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| Malaysia | Plants and Animal | Back to Top |
Malaysia’s forests include an enormous variety of animal life. Large mammals include Asian elephants; tigers; sun bears; tapirs; several species of deer; and rhinoceroses, which are endangered. Malaysia’s primates include the endangered orangutans and three species of protected gibbons. Other animals include numerous birds (about 650 species of birds exist in Peninsular Malaysia alone); more than 100 species of snakes, including king cobras and pythons; and many amphibians, including crocodiles and 80 species of lizards. Malaysia is renowned for its huge insect population, including many species of butterflies and moths. Some insects, including mosquitoes, hornets, red ants, scorpions, and certain spiders, can be harmful to people.
| Malaysia | Communications | Back to Top |
excellent domestic and international service domestic: high level of modern technology and excellent service of every kind international: satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); submarine cables to China, Philippines, Russia, and US (via Guam) (1999)
| Malaysia | Culture | Back to Top |
Malaysia is a melting pot of several major cultural traditions that stem from archipelagic Southeast Asia as well as from China, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West. Malay culture and Bornean culture are indigenous to the area. In the first one and a half millennia AD, indigenous Malay culture in the Malay Peninsula and in other parts of Southeast Asia was strongly marked by pre-Islamic Indian and early Islamic influences. Indian contact with the Malay Peninsula extended from about the 2nd or 3rd to the late 14th century, exerting a profound influence on religion (Hinduism and Buddhism), art, and literature. Islam, introduced to Malacca (now Melaka) in the 15th century, soon became the dominant religion of the Malays. The introduction of Western cultural influences in the 19th century affected many aspects of Malay life, especially in technology, law, social organization, and economics. Contemporary Malay culture is thus multifaceted, consisting of many strands—animistic, early Hindu, early and modern Islamic, and, especially in the cities, Western—and the collective pattern is distinct from other cultures and recognizably Malay.
Malaysia reflects different cultural traditions, including those of China, India, the Middle East, Europe, and the entire Malay Archipelago. Early Malay empires absorbed Indian influences, such as Hindu epics and the Sanskrit language. The kingdom of Malacca, centered in the present-day state of Melaka, developed as an Islamic state, or sultanate, in the 1400s. Later, new cultural influences from Europe and China mixed with Hindu and Islamic traditions. A collective but distinctively Malay cultural pattern has emerged out of all these influences, with artistic expressions in literature, music, dance, and art forms.
External cultural influences have made the least impact in music, dancing, literature, and the decorative arts. In East Malaysia the indigenous cultural background includes no written history or literature. Architecture is little developed, and the principal art forms are dancing and handicrafts, represented notably by the textiles handwoven by the Punan tribe, cloth made by the Bajau people, patterned rattan mats and basketwork, and wood carvings. Particularly on the peninsula, the artistic manifestations of Malay culture are mainly in literature, music, dancing, and the decorative arts. Painting and sculpture are poorly developed, primarily because Islam does not encourage the representation of the human form. Examples of Malay decorative arts include batik cloth (cloth hand-dyed by using a special technique), silverware, the handmade kris (a short sword or heavy dagger with a wavy blade), wood carving, and basketwork. Malaysian Chinese culture is derived from Chinese civilization and is represented by literature, drama, music, painting, and architecture. Some Malaysian artists—of Malay, Chinese, and Indian origin—also have begun to produce new, synthesized, and distinctively Malaysian art forms, especially in painting and architecture.
| Malaysia | Defence | Back to Top |
Military branches: Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (Army), Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (Navy), Japan Air Self-Defense Force (Air Force)
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 29,926,614 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 25,876,484 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 765,817 (2001 est.)
| Malaysia | International Disputes | Back to Top |
islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan, and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan; Liancourt Rocks (Takeshima/Tokdo) disputed with South Korea; Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands) claimed by China and Taiwan
| Malaysia | Economy | Back to Top |
The economy of Malaysia once relied principally on the production of raw materials for export, most importantly petroleum, natural rubber, tin, palm oil, and timber. Recently, however, the manufacturing sector has grown in importance, helping the nation’s economy expand 7.3 percent annually in the period 1990-1999. Tourism has also become an important sector in Malaysia’s economy. In 1997 Malaysia’s annual budget included revenues of about $23.1 billion and expenditures of about $19.72 billion. The value of gross domestic product (GDP) was $79 billion in 1999. Services accounted for 43 percent of the GDP; industry, including mining and construction, 46 percent; and agriculture, forestry, and fishing, 11 percent.
