Knowledge about Malaysia

Malaysia

(Malay) Malaysia

National Flag National Emblem

National Motto: Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu (Malay)

"All for one, one for all, one for all"

National Anthem: My Country

Physical Geography

(actual) Jurisdiction)

Capital Kuala Lumpur

Seat of Central Government Putrajaya

Largest City Kuala Lumpur: 2,500,000 (2007)

New Hill: 1,800,000 (2009)

Penang: 1,500,000 (2008)

Ipoh: 1, 000,000 (2007)

Kuching: 600,000 (2007)

Kota Kinabalu: 550,000 (2007)

Area

Size

Land area: 329,750 sq. kilometers (64th in the world)

Water percentage: 0.3%

Time zone UTC+8 (no summer time)

People

Official language Malay

Official script Malay

Population

Total population: 28,310,000 in 2009 (43rd in the world)

Population density: 69/km2 (97th in the world)

Domestic use Power supply

Voltage: 240 V

Socket: G

Ethnicity Malay:50.4%

Chinese:23.7%

Indian:7.1%

Other ethnicities:18.8%

Other ethnicities include Kadashan, Iban, etc

Main religions Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Hinduism, etc.

Calendar Gregorian calendar

Direction of road traffic Keep to the left

Major festivals Eid al-Fitr, Lunar New Year, Slaughterhouse Day, National Day

Political culture

National constitution Malaysian constitution

Form of state structure Federalism

State power Capitalist state

Political system Westminster system, constitutional monarchy

National leaders

Head of state (Supreme Head of State): Tuan Koo Mee Cham Regina Abidin

Government head (Prime Minister): Dato' Seri Najib Abdullah Razak

Leaders of the state (separation of powers)

Executive ([[Malaysia|]]):

Legislative ([[Malaysia|]]):

Judicial ([[Malaysia|]]):

Leader of the Nation (Separation of Powers)

Executive ([[Malaysia|]]):

Legislative ([[Malaysia|]]):

Judicial ([[Malaysia|]]):

Leader of the Nation ()

Economic Strength

GDP (PPP)

Total:

Per capita:

GDP (International Exchange Rate)

Total: $397.5 billion

Per capita: $7,866

HDI

The following information is based on estimates for 2008<

0.823-high

Central Bank Bank Negara Malaysia

(Malay: Bank Negara Malaysia)

Currency unit Ringgit Malaysia (RM/MYR)

Country information

Statehood history

Statehood date: August 31, 1957

Event of Establishment: Malaysia's National Day (August 31, 1957)

National Symbol National Flower: The Big Red Flower

Country Code MYS

International Domain Abbreviation .my

International Telephone Area Code +60

Number of Active Duty Military Personnel 110,000 (41st) < /p>

Edit

Malaysia, abbreviated as Malaysia (Malay: Malaysia, Jawi: ?) , one of the countries in Southeast Asia. Malaysia is a country with a federal system consisting of thirteen states and three federal territories, covering an area of 329,847 square kilometers, with the capital city of Kuala Lumpur and the political center located in Putrajaya. Malaysia*** is divided into two major parts separated by the South China Sea: one is West Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula, bordering Thailand in the north and the Straits of Johor in the south, with the Johor Bahru and the Second Passage bordering Singapore; the other is East Malaysia, located in the northern part of the island of Borneo, and bordered by Indonesia's Kalimantan in the south, while the country of Brunei is located in the state of Sabah and between the states of Sarawak, as Malaysia is geographically close to the equator, so Malaysia is the only country that has the right to be in the middle of the world's largest island. The geographical location of Malaysia is close to the equator, so the climate of Malaysia is a tropical rainforest climate in Asia.

Malaysia's head of state is called the supreme head of state, and the government is led by the prime minister, who is the leader of the largest party or coalition in parliament, and the political system is modeled on the Westminster system of the United Kingdom. Diplomatically, Malaysia joined the United Nations on September 17, 1957, and is also a member of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IORARC), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Greater Britain Association, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), as well as one of the founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (English: ASEAN). The main military operations in which it is involved are the Five Nations Joint Defense and United Nations peacekeeping operations.

