General Information
Malaysia is in Southeast Asia lying north of the Equator and it is composed of two non-contiguous regions, the West Malaysia located on the Malay Peninsula and East Malaysia which is on the island of Borneo.Malaysia is a member of the Commonwealth and it is the result of the political “marriage” of territories that used to be under the British rule. When the country was established on September 16, 1963 Malaysia comprised the territories of Malaya which is now the area of the Malay Peninsula, the island of Singapore and the colonies of Sarawak and Sabah in the northern part of the island of Borneo.
Two years later, August 1965, Singapore decided to become independent and left the federation. Malaysia is a federal representative democratic constitutional monarchy and is consisted of thirteen states and three federal territories. Malaysia has had a multi-party system since the first direct election of the Federal Legislative Council of Malaya in 1955. Legislative power is divided between Federal and State legislatures. The Federal Parliament consists of the lower house, the House of Representatives and the upper house, the Senate.
The head of state of Malaysia, is an elected monarch chosen from among the nine state sultans every five years. The head of Government and of the Cabinet is the Prime Minister, who must be a member of the House of Representatives. The Cabinet is chosen from members of both houses of the Parliament. Executive power is exercised by the federal government, which also controls three Federal Territories (Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan) and the 13 State Governments.
Federal legislative power is vested in the Federal Parliament and the 13 State Assemblies (State of Johor, State of Kedah, State of Kelantan, State of Malacca, State of Negeri Sembilan, State of Pahang, State of Penang, State of Perak, State of Perlis, State of Sabah, State of Sarawak, State of Selangor, State of Terengganu). Parliamentary elections are held at least once every five years. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature, though the executive maintains a certain level of influence in the appointment of judges to the courts. The hierarchy of authority in Malaysia, in accordance to the Federal Constitution, stipulates the three branches of the Malaysian government as consisting of the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branch.
Geography and Climate
The total area of Malaysia is 329,750 km² (329,060 km² land and 690 km² inland water) and is divided into two geographical sections, the Peninsular Malaysia and the East Malaysian provinces of Sabah and Sarawak, which are located in northern Borneo 650 km across the South China Sea. The neighbors of Malaysia are Thailand to the north, with its Malaysia shares 506 km long land borders, Indonesia with its Malaysia shares 1,782 km long land borders and Brunei with its Malaysia shares 281 km long land borders.
Peninsular Malaysia is 131,000 km² accounting for 40% of the country’s landmass, is 740 km long and at its broadest east-west axis is about 320 km wide. East Malaysia is 198,000 km² accounting for almost 60% of the country’s landmass, is 1,125 km long with its maximum width of about 275 km. Approximately 372 n.m of sea separate East and West Malaysia forming a geographic barrier.
The Strait of Malacca lying between Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia, is a narrow stretch of water, 890 km in length with minimum width 2.8 km and average depth 25 meters. Being the main shipping channel between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, it is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world. The coastline of the Malaysia is 4,675 km long, its territorial waters is 12n.m and its Exclusive Economic Zone is 334,671 km².
Malaysia has several mountain ranges that have modest elevation. The highest mountain range is Crocker Range extends northwards from the state of Sarawak, dividing the state of Sabah and includes the mount Kinabalou (4,095 meters) and mount Tambuyukon (1,453 meters). The highest mountain in Peninsular Malaysia is Titiwangsa mountain (2,183 meters) which divides the peninsula between its east and west coasts.
The climate of Malaysia, is categorized as equatorial, being hot and humid throughout the year. The average rainfall is 250cm a year and the average temperature is 27°C. The climate between the two parts of the country is different. The climate of the Peninsular Malaysia is affected from the mainland, while the climate at the island of Borneo is more maritime. Malaysia has two monsoon winds seasons, the Southwest Monsoon originating in China and the North Pacific from late May to September and the Northeast Monsoon from October to March. Approximately 58.2% of Malaysian land is covered by forests and more specifically by tropical rainforests. Much of the lowland forests of the island of Borneo have been cleared due to increased logging since 1960 and cultivation.