Malaysia's systems of public finance—auditing and organization of accounts, parliamentary control, and revenue collection—are generally based on British principles. The primary role of the country's fiscal system is to raise revenue for governmental expenditure, rather than being a mechanism to manipulate the pace of economic activity, the level of employment, or prices. The greater part of government revenues are raised by taxation—roughly equally divided between direct (income) taxes and indirect taxes (e.g., customs and excise duties). Malaysia's rapid economic expansion has created a great demand for additional labour for the manufacturing and service sectors. The labour shortage has tended to increase wages. Nonetheless, there has been a relatively limited flow of workers from East to Peninsular Malaysia despite the economic incentives, prompting interest in recruiting foreign workers.
Government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) have helped Japan advance with extraordinary rapidity to the rank of second most technologically powerful economy in the world after the US and third largest economy in the world after the US and China. One notable characteristic of the economy is the working together of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in closely-knit groups called keiretsu. A second basic feature has been the guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial portion of the urban labor force. Both features are now eroding. Industry, the most important sector of the economy, is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. The much smaller agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields among the highest in the world. Usually self-sufficient in rice, Japan must import about 50% of its requirements of other grain and fodder crops. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch. For three decades overall real economic growth had been spectacular: a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s. Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s largely because of the aftereffects of overinvestment during the late 1980s and contractionary domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. Government efforts to revive economic growth have met little success and were further hampered in late 2000 by the slowing of the US and Asian economies. The crowding of habitable land area and the aging of the population are two major long-run problems. Robotics constitutes a key long-term economic strength, with Japan possessing 410,000 of the world's 720,000 "working robots".
| Malaysia | Education | Back to Top |
Education is free and compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 16, and an additional two years of free education are optional. In 1997, 101 percent of Malaysian children attended primary school. Parents may choose between Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese, or Tamil as the language of instruction for their primary-school children. Bahasa Malaysia is the primary language of instruction in all secondary schools, although continued learning in Chinese and Tamil is available and English is a compulsory second language. Enrollment in secondary education was 64 percent in 1997. Malaysia has a number of institutions of higher education, including nine universities. Universities include the National University, in Bangi; the University of Technology, in Johor Baharu; and the University of Malaya, in Kuala Lumpur.
| Malaysia | Government | Back to Top |
Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, nominally headed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong ("paramount ruler"), customarily referred to as the king. Kings are elected for 5-year terms from among the nine sultans of the peninsular Malaysian states. The king also is the leader of the Islamic faith in Malaysia.
Executive power is vested in the cabinet led by the prime minister; the Malaysian constitution stipulates that the prime minister must be a member of the lower house of parliament who, in the opinion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, commands a majority in parliament. The cabinet is chosen from among members of both houses of parliament and is responsible to that body.
The bicameral parliament consists of the Senate (Dewan Negara) and the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat). All 69 Senate members sit for 6-year terms; 26 are elected by the 13 state assemblies, and 43 are appointed by the king. Representatives of the House are elected from single-member districts by universal adult suffrage. The 193 members of the House of Representatives are elected to maximum terms of 5 years. Legislative power is divided between federal and state legislatures.
The Malaysian legal system is based on English common law. The Federal Court reviews decisions referred from the Court of Appeals; it has original jurisdiction in constitutional matters and in disputes between states or between the federal government and a state. Peninsular Malaysia and the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak each have a high court.
