Country in
Southeast Asia, comprising the Malay Peninsula, bounded north by Thailand,
and surrounded east and south by the South China Sea and west by the Strait
of Malacca; and the states of Sabah and Sarawak in the northern part of the
island of Borneo (southern Borneo is part of Indonesia).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Government
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malaysia is a federation of 13 states: Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, and Trengganu, plus the capital city, Kuala Lumpur, and the island of Labuan, which are separate federal territories. Each state has its own constitution, head of state, and elected assembly, led by a chief minister and cabinet, and legislates on matters outside the federal parliament's sphere.
Malaysia is a federation of 13 states: Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, and Trengganu, plus the capital city, Kuala Lumpur, and the island of Labuan, which are separate federal territories. Each state has its own constitution, head of state, and elected assembly, led by a chief minister and cabinet, and legislates on matters outside the federal parliament's sphere.
Under the 1957
constitution, a monarch is elected for five-year terms by, and from among the
hereditary rulers of Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak,
Perlis, Selangor, and Trengganu. The paramount ruler's powers are similar to
those of the British monarch, including discretion in the appointment of a
prime minister and in granting a dissolution of parliament. Generally, the
monarch acts on the advice of the prime minister and cabinet, who wield
effective power.
The two-chamber federal
legislature or parliament is composed of a 70-member upper house or senate,
the Dewan Negara, comprising 40 members nominated by the head of state, four
from the two federal territories, and two members elected by each of the 13
state assemblies for six-year terms, and a house of representatives, the Dewan
Rakyat, whose 192 members are elected for five-year terms from single-member
constituencies by universal suffrage. The senate can only delay bills already
approved by the dominant house of representatives, whose majority party or
coalition provides the prime minister, who governs with a cabinet selected
from parliament.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
History
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the history of Malaya prior to the formation of Malaysia see Malayan history to 1963.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The formation of
Malaysia
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malaysia was formed in 1963 out of a number of former British colonies: the Federation of Malaya (comprising 11 states), which had achieved independence in 1957; Singapore, which had been self-governing since 1959; and two territories in northwestern Borneo, Sarawak and Sabah (then known as North Borneo), which by 1960 were well advanced on the road to independence.
The newly elected
government of Singapore was in favour of merging with Malaya, and in 1961
Tunku Abdul Rahman, prime minister of Malaya, took the initiative and
suggested that a plan should be devised whereby Singapore, North Borneo,
Brunei (another British territory in Borneo that had achieved autonomy), and
Sarawak would be brought closer together with Malaya in political and
economic cooperation.
The proposal was on the
whole well received. Trade benefits would accrue from the creation of a
larger economic unit, and resources could be pooled. There would also be
political advantages. For Malaya amalgamation with Singapore
with its largely Chinese population would be offset by the largely indigenous
populations of the states in Borneo. For Singapore it was a means of ending colonial
status, and for Sarawak, Brunei, and North Borneo
it would advance the date of independence. There was also the advantage that
the existing central government at Kuala
Lumpur was already federal in structure.
Britain was also favourable to the
proposal. In 1962 a joint Malayan and British commission under Lord Cobbold
concluded, after testing public opinion, that most people in Sarawak and
North Borneo were in favour of federation; and a referendum in Singapore
showed a considerable majority for the merger.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brunei opts out
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Brunei, however, political power passed in the elections of September 1962
to the People's Party, which maintained that before the move towards Malaysia was made there should be unification
of the three Borneo territories under the
Sultan of Brunei as constitutional ruler. A revolt within the party tried to
bring about this state by force, but it was speedily repressed.
Nevertheless Brunei
ultimately decided to remain outside the federation, possibly because with
its small population and large riches in the form of oil it was unwilling to
share its prosperity. Also, the Sultan of Brunei's status within the proposed
federation was called into question, and this matter carried considerable
political weight against joining.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The secession of Singapore
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malaysia was established in September 1963 with Tunku Abdul Rahman as prime minister, but both from within and without the new, enlarged federation immediately ran into serious difficulties.
Internally, Singapore, second to Malaya
in population and more than three-quarters Chinese in composition, threatened
to upset the communal balance on which Malayan politics and government had
hitherto depended. Singapore's
leaders became involved in the politics of the Malay
Peninsula, notably in the 1964 federal elections. In the
following year they organized the Malaysian Solidarity Convention, and
questioned the 'special position' of the Malay community by advocating a
'Malaysian Malaysia' policy. Consequently Tunku Abdul Rahman demanded that Singapore
leave the federation, which it did in August 1965.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
External threats
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Externally, the formation of Malaysia prompted President Sukarno of Indonesia to announce in 1964 a policy of 'Confrontation', which attempted (unsuccessfully) to bring down the new state by military means. In 1966, after the overthrow of Sukarno, the guerrilla war was ended by negotiation. From 1966 the 11 states on the Malay Peninsula were known as West Malaysia, and Sabah and Sarawak as East Malaysia. The Philippines disputed the sovereignty of East Malaysia in 1968 through their claim on Sabah.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Continuing tensions
within the federation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since the withdrawal of Singapore and the end of Confrontation, the history of Malaysia has been dominated by the attempt to build a nation-state. This faces two great problems. The most serious of these is the difficulty in uniting the country's three main ethnic communities, Malay, Chinese, and Indian, where the differences of culture and language are further exacerbated by those of socioeconomic status. Of the three communities the Malays have dominated the political life of the country, while the Chinese and Indians hold the preponderance of economic power.
