in Malaysia

Malaysia

Malaysia [1] is a country in South-East Asia, located partly on a peninsula of the Asian mainland and partly on the northern third of the island of Borneo. West (peninsular) Malaysia shares a border with Thailand, is connected by a causeway and a bridge (the 'second link') to the island state of Singapore, and has coastlines on the South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca. East Malaysia (Borneo) shares borders with Brunei and Indonesia.

Regions
Peninsular Malaysia (Malay: Semenanjung Malaysia) occupies most of the Malayan Peninsula between Thailand and Singapore, and is also known as West Malaysia (Malaysia Barat) or the slightly archaic Malaya (Tanah Melayu). It is home to the bulk of Malaysia's population, its capital and largest city Kuala Lumpur, and is generally more economically developed.

West Coast - the more developed side of Peninsular Malaysia, with the states of Kedah, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Perak, Perlis and Selangor, and Malaysia's capital city Kuala Lumpur and the new administrative centre of Putrajaya, all located within this region.
East Coast - more traditional and Muslim, the islands here are glittering tropical jewels. Made up of the states of Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu.
South - comprising just one state, Johor, two coastlines, and endless palm oil plantations.
Some 800 kilometres to the east is East Malaysia (Malaysia Timur), which occupies the northern third of the island of Borneo, shared with Indonesia and tiny Brunei. Partly covered in impenetrable jungle where headhunters roam (on GSM networks if nothing else), East Malaysia is rich in natural resources but very much Malaysia's hinterland for industry and tourism.

Sabah - superb scuba diving in Sipadan , nature reserves and the mighty Mount Kinabalu
Sarawak - jungles, national parks, and traditional longhouses

Cities
Kuala Lumpur - the capital
George Town - the cultural and cuisine capital of Penang
Ipoh - capital of Perak, famous for its Chinese food, tin mines and limestone mountains and caves
Johor Bahru - capital of Johor, and gateway to Singapore
Kota Kinabalu - capital of Sabah, and the largest city in East Malaysia
Kuching - capital of Sarawak
Malacca - the historical city of Malaysia
Miri - the resort city of Sarawak and gateway to UNESCO World Heritage Site Gunung Mulu National Park
Putrajaya - the administrative centre of Malaysia, known for its lavish buildings, bridges and man-made lakes

Islands
Some of the most stunningly beautiful things about Malaysia are its tropical islands. And there's more to them than sun, sand and surf: particularly on the East Coast and Borneo's Sipadan there are coral reefs and hence excellent diving .

Labuan - offshore finance centre off the coast of East Malaysia, Borneo
Langkawi - newly developed West Coast island home to some of Malaysia's most opulent resorts and the Pulau Paya Marine Park
Pangkor - fishing community and less well-known tourist destination off the west coast
Penang - former British colony known as the "Pearl of the Orient", and bustling island city with excellent cuisine
Perhentian Islands - glittering jewels off the East Coast still undiscovered by mass tourism
Redang Island - popular destination for scuba divers
Sipadan Island - remote scuba diving paradise at the easternmost tip of Malaysia
Tenggol Island
Tioman Island - once nominated one of the most beautiful islands in the world
Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park

Understand
Malaysia is a mix of the modern world and a developing nation. With its investment in the high technology industries and moderate oil wealth, it has become a rich within South-East Asia. For the traveller, Malaysia for most part presents a happy mix: there is high-tech infrastructure and things generally work well and more or less on schedule, but prices remain reasonable and daily life far more vibrant than, say, sanitized Singapore.

History
Malaya was formed in the year 1957 and became independent from British Colonialisation. The Union Jack was lowered and the first Malaysian flag was raised in the Merdeka (independent) square on midnight 31st August, 1957. 6 years later, Malaysia was formed in 1963 through a merging of Malaya and Singapore, including the East Malaysian states of Sabah (known then as North Borneo) and Sarawak on the northern coast of Borneo. The first several years of the country's history were marred by Indonesian efforts to control Malaysia, Philippine claims to Sabah, and Singapore's secession in 1965.

Today's Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, nominally headed by the Paramount Ruler (Yang di-Pertuan Agong), who is elected for a five-year term from among the nine sultans of the Malay states. The current king, from Terengganu, was sworn in on 13 Dec 2006. In practice, however, power is held by the Prime Minister, who is the leader of elected government. The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party and its National Alliance (Barisan Nasional) coalition have ruled Malaysia uninterrupted since its independence, and while periodic elections are contested by feisty opposition parties, the balance has so far always been shifted in the government's favor by press control and use of restrictive security legislation dating from the colonial era.

Malaysia's development has been fast but uneven. Contributing to this is the Bumiputra or Malay-first policy, an affirmative action policy which stems out from the race riots in 1969, sparked by the Malays frustration over the ethnic Chinese minority economic clout. The policy favours the bumiputras in areas such as government jobs, housing, bank loans and contracts. This inequity has posed challenges in moving the multi racial country forward.