A Denial Syndrome
Posted on | March 10, 2009 | No Comments
” A DENIAL SYNDROME ” ( coverage of a press conference held by Allan & Indi to dispell rumours of a rift between them …. done in that season’s mood )
Anthony Bourdain - Malaysia
Posted on | March 10, 2009 | No Comments
Penang Food Paradise - Lonely Planet Travel Video
Posted on | March 10, 2009 | No Comments
Food Paradise - Lonely Planet Travel Video
George Town and Malacca reflect a diverse history
Posted on | November 26, 2008 | No Comments
George Town and Malacca reflect a diverse history
By Sally HammondKUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26 - Our guide, Ping Ping, loves her food. We know because she talks about it ceaselessly, and while we walk along the riverside in Malacca, she stays behind to snack on bird’s nest pudding.
When we return, she hustles us into an air-conditioned restaurant to sit on wooden chairs and taste this delicacy - harvested at great risk, we’re told - while Ping Ping has a second helping. It’s then, as the sweetly
gelatinous substance slips between our teeth, that we realise, queasily, what we are eating: it’s not the home of cave swifts at all (nests had seemed bad enough) but, worse, their dribble.
Malaysia is a bit like Ping Ping: food is paramount. But it’s also a little like bird’s nest soup, too: nothing is as it at first appears. There is always more to discover.
This year Unesco added two Malaysian cities to its World Heritage List as Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca, joining just 24 others already on the list.
George Town, the capital of the island state of Penang, established in 1786 and named for Britain’s King George III, was Britain’s first colony on the Malay peninsula. It’s hundreds of kilometres north of Malacca and at first glance there seem few similarities, although both are located on the Straits of Malacca, which separate peninsular Malaysia from the island of Sumatra. However, the World Heritage Committee found that the two cities have much in common, each meeting three major Unesco cultural criteria.
During the past 500 years each city has evolved into a multicultural cameo of its own history. Rather than interacting with each other - or even their own country - influences drawn from their trading partners in Asia
and Europe and from successive colonisers have seeped into every aspect of their culture.
Architecture, language, traditions and cuisine have all been indelibly affected. Their personalities, as Unesco puts it, have been “forged from the mercantile and cultural exchanges of Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures and three successive European colonial powers for almost 500 years”.
The two cities reflect different eras. Malacca, Malaysia’s oldest city, still bears its origins as a 15th-century Malay sultanate and the early 16th-century Portuguese and Dutch periods. George Town echoes the late
18th-century British era. They are distinctive in Malaysia in that they each have complete surviving historic centres.
Despite that, Malacca, less than a two-hour drive south from Kuala Lumpur, is bursting with 21st-century vibrancy. For all the time we spend driving around (and around and around) the city, it’s a wonder we don’t know it better. With a population exceeding 200,000, Malacca sprawls, having grown enormously since my last visit 20 years ago, with multistorey developments sprouting on expanses of reclaimed land and former mangrove swamps.
Trishaws clog the main square outside the rose red Christ Church, built by the Dutch in 1753. They are heaving with decoration, in a blatant effort to attract attention and snare a fare. Flowers, a chieftain’s face
complete with feather headdress, flashing lights and baubles - anything that might tip the scales in favour of one trishaw over the next, even more titivated machine - nothing is too much.
Between jobs the drivers stroll around, chatting with each other, touting for fares from tourists. Suddenly, there’s a loud bang. It’s a balloon bursting - one of a cluster floating over a trishaw as an additional
entrepreneurial effort.
To one side of the square stands the Dutch-built 17th-century Stadthuys, or town hall, and higher still is the crumbling ruins of A Famosa, built even earlier by the Portuguese, and which boasts an interesting connection with Penang.
On acquiring Malacca from the Dutch in 1795, the British decided to dismantle the fort to avoid future sieges and transfer the locals to the newer colony of Penang. Much backbreaking work was carried out as an
attempt was made to destroy the massive stone walls, some of them 3 metres thick. Just as they were about to light the gunpowder to blow the place up, a 27-year-old British civil servant on sick leave arrived and
persuaded the officers to allow the Santo Domingo Gate to remain. Malacca’s evacuation was suspended.
The civil servant’s name was Thomas Stamford Raffles, later to found Singapore and play a role in Penang’s development as well.