Secondly,
the danger has
always existed that Sarawak and Sabah – separated as they from the
rest of Malaysia by 650 km/400 mi of the South China Sea – might secede
from the federation. In
1972 it was decided – primarily as an attempt to play down any
differences
and no doubt suggested by the obvious analogy with East and West
Pakistan
(the former just having seceded as Bangladesh) – that West Malaysia
should be
renamed Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia simply Sarawak and
Sabah.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Race riots and the state
of emergency
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tunku Abdul Rahman's multiracial style of government was successful until serious and widespread anti-Chinese riots broke out in May 1969. These riots followed a fall in support for the United Malays' National Organization (UMNO) in the federal election and were indicative of Malay resentment of the economic success of the Chinese business community.
A state of national
emergency was declared, and for the next 21 months the country was ruled by a
National Operations Council, which established joint civilian–military rule.
During this period the government amended the 1948 Sedition Act, effectively
limiting debate on communal issues. Towards the end of 1970, Tun Abdul Ruzak,
deputy prime minister and head of the National Operations Council, took over
as prime minister from Tunku Abdul Rahman.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The restoration of
democracy
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the restoration of parliamentary rule in February 1971 Abdul Ruzak, in an
effort to broaden consensus politics in Malaysia, expanded his Alliance
Coalition into a ten-party National Front, including previous opposition
parties in its ranks. This gained a resounding victory in the 1974 general
elections, winning 135 of the 154 parliamentary seats. In 1976 power passed
swiftly and smoothly to Datuk Hussein Onn, who became Malaysia's
third prime minister following the sudden death of Abdul Razak.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The pro-Malay policy
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The most significant result of the events of May 1969 was an attempt,
announced in the five-year plan (1971–75), to restructure Malaysian society.
The aim was to raise the percentage of ethnic-Malay-owned businesses from 4%
to 30% by 1990, and to extend the use of pro-Malay (bumiputra)
affirmative-action quota systems for university entrance and company
employment. Economic expansion, it was hoped, would greatly ease this
redistributive process and at the same time offer the opportunity to
eliminate poverty among all Malaysians.
The Malay advancement
programme created, however, considerable Chinese and Indian discontent. This
in turn contributed to the reemergence of a communist guerrilla movement on a
scale at least equivalent to that towards the end of the 1948–60 emergency
(see Malayan history to 1963).
Relations with the Chinese community further deteriorated later in the decade
as a result of the federal government's refusal to welcome Vietnamese
refugees. There was also a revival of fundamentalist Islam among Malays in
the west and north.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Foreign relations in the
1970s
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The foreign relations of Malaysia
underwent a significant shift in the 1970s. During the 1960s Malaysia
involved itself in regional alliances of a strongly pro-Western,
anti-communist character, such as the Association of South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN). However, after 1970 Malaysia
progressively modified its policy toward one of less strict alignment.
In 1974, after two years of
negotiations, Malaysia
established diplomatic relations with China,
although the problem of 220,000 stateless Chinese permanently resident in Malaysia
remained unsolved. In security terms, Malaysia,
along with other ASEAN members, became increasingly reliant on friendships
established with the USA
and China.
Close economic links were developed with Japan and joint ventures
encouraged. From the 1970s relations with other communist powers and Islamic
nations also improved.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Developments in the
1980s
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamed became the new leader of UMNO and prime minister in
1981 and pursued a more narrowly Islamic and Malay strategy than his
predecessors. He also launched an ambitious industrialization programme,
seeking to emulate Japan.
He was reelected in 1982 and 1986 but encountered opposition from his
Malaysian Chinese Association coalition partners. There was also
Christian–Muslim conflict in Sabah, and
slower economic growth as a result of the fall in world tin, rubber, and
palm-oil prices.
