Aiyoh, now only got a site for Malaysia? Describe Malaysia here lah!
Malaysia is a country consisting of eleven states, two territories (Sabah and Sarawak) and three federal territories in Southeast Asia. The country is separated into two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo, by the South China Sea. "West Malaysia" and "East Malaysia" are used colloquially, but the former terminology is preferred to avoid giving off the impression that the two are politically divided as well as geographically divided, like North and South Korea, or East and West Germany.note
Malaysia borders Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei. The country is located near the equator and experiences a tropical climate. Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy with the head of state being the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the head of government the Prime Minister.
Pictured here is the Petronas Twin Towers, previously the world's tallest buildings before being surpassed by Taiwan's Taipei 101 (the title is now held by the United Arab Emirates' Burj Khalifa). However, the towers are still the tallest twin buildings in the world. One architecture critic derisively referred to them as a "cruet-stand", i.e. a salt and pepper shaker. Criticism aside, the towers can be seen in the Sean Connery flick Entrapment.
Other notable productions shot in Malaysia include Anna and the King (doubling for Siam), the first Survivor (Pulau Tiga off the western coast of Borneo), and South Pacific (some sources claim footage of Tioman Island, off Malaysia's south east coast, were also featured), as well as numerous Bollywood and Kollywood movies.
History
Malaysia as a unified state did not exist until 1963. Previously, a set of colonies was established by Portugal, until the Dutch and, later, the United Kingdom took them, and the western half of modern Malaysia was composed of several separate kingdoms that kept fighting each other. This group of colonies was known as British Malaya until its dissolution in 1946, when it was reorganized as the Malayan Union. Due to widespread opposition, it was reorganized again as the Federation of Malaya in 1948 and later gained independence on 31 August 1957. Singapore, Sarawak, British North Borneo (now known as Sabah), and the Federation of Malaya joined to form Malaysia on 16 September 1963. The early years of the new union were marred by an armed conflict with Indonesia and the expulsion of Singapore on 9 August 1965. Later on (in 1976), the Malaysian constitution was amended, downgrading the status of Sabah and Sarawak to be equal to the other 11 states (negeri in Malay) of the Union note In late 2021, another amendment to the Malaysian constitution restored Sabah's and Sawarak's status as territories; the amendment came into force in February 2022. note
Economy
The nation experienced an economic boom and underwent rapid development during the late-20th century. Rapid growth during the 1980s and 1990s, averaging 8% from 1991 to 1997, has transformed Malaysia into a newly industrialised country. Because Malaysia is one of three countries that control the Strait of Malacca, international trade plays a large role in 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. Malaysia has a biodiverse range of flora and fauna, and is also considered one of the 18 megadiverse countries.
Malaysia is (usually, when it's not Thailand) the second most wealthiest country in South East Asia, number one being Singapore. The western part of the country is more developed, namely the nation capital of Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru, and the state of Selangor and Penang. Many ongoing developments are happening in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, with Penang and Johor Bahru being next in line. This has resulted in uneven development, with many people migrated from rural areas (especially from the eastern states note ), looking for work in the cities, mainly Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia's economic status is a sense of pride and dissatisfaction among its people. The pride comes from the fact the country has rapidly modernized from an agricultural economy to a more modern manufacturing and service base economy and also the fact Malaysia managed to build the world tallest building. The dissatisfaction stems from Malaysia being previously compared to current Asian economic giants like Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, but failing to follow in their footsteps. Alleged corruption, cronyism and inefficient government are also other sources of dissatisfaction among its people, as many think the country could be better off if those mentioned above were kept in check.
Demography
With a population of over 30 million, Malaysia is significantly multiracial, a legacy of centuries of immigration spurred by trade and colonial rule.Malays form the majority of the population of Malaysia and all of them are defined as Muslims (Islam is the national religion). There are sizable Chinese and Indian communities as well. Malay is the national language of the country, but English is widely spoken in major towns and cities across the country.
A majority of the Chinese in Malaysia, especially those from the larger cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Ipoh, Klang, and Penang speak decent English as well. An increasing number of the present-generation urban middle class Chinese consider English as their first language. The Chinese have historically been dominant in the Malaysian business and commerce community. The Chinese population in Malaysia are somewhat similar to the Japanese: most Chinese do little more than give lip service to religion for most of their lives—a typical Chinese wedding tends to be more like a Western wedding than a traditional Chinese wedding. The Chinese community in Malaysia speaks a wide variety of Chinese dialects, including Mandarin Chinese, Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, and Teochew. The neither here (Malaysian) nor there (Chinese) identity of the Chinese has brought new identity issues to the Chinese population (especially those who considering English their first language) in Malaysia.