You could call Raffles an overachiever, or maybe he knew his time was short. Knighted at 36, he founded Singapore at 38 and died a day short of his 45th birthday. He was just 24 in 1805, when the East India Company decided to install a regular presidency in the embryonic colony of Penang. Appointed assistant secretary, he began to study Malay on the journey from England and had mastered its grammar before his arrival.
Another thing common to both George Town and Malacca is the nyonya, a term used for the descendants of the early Chinese immigrants to the British Straits Settlements of Malaya. Today that culture is most apparent in its food.
Ping Ping takes us to the airy and opulent Restoran Peranakan, where we feast on ayam rendang (chicken curry) and prawns in pineapple juice. In George Town it’s the bright and noisy Nyonya Breeze where we chow down on sweeter and spicier food laced with tamarind and nutmeg, raisins and unidentifiable local herbs.
Penang is bursting with development, too, and has its detractors because of it. Some say it’s the Silicon Valley of Malaysia, that it is virtually supporting the rest of the country. Others decry the surge of buildings.
Although the central old town is now Unesco-protected, the rest of the city of 220,000 and much of the eastern side of the island is punching upwards with forests of high-rise apartments and shopping centres.
Yet the look reflects prosperity rather than developers’ greed. The tall buildings are not crowded, and from many apartments you feel there would be glistening glimpses of the strait that separates the island from the
mainland. In fact, George Town’s heritage status has recently come under threat as Unesco investigates breaches of height restrictions by four towering hotels. The breaches show the constant pressure from developers on the city’s historic quarters.
However, in the heart of George Town, it is as if nothing has changed for a hundred years or more. The streets are still jammed with pedestrians, bikes, trishaws and lorries left over from the days of British rule.
A helpful food trail map directs us through the shopping streets, lined with colonial-era shop houses with names as colourful as their wares - Kedai Hang On, Dilly Deli, Mee Fatt Too. It was on those streets in the
19th century that the Chinese set up their stalls and markets, and even today most of George Town’s population is Chinese.
The tea shops are still there. There’s a cake shop known for its pepper biscuits and another for chicken rice. Further along, one dispenses barbecued pork sandwiches, and we pass a stall where a woman on a scooter waits, the motor revving, for her takeaway serving of “barbecue internal organs”.
That night we visit the massive New World undercover hawker area for dinner. The food is good, laughably inexpensive, and clean, but we are craving the colour and action, the smoke and fumes, the feel of the
outdoor stalls of previous trips. We find it at Lorong Baru’s brightly lit hawker stalls and joyously jostle our way through queues for Penang laksa and bee hoon, tangling with others waiting for traditional cendol desert and wonton mee soup.
I ask Ping Ping, who grew up in the city, what’s so good about it.
“People in Penang are more relaxed,” she says instantly. “It’s easier to get places, everything is so close and it’s easier to shop.” She goes on to extol the good transport, the beaches, the places to go at the weekend.
Yet she returns with us to her adopted home of Kuala Lumpur. Back in the capital, I ask her what she misses most about George Town.
“Come on! I miss the food,” she answers. - South China Morning Post
MALAYSIA World Lion Dance Champion
Posted on | October 12, 2008 | No Comments
Welcome to My Malaysia
Posted on | October 11, 2008 | No Comments
Welcome to My Malaysia. Talk of everything and anything Malaysian here. Enjoy!
