About Malaysia
Malaysia is a federation of thirteen
states and three federal territories in Southeast Asia with a
total landmass of 329,847 km². The capital city is Kuala Lumpur
while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The
country is separated into two regions — the Malay Peninsula and
Borneo — by the South China Sea. Malaysia borders Thailand,
Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines. Located near
the equator, the weather is characterized by tropical climate.
Malaysia is headed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and politically
led by a Prime Minister. The government is closely modeled after
the Westminster.
The country was effectively created by the United Kingdom
through the gradual merger of several of the British colonies in
the region. However, Malaysia did not exist as a unified state
prior to 1963. The Federation of Malaya achieved independence
from on August 31, 1957. Singapore, Sarawak and British North
Borneo joined the Federation of Malaya to form Malaysia on
September 16, 1963. The early years of the federation were
marred by an armed conflict with Indonesia and the expulsion of
Singapore. The Southeast Asian nation experienced an economic
boom and underwent rapid development during the late 20th
century. With a GDP per capita standing at USD 13,000, it from
time to time has been considered as a newly industrialized
country. As one of three countries that control the Strait of
Malacca, international trade plays a large of its economy. At
one time, it was the largest producer of tin, rubber and palm
oil in the world. Manufacturing has a large influence in the
country's economy.
The population of Malaysia is approximately 27 million. The
Malay forms the majority of the population while there are
sizable Chinese and Indian communities. Islam is the largest as
well as the official religion of the federation. The Malay
language is the official language.
Malaysia is the founding member of Association of Southeast
Asian Nations and participates in many international
organizations such as the United Nations. As a former British
colony, it is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Geography
The two distinct parts of Malaysia, separated from each other by
the South China Sea, share a largely similar landscape in that
both West and East Malaysia feature coastal plains rising to
often densely forested hills and mountains, the highest of which
is Mount Kinabalu at 4,095.2 metres (13,435.7 ft) 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.
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, Miri,
Alor Star, Malacca Town, and Klang.
Demographics
Malaya's population comprises many ethnic groups, with the
Malays making up the majority, close to 52% of the population.
By constitutional definition, Malays are Muslim who practices
Malay norms and culture. Therefore, technically, a Muslim of any
race who practices Malay norms and culture can be considered a
Malay and have equal rights when it comes to Malay rights as
stated in the constitution. About 30% of the population are
Malaysians of Chinese descent. Malaysians of Indian descent
comprise about 8% of the population. About 90% of the Indian
community are Tamils but various other groups are also present,
including Malayalis, Punjabis and Gujaratis. There are also
various non-Malay peoples who are designated as indigenous,
mostly in East Malaysia. These make up about 7% of the
population.
Non-Malay indigenous groups make up more than half of the state
of Sarawak's population—constitute about 66% of Sabah's
population—and also exist in much smaller numbers on the
Peninsula, where they are collectively known as 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, inter alia, European, Middle
Eastern, Cambodian, Thai and Vietnamese descent. Europeans and
Eurasians include British who colonized and settled in Malaysia
and some Portuguese. Most of the Middle Easterners are Arab
descent. A small number of Cambodians and Vietnamese settled in
Malaysia as Vietnam War refugees.
Religion
Malaysia is a multi-religious society and Islam is the official
religion. According to the Population and Housing Census 2000
figures, approximately 60.4 percent of the population practiced
Islam; 19.2 percent Buddhism; 9.1 percent Christianity; and 6.3
percent Hinduism. The remaining 5 percent was accounted for by
other faiths, including animism, shamanism, Sikhism, Bahá'í,
Taoism, Confucianism, and other traditional Chinese
religions.[44] Until the twentieth century, most practiced
traditional beliefs, which arguably still linger on to a greater
degree than Malaysian officialdom is prepared to acknowledge.
Health Care
The Malaysian health care system requires doctors to perform a
compulsory three 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.
The majority of private hospitals 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 ten 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 and the
recent government focus to develop the health tourism industry.
Economy
The Malay Peninsula and indeed Southeast Asia has been a centre
of trade for centuries. Various items such as porcelain and
spices were actively traded even before Malacca and Singapore
rose to prominence.
Rubber latex.
The Malaysian government Ministry of Finance building in
Putrajaya.In the 17th century, they 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-20th century.
In 1970s, Malaysia began to imitate 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 7% GDP
growth along with low inflation in the 1980s and the 1990s.
However, the post Y2K slump of 2001 did not affect Malaysia as
much as other countries. This may have been clearer evidence
that there are other causes and effects that can be more
properly attributable for recovery. One possibility is that the
currency speculators had run out of finance after failing in
their attack on the Hong Kong dollar in August 1998 and after
the Russian ruble collapsed.
While the pace of development today is not as rapid, it is seen
to be more sustainable. Although the controls and economic
housekeeping may not have been the principal reason for
recovery, there is no doubt that 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.
Culture
Malaysia is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multilingual
society. The population as of February 2007 is 26.6 million
consisting of 62% Malays, 24% Chinese, 8% Indians, with other
minorities and indigenous peoples (Dept of Stats. Malaysia). The
Malays, who 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.
In the past, Malays wrote in Sanskrit or using Sanskrit-based
alphabets. After the 15th century, Jawi (a script based on
Arabic) became popular. Over time, romanized script overtook
Sanskrit and 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 Indians in Malaysia are mainly Hindu Tamils from southern
India who native language is Tamil, there are also other Indian
communities which is Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi-speaking,
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.
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 ; the rebab, a
bowed string instrument; the serunai, a double-reed oboe-like
instrument; flutes, and trumpets.