The federal government has authority over external affairs, defense, internal security, justice (except civil law cases among Malays or other Muslims and other indigenous peoples, adjudicated under Islamic and traditional law), federal citizenship, finance, commerce, industry, communications, transportation, and other matters.
| Malaysia | History | Back to Top |
In the first century AD, two far-flung but related events helped stimulate Malaysia's emergence in international trade in the ancient world. At that time, India had two principal sources of gold and other metals: the Roman Empire and China. The overland route from China was cut by marauding Huns, and at about the same time, the Roman Emperor Vespasian cut off shipments of gold to India. As a result, India sent large and seaworthy ships, with crews reported to have numbered in the hundreds, to Southeast Asia, including the Malayan Peninsula, to seek alternative sources. In the centuries that followed, rich Malaysian tin deposits assumed great significance in Indian Ocean trade, and the region prospered. As maritime trade among Middle Eastern, Indian, and Chinese ports flourished, the peninsula benefited from its location as well as from development of its diverse resources, including tropical woods and spices. Malay ships became prominent in that trade, and Malay ports served as transshipment centers. Indian trade brought Indian culture, economy, religion, and politics, with historic results for what is now Malaysia.
The early Buddhist Malay kingdom of Srivijaya, based at what is now Palembang, Sumatra, dominated much of the Malay peninsula from the 9th to the 13th centuries AD. The powerful Hindu kingdom of Majapahit, based on Java, gained control of the Malay peninsula in the 14th century. Conversion of the Malays to Islam, beginning in the early 14th century, accelerated with the rise of the state of Malacca under the rule of a Muslim prince in the 15th century. Malacca was a major regional entrepot, where Chinese, Arab, Malay, and Indian merchants traded precious goods. Drawn by this rich trade, a Portuguese fleet conquered Malacca in 1511, marking the beginning of European expansion in Southeast Asia. The Dutch ousted the Portuguese from Malacca in 1641 and, in 1795, were themselves replaced by the British, who had occupied Penang in 1786.
In 1826, the British settlements of Malacca, Penang, and Singapore were combined to form the Colony of the Straits Settlements. From these strongpoints, in the 19th and early 20th centuries the British established protectorates over the Malay sultanates on the peninsula. Four of these states were consolidated in 1895 as the Federated Malay States.
During British control, a well-ordered system of public administration was established, public services were extended, and largescale rubber and tin production was developed. This control was interrupted by the Japanese invasion and occupation from 1942 to 1945 during World War II.
Popular sentiment for independence swelled during and after the war and, in 1957, the Federation of Malaysia, established from the British-ruled territories of peninsular Malaysia in 1948, negotiated independence from the United Kingdom under the leadership of Tunku Abdul Rahman, who became the first prime minister. The British colonies of Singapore, Sarawak, and Sabah (called North Borneo) joined the Federation to form Malaysia on September 16, 1963.
Singapore withdrew from the Federation on August 9, 1965, and became an independent republic. Neighboring Indonesia objected to the formation of Malaysia and pursued a program of economic, political, diplomatic, and military "confrontation" against the new country, which ended only after the fall of Indonesia's President Sukarno in 1966.
Following World War II, local communists, nearly all Chinese, launched a long, bitter insurgency, prompting the imposition of a state of emergency in 1948 (lifted in 1960). Small bands of guerrillas remained in bases along the rugged border with southern Thailand, occasionally entering northern Malaysia. These guerrillas finally signed a peace accord with the Malaysian Government in December 1989. A separate, smallscale communist insurgency that began in the mid-1960s in Sarawak also ended with the signing of a peace accord in October 1990.
| Malaysia | Introduction | Back to Top |
Malaysia, federation of 13 states forming a constitutional monarchy in South East Asia, comprising two distinct regions separated by some 650 km (400 mi) of the South China Sea. Malaysia is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The regions are Peninsular Malaysia, formerly known as West Malaysia; and Sarawak and Sabah, formerly known as East Malaysia. Peninsular Malaysia comprises 11 states occupying the southern half of the Malay Peninsula, bordered on the north by Thailand, on the south by Singapore, on the west by the Strait of Malacca, and on the east by the South China Sea. The states of Sabah and Sarawak occupy the northern third of the island of Borneo, and are bordered on the north and west by the South China Sea, on the east by the Sula and Celebes seas, and on the south by the Indonesian province of Kalimantan. The island of Labuan, formerly part of Sabah, was made a federal territory in 1984. The sultanate of Brunei forms a coastal enclave in northern Sarawak.
