, which was caused by a large increase in the demand for components in the United States, which was caused, in turn, by a fear of the effects of the arrival of the year 2000 (Y2K) upon older computers and other digital devices.
However, the post Y2K slump of 2001 did not affect Malaysia as much as other countries. Rejuvenation of the economy coincided with massive government spending and budget deficits in the years that followed the crisis. Later, Malaysia enjoyed faster economic recovery compared to its neighbours, although the country has yet to recover to the levels of the pre-crisis era.
While the pace of development today is not as rapid, it is seen to be more sustainable. The banking sector has become more resilient to external shocks. The current account has also settled into a structural surplus, providing a cushion to capital flight. Asset prices are now a fraction of their pre-crisis heights.
The fixed exchange rate was abandoned in July 2005 in favour of a managed floating system within an hour of China's announcing of the same move. In the same week, the ringgit strengthened a percent against various major currencies and was expected to appreciate further. In March 2006, Malaysia removed the ban on short selling.
Malaysia was once the world's largest producer of tin until that market collapsed in the early 1980s. It was only in 1972 that petroleum and natural gas took over from tin as the mainstay of the mining sector. Petroleum and natural gas, discovered in oilfields offshore Sabah, Sarawak and Terengganu, have contributed much to the economy particularly in those three states. In 2004, Malaysia's oil reserves stood at 4.84 billion barrels, natural gas reserves increased to 89 trillion cubic feet, and Malaysia was ranked 24th in terms of world oil reserves and 13th for gas. About 56 percent of the oil reserves exist in the Peninsula while 19 percent exist in East Malaysia. At current production rates Malaysia will be able to produce oil up to 18 years and gas for 35 years. The government collects oil royalties of which five percent are passed to the states and the rest retained by the federal government.
Other minerals of some importance or significance include copper, gold, bauxite, iron-ore and coal together with industrial minerals like clay, kaolin, silica, limestone, barite, phosphates and dimension stones such as granite as well as marble blocks and slabs. Small quantities of gold are produced.
Extensive roads connect all major cities and towns on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The total length of the Malaysian expressway network is 740 miles (1192 kilometres). The North-South Expressway is a part of the Asian Highway Network, which also connects into Thailand and Singapore.
Roads in the East Malaysia and the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia are still relatively undeveloped. Those are highly curved roads passing through mountainous regions and many are still unsealed, gravel roads. This has resulted in the continued use of rivers as the main mode of transportation for interior residents.
Malayan Railways has an extensive rail system connecting all cities and towns on the peninsular, including Singapore. There is also a short railway in Sabah operated by North Borneo Railway that mainly carries freight.
There are sea ports in Tanjong Kidurong, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Kuantan, Pasir Gudang, Tanjung Pelepas, Penang, Port Klang, Sandakan and Tawau.
There are also world-class airports, such as Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Bayan Lepas International Airport in Penang, Kuching International Airport and Langkawi International Airport that provide international and domestic destinations. There are also airports in smaller towns as well as small domestic airstrips in rural Sabah and Sarawak. There are daily flight services between West and East Malaysia, which is the only option for passengers traveling between the two parts of the country, as well as regular flight services to international destinations. Malaysia is the home of the first low-cost carrier in the region, Air Asia. It has Kuala Lumpur as its hub and maintains flights around Southeast Asia and China as well. In KL it operates out of the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT).
Exports totalled US$158.7-billion in 2006. Export commodities included electronic equipment, petroleum and liquefied natural gas, wood and wood products, palm oil, rubber, textiles, and chemicals. Export partners were the United States 19.7 percent, Singapore 15.6 percent, Japan 9.3 percent, China 6.6 percent, Hong Kong 5.8 percent, and Thailand 5.4 percent.
Imports totalled US$127.3-billion in 2006. Import commodities comprised electronics, machinery, petroleum products, plastics, vehicles, iron and steel products, and chemicals. Import partners were Japan 14.6 percent, the United States 13 percent, Singapore 11.8 percent, China 11.6 percent, Taiwan 5.6 percent, Thailand 5.3 percent, South Korea 5 percent, and Germany 4.5 percent.
Per capita GDP was US$12,700 in 2006.