Facts about Malaysia
|
Background:
|
  During the late 18th and 19th centuries, Great Britain established colonies and protectorates in the area of current Malaysia; these were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. In 1948, the British-ruled territories on the Malay Peninsula formed the Federation of Malaya, which became independent in 1957. Malaysia was formed in 1963 when the former British colonies of Singapore and the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on the northern coast of Borneo joined the Federation. The first several years of the country’s history were marred by a Communist insurgency, Indonesian confrontation with Malaysia, Philippine claims to Sabah, and Singapore’s secession from the Federation in 1965. During the 22-year term of Prime Minister MAHATHIR bin Mohamad (1981-2003), Malaysia was successful in diversifying its economy from dependence on exports of raw materials to expansion in manufacturing, services, and tourism. |
| Geography | Malaysia | Top of Page |
|
Location:
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Southeastern Asia, peninsula bordering Thailand and northern one-third of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia, Brunei, and the South China Sea, south of Vietnam |
|
Geographic coordinates:
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2 30 N, 112 30 E |
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Map references:
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Southeast Asia |
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Area:
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 total: 329,750 sq km land: 328,550 sq km water: 1,200 sq km |
|
Area - comparative:
|
slightly larger than New Mexico |
|
Land boundaries:
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total: 2,669 km border countries: Brunei 381 km, Indonesia 1,782 km, Thailand 506 km |
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Coastline:
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4,675 km (Peninsular Malaysia 2,068 km, East Malaysia 2,607 km) |
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Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation; specified boundary in the South China Sea |
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Climate:
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tropical; annual southwest (April to October) and northeast (October to February) monsoons |
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Terrain:
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coastal plains rising to hills and mountains |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Gunung Kinabalu 4,100 m |
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Natural resources:
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tin, petroleum, timber, copper, iron ore, natural gas, bauxite |
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Land use:
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arable land: 5.46% permanent crops: 17.54% other: 77% (2005) |
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Irrigated land:
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3,650 sq km (2003) |
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Total renewable water resources:
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580 cu km (1999) |
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Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
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total: 9.02 cu km/yr (17%/21%/62%) per capita: 356 cu m/yr (2000) |
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Natural hazards:
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flooding, landslides, forest fires |
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Environment - current issues:
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air pollution from industrial and vehicular emissions; water pollution from raw sewage; deforestation; smoke/haze from Indonesian forest fires |
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands |
|
Geography - note:
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strategic location along Strait of Malacca and southern South China Sea |
| People | Malaysia | Top of Page |
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Population:
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25,274,132 (July 2008 est.) |
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Age structure:
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0-14 years: 31.8% (male 4,135,013/female 3,898,761) 15-64 years: 63.3% (male 8,026,755/female 7,965,332) 65 years and over: 4.9% (male 548,970/female 699,302) (2008 est.) |
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Median age:
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total: 24.6 years male: 24 years female: 25.3 years (2008 est.) |
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Population growth rate:
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1.742% (2008 est.) |
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Birth rate:
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22.44 births/1,000 population (2008 est.) |
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Death rate:
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5.02 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.) |
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Net migration rate:
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NA note: does not reflect net flow of an unknown number of illegal immigrants from other countries in the region (2008 est.) |
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Sex ratio:
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at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2008 est.) |
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Infant mortality rate:
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total: 16.39 deaths/1,000 live births male: 18.92 deaths/1,000 live births female: 13.68 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.) |
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total population: 73.03 years male: 70.32 years female: 75.94 years (2008 est.) |
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Total fertility rate:
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2.98 children born/woman (2008 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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0.4% (2003 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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52,000 (2003 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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2,000 (2003 est.) |