Population 21,300,000 (1996 estimate) Population Density 64 people/sq km (167 people/sq mi) (1996 estimate) Urban/Rural Breakdown 46% Urban 54% Rural Largest Cities Kuala Lumpur1,145,075 Ipoh382,633 Johor Baharu328,646 (1991 census) Ethnic Groups 47% Malay 32% Chinese 9% Indigenous people from Borneo 9% Indian Languages Official Language Bahasa Malaysia Other Languages English, Chinese, Tamil, Iban, Religions 53% Islam 25% Chinese folk religion 7% Hinduism 6% Buddhism 6% Christianity 3% Other
| Malaysia | Land | Back to Top |
N/A
| Malaysia | Languages | Back to Top |
Chinese constitute a sizable population throughout Malaysia, especially in Sarawak. The national language is Bahasa Malaysia (also known simply as Malay), a Malay language of the Austronesian language family. English, Chinese, and Tamil (a Dravidian language of southern India) are also widely spoken.
| Malaysia | Legal | Back to Top |
Legal system: modeled after European civil law system with English-American influence; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal Executive branch: chief of state: Emperor AKIHITO (since 7 January 1989) head of government: Prime Minister Junichiro KOIZUMI (since 24 April 2001) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the Diet designates the prime minister; the constitution requires that the prime minister must command a parliamentary majority, therefore, following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition in the House of Representatives usually becomes prime minister note: following the resignation of Prime Minister Yoshiro MORI, Junichiro KOIZUMI was elected as the new president of the majority Liberal Democratic Party, and soon thereafter designated by the Diet to become the next prime minister Legislative branch: bicameral Diet or Kokkai consists of the House of Councillors or Sangi-in (252 seats; one-half of the members elected every three years - 76 seats of which are elected from the 47 multi-seat prefectural districts and 50 of which are elected from a single nationwide list; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Shugi-in (480 seats - 180 of which are elected from 11 regional blocks on a proportional representation basis and 300 of which are elected from 300 single-seat districts; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: House of Councillors - last held 12 July 1998 (next to be held NA July 2001); House of Representatives - last held 25 June 2000 (next to be held by June 2004) election results: House of Councillors - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - LDP 102, DPJ 47, JCP 23, Komeito 22, SDP 13, Liberal Party 12, independents 26, others 7; note - the distribution of seats as of February 2001 is as follows - LDP 112, DPJ 58, Komeito 24, JCP 23, SDP 13, Liberal Party 5, independents 7, others 10; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - LDP 233, DPJ 127, Komeito 31, Liberal Party 22, JCP 20, SDP 19, other 28; note - the distribution of seats as of February 2001 is as follows - LDP 239, DPJ 129, Komeito 31, Liberal Party 22, JCP 20, SDP 19, other 20 Judicial branch: Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the monarch after designation by the cabinet; all other justices are appointed by the cabinet)
| Malaysia | Life | Back to Top |
The people of Malaysia have a variety of lifestyles. Important among ethnic Malays are respect and obedience toward parents and elders, community self-help, and, in rural areas, the maintenance of law and order through cooperation and respect for the village headman. Marriages, burial customs, and other aspects of Malay life conform to Islamic law. In general, religion plays a major role in each group’s way of life. Wedding ceremonies of ethnic Indians, for example, follow Hindu traditions, whereby the wedding takes place on a day and hour prescribed by a Hindu astrologer. Traditional Chinese family structure is patrilineal and patriarchal; as in China, sons are preferred over daughters in order to maintain the family surname through descent. Kinship ties among the extended Chinese family are very strong and carry into the business environment. Because ethnic Chinese own many Malaysian businesses, these ties hinder occupational mobility among Malays.