The Indians in Malaysia are mainly Hindu Tamils from southern India whose native language is Tamil. There are also other Indian communities which speak Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi, living mainly in the larger towns on the west coast of the peninsular. Many middle to upper-middle class Indians in Malaysia also speak English as a first language. A vigorous 200,000-strong Tamil Muslim community also thrives as an independent subcultural group. There are also prevalent Tamil Christian communities in major cities and towns. 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, whose descendants have been been subsequently driven out to larger towns and cities as plantation land are sold for redevelopment. There is also a sizable Sikh community in Malaysia of over 100,000. The Sikhs were brought to Malaya to work as police, soldiers and jagas (security guards).
Eurasians, Cambodians, Vietnamese, Thais, Bugis, Javanese 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 Papia Kristang. There are also Eurasians of mixed Filipino 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). Thai Malaysians have been populating a big part of the northern peninsular states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu. Besides speaking Thai, most of them are Buddhists, celebrate Songkran (Water festival) and can speak Hokkien, but some of them are Muslim and speak the Kelantanese Malay Dialect. Bugis and Javanese make up a part of the population in Johor. In addition, there have been many foreigners and expatriates who have made Malaysia their second home, also contributing to Malaysia's population.
As a result of generations of intermingling, differing cultural influences, and disproportionate economic growth, the country's has identifiable regional differences in demographics. Within the peninsular, the urbanized areas of the west coast are often more cosmopolitan, while tracts of the rural heartland and the east coast as a whole are more homogeneously Malay. Likewise, the north of the peninsular (Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu), which are straddled with the Malay Muslim-majority provinces of southern Thailand, are perceived to be more politically and socially conservative than the more westernly and southerly states towards the more liberal Singapore. The Bornean states are also demographically different from the peninsular, being predominantly "Malay" but also consisting of largely different subgroups and being more Christian overall. In comparison to the peninsular, which is home to approximately 700,000 Christians out of over 24 million people (the peninsular's predominant non-Muslim population is Buddhist), Sabah has 800,000 Christians, accounting for 25% of its population, while Sarawak has over a million in a state of 2.4 million, earning it the distinction of being the only Christian-majority state in the country.
Culture
Chinese and Islamic forms heavily influence Malaysian traditional music. 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. In recent years, dikir barat has grown in popularity, and the government has begun to promote it as a national cultural icon. Other artistic forms were also shared with and influenced by neighbouring Indonesia, include wayang kulit (shadow puppet theatre), silat (a stylised martial art) and crafts such as batik, weaving, including the ceremonial cloth pua kumbu, and silver and brasswork. Malaysia is mostly Muslim, with significant minorities of Buddhists and Christians, although Malay folk religion is a blend of the above and the regions traditional animism. More on that can be found here.
Until 2018, Malaysian politics was effectively dominated by the Barisan Nasional ("National Front", BN), a coalition of fourteen parties led by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), which also produced all its Prime Ministers. Despite having elections, various opposition parties accused BN of gerrymandering and fraud—for example, the 2013 general elections saw BN earn a strategic win despite the upsurge of the Pakatan Rakyat ("Party of the People", PR), a serious threat to BN hegemony since 2008 when they won five state legislatures, which won the popular vote at 50%. At the end of the fourteenth general elections in May 2018, however, PR, which had since been reformed as the Pakatan Harapan ("Party of Hope", PH), ended BN hegemony over Malaysia after 61 years, winning a simple majority in the parliament (113 seats out of of 222, not counting allied independent candidates) and putting back Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as Prime Minister (having also also served from 1981 to 2003 as part of BN-UMNO), making him at age 92 the oldest elected leader in the world. A large part of the blame for BN's fall from grace (and Mahathir's defection to PH) is laid at the feet of the increasingly unpopular, outgoing Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who introduced the controversial Goods and Services Tax, as well as being hounded by a major corruption scandal involving billions of dollars of national development funds apparently channeled into personal accounts, with police raids at his properties producing hundreds of luxury goods (such as handbags, watches and jewelry) as of this writing.
While Malaysia has a "king", the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, it's just a fancy position primarily tailored for ceremonial roles in politics. There are in fact nine separate royal families, each presiding over one of nine "Malay states" in the peninsular side; the states are normally headed by Sultans, while one state, Negeri Sembilan, is represented by the Yang di-Pertuan Besar. The role of the Agong is simply a rotating position in which one of nine royal heads would become the royal figurehead of the country for the next five years. This practice is fairly new, having only been introduced in 1957 to succeed the line of British royals that also presided over the colonies during British rule; prior to the introduction of the Agong, the royal heads lacked any central representative.
...oh, and "Malaysia Boleh!", a catchphrase developed by the government some years back that means "Malaysia Can!" and has become the way to explain everything in Malaysia that doesn't make sense to the locals, and for locals to explain the "anything goes" attitudes to foreigners.
Festivities
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. Generally, because the major holidays of every major religion and ethnic group are celebrated, the Malaysian working year is decidedly shorter than that of other places.
