ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil

Country Profile of Malaysia

PEOPLE

Malaysia's multi-racial society contains many ethnic groups. Malays comprise a majority of just over 50%. By constitutional delineation, all Malays are Muslim. About a quarter of the population is ethnic Chinese, an assembly which historically played an important function in trade and business. Malaysians of Indian descent comprise about 7% of the population and encompass Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians. Non-Malay indigenous groups blend to make up approximately 11% of the population.HISTORY

The early Buddhist Malay kingdom of Srivijaya, based at what is now Palembang, Sumatra, dominated much of the Malay peninsula from the 9th to the 13th centuries AD. The mighty Hindu kingdom of Majapahit, based on Java, gained command of the Malay peninsula in the 14th century. Conversion of the Malays to Islam, starting in the early 14th 100 years, accelerated with the rise of the state of Malacca under the direct of a Muslim prince in the 15th century. Malacca was a major regional commercial center, where Chinese, Arab, Malay, and Indian merchants traded precious goods.

Drawn by this wealthy trade, a Portuguese fleet conquered Malacca in 1511, marking the starting of European expansion in Southeast Asia. The Dutch ousted the Portuguese from Malacca in 1641. The British obtained the island of Penang in 1786 and temporarily controlled Malacca with Dutch acquiescence from 1795 to 1818 to avert it from falling to the French throughout the Napoleonic war. The British gained lasting possession of Malacca from the Dutch in 1824, through the Anglo-Dutch treaty, in exchange for territory on the island of Sumatra in what is today Indonesia.Government

Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, nominally headed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, customarily mentioned to as the king. The monarch is voted into agency for 5-year terms from among the nine sultans of the peninsular Malaysian states. The monarch also is the leader of the Islamic faith in Malaysia.

Executive power is vested in the cabinet directed by the major minister; the Malaysian constitution stipulates that the major minister must be a constituent of the smaller house of parliament who, in the attitude of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, commands a majority in parliament. The cabinet is chosen from among members of both houses of parliament and is responsible to that body.Political Conditions

Malaysia's predominant political party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), has held power in coalition with other parties continuously since self-reliance in 1957. The UMNO coalition's share of the ballot turned down in national elections held in May 1969, after which riots smashed out in Kuala Lumpur and elsewhere, mainly between Malays and ethnic Chinese. Several century persons were slain or injured. The government declared a state of crisis and suspended all parliamentary activities.

In the years that pursued, Malaysia attempted several initiatives that became integral parts of its socioeconomic model. The New Economic Policy (NEP), launched in 1971, contained a series of affirmative action policies designed to advantage Malays and certain indigenous groups (together renowned as bumiputera or "sons of the ...