| Malaysia | organization | Back to Top |
AfDB, APEC, ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE (observer), CERN (observer), CP, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNRWA, UNU, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC
| Malaysia | People | Back to Top |
In 1991 Malaysia’s total population was 17,566,982. The country’s estimated 2001 population was 22,229,040, yielding an overall population density of 67 persons per sq km (175 per sq mi). The population is unevenly distributed, however, and West Malaysia is about seven times more densely populated than East Malaysia. Some 57 percent of Malaysia’s population is urban; like most developing nations, Malaysia has experienced high rural-to-urban migration rates since the 1950s. Urban unemployment is very low in Malaysia, and this contributes to the growth. The labor shortage for low-skill jobs attracts many immigrants, particularly from Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In addition to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s large cities include Ipoh, Johor Baharu, Petaling Jaya, Kelang, Kuala Terengganu, and George Town (formerly Pinang). Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, and Kelang are part of the Kelang Valley conurbation, Malaysia’s largest urban region. A new center of government administrative offices, Putrajaya, is being constructed about 40 km (about 25 mi) south of Kuala Lampur; it will be part of the greater Kuala Lumpur metropolitan area when completed in the early 21st century. Nearly one-half of Kuala Lumpur’s metropolitan area population resides in the surrounding state of Selangor, where Petaling Jaya, Kelang, and Shah Alam are located. Between 1980 and 1991 Selangor grew by 60.5 percent, compared with only 27.8 percent for Kuala Lumpur and about 26 percent for the nation as a whole. Only one state, Sabah, had a higher growth rate (87 percent) during the same period. Johor Baharu, located across from Singapore at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, is also growing rapidly. George Town, a major seaport and tourist destination, is on the island of Pinang.
The Malay Peninsula, situated at one of the great maritime crossroads of the world, has long been the meeting place of peoples from other parts of Asia. As a result, the population shows the ethnographic complexity typical of Southeast Asia as a whole. In general, there are four groups of people, given in the order of their appearance on the peninsula: the Orang Asli (aborigines), the Malays, the Chinese, and the South Asians. In addition, there are small numbers of Europeans, Americans, Eurasians, Arabs, and Thai.
Malaysia's population of 24.5 million (2002) continues to grow at a rate of 2.2% per annum; about 33.5% of the population is under the age of 15. Malaysia's population comprises many ethnic groups, with the politically dominant Malays comprising a majority. By constitutional definition, all Malays are Muslim. About a quarter of the population is Chinese who have historically played an important role in trade and business.
Malaysians of Indian descent comprise about 7% of the population and include Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians. About 85% of the Indian community is Tamil.
Non-Malay indigenous groups make up more than half of the Borneo state of Sarawak's population and about 66% of the Borneo state of Sabah's population. They are divided into dozens of ethnic groups, but they share some general patterns of living and culture. Until the 20th century, most practiced traditional beliefs, but many have become Christian or Muslim. The "other" category includes Malaysians of, inter alia, European and Middle Eastern descent. Population distribution is uneven, with some 15 million residents concentrated in the lowlands of peninsular Malaysia, an area slightly smaller than the state of Michigan.
| Malaysia | Politics | Back to Top |
Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Yukio HATOYAMA, leader, Naoto KAN, secretary general]; Japan Communist Party or JCP [Kazuo SHII, chairman, Tadaaki ICHIDA, secretary general]; Komeito [Takenori KANZAKI, president, Tetsuzo FUYUSHIBA, secretary general]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Junichiro KOIZUMI, president, Taku YAMASAKI, secretary general]; Liberal Party [Ichiro OZAWA, president, Hirohisa FUJII, secretary general]; New Conservative Party [Chikage OGI, president, Takeshi NODA, secretary general]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Takako DOI, chairperson, Sadao FUCHIGAMI, secretary general]
| Malaysia | Provinces | Back to Top |
47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gumma, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kochi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara, Niigata, Oita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata, Yamaguchi, Yamanashi
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