Malaysia

Updated January 2007

Malaysia is a federation of 13 states covering an area of 329,847 sq. km. Colonized by Great Britain during the late 18th and 19th centuries, and occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945, the Malay states, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak formed a federation in 1963, when the name "Malaysia" was adopted. Singapore withdrew from Malaysia in 1965 to become an independent country. The country consists of two geographical regions divided by the South China Sea: Peninsular Malaysia (or West Malaysia), on the Malay Peninsula, shares a land border to the north with Thailand and to the south with Singapore. Malaysian Borneo (or East Malaysia) occupies the northern part of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia and surrounding the Sultanate of Brunei. It consists of the states of Sabah and Sarawak and the federal territory of Labuan. In 2006, the total population of Malaysia was estimated to be 26.8 million.

Indigenous peoples account for around 12% of the total population but, whereas the Peninsular Malaysian Orang Asli  account for only 0.7% of the population, indigenous groups represent around 50% in Sarawak and 60% in Sabah. Indigenous peoples in Malaysia are marginalised both socio-economically and culturally. Politically, the natives of Sabah and Sarawak as a whole are in a relatively better position than the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia. However, they share the common problem of dispossession from their land, which has led to an erosion of their cultural identity. This erosion is being exacerbated by an inappropriate education system which fails to accommodate their beliefs and practices and, in some cases, by efforts to convert them to other religions. Additional factors include the effects of mainstream development as well as policies such as that of integration and assimilation, specifically targeted at the Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia. This policy imposition, with no consultation of the affected peoples, contains values that run counter to their worldviews, lifestyles, cultural and spiritual traditions.