Healthcare
Malaysian society places importance on the expansion and development of healthcare, putting 5% of the government social sector development budget into public healthcare — an increase of more than 47% over the previous figure. This has meant an overall increase of more than RM 2 billion. With a rising and aging population, the Government wishes to improve in many areas including the refurbishment of existing hospitals, building and equipping new hospitals, expansion of the number of polyclinics, and improvements in training and expansion of telehealth. Over the last couple of years they have increased their efforts to overhaul the systems and attract more foreign investment.
The Malaysian healthcare system requires doctors to perform a compulsory 3 years service with public hospitals to ensure the manpower of these hospitals is maintained. Recently foreign doctors have also been encouraged to take up employment here. There is still, however, a compound shortage of medical workforce, especially that of highly trained specialists resulting in certain medical care and treatment only available in large cities. Recent efforts to bring many facilities to other towns have been hampered by lack of expertise to run the available equipment made ready by investments.
There are currently 115 government hospitals and healthcare centres with a total of 28,163 beds. There are also seven special medical institutions (including psychiatric institutions) with a total of 6,292 beds. As for private hospitals, there are 225 of them (including maternity and nursing homes) in Malaysia, and they provide 9,498 beds. The majority are in urban areas and, unlike many of the public hospitals, are equipped with the latest diagnostic and imaging facilities. Private hospitals have not generally been seen as an ideal investment - it has often taken up to 10 years before companies have seen any profits. However, the situation has now changed and companies are now looking into this area again, particularly in view of the increasing interest by foreigners in coming to Malaysia for medical care.
Demographics
Malaysia's population of 26.8-million is comprised of many ethnic groups, with the politically dominant Malays making up the majority, 60 percent of the population. About 30 percent are Malaysians of Chinese descent, who have historically played an important role in trade and business. Malaysians of Indian descent comprise about eight percent of the population. About 90 percent of the Indian community is Tamil but various other groups are also present, including Malayalis, Punjabis and Gujaratis.
Non-Malay indigenous groups make up more than half of the state of Sarawak's population, constitute about 66 percent of Sabah's population, and also exist in much smaller numbers on the Peninsula, where they are collectively called Orang Asli. The non-Malay indigenous population is divided into dozens of ethnic groups, but they share some general cultural similarities. Other Malaysians also include those of European, Middle Eastern, Cambodian, and Vietnamese descent. Europeans and Eurasians include British who colonized and settled in Malaysia and some Portuguese, and most of the Middle Easterners are Arabs. A small number of Kampucheans and Vietnamese settled in Malaysia as Vietnam War refugees. Population distribution is uneven, with some 20 million residents concentrated on the Malay Peninsula.
Due to the rise in labour-intensive industries, Malaysia has 10 percent to 20 percent foreign workers with the uncertainty due to the large number of illegal workers, mostly Indonesian. Unauthorized foreigners are subject to RM10,000 fines and two-year prison terms, while Malaysian employers face up to a year in jail and a fine of up to RM50,000 for each illegal worker hired, with those hiring more than five also liable to caning.
Malaysia is a multi-religious society, and Islam is the country's official religion. The four main religions are Islam (60 percent of the population), Buddhism (19 percent), Christianity (9.1 percent, mostly in Sabah and Sarawak), and Hinduism (6.3 percent), according to government census figures in 2004. Until the twentieth century, most practiced traditional beliefs, which still linger on. The aforementioned figures may be skewed as they do not take into account the fact that all Malay persons are officially regarded and treated as Muslim, regardless of private belief.
Although the Malaysian constitution theoretically guarantees religious freedom, in practice the situation is not so simple. Non-Muslims often experience restrictions in activities such as construction of religious buildings and the celebration of certain religious events in some Islamic states. Meanwhile Muslims are obliged to follow the decisions of sharia courts. As a legal matter, it is not yet clear whether Muslims may freely leave Islam. In some situations, the Malaysian courts have denied one's right to freedom of religion even when one has renounced Islam (such as the Joshua Jamaluddin versus the Minister of Home Affairs case in the 1980s). Generally one who wishes to leave Islam makes a legal declaration, but this is still not recognised by the Malaysian civil courts. One is said to have to obtain a declaration of apostasy with a Sharia Court, but the court will not grant one.
