History UsefulNotes / Malaysia

* Jeremy Fernandez is another distinguished Malaysian-born Australian, notable for being the main anchor for Creator/TheABC's weekend news bulletins.

Other notable productions shot in Malaysia include ''Anna and the King'' (doubling for Siam), the first ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' (Pulau Tiga off the western coast of Borneo), and ''Theatre/SouthPacific'' (some sources claim footage of Tioman Island, off Malaysia's south east coast, were also featured), as well as numerous Bollywood and Kollywood movies.

* Tan Twan Eng was shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize, then won the 2012 Man Asian Prize.

** Yang di-Pertuan Agong: Abdullah Ahmad Shah

* '''Area:''' 330,803 km
(127,724 sq mi) (67th)

** Prime Minister: Muhyiddin Yassin

...oh, and "''Malaysia Boleh!''", a CatchPhrase developed by the government some years back that means "Malaysia Can!" and has become the way to explain everything in Malaysia that doesn't make sense to the locals, and for locals to explain the "[[ItCantBeHelped anything goes]]" attitudes to foreigners.

* Search - Malaysia's answer to Aerosmith. [[{{Catchphrase}} PPPPHHHWEEEEEWWWWIIIITTTT!]]

* The Alleycats - One of a few non-Malay bands to break into the Malay music scene. Founding members David and (the late) Loga Arumugam are notable for their afros.

Malaysia as a unified state did not exist until 1963. Previously, a set of colonies was established by UsefulNotes/{{Portugal}}, until the Dutch and, later, the United Kingdom took them, and the western half of modern Malaysia was composed of several separate kingdoms that kept fighting each other. This group of colonies was known as British Malaya until its dissolution in 1946, when it was reorganized as the Malayan Union. Due to widespread opposition, it was reorganized again as the [[Main/TheFederation Federation of Malaya]] in 1948 and later gained independence on 31 August 1957. Singapore, Sarawak, British North Borneo (now known as Sabah), and the Federation of Malaya joined to form Malaysia on 16 September 1963. The early years of the new union were marred by an armed conflict with Indonesia and the expulsion of Singapore on 9 August 1965. Later on (in 1976), the Malaysian constitution was amended, downgrading the status of Sabah and Sarawak to be equal to the other 11 states (''negeri'' in Malay) of the Union [[note]]From 1963 to 1976, Sarawak and Sabah were designated as two out of the three territories (''wilayah'' in Malay) within the union, the third region being Malaya (i.e. the other 11 states as a whole).[[/note]] In late 2021, another amendment to the Malaysian constitution restored Sabah's and Sawarak's status as territories; the amendment came into force in February 2022.

Malaysia is a country consisting of thirteen states and three federal territories in Southeast Asia. The country is separated into two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo, by the South China Sea. "West Malaysia" and "East Malaysia" are used colloquially, but the former terminology is preferred to avoid giving off the impression that the two are ''[[BalkanizeMe politically]]'' [[BalkanizeMe divided]] as well as geographically divided, like North and South Korea, or East and West Germany.[[note]]However, as one can see from the History and Economy sections, there have been missteps, causing nascent secessionist movements to develop over the years.[[/note]]

Malaysia as a unified state did not exist until 1963. Previously, a set of colonies was established by UsefulNotes/{{Portugal}}, until the Dutch and, later, the United Kingdom took them, and the western half of modern Malaysia was composed of several separate kingdoms that kept fighting each other. This group of colonies was known as British Malaya until its dissolution in 1946, when it was reorganized as the Malayan Union. Due to widespread opposition, it was reorganized again as the [[Main/TheFederation Federation of Malaya]] in 1948 and later gained independence on 31 August 1957. Singapore, Sarawak, British North Borneo (now known as Sabah), and the Federation of Malaya joined to form Malaysia on 16 September 1963. The early years of the new union were marred by an armed conflict with Indonesia and the expulsion of Singapore on 9 August 1965. Later on (in 1976), the Malaysian constitution was amended, downgrading the status of Sabah and Sarawak to be equal to the other 11 states of the Union. [[note]]From 1963 to 1976, Sarawak and Sabah were designated as two out of the three regions within the union, the third region being Malaya (i.e. the other 11 states as a whole).[[/note]]

