MALAYSIA

country of Southeast Asia, composed of two noncontiguous regionsPeninsular, or West, Malaysia and East Malaysiaseparated by some 400 miles (650 km) of the South China Sea. Peninsular Malaysia (50,810 square miles [131,598 square km]) occupies the southern half of the Malay Peninsula; it is about 500 miles (800 km) long and 200 miles (325 km) wide and is 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. East Malaysia (76,510 square miles [198,160 square km]) occupies the northwestern part of the island of Borneo and is about 670 miles (1,075 km) long and 240 miles (385 km) wide; it consists of the states of Sarawak and Sabah. It is bordered on the north and west by the South China Sea, on the east by the Sulu Sea and the Celebes Sea, and on the south by Kalimantan (Indonesian) Borneo; the small independent coastal sultanate of Brunei is surrounded on land by Sarawak. The capital of Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur. Area, including inland water, 127,575 square miles (330,417 square km). Pop. (1991) 17,566,982; (1997 est.) 21,767,000. country of Southeast Asia, composed of two noncontiguous regions: Peninsular, or West, Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula and East Malaysia on the island of Borneo. Malaysia has a total area of 127,584 square miles (330,442 square kilometres), which includes about 265 square miles of inland water. Of this total, Peninsular Malaysia constitutes about 50,810 square miles and East Malaysia about 76,510 square miles. The capital is Kuala Lumpur, located in west-central Peninsular Malaysia. Peninsular Malaysia occupies most of the Malay Peninsula south of latitude 640 N. To the north it is bordered by Thailand, with which it shares a land boundary of some 300 miles (480 kilometres). To the south, at the tip of the peninsula, is the island republic of Singapore, with which Malaysia is connected by a causeway. To the southwest, across the Strait of Malacca, is the Indonesian island of Sumatra. East Malaysia consists of the states of Sarawak and Sabah and is separated from Peninsular Malaysia by some 400 miles of the South China Sea. These two states occupy most of the northwestern coastal part of the large island of Borneo and share a land boundary with the Indonesian portion (Kalimantan) of the island. Within Sarawak is a small coastal enclave containing the sultanate of Brunei. Malaysia, a member of the Commonwealth, represents the political marriage of territories that were formerly under British rule. When it was established on Sept. 16, 1963, Malaysia was composed of Malaya (now Peninsular Malaysia), Singapore, Sarawak, and Sabah. In August 1965 Singapore seceded from the federation and became an independent republic. Additional reading R.S. Milne and Diane K. Mauzy, Malaysia (1986), is a comprehensive overview. Ooi Jin-Bee, Peninsular Malaysia, new ed. (1976), offers a good geographic overview of the country. James C. Jackson, Sarawak (1968), is one of the few quality studies of the state. Studies of Malaysia's people include Judith Nagata, Malaysian Mosaic: Perspectives from a Polyethnic Society (1979); Kernial Singh Sandhu, Indians in Malaya: Some Aspects of Their Immigration and Settlement (17861957) (1969); Heather Strange, Rural Malay Women in Tradition and Transition (1981); Heng Pek Koon, Chinese Politics in Malaysia: A History of the Malaysian Chinese Association (1988); and James V. Jesudason, Ethnicity and the Economy: The State, Chinese Business, and Multinationals in Malaysia (1989). Raj Kumar, The Forest Resources of Malaysia, Their Economics and Development (1986); and S. Robert Aiken et al., Development and Environment in Peninsular Malaysia (1982), focus on both environmental concerns and economic development. Other economic studies include Mohamed Ariff, The Malaysian Economy (1991); and George Cho, The Malaysian Economy: Spatial Perspectives (1990). See also E.K. Fisk and H. Osman-Rani (eds.), The Political Economy of Malaysia (1982); and Gordon P. Means, Malaysian Politics: The Second Generation (1991). Thomas R. LeinbachThe best comprehensive history of Malaysia is Barbara Watson Andaya and Leonard Y. Andaya, A History of Malaysia (1982). A good survey is John Gullick, Malaysia: Economic Expansion and National Unity (1981). Both of these works are stronger on Malaya than on the Borneo states. Steven Runciman, The White Rajahs: A History of Sarawak from 1841 to 1946 (1960); and Robert Pringle, Rajahs and Rebels: The Ibans of Sarawak Under Brooke Rule, 18411941 (1970), provide excellent coverage of the Brooke era. Among the few detailed accounts of ancient Malaya, Paul Wheatley, The Golden Khersonese: Studies in the Historical Geography of the Malay Peninsula Before AD 1500 (1961, reprinted 1973), remains a classic work. Leonard Y. Andaya, The Kingdom of Johor, 16411728 (1975), is a fine analysis of that sultanate. Lim Teck Ghee, Peasants and Their Agricultural Economy in Colonial Malaya, 18741941 (1977), treats economic history during the colonial era. William R. Roff, The Origins of Malay Nationalism (1967), is a stimulating work that explores Malay society in the colonial years. Victor Purcell, The Chinese in Malaya (1948, reissued 1967), though somewhat dated, remains the only general survey. R.S. Milne and Diane K. Mauzy, Politics and Government in Malaysia, rev. ed. (1980), is particularly good on the late colonial and early independence periods. Craig A. Lockard