The Ethnic Groups of the Population of Indonesia
The population of Malaysia in 2019 was 31,949,777 and in September 2020 about 32.7 million. The population density of the country was 99 per Km2 in 2020, while most of the population about 78% (25,361,963 people) during this time was urban. The average increase of the population between 2015 and 2020 was 1,36% an increase of the population approximately by 420,000 people annually. According to estimates the annually increase of the Malaysian population will be gradually slow down from 1.36% to 1.20% in 2025, to 1% in 2030, 0.80% in 2035 and to 0.62% in 2040. Based on the data from the World Bank, the life expectancy in 2018 was 76, while the fertility rate in 2018 was two births per woman.
It is very interesting to notice that in 2017 the population of Malaysia under 15 years old constituted 27.8% of the total population, between 15-29 years old constituted 24.5% of the total population, between 30-44 years old constituted 21.6% of the total population, between 45-59 years old constituted 16.4% of the population and finally between 75-85 and over constituted 2% of the population. The population of Malaysia is unevenly distributed between Peninsular and East Malaysia, with the majority living in Peninsular Malaysia. Like many other neighboring countries, Malaysia has great ethnic, linguistic cultural and religious diversity.
Based on 2017 data about the ethnic composition of Malaysia, 61.7% of the total population is Malay and indigenous people, 20.8% is Chinese, 11.3% other and 6.2% Indian. The Malays constitute about the half of the country’s total population, they are the most powerful group on the peninsula, they are numerically dominant. The Chinese who make up about 21% of the total population, originally migrated from southeastern China and they speak different Chinese languages. The people from South Asia such as Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans constitute a small but significant portion of the total Malaysian population Linguistically these parts of the population speak Dravidian languages and Indo-European languages. The national language that unifies this diversity of peoples is a standardized form of Malay called Bahasa Malaysia.
Islam is the official religion of Malaysia followed by about 3/5 of the population. Muslims constitute 61.3% of the population, the Buddhist constitute 19.8% of the population, the Christians constitute 9.2% of the population, the Hindu constitute 6.3% of the population and finally the Chinese folk religionist and others constitute 1.3% and 2.1% respectively.
History
The first people of Malaysia are the Orang Asli, who left from southwest China about 10.000 years ago and travelled to the peninsula we now call West Malaysia. The first kingdom established in the region was the State of Gangaa Negara a Hindu Malay kingdom that existed between 100-1000 BCE. It was followed in 200 AD by the Hindu Malay Kingdom of Langkasuka, by the Kingdom of Kedah in 630 AD and the Buddhist Kingdom of Srivijaya, in 700 AD. In 1136 AD leader of the Kingdom of Langkasuka Phra Ong Mahawangsa converted to Islam and he founded the Kedah Sultanate ending the practice of Hinduism in the dynasty.
In 1402 AD the Kingdom of Malacca was founded by Sultan Mahmud Shah of Malacca.Its capital was captured by the Portuguese 109 years later, in 1511 AD. The kingdom was conquered by the Dutch and their local allies from the Portuguese in 1641 AD. After the loss of the Kingdom of Malacca the sons of Sultan Mahmud Shah of Malacca, Alauddin Riayat Shah and Sultan Muzaffar Shah established in 1528 AD the Sultanates of Johor and Perak respectively.
The British arrives in the Malay Peninsula in 1819, when Thomas Stamford Raffles signed a treaty with Sultan Hussein Shah of Johor on behalf of the British East India Company to develop the southern part of Singapore as a British trading post. Few years later in 1824, British and Dutch signed a treaty to address issues regarding trade rights in the Spice islands. Two years later, in 1826 the British signed a treaty with Thailand, partitioning the northern Malay states between the two countries and established the Straits Settlements which were a group of British territories.
The Straits Settlements originally consisted of the four individual settlements of Penang, Singapore, Malacca, and Dinding and they were controlled by the British EST India Company. In August 1841 the Kingdom of Sarawak was established after a grant of independence from the Sultanese of Brunei.
In January 1874 the Treaty of Pangkor, allowed the Britain officially to get involved in the policies of the Malays and established the British Malaya. Eight years later in 1882, North Bornei became a British protectorate under the sovereign North Borneo Chartered Company. The beginning of the new Century brought the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909, according to which the United Kingdom and Thailand effectively dissected the northern Malay states. A day after the Japanese attack in Perl Harbor, the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Malaya and occupied British Malaya. Several days later in the 16th of December 1941 the Imperial Japanese Army invaded and occupied British Borneo. Four years later on the 14th of August 1945 the Imperial Japanese Army surrendered and on the 5th of September of 1945 the British Army returned.