The most celebrated holiday is the Hari Kebangsaan (Independence Day), otherwise known as Merdeka (Freedom), on 31 August commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya in 1957. Malaysia Day was only celebrated in the state of Sabah on 16 September to commemorate the formation of Malaysia in 1963, until it was made the public holiday in year 2010. Hari Merdeka, as well as Labour Day (1 May), the King's birthday (first Saturday of June) and some other festivals are federal gazetted public holidays.
Muslims in Malaysia celebrate Muslim holidays. The most celebrated festival, Hari Raya Puasa (also called Hari Raya Aidilfitri) is the Malay translation of Eid al-Fitr. It is generally a festival honoured by the Muslims worldwide marking the end of Ramadan, the fasting month, which is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. The sight of the new moon determines the new month, therefore the end of 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 Maulidur 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 (十五瞑). Other festivals celebrated by Chinese are the Qingming Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival. In addition to traditional Chinese festivals, Buddhist Chinese also celebrate Vesak.
The majority of Indians in Malaysia are Hindus and they celebrate Deepavali, 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 Vaisakhi, the Sikh New Year.
Other festivals such as Good Friday (East Malaysia and Christians only), Christmas, Hari Gawai of the Ibans (Dayaks), Pesta Menuai (Pesta Kaamatan) of the Kadazan-Dusuns are also celebrated in Malaysia.
Food
Part of the defining quality of Malaysian life is the variety of food available; street hawker stalls, food courts, restaurants, and travelling ice-cream vendors are found everywhere. In the older parts of Malaysia there may even be the roti man (lit. "bread man"), who rides a motorcycle carrying about five times his volume in bread and bags of keropok (fried foods—potato chips and the like). Notable Malaysian foods include the durian, which has become notable as Foreign Queasine to first-time visitors for its pungent smell and squishy texture; the mangosteen, another fruit but much less notable; nasi lemak (lit. "rice with fat"), which is rice cooked with coconut milk and served with anchovies, roasted nuts, cucumbers, egg, or sambal (a kind of chilli paste); roti canai (similar to the Indian paratha); and teh tarik (lit. "pulled tea"), which even spawned a short-lived competition to see who could pull their tea most stylishly. It is sometimes said of Malaysia that the three hardest daily decisions are what to have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Notable people/things Malaysian
Other notable things typically Malaysian:
- Siti Nurhaliza - the Malaysian queen of pop and the country's equivalent to Celine Dion.
- With similar Hype Backlash.
- Nicol Ann David - currently the world's no. 1 ranking squash player.
- Lee Chong Wei - a badminton player who won a silver medal in the 2008 Olympics and was again ranked first worldwide on August 21, 2008.
- Rashid Sidek and Roslin Hashim - other notable badminton players who achieved such rankings.
- Yasmin Ahmad - Malaysian movie director and storyteller, notable for her heart-warming commercials and independent films. Her works have won multiple awards both within Malaysia and internationally. Passed away in July 25, 2009.
- Search - Malaysia's answer to Aerosmith. PPPPHHHWEEEEEWWWWIIIITTTT!
- Wings - Not to be confused with Paul Mccartney And Wings, this band is considered to be one of the most infamous rock bands in the local "rock kapak" scene along with the aforementioned Search. They even made history for being the first Asian rock band to collaborate with an orchestra and the third in the world to do so after the Scorpions and Metallica.
- The Alleycats - One of a few non-Malay bands to break into the Malay music scene. Founding members David and (the late) Logan Arumugam are notable for their afros.
- Fashion designers like Zang Toi and Bernard Chandran.
- Zee Avi - the first Asian to sign to Jack Johnson's Brushfire label.
- Gempakstarz - Home to Malaysian mangas such as Helios Eclipse, Fatal Chaos and Le Gardenie
- Rap stars like Too Phat and Poetic Ammo.
- R&B singer Reshmonu.
- Pop Shuvit, Malaysia's answer to Limp Bizkit.
- Jimmy Choos. Yup, those shoes from Sex and the City are invented by a Malaysian coincidentally named Jimmy Choo.
- And his son Danny Choo. You might know him if you're into anime. Also the director for the upcoming anime Mirai Millennium.
- Michelle Yeoh - Former Bond girl. Currently the most successful Malaysian to venture overseas, at least in the entertainment industry. Another success story is Penny Wong (see below).
- Penny Wong, Leader of the Australian Senate, and also the the first openly gay minister in an Australian government.
- Jeremy Fernandez is another distinguished Malaysian-born Australian, notable for being the main anchor for the ABC's weekend news bulletins.
- Mohammad Nor Khalid aka Lat - Notable for his cartoons that appear in the editorial pages of the Malaysian newspaper New Straits Times.
- Reggie Lee - whose humor is more tongue-in-cheek than Lat's.