[edit] History

Main article: History of Malaysia

Since ancient times, merchant ships traveling between China and India and other more distant lands have traversed the Straits of Malacca, making the Malay Peninsula a major trading center in Southeast Asia. On Ptolemy's map, the Malay Peninsula was known as the Golden Peninsula (Latin: Golden Chersonese) and the Straits of Malacca as the Ivory Bay (Latin: Sinus Sabaricus). The oldest Malay kingdoms developed from coastal port towns in the 10th century AD, including Langkasuka and Lembah Bujang in Kedah, Beruas in Perak, Gangga Negara and Pampanga in Kelantan. In the Song and Yuan dynasties in China, this area was called the Kingdom of Floyan and the Kingdom of Shanmaling.

Islam came to Terengganu in the 14th century, and in the early 15th century, Bailimisura founded the Malacca Dynasty (Mannakas), but the prosperity of the Malacca Dynasty led to the invasion of Portugal in 1511. Subsequently, the Dutch and the British colonized Malacca and gradually took control of the Straits of Malacca.

Francis Leyte established Penang as a military and commercial center in 1786. However, Penang's importance was soon replaced by Singapore, which was established by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819, and Malacca was acquired from the Dutch in 1824 after the signing of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty, and in 1826 the British established the Straits Settlements as part of the British East India Company in Calcutta, and gradually expanded their influence in the Malay Peninsula. The Straits Settlements, which initially included Penang, Singapore and Malacca, were taken over by the Colonial Office in London in 1867.

At that time, the rulers of many Malay states turned to the British colonial government for help in resolving disputes within their states. Within ten years of the Colonial Office taking over the Straits Settlements, a number of Malay states on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula were also brought under the control of the British colonizers. The merchants of the Straits Settlements wanted the British Government to intervene in the internal affairs of the tin-producing states of the Malay Peninsula. In addition, partisan disputes and civil wars among the Chinese led the British government to adopt gunboat diplomacy in favor of the merchants, and the Treaty of Bangkok of 1874 ultimately led to the expansion of the British colonial power. Until the 20th century, the Federation of Malaya (not the United Malayan States), comprising the states of Pahang, Selangor, Perak and Negeri Sembilan, was governed by British governors. These governors were subject to the High Commissioner and Governor of the Straits Settlements, who was based in Singapore; the High Commissioner reported directly to the Colonial Office in London.

The other Malay Peninsula states were known as the Malay Dependencies. Although they were not directly subordinate to the British colonizers, they all had a British Senate in the state. The four northern states of Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and Tenggara were once under Thai rule. British North Borneo (now Sabah) was ruled by the Sulu dynasty, while the British Brock family governed Sarawak, a state with large forests. Japanese rule during the Second World War and the post-war Malayan ****anist insurgency prompted growing support for Malayan independence. The post-war Federation of Malaya, formed by the British government to safeguard its interests, led the Malay community to aspire to a system more favorable to them, and during this period began to reject Singapore's request to remain in the new statehood, while deciding not to implement a system of dual citizenship, which was thought to result in many immigrant communities holding citizenships of both Malaya and their homeland. The Malay Peninsula eventually became the independent United Malayan States on August 31, 1957; this new state did not include Singapore.

A state called Malaysia was created on September 16, 1963, and was incorporated into the United Malayan States. She incorporated the United Malayan States, British Singapore, North Borneo (renamed Sabah) and Sarawak (the latter two on Borneo). The Sultan of Brunei, although he had expressed interest in joining, eventually dropped out due to disputes over oil interests. The crises faced by Malaysia in the early years of independence included Indonesian President Sukarno's desire to take over Malaysia, Singapore's withdrawal in 1965, and the bloody clashes of May 13, 1969, known as the May 13 Incident, which resulted in racial violence. The Philippines also claimed sovereignty over Sabah during this period, as the Sultan of Brunei ceded his northeastern territories to the Sultan of Sulu in 1704; the issue has yet to be fully resolved.