Administration and social conditions Government Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy with a nonpolitical head of state, or yang di-pertuan agong (paramount ruler), who is elected from among nine state hereditary rulers for a five-year term. The federal legislature consists of the Senate (Dewan Negara) and the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat). The federal government also has a prime minister and cabinet, an independent judiciary, and a politically neutral civil service. The powers of the federal parliament are relatively broad and include the authority to legislate in matters concerning government finances, defense, foreign policy, internal security, the administration of justice, and citizenship. The state legislatures, however, retain responsibility for issues pertaining to Islamic law and for matters regarding personal and family laws affecting Muslims, as well as for land laws. The constitution also provides that some issues may be addressed either by the federal or by a state legislature. The House of Representatives functions in a manner similar to that of the British House of Commons. It has a membership of 180, of which 132 are from Peninsular Malaysia, 27 from Sarawak, and 21 from Sabah. Members are elected to office from single-member constituencies by a simple majority to terms of five years. The Senate has a membership of 69; of these, 43 members are appointed by the yang di-pertuan agong on the recommendation of the prime minister (including 2 from the federal territory of Kuala Lumpur and 1 from the federal territory of Labuan), and the other 26 are elected2 from each of the 13 statesby the state legislative assemblies. Voting in either house is by a simple majority, but amendments to the constitution require a two-thirds majority. A bill passed by both houses and sanctioned by the yang di-pertuan agong becomes a federal law. The yang di-pertuan agong appoints a prime minister from the members of the House of Representatives. On the advice of the prime minister, the yang di-pertuan agong then appoints the other ministers who make up the cabinet. The number of ministers is not fixed, but all must be members of the federal parliament. Each state of Malaysia has its own written constitution, legislative assembly, and executive council responsible to the legislative assembly and headed by a chief minister. Several Malay statesJohor, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor, and Terengganuhave hereditary rulers (sultans). The raja (king) is the ruler in Perlis, and the yang di-pertuan besar (chief ruler) in Negeri Sembilan. The heads of state of Melaka, Pulau Pinang (Penang Island), Sarawak, and Sabahknown as yang di-pertuan negeriare appointed to office. The ruler of a state acts on the advice of the state government. The constitution provides for parliamentary elections and for elections to state legislatures, to be held at least every five years. Political parties Malaysia has a multiparty political system, and since about 1970 it has held free elections and changed prime ministers peacefully. Party affiliation generally is based on ethnicity, though less so than at independence. Malaysian political life is dominated by the National Front (Barisan Nasional), a broad coalition of ethnically oriented parties that long has been controlled by the United Malays National Organization. The main opposition parties are the Democratic Action Party (consisting primarily of Chinese), the Muslim Unity Movement (a coalition of pro-Islamic parties), and the Sabah People's Union. The Communist Party of Malaya and the offshoot Malaysian Communist Party are illegal opposition parties. Cultural life 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 strandsanimistic, early Hindu, early and modern Islamic, and, especially in the cities, Westernand the collective pattern is distinct from other cultures and recognizably Malay. Unlike the early Chinese traders who settled in Malacca and George Town (now Pinang) and were partially assimilated (at least to the extent of adopting the Malay language), the Chinese who emigrated in large numbers to the Malay Peninsula in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were usually transients who established self-contained communities. Chinese cultural influence has consequently been minimal. The Chinese immigrants themselves, moreover, did not form a homogeneous group. Their culture in Malaysia has its roots in the culture and civilization of prerevolutionary China, with modifications brought about by local circumstances and environment. Most of the Indians and Pakistanis originally came as labourers to work in the coffee and rubber plantations. Like the Chinese, they also were mainly transients (until World War II), living in closed communities and remaining virtually unassimilated. The communities of Malaysia have been affected by British colonial rule and Western cultural influences, especially in education and institutional forms. Traditions and cultural institutions have been least affected in the rural areasin eastern Peninsular Malaysia and in the interior of East Malaysiawhile the cities have been the focus of the most rapid cultural changes. The arts 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 artistsof Malay, Chinese, and Indian originalso have begun to produce new, synthesized, and distinctively Malaysian art forms, especially in painting and architecture.