- Akademi Fantasia - The format of the show is taken from La Academia. Garners positive response in comparison to the Idol series.
- Malaysian Idol
- One In A Million - spiritual successor to Malaysian Idol, where its prize money is one million ringgit.
- Che'Nelle An Australian recording artist. You might know her from the song "I Fell In Love With The DJ".
- Malaysian Chinese singers like Fish Leong and Michael Wong, who gained fame in Taiwan.
- Director Tsai Ming-liang, who is based in Taiwan; he's been deemed one of the most celebrated "Second New Wave" film directors of Taiwanese cinema.
- Eddie See, also known as See Yew Lee, and 徐有利 in Chinese. His well-known comic books works were Gemeilia (Kokko and Mei, or 哥妹俩) and sold in parts of Asia such of China, and translated in English and Malay from the original Chinese (but only sold in Malaysia and Singapore)
- Animated series Upin & Ipin, extremely popular in Indonesia. Also unpopular among various local folks. Hey, you'd hate it too if it were on 5 different channels, including channels that it has no business to be on i.e. The Disney Channel! Also, the show is tailored towards the Muslim rural community and thus does not click well with those who're not Muslims, particularly those "modernized" ones who live in the west coast towns and cities.
- Yuna (Yunalis binti Mat Zara'ai) is a rising international pop star, signed to a major American music label, and Malaysian!
- Tan Twan Eng was shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize, then won the 2012 Man Asian Prize.
- Actor Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) was born in Malaysia, and moved to the United Kingdom as a child. Also, see Jason Wan below.
- James Wan, director of Aquaman (2018), born in Malaysia, moved to Australia at age 7.
And yes, this country is frequently mentioned by anyone and everyone, even Michael Jackson who once held a concert here (he liked nasi lemak). So you can say this is the Ensemble Dark Horse of all countries in the world. Malaysia Boleh!
Malaysia in Fiction (and whether the Twin Towers make an appearance):
- Entrapment: Front and centre - the towers star as headquarters for a bank the protagonists have to steal from, but strangely positioned to be visible from Malacca - a city more than 100km from the capital.
- Zoolander: Formerly Banned in Malaysia for depicting an assassination attempt on the Malaysian PM. The towers are absent, as filming wasn't even done there.
- Don: The Chase Begins Again: Yes. In fact in recent years a lot of Indian films have scenes in Malaysia - some even have sing-and-dance routines there despite the story being set entirely in India or somewhere else.
- Hitman 2: Silent Assassin: The towers are featured in a series of missions.
- Burnout Dominator: Spiritual Towers is based on Kuala Lumpur. The towers are present.
- SOCOM US Navy SEALs 4: Kuala Lumpur gets turned into a battlefield between the SEALs and private military contractors. The towers are there.
- Return to Paradise
- A generic Malaysian PM makes an appearance in Totally Spies!. The towers (or rather their lifts) are turned into theme park vertical drops.
- The main setting of Max Brook's short story turned graphic novel The Extinction Parade.
- Independence Day: Resurgence: The towers are dropped by aliens on London. In Malaysia, that scene was even lampshaded with a poster depicting the towers being pulled up by the aliens' Tractor Beam.
- The main setting of the Sandokan novels. It's set in Borneo during colonial times - no towers.
- Sandokan No 8 is a Japanese film about a woman sold into sex slavery in a brothel in Sandokan in 1905. Similar to the one above: no towers.
- In Carmen Sandiego: Math Detective, Carmen uses a Shrink Ray to steal twelve of the world's most monumental landmarks and your mission is to restore them. The Petronas Towers are included as the world's tallest buildings, which they were at the time of the game's release.
- In Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt, the protagonists fought a battle against the South Sea Alliance at the submerged Kuala Lumpur.
- In Hetalia: Axis Powers, a personification of Malaysia appears, shown as friendly if ditzy, and has an obsession with sea cucumbers.
- All three of Tan Twan Eng's novels (The Gift of Rain, The Garden of Evening Mists, and The House of Doors) are set in Malaysia back when it was Malaya — so no towers.
The Malaysian flag
The Malaysian national anthem
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Government
- Federal parliamentary constitutional elective monarchy
- Yang di-Pertuan Agong: Ibrahim Iskandar
- Prime Minister: Anwar Ibrahim
Miscellaneous
- Capitals: Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya (administrative)
- Largest city: Kuala Lumpur
- Population: 32,730,000
- Area: 330,803 sq km (127,724 sq mi) (67th)
- Currency: Malaysian ringgit (RM) (MYR)
- ISO-3166-1 Code: MY
- Country calling code: 60
- Highest point: Gunung Kinabalu (4095 m/13,436 ft) (38th)
- Lowest points: Indian Ocean (3,741 m/12,274 ft) (-) and South China Sea (5,559 m/8,946 ft) (-)
