The demographics of Malaysia are represented by the multiple ethnic groups that exist in the country. Malaysia's population, according to the 2010 census, is 28,334,000 including non-citizens, which makes it the 42nd most populated country in the world. Of these, 5.72 million live in East Malaysia and 22.5 million live in Peninsular Malaysia. The population distribution is uneven, with some 79% of its citizens concentrated in Peninsular Malaysia, which has an area of 131,598 square kilometres (50,810.27 sq mi), constituting under 40% of the total area of Malaysia.
Politics of Malaysia takes place in the framework of a federal representative democratic constitutional monarchy, in which the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is head of state and the Prime Minister of Malaysia is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the federal government and the 13 state governments. Legislative power is vested in the federal parliament and the 13 state assemblies. 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.
Bumiputera or bumiputra is a term used in Malaysia to describe Malays, the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia, and various indigenous peoples of East Malaysia. The term is sometimes controversial. It is used similarly in the Malay world, Indonesia, and Brunei.
The United Malays National Organisation ; abbreviated UMNO or less commonly PEKEMBAR, is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest national political party within Malaysia, UMNO has been known as Malaysia's "Grand Old Party".
The New Economic Policy (NEP) was a social re-engineering and affirmative action program formulated by the National Operations Council (NOC) in the aftermath of 13 May Incident in Malaysia. This policy was adopted in 1971 for a period of 20 years and it was succeeded by the National Development Policy (NDP) in 1991. This article looks into the historical context that gave rise to the formulation of this policy, its objectives and implementation methods as well as its impact on the Malaysian economy in general.
The Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which came into force in 1957 as the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya and was amended in 1963 to form the Constitution of Malaysia, is the supreme law of Malaysia and contains a total of 183 articles. It is a written legal document influenced by two previous documents, the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1948 and the Independence Constitution of 1957. The Federation was initially called the Federation of Malaya and it adopted its present name, Malaysia, when the states of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore became part of the Federation. The Constitution establishes the Federation as a constitutional monarchy, having the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the Head of State with largely ceremonial roles. It provides for the establishment and organisation of three main branches of the government: the bicameral legislative branch called the Parliament, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate ; the executive branch led by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet Ministers and the judicial branch headed by the Federal Court.
Islam in Malaysia is represented by the Shafi‘i school of Sunni jurisprudence. Islam was introduced to Malaysia by traders arriving from Persia, Arabia, China and the Indian subcontinent. It became firmly established in the 15th century. In the Constitution of Malaysia, Islam is granted the status of "religion of the Federation" to symbolize its importance to Malaysian society, while defining Malaysia constitutionally as a secular state. Therefore, other religions can be practiced legally, though freedom of religion is still limited in Malaysia.
Independence Day, also known as National Day, is the independence day of the Federation of Malaya from the British Empire. It commemorates the Malayan Declaration of Independence of 31 August 1957, and is defined in article 160 of the Constitution of Malaysia. The day is marked by official and unofficial ceremonies and observances across the country.
The Culture of Malaysia draws on the varied cultures of the different people of Malaysia. The first people to live in the area were indigenous tribes that still remain; they were followed by the Malays, who moved there from mainland Asia in ancient times. Chinese and Indian cultural influences made their mark when trade began with those countries, and increased with immigration to Malaysia. Other cultures that heavily influenced that of Malaysia include Persian, Arabic and British. The many different ethnicities that currently exist in Malaysia have their own unique and distinctive cultural identities, with some crossover.
The phrase "Malaysian Malaysia" was originally used in the mid-1960s as the rallying motto of the Malaysian Solidarity Convention, a coalition of political parties led by Lee Kuan Yew of the People's Action Party (PAP) that served as an Opposition bloc to the Government of Malaysia, the Alliance Party.
Article 153 of the Constitution of Malaysia grants the Yang di-Pertuan Agong responsibility for "safeguard[ing] the special position of the 'Malays'(see note) and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities" and goes on to specify ways to do this, such as establishing quotas for entry into the civil service, public scholarships and public education.