Malaysians tend to personally respect one another's religious beliefs, with inter-religious problems arising mainly from the political sphere.
All Malaysians are federal citizens except for states and the federal territory in East Malaysia where state citizenship is privilege and distinguishable from the peninsula. Every citizen is issued with a biometric smartchip identity card, known as MyKad, at the age of 12, and must carry the card with them. A citizen is required to present his/her identity card to the police, or in the case of an emergency, to any military personnel, to be identified. If the card cannot be produced immediately, the person technically has 24 hours under the law to produce it at the nearest police station.
Culture
Malaysia is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multilingual society, consisting of 65% Malays and other indigenous tribes, 25% Chinese, 7% Indians. The Malays, which form the largest community, are defined as Muslims in the Constitution of Malaysia. The Malays play a dominant role politically and are included in a grouping identified as bumiputra. Their native language is Malay (Bahasa Melayu). Malay is the national language of the country.[2]
In the past, Malay was written widely in Jawi, a script based on Arabic. Over time, romanized script overtook Jawi as the dominant script. This was largely due to the influence of the colonial education system which taught children in romanised writing rather than in Arabic script.
The largest non-Malay indigenous tribe is the Iban of Sarawak, who number over 600,000. Some Iban still live in traditional jungle villages in longhouses along the Rajang and Lupar rivers and their tributaries, although many have moved to the cities. The Bidayuh (170,000) are concentrated in the south-western part of Sarawak. The largest indigenous tribe in Sabah is the Kadazan. They are largely Christian subsistence farmers. The Orang Asli (140,000), or aboriginal peoples, comprise a number of different ethnic communities living in Peninsular Malaysia. Traditionally nomadic hunter-gatherers and agriculturists, many have been sedentarised and partially absorbed into modern Malaysia. However, they remain the poorest group in the country.
The Chinese population in Malaysia is mostly Buddhist (of Mahayana sect), Taoist or Christian. Chinese in Malaysia speak a variety of Chinese dialects including Mandarin Chinese, Hokkien/Fujian, Cantonese, Hakka and Teochew. Many Chinese in Malaysia also speak English as a first language. Chinese have historically been dominant in the Malaysian business community.
The Indians in Malaysia are mainly Hindu Tamils from southern India, speaking Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Hindi, living mainly in the larger towns on the west coast of the peninsula. Many middle to upper-middle class Indians in Malaysia also speak English as a first language. There is also a sizable Sikh community in Malaysia of over 83,000. Most Indians originally migrated from India as traders, teachers or other skilled workers. A larger number were also part of the forced migrations from India by the British during colonial times to work in the plantation industry.
Eurasians, Cambodians, Vietnamese, and indigenous tribes make up the remaining population. A small number of Eurasians, of mixed Portuguese and Malay descent, speak a Portuguese-based creole, called Papiá Kristang. There are also Eurasians of mixed Malay and Spanish descent, mostly in Sabah. Descended from immigrants from the Philippines, some speak Chavacano, the only Spanish-based creole language in Asia. Cambodians and Vietnamese are mostly Buddhists (Cambodians of Theravada sect and Vietnamese, Mahayana sect).
Malaysian traditional music is heavily influenced by Chinese and Islamic forms. The music is based largely around the gendang (drum), but includes other percussion instruments (some made of shells); the rebab, a bowed string instrument; the serunai, a double-reed oboe-like instrument; flutes, and trumpets. The country has a strong tradition of dance and dance dramas, some of Thai, Indian and Portuguese origin. Other artistic forms include wayang kulit (shadow puppet theatre), silat (a stylised martial art) and crafts such as batik, weaving, and silver and brasswork.
Citizenship
Most Malaysians are granted citizenship by jus soli.[3] All Malaysians are Federal citizens with no formal citizenships within the individual states except for states & the federal territory in East Malaysia where state citizenship is privilege & distinguishable from the Peninsula. Every citizen is issued with a biometric smartchip identity card, known as MyKad, at the age of 12, and must carry the card with them. A citizen is required to present his/her identity card to the police, or in the case of an emergency, to any military personnel, to be identified. If the card cannot be produced immediately, the person technically has 24 hours under the law to produce it at the nearest police station.