A majority of the Chinese in Malaysia, especially those from the larger cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Ipoh, Klang, and Penang speak decent English as well. [[SurprisinglyGoodEnglish An increasing number of the present-generation urban middle class Chinese consider English as their first language]] . The Chinese have historically been dominant in the Malaysian business and commerce community. The Chinese population in Malaysia are somewhat similar to the Japanese: most Chinese do little more than give lip service to religion for most of their lives--a typical Chinese [[WeddingsInJapan wedding tends to be more like a Western wedding than a traditional Chinese wedding]]. The Chinese community in Malaysia speaks a wide variety of Chinese dialects, including Mandarin Chinese, Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, and Teochew. The neither here (Malaysian) nor there (Chinese) identity of the Chinese has brought new identity issues to the Chinese population (especially those who considering English their first language) in Malaysia.

-->''Malaysia Boleh!'' (Malaysia, yes we can!)
--> -- A typical phrase to praise the country (and cynically comment on its eccentricities.)

-->Malaysia... Truly Asia...

Pictured here is the Petronas Twin Towers, previously the world's tallest buildings before being surpassed by UsefulNotes/{{Taiwan}}'s Taipei 101 (the title is now held by the UsefulNotes/UnitedArabEmirates' [[UsefulNotes/UnitedArabEmirates Burj Khalifa]]). However, the towers are still the tallest twin buildings in the world. One architecture critic derisively referred to them as a "cruet-stand", i.e. a salt and pepper shaker. Criticism aside, the towers can be seen in the Creator/SeanConnery flick ''Entrapment''.

[[caption-width-right:364:The first thing a typical tourist will picture in their heads when we say Malaysia.]]

Pictured here is the Petronas Twin Towers, previously the world's tallest buildings before being surpassed by Taipei 101 (the title is now held by the [[UsefulNotes/UnitedArabEmirates Burj Khalifa]]). However, the towers are still the tallest twin buildings in the world. One architecture critic derisively referred to them as a "cruet-stand", i.e. a salt and pepper shaker. Criticism aside, the towers can be seen in the Creator/SeanConnery flick ''Entrapment''.

* Mohammad Nor Khalid aka Lat - Notable for his cartoons that appear in the editorial pages of the Malaysian newspaper ''New Straits Times''.

* Eddie See, also known as See Yew Lee, and 徐有利 in Chinese. His well-known comic books works were ''Gemeilia'' (Kokko and Mei, or 哥妹俩) and sold in parts of Asia such of China, and translated in English and Malay from the original Chinese (but [[NoExportForYou only sold in Malaysia and Singapore]]) [[note]]But he was unknown to the non-Malaysian peoples as his works were always NoExportForYou[[/note]]

* ''Franchise/{{Burnout}} Dominator'': Spiritual Towers is based on Kuala Lumpur. The towers are present.

* In ''WebComic/AxisPowersHetalia'', a personification of Malaysia appears, shown as friendly if ditzy, and has an obsession with sea cucumbers.

* '''Highest point:''' Gunung Kinabalu (4095 m/13,436 ft) (43rd)

Malaysia is a country consisting of thirteen states and three federal territories in Southeast Asia. The country is separated into two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo, by the South China Sea. "West Malaysia" and "East Malaysia" are used colloquially, but the former terminology is preferred to avoid giving off the impression that the two are ''[[BalkanizeMe politically]]'' [[BalkanizeMe divided]] as well as geographically divided, like North and South Korea, or East and West Germany.

Malaysia is (usually, when it's not Thailand) the second most wealthiest country in South East Asia, number one being Singapore. The western part of the country is more developed, namely the nation capital of Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru, and the state of Selangor and Penang. Many ongoing developments are happening in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, with Penang and Johor Bahru being next in line. This has resulted in uneven development, with many people migrated from rural areas (especially from the eastern states), looking for work in the cities, mainly Kuala Lumpur.