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Major infectious diseases:
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degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2008) |
|
Nationality:
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noun: Malaysian(s) adjective: Malaysian |
|
Ethnic groups:
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Malay 50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, indigenous 11%, Indian 7.1%, others 7.8% (2004 est.) |
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Religions:
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Muslim 60.4%, Buddhist 19.2%, Christian 9.1%, Hindu 6.3%, Confucianism, Taoism, other traditional Chinese religions 2.6%, other or unknown 1.5%, none 0.8% (2000 census) |
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Languages:
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Bahasa Malaysia (official), English, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai note: in East Malaysia there are several indigenous languages; most widely spoken are Iban and Kadazan |
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Literacy:
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definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 88.7% male: 92% female: 85.4% (2000 census) |
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School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
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total: 13 years male: 12 years female: 13 years (2005) |
|
Education expenditures:
|
6.2% of GDP (2004) |
| Government | Malaysia | Top of Page |
|
Country name:
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conventional long form: none conventional short form: Malaysia local long form: none local short form: Malaysia former: Federation of Malaya |
|
Government type:
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constitutional monarchy note: nominally headed by paramount ruler and a bicameral Parliament consisting of a nonelected upper house and an elected lower house; all Peninsular Malaysian states have hereditary rulers except Melaka and Pulau Pinang (Penang); those two states along with Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia have governors appointed by government; powers of state governments are limited by federal constitution; under terms of federation, Sabah and Sarawak retain certain constitutional prerogatives (e.g., right to maintain their own immigration controls); Sabah holds 25 seats in House of Representatives; Sarawak has 31 seats |
|
Capital:
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name: Kuala Lumpur geographic coordinates: 3 10 N, 101 42 E time difference: UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: Putrajaya is referred to as administrative center not capital; Parliament meets in Kuala Lumpur |
|
Administrative divisions:
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13 states (negeri-negeri, singular - negeri) Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Pulau Pinang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, and Terengganu; and one federal territory (wilayah persekutuan) with three components, city of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya |
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Independence:
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31 August 1957 (from UK) |
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National holiday:
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Independence Day/Malaysia Day, 31 August (1957) |
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Constitution:
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31 August 1957 (amended many times, latest in 2007) |
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Legal system:
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based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court at request of supreme head of the federation; Islamic law is applied to Muslims in matters of family law and religion; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
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Suffrage:
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21 years of age; universal |
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Executive branch:
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chief of state: Paramount Ruler Sultan MIZAN Zainal Abidin (since 13 December 2006) head of government: Prime Minister ABDULLAH bin Ahmad Badawi (since 31 October 2003); Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed NAJIB bin Abdul Razak (since 7 January 2004) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister from among the members of Parliament with consent of the paramount ruler elections: paramount ruler elected by and from the hereditary rulers of nine of the states for five-year terms; election last held on 3 November 2006 (next to be held in 2011); prime minister designated from among the members of the House of Representatives; following legislative elections, the leader of the party that wins a plurality of seats in the House of Representatives becomes prime minister election results: Sultan MIZAN Zainal Abidin elected paramount ruler note: position of paramount ruler is primarily ceremonial; in practice, selection is based on principle of rotation among rulers of states |
|
Legislative branch:
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bicameral Parliament or Parlimen consists of Senate or Dewan Negara (70 seats; 44 appointed by paramount ruler, 26 elected by 13 state legislatures; to serve three-year terms with limit of two terms) and House of Representatives or Dewan Rakyat (222 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: House of Representatives - last held on 8 March 2008 (next to be held by March 2013) election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote - BN coalition 50.3%, opposition parties 46.8%, others 2.9%; seats - BN coalition 140, opposition parties 82 |
|
Judicial branch:
|
Civil Courts include Federal Court, Court of Appeal, High Court of Malaya on peninsula Malaysia, and High Court of Sabah and Sarawak in states of Borneo (judges appointed by the paramount ruler on the advice of the prime minister); Sharia Courts include Sharia Appeal Court, Sharia High Court, and Sharia Subordinate Courts at state-level and deal with religious and family matters such as custody, divorce, and inheritance, only for Muslims; decisions of Sharia courts cannot be appealed to civil courts |