In 1987, in the wake of
worsening Malay–Chinese relations, Mahathir ordered the arrest of more than
100 prominent opposition activists, including the Democratic Action Party
(DAP)'s leader Lim Kit Siang, and a tightening of press censorship. These
moves precipitated a rift in UMNO, with former premier Rahman and former
trade and industry minister Razaleigh Hamzah leaving to form a new
multiracial party grouping, Semangat '46. In 1988 a reconstituted UMNO Baru
(New UMNO) was set up by Mahathir. The prime minister also announced some
relaxation of the 1971 economic policy that favoured ethnic Malays – Malay
equity ownership having reached only 18% by 1987 – as part of a more
consensual 'Malay unity' programme.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Developments in the
1990s
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the 1990 general election, Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamed's ruling
coalition captured 127 of the 180 national assembly seats. Semangat '46 lost
five of its 12 seats. However, Islamic (PAS) and Chinese (DAP) party allies
polled well locally. The pro-Malay economic policy expired in December 1990
and was replaced by a new programme, the 'new development policy', which was
less discriminatory against non-Malays and aimed to achieve an eightfold
increase (7% a year) in national income by the year 2020. GDP growth during
the 1980s averaged 8% a year.
Mahathir bin Mohamed was
reelected president of UMNO Baru in 1993. During 1994 he temporarily
suspended all new trading contracts with the UK after allegations in the
British press of an aid-for-arms deal between the two countries in 1988. In
the 1995 general election, UMNO Baru increased its majority, securing its
biggest victory since independence in 1957. In May 1996 the eight-year rift
within UMNO was healed when Razaleigh Hamzah led his Semangat '46 party back
into the UMNO fold.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Environmental problems
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In
the summer of 1997 smoke from vast forest fires on Sumatra and Borneo
severely affected Malaysia,
causing health risks, transport problems, and industrial difficulties.
In Sarawak a state of emergency was imposed in September.
The haze was believed to have contributed to the collision in late
September
of two cargo ships in the Strait of Malacca,
resulting in the deaths of 29 crewmen. The problem continued into
1998,
causing (as of February) $300 million of damage to tourism,
industries, and
health.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Economic crisis
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After a decade of spectacular growth, Malaysia entered a sharp
recession, with the economy shrinking by 5% in the first half of 1998. In
February 1998, to mitigate the impact of the regional economic crisis, it was
announced that the bumiputra racial laws that favoured Malay businesses would
be relaxed. In March, in response to the Asian financial crisis, it was
announced that 17,000 of Malaysia's
1 million foreign workers (chiefly illegal immigrants from Indonesia)
would be immediately repatriated and that a further 200,000 would also go
after August 1998.
In June 1998 Prime minister
Mahathir bin Mohamed brought back into the cabinet, as economic overlord, a
close ally, Daim Zainuddin. This reduced the influence of Anwar Ibrahim, the
deputy prime minister and finance minister, an economic conservative with leadership
ambitions. Currency controls were introduced.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anwar Ibrahim scandal
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In August 1998 Anwar Ibrahim was sacked amid charges about his personal life
and alleged corruption. He led anti-government protests in Kuala Lumpur and was arrested in September
1998. In November 1998 Zainur Zakaria, the lawyer defending Anwar Ibrahim,
was jailed for three months for contempt of court after claiming a high-level
conspiracy against his client, but was later reprieved pending an appeal. In
December, with her husband's trial continuing, Anwar Ibrahim's wife, Wan
Azizah Wan Ismail, formed a new opposition group, the Movement for Social
Justice. In early January 1999, Malaysia's chief of police, Abdul
Rahim Noor, resigned saying he took full responsibility for injuries received
by the former deputy prime minister. Ibrahim, who was in court facing sex and
corruption charges, then turned the tables on his accusers by issuing a writ
for compensation against the police who arrested him. Noor was later – in
April 1999 – indicted on a charge of assaulting Ibrahim. Nevertheless,
Ibrahim went on trial for a second time in June 1999, accused of sodomy. This
caused widespread opposition riots in September, and 13 opposition
politicians were arrested. In August 2000, Ibrahim was sentenced to nine
years imprisonment on 8, having been found guilty of sodomy, although he
continually insisted that he was the victim of a plot made by Mahathir bin
Mohamed. The sentence was given in addition to his six-year sentence for
corruption, which he received in April 1999. Human rights groups and many
foreign governments expressed outrage at the sentence.
Prime minister Mahathir
Mohamad, in November 1999 called a general election in a sudden announcement
which would pit Asia's longest-serving
leader against a growing movement for political reform. Although the newly
united Alternative Front opposition, which for the first time was led by a
Muslim, Fadzil Noor, doubled its number of seats and won control of two state
assemblies, Mahathir bin Mohamed's ruling National Front coalition kept
power. However, an election monitoring group suggested that there had been
interference with ballot papers.
In
January 2000, in what appeared to be a purge by Prime Minister Mahathir's
government, three leading opposition figures were charged with sedition or
provoking racial discord, crimes punishable by imprisonment. One of Ibrahim's
lawyers, Karpal Singh, was one of those arrested.
0 Comments: