Atlas Malaysia |
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Country
(long form) History The British traded for spices and colonised the interior of the peninsula when tin was discovered. East Malaysia came into British hands via the adventurer Sir James Brooke (who was made Rajah of Sarawak in 1841 after suppressing a revolt against the Sultan of Brunei) and the North Borneo Company (which administered Sabah from 1882). Gradually, the Federated Malay States were created in piecemeal fashion over the course of the 19th century. The final pieces of the Malaysian mosaic fell into place when Britain took formal control of both Sabah and Sarawak after WWII. The indigenous labour supply was insufficient for the needs of the developing rubber and tin industries, so the British brought large numbers of Indians into the country, altering the peninsula's racial mix. The Japanese overran Malaya in WWII. Communist guerrillas who fought the Japanese throughout the occupation began an armed struggle against British rule in 1948 and Malaya achieved independence in 1957. Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore combined with Malaya to establish Malaysia in 1963, but two years later Singapore withdrew from the confederation. The formation of Malaysia was opposed by both the Philippines and Indonesia, as each had territorial claims on East Malaysia. Tension rose in 1963 during the 'Confrontation' with Indonesia. Indonesian troops crossed Malaysia's borders but were repelled by Malaysian and Commonwealth forces. In 1969, violent riots broke out between Malays and Chinese, though the country's racial groups have since lived in relative peace together. The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) has been in power since 1974. Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is keen to exert his influence on the world stage as a pan-Asian leader, presided over a booming economy until 1997, when tumbling Asian currencies dragged the ringgit down with them. In September
1998 the country hosted the Commonwealth Games, but the public relations
aspect of the competition came apart when students and citizens protested
against the unfair sacking and later imprisonment of deputy Prime Minister,
Anwar Ibrahim. Continuing street protests calling for the resignation
of Dr Mahatir Mohamad have unsettled Malayasia's reputation as one of
the most politically stable of southeast Asian countries. By the time
the 21st century rolled around, social upheavals had faded to a distant
rumble and the Malaysian economy had clawed its way back into the black.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad remained a controversial figure until the end. Just
before his resignation in October 2003, after 20 years at the helm,
the PM addressed a meeting of Islamic countries hosted by Malaysia,
and exhorted them to collectivise against an alleged world Jewish conspiracy.
His replacement, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, won a March 2004 election in
a landslide. In August 2004 the country's highest court upheld Anwar
Ibrahim's appeal against his sentence and he was released from jail.
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