|
Political parties and leaders:
|
National Front (Barisan Nasional) or BN (ruling coalition) consists of the following parties: Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia Party or PGRM [KOH Tsu Koon - acting]; Liberal Democratic Party (Parti Liberal Demokratik - Sabah) or LDP [LIEW Vui Keong]; Malaysian Chinese Association (Persatuan China Malaysia) or MCA [ONG Ka Ting]; Malaysian Indian Congress (Kongres India Malaysia) or MIC [S. Samy VELLU]; Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah or PBRS [Joseph KURUP]; Parti Bersatu Sabah or PBS [Joseph PAIRIN Kitingan]; Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu or PBB [Abdul TAIB Mahmud]; Parti Rakyat Sarawak or PRS [James MASING]; Sabah Progressive Party (Parti Progresif Sabah) or SAPP [YONG Teck Lee]; Sarawak United People’s Party (Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sarawak) or SUPP [George CHAN Hong Nam]; United Malays National Organization or UMNO [ABDULLAH bin Ahmad Badawi]; United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organization (Pertubuhan Pasko Momogun Kadazan Dusun Bersatu) or UPKO [Bernard DOMPOK]; People’s Progressive Party (Parti Progresif Penduduk Malaysia) or PPP [M.Kayveas]; Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party or SPDP [William MAWAN]) People’s Alliance (Pakatan Rakyat) or PR (opposition coalition) consists of the following parties:: Democratic Action Party (Parti Tindakan Demokratik) or DAP [KARPAL Singh]; Islamic Party of Malaysia (Parti Islam se Malaysia) or PAS [Abdul HADI Awang]; People’s Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat) or PKR [WAN AZIZAH Wan Ismael]; Sarawak National Party or SNAP [Edwin DUNDANG] |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders:
|
Bersih (electoral reform); Sharia High Court other: religious groups; women’s groups; youth groups |
|
International organization participation:
|
ADB, APEC, APT, ARF, ASEAN, BIS, C, CP, EAS, FAO, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OPCW, PCA, PIF (partner), UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMIT, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
|
Diplomatic representation in the US:
|
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d’Affaires Ilango KARUPPANNAN chancery: 3516 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 572-9700 FAX: [1] (202) 572-9882 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles, New York |
|
Diplomatic representation from the US:
|
chief of mission: Ambassador James R. KEITH embassy: 376 Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur 50400 mailing address: US Embassy Kuala Lumpur, APO AP 96535-8152 telephone: [60] (3) 2168-5000 FAX: [60] (3) 2142-2207 |
|
Flag description:
|
14 equal horizontal stripes of red (top) alternating with white (bottom); there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a yellow crescent and a yellow 14-pointed star; the crescent and the star are traditional symbols of Islam; the design was based on the flag of the US |
| Economy | Malaysia | Top of Page |
|
Economy - overview:
|
Malaysia, a middle-income country, has transformed itself since the 1970s from a producer of raw materials into an emerging multi-sector economy. Since coming to office in 2003, Prime Minister ABDULLAH has tried to move the economy farther up the value-added production chain by attracting investments in high technology industries, medical technology, and pharmaceuticals. The Government of Malaysia is continuing efforts to boost domestic demand to wean the economy off of its dependence on exports. Nevertheless, exports - particularly of electronics - remain a significant driver of the economy. As an oil and gas exporter, Malaysia has profited from higher world energy prices, although the rising cost of domestic gasoline and diesel fuel forced Kuala Lumpur to reduce government subsidies. Malaysia “unpegged” the ringgit from the US dollar in 2005 and the currency appreciated 6% per year against the dollar in 2006-07. Although this has helped to hold down the price of imports, inflationary pressures began to build in 2007. Healthy foreign exchange reserves and a small external debt greatly reduce the risk that Malaysia will experience a financial crisis over the near term similar to the one in 1997. The government presented its five-year national development agenda in April 2006 through the Ninth Malaysia Plan, a comprehensive blueprint for the allocation of the national budget from 2006-10. With national elections expected within the year, ABDULLAH has unveiled a series of ambitious development schemes for several regions that have had trouble attracting business investment. Real GDP growth has averaged about 6% per year under ABDULLAH, but regions outside of Kuala Lumpur and the manufacturing hub Penang have not fared as well. |
|
GDP (purchasing power parity):
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$361.2 billion (2007 est.) |
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GDP (official exchange rate):
|
$186.5 billion (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - real growth rate:
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6.3% (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita (PPP):
|
$14,500 (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 9.9% industry: 45.3% services: 44.8% (2007 est.) |
|
Labor force:
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10.94 million (2007 est.) |
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Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture: 13% industry: 36% services: 51% (2005 est.) |
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Unemployment rate:
|
3.2% (2007 est.) |
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Population below poverty line:
|
5.1% (2002 est.) |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: 1.4% highest 10%: 39.2% (2003 est.) |
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
|
46.1 (2002) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
|
2% note: approximately 30% of goods are price-controlled (2007 est.) |
|
Investment (gross fixed):
|
21.7% of GDP (2007 est.) |
|
Budget:
|
revenues: $40.69 billion expenditures: $46.7 billion (2007 est.) |
|
Public debt:
|
41.6% of GDP (2007 est.) |
|
Agriculture - products:
|
Peninsular Malaysia - rubber, palm oil, cocoa, rice; Sabah - subsistence crops, rubber, timber, coconuts, rice; Sarawak - rubber, pepper, timber |
|
Industries:
|
Peninsular Malaysia - rubber and oil palm processing and manufacturing, light manufacturing, electronics, tin mining and smelting, logging, timber processing; Sabah - logging, petroleum production; Sarawak - agriculture processing, petroleum production and refining, logging |
|
Industrial production growth rate:
|
3.3% (2007 est.) |
|
Electricity - production:
|
82.36 billion kWh (2005) |
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Electricity - consumption:
|
78.72 billion kWh (2005) |
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Electricity - exports:
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0 kWh (2005) |
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Electricity - imports:
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0 kWh (2005) |
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Oil - production:
|
757,500 bbl/day (2007 est.) |
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Oil - consumption:
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501,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
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Oil - exports:
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611,200 bbl/day (2004) |
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Oil - imports:
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278,600 bbl/day (2004) |
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Oil - proved reserves:
|
3 billion bbl (1 January 2007 est.) |
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Natural gas - production:
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60.9 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
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Natural gas - consumption:
|
31.84 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
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Natural gas - exports:
|
29.06 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
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Natural gas - imports:
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0 cu m (2005) |
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Natural gas - proved reserves:
|
2.037 trillion cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
|
Current account balance:
|
$28.93 billion (2007 est.) |
|
Exports:
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$176.4 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.) |
|
Exports - commodities:
|
electronic equipment, petroleum and liquefied natural gas, wood and wood products, palm oil, rubber, textiles, chemicals |
|
Exports - partners:
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US 15.6%, Singapore 14.6%, Japan 9.1%, China 8.8%, Thailand 5%, Hong Kong 4.6% (2007) |
|
Imports:
|
$139.1 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.) |
|
Imports - commodities:
|
electronics, machinery, petroleum products, plastics, vehicles, iron and steel products, chemicals |
|
Imports - partners:
|
Japan 13%, China 12.9%, Singapore 11.5%, US 10.8%, Taiwan 5.7%, Thailand 5.3%, South Korea 4.9%, Germany 4.6%, Indonesia 4.2% (2007) |
|
Economic aid - recipient:
|
$31.6 million (2005) |
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
|
$101.1 billion (31 December 2007 est.) |
|
Debt - external:
|
$53.09 billion (31 December 2007) |
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
|
$86.16 billion (2007 est.) |
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Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
|
$42.55 billion (2007 est.) |
|
Market value of publicly traded shares:
|
$235.4 billion (2006) |
|
Currency (code):
|
ringgit (MYR) |
|
Exchange rates:
|
ringgits per US dollar - 3.46 (2007), 3.6683 (2006), 3.8 (2005), 3.8 (2004), 3.8 (2003) |
|
Fiscal year:
|
calendar year |
| Communications | Malaysia | Top of Page |
|
Telephones - main lines in use:
|
4.35 million (2007) |
|
Telephones - mobile cellular:
|
23.347 million (2007) |
|
Telephone system:
|
general assessment: modern system; international service excellent domestic: good intercity service provided on Peninsular Malaysia mainly by microwave radio relay; adequate intercity microwave radio relay network between Sabah and Sarawak via Brunei; domestic satellite system with 2 earth stations; combined fixed-line and mobile cellular teledensity exceeds 110 per 100 persons international: country code - 60; landing point for several major international submarine cable networks that provide connectivity to Asia, Middle East, and Europe; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean, 1 Pacific Ocean) (2007) |
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Radio broadcast stations:
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AM 35, FM 391, shortwave 15 (2001) |
|
Television broadcast stations:
|
88 (mainland Malaysia 51, Sabah 16, and Sarawak 21) (2006) |
|
Internet country code:
|
.my |
|
Internet hosts:
|
337,674 (2007) |
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Internet users:
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15.868 million (2007) |
| Transportation | Malaysia | Top of Page |
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Airports:
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116 (2007) |
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Airports - with paved runways:
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total: 36 over 3,047 m: 5 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 8 under 914 m: 6 (2007) |
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Airports - with unpaved runways:
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total: 80 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 72 (2007) |
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Heliports:
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2 (2007) |
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Pipelines:
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condensate 282 km; gas 5,273 km; oil 1,750 km; oil/gas/water 19 km; refined products 114 km (2007) |
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Railways:
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total: 1,890 km standard gauge: 57 km 1.435-m gauge (57 km electrified) narrow gauge: 1,833 km 1.000-m gauge (150 km electrified) (2006) |
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Roadways:
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total: 98,721 km paved: 80,280 km (includes 1,821 km of expressways) unpaved: 18,441 km (2004) |
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Waterways:
