Malaysia and Malaysian News

 

 Country Profile

Malaysia is a Federal Constitutional Monarchy in South East Asia consisting of 13 States and 3 Federal Territories separated by the South China Sea into 2 similarly sized Regions - Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo

 The country is among the world's biggest producers of computer disk drives, palm oil, rubber and timber.

Capital  Kuala Lumpur

Currency Ringgit 

Population 29 Million (2010 Estimate) 

Ethnic Groups 50% Malay;24% Chinese;11% Indigenous;7% Indian and 8% Others 

Official Language Malaysian

Religion 62% Islam; 20%Buddhism;10%Christianity;6%Hinduism and 2% Others

 

History

The Malayan Union, established in 1946 and consisting of all the British possessions in the Malay Peninsula with the exception of Singapore, was quickly dissolved and replaced by the Federation of Malaya, which restored the autonomy of the rulers of the Malay states under British protection.

Chinese rebels under the leadership of the Malayan Communist Party(MCP) launched guerrilla operations designed to force the British out of Malaya.

The Malayan Emergency(a Guerrilla War fought between Commonwealth(formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an Intergovernmental Organisation of 54 Independent Member States)Armed Forces and the Malayan National Liberation Army(MNLA), the military arm of the MCP) lasted from 1948 to 1960, and involved a long anti-insurgency campaign by Commonwealth Troops in Malaya.

A plan was put in place to Federate Malaya with the British crown colonies of Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore. The proposed date of federation was Aug 31, 1963, however, the date was delayed until Sep 16, 1963 due to opposition from Indonesia's Sukarno and the Sarawak United People's Party.

Government

Malaysia Federal Representative Democratic Constitutional Monarchy in which the Yang di-Pertuan Agaong(literal English translation of the title is "He who is made Lord"and common alternatives are "King", "Supreme Ruler", "Paramount Ruler", or "Supreme Head of State")is Head of State and the Prime Minister of Malaysia is Head of Govt.Executive Power is exercised by the Federal Govt. and the 13 State Govts. Federal 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

 

Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah ibni Sultan Badlishah  is the 14th and current Yand di-Peruan Agong(Head of State) of Malaysia, as well as the 27th and current Sultan of Kedah from Dec 13,2011 as he was elected to serve a second termin Oct 2011.

He is also the oldest Malay Ruler to be crowned Yang di-Pertuan Agong  at 84 years 15 days, beating the previous record holder,Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz of Selangor , who was crowned at 73 years 49 days.

 

Prime Minister of Malaysia

Prime Minister of Malaysia is the indirectly elected Head of Govt and appointed by Yang di-Pertuan Agaong and  is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat) , the elected Lower House of Parliament. PM heads the Cabinet whose members are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the PM 's advice. The PM and his Cabinet shall be collectively responsible to Parliament

Najib Razaak(UMNO) is the Current and 6th PM of Malaysia in office from April 3,2009.

Prime Ministers of Malaysia

 

Malaysia Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters -Saturday April 28,2012

 

Malaysian riot police have fired tear gas and used water cannon on thousands of protesters marched on a central square in the city calling for changes to the electoral system.A police spokesman estimated there were about 25,000 demonstrators at the protest, but some Malaysian news organisations put the numbers as high as 80,000.

 

 

The demonstration was organised by an opposition-backed reform group, Bersih.At least 20 people were reported to have been detained by the authorities.

Malaysia's parliament approved a series of electoral reform measures this month, but activists say these do not address the main issue of electoral fraud which they maintain has kept the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition in power since independence.
Activists have alleged that the Election Commission is biased and that voter registration lists are tainted with fraudulent voters.