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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.
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.
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Publishing Ltd 2000. All rights reserved.
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