First of April of 1946 the Straits Settlements were dissolved and replaced by the Malayan Union a British crown colony, conceived to unify the Malaya Peninsula under a single government and included the: Federated Malay States of Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang; the Unfederated Malay States of Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, Terengganu, Johor; and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca. On the 31st of January 1948, Malay nationalists forced the Malayan Union to disband in favor of the Federation of Malaya which was established on the 1st of February 1948.
June 1948 the British officially declared the “Communist Emergency” after several plantations were destroyed by the Communists. The Emergency ended on the 12th of July 1960 with the victory of the British Commonwealth forces (Australia, New Zealand, Rhodesia, Fiji, Kenya, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland). On the 31st of July 1957, the Federation of Malaya declared its independence from the British colonial rule, which was achieved one month later, on the 31st of August 1957. The Federation of Malaya included the states of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor, Terengganu and two of the British Straits Settlements, Penang and Malacca.
In May 1961, the Prime Minister of the Federation of Malaya proposed the merger of Singapore, Federation of Malaya, North Borneo and Sarawak. The potential merger of the territories mentioned above provoked the confrontation between Indonesia and the Federation of Malaya. In January 1963, Indonesia announced that the country would pursue a policy of confrontation with the Federation of Malaya, due to the planned establishment of the Federation of Malaysia which included the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, and North Borneo
In July 1963, the Federation of Malaya was reconstituted as Federation of Malaysia under the Malaysia Agreement, when it federated with the British territories of Singapore, Sarawak, and North Borneo. Malaysia was established few months later, on the 16th of September 1963 and included the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo, and Sarawak. Two years later, on the 7th of August 1965 Singapore signed a separation agreement. In February 1967, a new Communist Insurgency against the Malaysian government started and lasted till 1989. The insurgency came to an end on the 2nd of December 1989, when the MCP signed a peace accord with the Malaysian government. In January 1997, Malaysia slipped to economic recession because of the Asian financial crisis.
Foreign Relations of Malaysia
Malaysia is a member of various international organizations including Commonwealth of Nations, United Nations (U.N), Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Non Aligned Movement (NAM), Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), UNESCO, World Bank, IMF, IAEA, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Developing 8 Countries, Asian Development Bank G-77, South Centre and Antarctic Treaty.
Since its independence from the UK in 1957, Malaysia has been following these principles: a) Non-alignment, b) neutrality, c) maintaining peaceful relations with all countries, d) develop relations with other countries of Southeast Asia, e) preserve national sovereignty and the right of the country to control its domestic affairs, and g) priority on the security and stability of Southeast Asia.
The Foreign policy of Malaysia was directly affected by the priorities of its Prime Ministers throughout time since 1957 till today. Since its independence in 1957 till 1970, Malaysia under the leadership of Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman pursued a strongly pro-Commonwealth and anti-communist foreign policy mostly because the country had twice confront the internal communist threat since it gain its independence, between 1957-1960 and between 1967-1989.
The new Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Hussein Onn shifted his country’s foreign policy towards non-alignment and neutrality furthermore in 1971 Malaysia signed the Five Power Defence Arrangements by which UK Australia New Zealand Malaysia and Singapore agreed to co-operate in the area of defence and to consult in the event of external aggression or the threat of attack on Malaysia or Singapore. The third Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahatir bin Mohamad tried hard to establish an East Asian Economic Group as an alternative to APEC focusing his interest on the countries of Southeast Asia and excluding Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. During his premiership, he adopted frequently anti-Western rhetoric although he worked closely with Western countries.
Furthermore, during that period Malaysia signed up to an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and ASEAN+3, a regional forum with China, South Korea and Japan and he also tried to include Laos Vietnam and Burma to ASEAN. The terrorist attacks of the 11th of September 2001 in New York forced the Malaysia government to implement a crackdown policy against Islamic fundamentalism in the country. The successor of Mahatir bin Mohamad, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, improved his country’s relationships with the Western countries especially with Australia.