Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
10
Malaysia in Depth
Malaysia's wow factor is its div ersity. Malay Muslims, Chinese Taoists
and Buddhists, Indian Hindus, a large number of indigenous people, plus an assortment
of Peranakans, Eurasians, and other races and religions all call themselves Malaysian, and
each contributes to the fabric of this surprisingly color ful nation. Its long histor y is the
story of how original Malays have accepted newcomers from Arabia, India, China, Thai-
land, Indonesia, and E urope, and fused their cultur es into a hodgepodge of a national
identity. Malaysia has survived colonial rule of the Portuguese, Dutch, and English, plus
the Japanese Occupation. Today the countr y manages to hold it together , albeit some-
times by a hair.
Diversity is also present in the landscape of Malaysia's cities and towns, where colonial
heritage mixes with modern dev elopment and an underlying attitude of
kampung
(vil-
lage) friendliness. Many visitors delight in the chaos of Kuala Lumpur. Its twisty narrow
roads, sw eltering traffic jams, haphazar d dev elopment, and back-alley shops and food
stalls represent an Asia that is still a little bit untamed, ev en as the mar velous futuristic-
Moorish Petronas Twin Towers loom o verhead. Meanwhile, in places like G eorgetown,
Melaka, and Kuching, the past is everywhere you turn.
Not far fr om M alaysia's cities and to wns, y ou'll find rainfor ests and mountains,
beaches and idyllic tropical islands, blue seas and coral reefs, and an abundance of pecu-
liar flora and fauna, all so accessible it
's a wonder these places ar en't overwhelmed b y
tourists.
Accessibility is perhaps the best thing about Malaysia. Infrastructure is of good quality,
communications are up-to-date, trav el operators ar e v ery organiz ed, and accommoda-
tions and airpor ts are some of the best in S outheast Asia. B etter still, many M alaysians
are comfortable speaking English, which opens up enormous possibilities for visitors to
connect with local people in a v ery meaningful way.
1
MALAYSIA TODAY
The Malaysia of today is a peaceful nation
of many races and ethnicities. C urrently,
the population is estimated at 27.7 million
inhabitants. Of this number, Bumiputeras
are the most numer ous ethnic gr oup
(broadly speaking) and ar e defined as
those with cultural affinities indigenous to
the region and to one another. Technically,
this group includes people of the aborigi-
nal gr oups and ethnic M alays. A smaller
segment of the population is non-
Bumiputera gr oups such as the Chinese,
Indians, Arabs, and E
whom descended fr om settlers to the
region in the past 150 y ears. It is impor-
tant to kno w the differ ence betw een the
Bumiputera and non-B umiputera gr oups
to understand M alaysian politics, which
favors the first gr oup in ev ery policy. It is
equally impor tant to understand that,
despite ethnic divisions, each gr
oup is
considered no less Malaysian.
The state religion is Islam. The Muslim
way of life is r eflected in almost every ele-
ment of M alaysian life. The strict adher-
ence to I slam will most likely affect y our
urasians, most of