The New Malaysian Economic Policy (NEP), which granted unequal privileges to Malays in the economic and political spheres and in the right to education by the Prime Ministers after 1969, was rejected by the various communities in the country, but the opposition was to no avail. Since then, the Malays have enjoyed economic, political and educational privileges, an economic and political system that favors the Malay ethnic group (known as bumiputra "natives") and moderate Islam.

[edit] Politics

Main article:Politics of Malaysia

Under the Constitution of the Associated State of Malaya, which was officially proclaimed on July 2, 1957, as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the 1957 Constitution was renamed as the Constitution of Malaysia, which continues to be in use after the formation of Malaysia in 1963. The provisions of the Constitution laid the foundation for Malaysia's political development.

Malaysia's head of state is the Supreme Head of State, who is elected for a five-year term by the rulers of the nine Malay state dependencies in the Conference of Rulers. The Supreme Head has the power to appoint the Prime Minister, refuse to ratify and dissolve Parliament, and is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

Malaysia's highest legislative body is the Parliament, which consists of the Lower House and the Upper House. The Lower House has 222 seats, and members are elected by the people in national elections for a five-year term. Malaysia has held 12 general elections since the first general election after independence in 1959; the current parliament was formed in March 2008 after the 12th national election. The National Front (BN), led by UMNO, has 137 seats, accounting for 61.71% of the total number of seats. The People's Alliance (Pakatan Rakyat) has 82 seats, including 23 for the Muslim Party, 28 for the Democratic Action Party (DAP), and 31 for the People's Justice Party (PJP). The Upper House has 70 members, 44 of whom are appointed by the Supreme Head of State and the other 26 are nominated by two members from each of the state legislative assemblies for a three-year term.

Malaysia has a multi-party political party system under its constitution, but what is actually practiced is not the typical Western multi-party system, but a system in which several political parties join together to form a coalition to govern. This form of political party alliance first appeared in April 1955 before the independence of the Federation of Malaya, the then UMNO, MCA and the Malaysian and Indian National Congress for the pursuit of Malaya's independence set up a "Malaysian and Chinese Indian Alliance", in 1957 after the independence of the Federation of Malaya, "Malaysian and Chinese Indian Alliance" that became the ruling party; "the Malaysian and Chinese Indian Alliance" that became the ruling party; "the Malaysian and Indian Alliance" that became the ruling party; the Malaysian and Indian Alliance" that became the ruling party. After the independence of the Federation of Malaya in 1957, the "Malaysian Chinese Indian Alliance" became the ruling party; in April 1965, in order to strengthen its power, the Malaysian Chinese Indian Alliance allied with the "Alliance Party" in the two states of East Malaysia to form the "Malaysian Alliance Party"; in 1969, the Malaysian Alliance Party lost in the election, and then restructured to form the "Malaysian Alliance Party"; the "Malaysian Alliance Party" was formed by the "Malaysian Alliance Party". In 1969, the Malaysian Alliance Party lost in the general election, and then adjusted to form a new political party alliance, namely the National Front, and since then, in the successive general elections have won steadily, ruling to date. When the National Front was first formed, it consisted of nine political parties, including UMNO, MCA, and the Indian National Congress (INC), but the number of parties has changed occasionally since then, and there are currently 13 member parties***. The member parties maintain relative independence, but are led by the Supreme Council of the National Front (NF), which is composed of the chairmen of the member parties, and whose chairmanship is generally split between the UMNO Chairman and the Acting Chairman. In general elections, the member parties contest with ****same political ideas and election manifestos to strengthen their unity and fighting strength, which makes the National Front the strongest ruling party coalition in Malaysia. In previous general elections, the UMNO-led coalition had won most of the seats despite fierce competition from both parties, but the 12th national election triggered a political tsunami that saw the BN suffer an unprecedented blow, losing most of its parliamentary seats and control of five state governments.

