Malaysia

What type of government does Malaysia have?

Parliamentary monarchy

What are the three territories that Malaysia comprises?

Sabah, Sarawak, and Malaya

Which country has Malaysia recently overtaken as China's largest trading partner in the ASEAN?

Singapore (Msia is now China's 7th largest trading partner)

what is the Multimedia Super Corridor?

a special trade zone with a highly developed communications infrastructure for information technology and multimedia related companies

bumiputra

aboriginal peoples+Muslim Malays together

What are the different ethnicities in Malaysian society?

aboriginal peoples/Muslim Malays and Chinese

Who had served in office for more than 20 years and retired in October 2003?

authoritarian prime minister Mahathir ibn Mohamad (--> Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) - both denounced the Iraq War launched by US president George W Bush

what has Malaysia's economic growth been driven by almost exclusively in recent years and what was the result of that after the global economic downturn?

electronic exports --> hit hard because of slump in the high technology sector in the early 21st century

What happened during the last 15 years of the 20th century to Malaysia's economy?

expanded faster than any of its Asian competitors (8% growth per year) - problem of over-lending for grandiose prestige construction projects, such as the Petronas Towers and the transformation of palm-oil plantations near the capital into the "Multimedia Super Corridor"

What are Malaysia's most popular exports?

high-tech equipment, steel, latex and rubber *tourism is also an important source of revenue

Why have tourists recently been told to avoid the east coast of Sabah (N Borneo)?

it was the scene of kidnappings and terrorist attacks on foreign visitors

Religion of Malaysia

majority Muslim, a quarter Buddhist small comms of Christians, Hindus and practitioners of traditional Chinese faiths

Languages in Malaysia

many use English as their main language on Peninsular Malaysia, people speak Malay (Bahasa Malayu) Tamil, Chinese (Mandarin and Hakka), and numerous indigenous languages are also common

Abdullah was a more/less moderate leader than his predecessor?

more * resigned after National Front coalition suffered a significant loss in 2008 parliamentary elections

What has been a long-standing problem for Malaysia's economy?

tension between the native majority and wealthy ethnic Chinese minority - evident in declining Chinese investment in domestic business throughout the 1990s.

What are the troubles regarding attitudes of sultans in Malaysia?

their traditional immunity from the law (public = angered by their frequent, always-pardoned infractions --> subsided in 1990s when sultans agreed to abide by nation's legal code)

What type of climate does Malaysia have?

typical Southeast Asian tropical (hot and humid) climate *weather is strongly affected by the country's position on the equator

Population of Malaysia

26 million

The oldest sultan

Abdul Halim - 83 years old

where is the world's oldest rain forest?

Borneo (Malaysia's most popular tourist destination)

Msia's most frequent trading partners?

China, Singapore, Japan and the US

Which country controls most of Borneo?

Indonesia

What is unique about Malaysia's rotational system of government?

Monarchs have 5-year terms the heads of each of that nation's nine hereditary states occupy the throne for 5 years

Where is Kuala Lumpur?

On the main peninsula

What happened after the National Front took the majority again during 2013 elections?

Opposition coalition filed suit in the High Court and declared the election to be rigged

When is precipitation the heaviest?

(rainy year round) March-May and September-November = 2 rainy seasons

What is an example of conflict that has proven difficult to resolve in Malaysia?

- rivalry between Muslim Malays and economically powerful ethnic Chinese

What conflict did the two prime ministers of Malaysia say would destabilize the Muslim world and be viewed as a "black mark in history"?

Iraq War

Demographics of Malaysia?

Malays = 50% Chinese = more than 23% includes Indians and others