Ketuanan Melayu is a political concept that emphasises Malay preeminence in present-day Malaysia. The Malays of Malaysia have claimed a special position and special rights owing to their longer history in the area and the fact that the present Malaysian state itself evolved from a Malay polity. The oldest political institution in Malaysia is the system of Malay rulers of the nine Malay states. The British colonial authorities transformed the system and turned it first into a system of indirect rule, then in 1948, using this culturally based institution, they incorporated the Malay monarchy into the blueprints for the independent Federation of Malaya.
The social contract in Malaysia is a political construct first mooted in the 1980s, allegedly to justify the continuation of the discriminatory preferential policies for the majority Bumiputera at the expense of the non-Bumiputeras, most particularly the Chinese and the Indian citizens of the country. Generally describing the envisaged 20-year initial duration of the Malaysian New Economic Policy, proponents of the construct allege that it reflects an "understanding" arrived at – prior to Malaya's independence in 1957 – by the country's "founding fathers", which is an ill-defined term generally taken to encompass Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first Prime Minister, as well as V. T. Sambanthan and Tan Cheng Lock, who were the key leaders of political parties representing the Malay, Indian and Chinese populations respectively in pre-independence Malaya.
"Pendatang asing", "orang pendatang" or "pendatang" is a common Malay phrase used to refer to foreigners or immigrants; "pendatang asing" literally means "foreign comer" or "foreign immigrant". Although most frequently used to refer to foreign immigrants, especially illegal immigrants, pendatang asing has been used by some politicians in Malaysia as pejorative way of addressing non-Bumiputera Malaysians.
The self-governance of Singapore was carried out in several stages. Since the founding of Singapore in 1819, Singapore had been under the colonial rule of the British. The first local elections on a limited scale for several positions in the government of Singapore started in 1948 following an amendment to the Constitution of Singapore.
The Conference of Rulers in Malaysia is a council comprising the nine rulers of the Malay states, and the governors of the other four states. It was officially established by Article 38 of the Constitution of Malaysia, and is the only such institution in the world, according to the Malaysian National Library.
The Sedition Act 1948 in Malaysia is a law prohibiting discourse deemed as seditious. The act was originally enacted by the colonial authorities of British Malaya in 1948 to contain the local communist insurgence. The act criminalises speech with "seditious tendency", including that which would "bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against" the government or engender "feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races". The meaning of "seditious tendency" is defined in section 3 of the Sedition Act 1948 and in substance it is similar to the English common law definition of sedition, with modifications to suit local circumstances. The Malaysian definition includes the questioning of certain portions of the Constitution of Malaysia, namely those pertaining to the Malaysian social contract, such as Article 153, which deals with special rights for the bumiputra.
The 20-point agreement, or the 20-point memorandum, is a list of 20 points drawn up by North Borneo, proposing terms for its incorporation into the new federation as the State of Sabah, during negotiations prior to the formation of Malaysia. In the Malaysia Bill of the Malaysia Agreement some of the twenty points were incorporated, to varying degrees, into what became the Constitution of Malaysia; others were merely accepted orally, thus not gaining legal status. The 20-point agreement often serves as a focal point amongst those who argue that Sabah's rights within the Federation have been eroded over time.
Islam is the state religion of Malaysia, as per Article 3 of the Constitution. Meanwhile, other religions can be practised by non-Malay citizens of the country. In addition, per Article 160, one must be Muslim to be considered Malay. As of the 2020 Population and Housing Census, 63.5 percent of the population practices Islam; 18.7 percent Buddhism; 9.1 percent Christianity; 6.1 percent Hinduism; and 2.7 percent other religion or gave no information. The remainder is accounted for by other faiths, including Animism, Folk religion, Sikhism, Baháʼí Faith and other belief systems. The states of Sarawak and Penang and the federal territory of Kuala Lumpur have non-Muslim majorities. Numbers of self-described atheists in Malaysia are few as renouncing Islam is prohibited for Muslims in Malaysia. As such, the actual number of atheists or converts in the country is hard to ascertain out of fear from being ostracised or prosecution. The state has come under criticism from human rights organisations for the government's discrimination against atheists, with some cabinet members saying that "the freedom of religion is not the freedom from religion".
The 18-point agreement, or the 18-point memorandum, was a purported list of 18 points drawn up by Sarawak, proposing terms to form Malaysia, during negotiations prior to the creation of the new federation in 1963. Unlike the Sabah's 20-point memorandum whose authors are known and well documented, no such details have been produced for the so-called Sarawak 18-points memorandum.