Malaysia's highest executive body is the Cabinet, headed by the prime minister. The prime minister is appointed by the supreme chancellor from among the lower house members of parliament, usually the leader of the majority party in the lower house. The current Prime Minister is Najib Abdul Razak, who took over as Prime Minister in April 2009 after stepping down from Badawi. Najib is the son of the second Prime Minister of Malaysia, Abdul Razak, and the nephew of the third Prime Minister, Hussein Ong. Cabinet ministers are selected by the prime minister from among lower or upper house members and appointed by the Supreme Head of State.

Malaysia's highest judicial body is the Federal Court. The Supreme Court of Malaysia was formally established on January 1, 1985, prior to which Malaysian cases could be appealed to the Privy Council in the United Kingdom. In June 1994, the Supreme Court was renamed the Federal Court. At the same time, under the Federal Court, the Court of Appeal was established, followed by the High Court (High Court), which can be divided into the High Court of Malaya (for Peninsular Malaysia) and the High Court of Borneo (for East Malaysia), and the District Courts (Local Courts) for each state, and the Magistrates' Courts for the districts of the state. There are also Special Military Courts and Muslim Courts (governed by Muslim Ordinances).

Nine of the thirteen Malay states are each headed by a hereditary Malay ruler, who is known variously as the Sultan, Rajah or Yim Tuan, while the heads of the non-Malay states (Penang, Malacca, Sabah and Sarawak) are appointed by the Supreme Head of State. Each state has a state government and a state assembly, with no more than five years between general elections for the state assembly, and general elections in the Peninsular states are usually held at the same time as national elections. Each state is administered by a Minister of State (for Malay states) or a Chief Minister (for non-Malay states), who is appointed by the State Head of State from among the members of the state legislature, usually the leader of the majority party in the state house.

[edit] Administrative divisions

Main article:Administrative divisions of Malaysia

Malaysia I*** consists of 13 state dependencies (Negeri in Malay) and 3 Federal Territories (Wilayah Persekutuan in Malay).

Glass City, Kedah, Penang, Perak, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca, Johor, Sarawak, Sabah, Labuan, Thailand, Singapore, Sumatra, Brunei, Darussalam, Kalimantan Riau Islands, Nathanael

Archipelago Spratly IslandsSouth China SeaGulf of ThailandMalacca

StraitsJohor Straits Singapore Straits Sulu Sea West

Leigh

Berb

Sea

13 State Affiliations State Affiliations State Affiliations Malay Name Capital Capital Malay Name Abbreviation Population Area (km2) Malay/Indigenous (%) Chinese (%) Indian (%)

Glass City Perlis Kayang Kangar Bol R, PL 204,450 795 85.5 10.3 1.3

Kedah Kedah Alor Star Kedah KH 1,649,756 9,425 76.6 14.9 7.1

Penang Pulau Pinang George Town George Town Penang P, PG 1,313,449 1,031 42.5 46.5 10.6

Perak Perak Ipoh Perak A, PK 2,051,236 21,005 42.7 43.0 13.0

Selangor Selangor Shah Alam Selangor B, SL 4,188,876 7,960 53.5 30.7 14.6

Negeri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan Seremban Sen N, NS 859,924 6,644 57.9 25.6 16.0

Melaka Melaka Kota Melaka Kota Melaka A M, ME 635,791 1,652 63.8 29.1 6.5

Johor Johor New Johor Bahru Johor J, JH 2,740,625 18,987 57.1 35.4 6.9

Pahang Pahang Kuantan Pang C, PH 1,288,376 35,965 76.8 17.7 5.0

Terengganu Kuala Terengganu Kuala Terengganu Terengganu Terengganu T, TE 898,825 12,955 96.8 2.8 0.2

