Major Information about Malaysia - Essay Example

MALAYSIA Introduction Malaysia is located in South Eastern Asia and it shares a border with Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei and the neighbouring island of Borneo. Malaysia has a strategic location along the Strait of Malacca and the Southern South China Sea, according to the CIA, The World Fact book website. The climate from April to October is tropical while the rest of the year there are monsoons. The terrain starts of with coastal plains and then goes onto hills and mountains. The country has a vast natural resources such as copper, tin, petroleum, timber, iron ore, bauxite and natural gas. Some natural hazards that are commonly experienced in Malaysia are floods, landslides and forest fires. The country has a population of around 25 million people, according to the same CIA, The World Fact Book website. The infant mortality rate is 16.39 deaths per 1000 births, while 88.7 per cent of the Malaysian population is literate. The people of Malaysia are called Malaysians. The country has people from diverse backgrounds; there are Indians, Chinese, Malay and some indigenous people living in Malaysia. The religions that are commonly followed in this country are Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, and other Chinese religions. The common languages that are spoken in Malaysia are English, Chinese, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Thai, Malayalam but the official language is Bahasa Malaysia. Islam came to this region in the 14th century from what can be found from the remains and through the study of Archaeology. Generally it is thought that the Maharaja converted to Islam and changed his name in the 14th century. Malaysia was under the rule of the British Empire until 1957 when they gained their independence on the 31st of August from the British but Malaysia became an independent state in 1963 on the 16th of September, according to Info-please website. The British had come to Malaysia in the 18th or 19 century and the area that had been under their rule formed the Federation of Malaya, according to the CIA, The World Fact Book Website. The people who are the real Malaysians came to the area in 2500 – 1500 B.C. Malaysia has been ruled by many, it was initially a Hindu ruler who converted to Islam, then the British took over, during the Second World War the Japanese got control over the region. Info-please website further tells us that the capital of Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur which covers an area of 3,688,200 (metro. area) and is the largest city of the country. The currency that is used in Malaysia is Ringgit. The number of people that the labour force is comprised of is 10.67 million people out of which the agricultural sector employs, 14.5 per cent, the industrial sector employs 36 per cent and the services sector employs 49.5 per cent. Currently the head of state is Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin ibni al-Marhum Sultan Mahmud and the Prime Minister is Abdullah Badawi. The government is a constitutional monarchy. We will further discuss each section of the Malaysian economy, the social aspects, the culture that prevails, the economic condition, the business environment and the political situation. Culture There are many different cultures that exist within this country. This is mainly because many years ago traders from India and China would come here; this was almost fifteen hundred years ago, and then came the Buddhists and Hindus and finally the Muslims. This culture is the most cosmopolitan culture according to Georgraphia website. Although there are many cultures in this country but the most common and the ones which step out are the Chinese culture, the Indian culture and the ancient Malay culture. These three cultures have mixed with each other and formed the contemporary Malaysian culture that is so famous today. According to the Thomas Williamson, the national culture of the country is called kebudayaan Malaysia. This is what they call their culture in their national language. These cultures have not lost their individuality during the process of mixing. They do have their own values and customs which are still followed. One of the many things that has been incorporated all three cultures is the wedding ceremony. The bride and groom sit together and feed each other and the bride also puts henna on her hands, while the Muslim give out packets of money which is the Chinese custom. These packets are specifically red in colour. The best thing about this country is that nobody interferes with the other person’s culture. Everybody is practicing their own culture in their own way; there are no rules against it. The people live together and are happy this way. A very pleasant tradition in the country is that no matter what religious festival it is and what religion it is for, all the people keep their doors open for others. This practise helps keep the barriers at bay and create a homely culture with all ethnic and religious groups that are now part of the country. Social The country is recognised through its many products and services which have their own symbols but are now affiliated with Malaysia. These products are Proton, the national car; Malaysian Airlines, and Petronas Towers, which the World’s tallest building. The level of diversity has helped the country maintain good relationships with many other countries. The country does have the class system but the classes are determined on the basis of skills, English proficiency, political connections and the monetary family background. The lifestyle that is being followed today by the people in Malaysia has made it easier for the different ethnicities to survive together. There experiences have changed and become similar which allows some things to be in common and enables people to accept each other without thinking about their religion or ethnicity. The social stratification in Malaysia, according to Geographia website, is done on the basis of accessories such as gold jewellery, electronic gadgets that an individual carries and the clothing, how fashionable and up to date the clothing is defines the social strata that a person belongs to. All these small things such as fluency in English denote a person’s background. If the skin colour of a person is dark that means that he has to work more and it tells other people about his background with out even speaking. The way people think of you is greatly influenced by these small things. Economic Initially the country only produced but during the 1970’s the country concentrated on the different sectors and make it a multi sector economy. The majority of people belong to the middle income group. The local demand is not enough to introduce the