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7,200 km note: Peninsular Malaysia 3,200 km; Sabah 1,500 km; Sarawak 2,500 km (2005) |
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Merchant marine:
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total: 307 ships (1000 GRT or over) 6,632,648 GRT/8,998,983 DWT by type: bulk carrier 12, cargo 99, carrier 1, chemical tanker 34, container 45, liquefied gas 33, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 71, roll on/roll off 3, vehicle carrier 4 foreign-owned: 42 (Germany 2, Hong Kong 14, Japan 4, Russia 2, Singapore 17, Sweden 3) registered in other countries: 65 (Bahamas 12, Kiribati 1, Marshall Islands 3, Panama 12, Philippines 1, Singapore 26, Thailand 3, Tuvalu 1, US 3, unknown 3) (2008) |
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Ports and terminals:
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Bintulu, Johor Bahru, Kuantan, Labuan, George Town (Penang), Port Kelang, Tanjung Pelepas |
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Transportation - note:
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the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial and offshore waters in the Strait of Malacca and South China Sea as high risk for piracy and armed robbery against ships; numerous commercial vessels have been attacked and hijacked both at anchor and while underway; hijacked vessels are often disguised and cargo diverted to ports in East Asia; crews have been murdered or cast adrift |
| Military | Malaysia | Top of Page |
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Military branches:
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Malaysian Armed Forces (Angkatan Tentera Malaysia, ATM): Malaysian Army (Tentera Darat Malaysia), Royal Malaysian Navy (Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia, TLDM), Royal Malaysian Air Force (Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia, TUDM) (2008) |
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Military service age and obligation:
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18 years of age for voluntary military service (2005) |
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Manpower available for military service:
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males age 16-49: 6,440,338 females age 16-49: 6,280,826 (2008 est.) |
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Manpower fit for military service:
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males age 16-49: 5,374,006 females age 16-49: 5,316,865 (2008 est.) |
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Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
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male: 260,725 female: 247,309 (2008 est.) |
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Military expenditures:
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2.03% of GDP (2005 est.) |
| Transnational Issues | Malaysia | Top of Page |
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Disputes - international:
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Malaysia has asserted sovereignty over the Spratly Islands together with China, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; while the 2002 “Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea” has eased tensions over the Spratly Islands, it is not the legally binding “code of conduct” sought by some parties; Malaysia was not party to the March 2005 joint accord among the national oil companies of China, the Philippines, and Vietnam on conducting marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands; disputes continue over deliveries of fresh water to Singapore, Singapore’s land reclamation, bridge construction, and maritime boundaries in the Johor and Singapore Straits; in November 2007, the ICJ will hold public hearings in response to the Memorials and Countermemorials filed by the parties in 2003 and 2005 over sovereignty of Pedra Branca Island/Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge; ICJ awarded Ligitan and Sipadan islands, also claimed by Indonesia and Philippines, to Malaysia but left maritime boundary and sovereignty of Unarang rock in the hydrocarbon-rich Celebes Sea in dispute; separatist violence in Thailand’s predominantly Muslim southern provinces prompts measures to close and monitor border with Malaysia to stem terrorist activities; Philippines retains a dormant claim to Malaysia’s Sabah State in northern Borneo; Brunei and Malaysia agreed in September 2008 to resolve their offshore and deepwater seabed dispute, resume hydrocarbon exploration and renounce any territorial claims on land; piracy remains a problem in the Malacca Strait |
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Refugees and internally displaced persons:
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refugees (country of origin): 15,174 (Indonesia); 21,544 (Burma) (2007) |
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Trafficking in persons:
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current situation: Malaysia is a destination and, to a lesser extent, a source and transit country for women and children trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation, and men, women, and children for forced labor; Malaysia is mainly a destination country for men, women, and children who migrate willingly from South and Southeast Asia to work, some of whom are subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude by Malaysian employers in the domestic, agricultural, construction, plantation, and industrial sectors; to a lesser extent, some Malaysian women, primarily of Chinese ethnicity, are trafficked abroad for commercial sexual exploitation tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Malaysia improved from Tier 3 to the Tier 2 Watch List for 2008 when it enacted comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation in July 2007; however, it did not take action against exploitative employers or labor traffickers in 2007; the government has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2008) |
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Illicit drugs:
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drug trafficking prosecuted vigorously and carries severe penalties; heroin still primary drug of abuse, but synthetic drug demand remains strong; continued ecstasy and methamphetamine producer for domestic users and, to a lesser extent, the regional drug market |
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