Kelantan Kelantan Kota Bahru Kota Bahru Dan D, KN 1,313,014 15,024 95.0 3.8 0.3

Sarawak Sarawak Kuching Kuching Sand Q, SK 2,071,506 124,450 72.9 26.7 0.7

Sabah Sabah Kota Kinabalu SA 2,603,485 73,619 80.5 13.2 0.0

Federated Territories Name Malay Name Abbreviation Population Area (km2) Malay/Indigenous (%) Chinese (%) Indian (%)

Kuala Lumpur KL 1,379,310 243 43.6 43.5 11.4

Labuan Labuan 76,067 92 79.6 15.8 1.3

Putrajaya PJ 45,000 148 94.8 1.8 2.7

[edit] Geography

Main article:Geography of Malaysia

Map of MalaysiaMalaysia consists mainly of East Malaysia and West Malaysia separated by the South China Sea. Most of Malaysia's coastal areas are plains, while the center is a high plateau covered with dense tropical rainforest. The highest mountain is Mount Kinabalu (Malay: Gunung Kinabalu, also known as "Chinese Widow's Hill" or "God's Hill", the tallest mountain in Southeast Asia) in the state of Sabah (Malay: Sabah), with an elevation of 4,095 meters. It grows taller at a rate of 5 millimeters per year. Malaysia is close to the equator and has a hot and humid equatorial rainy climate. Every year between April and October blowing southwest monsoon, October to February blowing northeast monsoon, but the monsoon phenomenon is not significant.

Putrajaya is a newly established center for government agencies, created primarily to ease traffic congestion in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's largest city. The Prime Minister's Department began moving to Putrajaya in 1999 and the move is expected to be completed by 2005. Kuala Lumpur remains the seat of Parliament and the center of national commerce and trade. Other major cities include Penang, Malacca, Johor Bahru and Ipoh.

West Malaysia, or the Malay Peninsula, is located north of the equator, with a longitude of about 100 degrees to 119 degrees and a latitude of 09 degrees, and is bordered by Thailand in the north and Singapore in the south. East Malaysia, on the other hand, consists of Sabah and Sarawak states on Borneo, with a total area of 329,750 square kilometers. Also included on Borneo are Brunei and Kalimantan in Indonesia.

[edit] Economy

Main article: economy of Malaysia

The Twin TowersMalaysia is a moderately wealthy country. Under the New Economic Policy (NEP), it converted from a raw material producer to a newly diversified industrial economy between 1971 and 2000. Economic growth was mainly dependent on the export of manufactured goods, especially electronics. Malaysia was therefore particularly hard hit by the global recession and the downturn in information supply, with GDP growth of only 0.3 percentage points in 2001, mainly due to an 11 percentage point drop in exports. However, effective economic revitalization packages allowed Malaysia to soften the blow of the economic crisis.

Kuala Lumpur's stable macroeconomic environment, which is characterized by inflation and unemployment rates at or below 3 percent, coupled with its ample foreign exchange reserves and small external debt, makes a recurrence of a recession similar to that of the 1997 Asian economic crisis very unlikely. Nevertheless, large corporations, which are facing problems such as lack of competitiveness and high debt, are having a negative impact on Malaysia's economic outlook.

The main stock markets in Malaysia are the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) and MESDAQ (Technology Stock Exchange).

Nowadays, Malaysia is developing tourism industry. Malaysia's exchange rate is not high, and Malaysia has its own characteristics from many countries and the three major races connected to the culture, to attract tourists to travel and have fun, earn foreign exchange to enhance the country's economy.

[edit] Population

Main article: Population of Malaysia

Malaysia is a multiracial country, with the politically dominant Malay ethnic group making up the majority of the population. According to the constitution, all ethnic Malays are Muslims (Islamists), but other races are not bound by this regulation. The Chinese, who make up a quarter of the population, play a major role in the economy and trade. Malaysian citizens of Indian origin make up about 7% of the population and include Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Catholics, Christians and Buddhists. About 85% of Indians are of Tamil origin, while others are of Gelara, Sikh and Chettiar origin. According to Malaysian government statistics in 2005, about 58% of the Malaysian population are Muslims, 22.9% are Buddhists, 11.1% are Christians (including Protestants and Catholics), 6.3% are Hindus, 2.6% are Taoists, and the rest are Sikhs, Bahá'ís, animists, and so on.