Holidays
Malaysians observe a number of holidays and festivities throughout the year. Some holidays are federal gazetted public holidays and some are public holidays observed by individual states. Other festivals are observed by particular ethnic or religion groups, but are not public holidays.
The most celebrated holiday is the "Hari Merdeka" (Independence Day) on August 31 commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya in 1957, while Malaysia Day is only celebrated in the state of Sabah coincided with the birthday of the state minister on September 16 to commemorate the formation of Malaysia in 1963. Hari Merdeka, as well as Labour Day (May 1), the King's Birthday (first Saturday of June) and some other festivals are federal gazetted public holidays.
Muslims in Malaysia (including all Malays and other non-Malay Muslims) celebrate Muslim holidays. The most celebrated festival, Hari Raya Puasa (also called Hari Raya Aidilfitri) is the Malay translation of Eid ul-Fitr. It is generally a festival honoured by the Muslims worldwide marking the end of Ramadan, the fasting month. In addition to Hari Raya Puasa, they also celebrate Hari Raya Haji (also called Hari Raya Aidiladha, the translation of Eid ul-Adha), Awal Muharram (Islamic New Year) and Maulidul Rasul (Birthday of the Prophet).
Chinese in Malaysia typically celebrate festivals that are observed by Chinese around the world. Chinese New Year is the most celebrated among the festivals which lasts for fifteen days and ends with Chap Goh Mei. Other festivals celebrated by Chinese are the Qingming Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival. In addition to traditional Chinese festivals, Buddhists Chinese also celebrate Vesak Day.
The majority of Indians in Malaysia are Hindus and they celebrate Deepavali (Diwali), the festival of light, while Thaipusam is a celebration which pilgrims from all over the country flock to Batu Caves. Apart from the Hindus, Sikhs celebrate the Vaisaki, the Sikh New Year.
Other festivals such as Good Friday (East Malaysia only), Christmas, Hari Gawai of the Ibans (Dayaks), Pesta Menuai (Pesta Kaamatan) of the Kadazan-Dusuns are also celebrated in Malaysia.
Despite most of the festivals are identified with a particular ethnic or religion, all Malaysians celebrate the festivities together regardless of their religions and ethnic background. For years 1996-1998, when Hari Raya Puasa and Chinese New Year coincided, a slogan Kongsi Raya, a combination of Gong Xi Fa Cai, a greeting used on the Chinese New Year, and Hari Raya (which could also mean "celebrating together" in Malay language) was coined. For years 2005-2006, the Hari Raya Puasa and Deepavali coincide, and a slogan Deepa Raya is similarly coined.
See also
Template:Malaysian Topics
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- ↑ Malaysian Flag and Crest. myGovernment. Extracted September 13 2006.
- ↑ Article 152. Constitution of Malaysia.
- ↑ Article 14. Constitution of Malaysia
Others
- 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. Malay States.
- Zainal Abidin bin Abdul Wahid; Khoo, Kay Kim; Muhd Yusof bin Ibrahim; Singh, D.S. Ranjit (1994). Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah Sejarah Tingkatan 2. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. ISBN 983-62-1009-1
- Adam, Ramlah binti, Samuri, Abdul Hakim bin & Fadzil, Muslimin bin (2004). Sejarah Tingkatan 3. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. ISBN 983-62-8285-8.
- Osborne, Milton (2000). Southeast Asia: An Introductory History. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-390-9
External links
| Malaysia Portal |
- Malaysian Department of Statistics
- State Development Office - State Development Office Wilayah Persekutuan
- myGovernment Portal - Malaysian Government Portal
- Bernama - Malaysian national news agency
- Tourism Malaysia - Malaysian tourism portal
- Travel guide to Malaysia from Wikitravel
- Malaysia Travel Guide - Malaysia travel guide
- Virtual Malaysia - The Official Portal of the Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia
- Office of the Prime Minister of Malaysia
- Radio Televisyen Malaysia - Government-owned television network
- Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation
- Small Medium Industries Development Corporation
Template:Malaysia Template:Asia Template:ASEAN
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