production of goods and services; Malaysia is still dependent on exports of many things including electronics. The CIA, The World Fact Book website tells us that the real GDP of the country stands at 6 per cent and the GDP per capita is $13,300. This is relatively higher than most countries around the world. The number of people that are below the poverty line in Malaysia constitute of only 5.1 per cent. The prices of most of the goods and services are controlled by the government, this is one of the reasons why the country has not yet experienced high levels of inflation and the current percentage of inflation that prevails in the country is 2.1 per cent. The country has received economic aid and the total amount of financial help that it has received is $31.6 million, according to the CIA, The World Fact Book website. Looking at these figures the economic condition seems very stable and the government we can see plays an important part in the economy of the country. Business The agricultural products that are produced within Malaysia and are available are rubber, palm oil, cocoa, rice; Sabah - subsistence crops, rubber, timber, coconuts, rice; Sarawak - rubber, pepper, timber. The industrial products include, Peninsular Malaysia - rubber and oil palm processing and manufacturing, light manufacturing, electronics, tin mining and smelting, logging, timber processing; Sabah - logging, petroleum production; Sarawak - agriculture processing, petroleum production and refining, logging. Most of the labour force is employed in the service sector; more than 50 per cent of the workers are employed here while only 36 per cent and 13 per cent are employed by the industrial sector and the agricultural sector respectively. The services sector contributes the most towards the GDP, it’s contribution percentage comes up to 44.8 per cent, while for agriculture it is 9.9 per cent and for industry it is 45.3 per cent. According to Thomas Williamson, sectors such as banking and retail have high regulations and these regulations are very strict. The prices of basic necessities are fixed and thus are affordable by all people whether rich or poor. The country has developed itself as a trading nation and currently is at the twentieth position among the trading nations. The labour is now divided on the basis of class and citizenship. The old system has diminished in its use through out the country. The industrialisation in Malaysia has helped the country become less dependent on foreign imports of food and basic necessities. Political Environment The country is divided into thirteen administrative divisions, namely Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Pulau Pinang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, and Terengganu. According to the CIA, The World Fact Book website, the constitution was first made on the 31st of August 1957, but this constitution has been amended many times, the last time in 2007. The legal system in Malaysia is based on the English common law; there is the Supreme Court who reviews the judicial acts on the request of the supreme federation head. The Islamic law of Shariah applies to the Muslims living in Malaysia. The country faces political pressure from religious groups, women’s groups, and youth groups. The two main groups that fall into these categories are the Sharaih High Court and the Bersih electoral reform. The country has civil courts which have the Federal Court, High Court, Shariah Courts and the Court of Appeal. The Shariah Court judgements for the Muslims can not be appealed in the Civil Court. The basic political environment revolves around the King who chooses the Prime Minister. This Prime Minister is from the leading party, and then the elected representatives of the Dewan Rakyat and the appointed senators of the Dewan Negara are formed from the body that initially has formed the coalition. The Malay government is referred to as kerajaan, this has come from the term raja who during the pre-colonial times, in the courts it was the raja who took precedence over the cases. Most of the states in Malaysia have hereditary rulers, states which do not have hereditary rulers have governors appointed to them. Human Resource The population of Malaysia is high compared to the area that the country is spread over. Also the literacy rate is very high thus there is no shortage of skilled labour in the country. The country has a diverse range of workforce. On the other hand the society is mainly male dominant. All the politicians, business leaders and religious heads are all male. They have not locked the women down. Women are coming up in different professions with important roles. The country concentrates on the service sector. According to Thomas Williamson, many of the students go abroad to get higher education, and higher education is an important part of the Malay people’s lives. The country focuses on scientific research thus many new practices are introduced and new methods can be devised for becoming more efficient and productive. One of the challenges of managing the workforce in Malaysia is that every worker has a different background. Every worker will need a different strategy for motivation and will have different needs. On the positive side, most of these people get along well thus the problems that companies experience by hiring diverse workers will not have to be experienced by any company here, until or unless they get workers from their home country. Works Cited About Malaysia, retrieved on August 16, 2008, http://sunsite.nus.edu.sg/SEAlinks/malaysia-info.html CIA, The World Fact Book, Malaysia, retrieved on August 16, 2008, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/my.html Geographia, Official Homepage of the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, New York, 2006, retrieved on August 16, 2008 http://www.geographia.com/malaysia/cultures.html Library of Congress – Federal Research Division, 2006, retrieved on August 16, 2008, http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Malaysia.pdf Malaysia, Info-please, retrieved on August 16, 2008 http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107751.html Malaysia Information, 2005, retrieved on August 16, 2008, http://www.malaysiainformation.com/countryinfo/government.htm One Stop Malaysia, retrieved on August 16, 2008, http://www.onestopmalaysia.com/ Rainer Heufers, The Politics of Democracy in Malaysia, 2002, retrieved on August 16, 2008, http://www.asienkunde.de/articles/Malaysia2.pdf Thomas Williamson, Culture of Malaysia, 2007, retrieved on August 16, 2008, http://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/Malaysia.html What Should I Know About Malaysia, retrieved on August 16, 2008, http://www.wisegeek.com/what-should-i-know-about-malaysia.htm Read More