More than half of Sarawak residents and 66% of Sabah residents are non-indigenous Malays. A small proportion of non-Malay indigenous people also live on the Malay Peninsula. The non-Malay natives comprise dozens of ethnic groups, but they are all characterized by some degree of ****similarity. Until the twentieth century, most of the natives held traditional beliefs, but many have converted to Muslims, Protestants and Catholics.

Other Malaysians are of European, Middle Eastern, Cambodian and Vietnamese descent, among others. The European and Eurasian peoples include descendants of British colonizers and some Portuguese colonizers. The Middle Eastern people are mostly descendants of the Arabs who first brought Islam to Malaysia. A small number of Cambodian and Vietnamese nationals moved to Malaysia as refugees from the Vietnam War. Malaysia's population is very unevenly distributed, with about 20 million nationals living on the Malay Peninsula.

On May 13, 1969, a racial conflict broke out in Malaysia between mainly Chinese and Malays, known as the 513 Incident.

[edit] Culture and education

Main article: culture of Malaysia

Malaysian, Chinese, and Indian ethnic groups have their own distinct cultures. The government has endeavored to shape a national culture based on Malay culture, and has pursued a "national education policy" that emphasizes universal education in the Malay language. Chinese language education is relatively common and there is a complete Chinese language education system.

[edit] Education

Education is free in elementary school, with expenditures of about RM19.033 billion and RM21.517 billion in 2003 and 2004, and a budget of RM23.11 billion in 2005. 98.5% of primary school-age children were enrolled in school in 2003, and the literacy rate for people over the age of ten was 95%. There is one teacher for every 18 primary school students and one teacher for every 16 secondary school students. There are nine tertiary institutions in the country, including the University of Malaya and the National University, and in recent years there has been a rapid growth in private tertiary institutions, with 662 private colleges. 290,500 students were enrolled in 2003. There are more than 470 public **** libraries in the country with a collection of 11.3 million books.

Starting in 2006, thirty percent of college preparatory students were offered two-year programs. Not all college-prep applicants are allowed to enroll in college-prep classes. Selection criteria are not publicly stated. Ninety percent of university preparatory places are reserved for 'Aboriginal' and the remaining ten percent for non-Aboriginal. The pre-university program is not as rigorous as the sixth grade program in secondary schools. The university preparatory program has faced some criticism because it is agreed that the university preparatory program is much easier than the sixth grade program and is used to help Aboriginal students gain easy access to local public **** universities.

[edit] News publishing

There are about 50 newspapers published in 8 languages. The main newspapers are: the Malay Messenger, the Daily News, and the Motherland in Malay; the New Straits Times, the Star, and the Malay Mail in English; and the Kuan Hwa Daily, the Nanyang Siang Pau, and the Sin Chew Daily in Chinese. The Malaysian National News Agency (MNA) is a semi-official news agency. Radio Malaysia, a government-run organization, was established in 1946 and has six radio networks broadcasting in Malay, English, Mandarin and Tamil. The Voice of Malaysia, established in 1963, broadcasts in eight languages: Malay, Arabic, English, Bahasa Indonesia, Burmese, Tagalog and Thai. Television Malaysia (TVM), a government-run organization established in 1963, has two channels broadcasting in Malay, English, Mandarin and Tamil. There are also three privately owned television stations, TV3, 8TV and NTV7, and an Astro satellite pay TV channel was launched in 1996.

[edit] Other

Malaysia Communications

Malaysia Transportation

Malaysia Army

Malaysia Foreign Relations

List of Malaysian companies

[edit] References

This entry needs to be supplemented with additional sources. (January 21, 2009)

Please help improve this entry by adding citations from reliable sources. Content that cannot be verified will be challenged and removed.

[edit] External links

Government

(English) Department of Statistics Malaysia