What You Don't Know About Malaysia Hello there. 'Selamat Datang ke Malaysia'. Which means, 'Welcome to Malaysia' in our national language Bahasa Malaysia. It might be impossible to inform you everything about Malaysia in such a short time, but I provides you with a general idea.
People
One thing you will find most fascinating about Malaysia is its people and culture. Being a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual society of 28 million is no easy feat, as race continues to be a hotly debated issue and permeates nearly every aspect of Malaysian life.
The Malaysian population includes 62% Bumiputeras, including Malays and also the Indigenous peoples, 24% Chinese, 8% Indians, and the rest are other minorities. Or once we say in Malaysia, 'lain-lain' varieties. Citizenship in East Malaysia or even the states of Sabah and Sarawak are a little different from citizenship in Peninsular Malaysia for immigration purposes. When West Malaysians visit East Malaysia, they're necessary to bring their MyKad, a biometric smart chip identity card, which must be carried by citizens of Malaysia all the time.
The Malays form the largest community, and they're understood to be Muslims in the Constitution of Malaysia- quite simply, if you're Malay, you're automatically Muslim. The Malays would be the big brothers of politics, dominating the political scene. Their native language is Malay, the national language of the country. They are also sometimes called 'bumiputra', or 'princes from the soil' and are favoured with certain affirmative action policies. This has been a point of discontent with many different minorities. Amongst others, getting a 10% to 25% discount when purchasing a house and receiving government tenders and scholarships are some of these benefits. How did this happen? I'll tell you more in the economy section.
The 2nd biggest group are the Chinese. They are mostly Buddhists, Taoists or Christians. China community speaks a number of Chinese dialects including Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, and Teochew- all from the native familial provinces in China. However nowadays, many Chinese speak English as their first language; in fact there are several who speak only English. If the Malays dominate the political scene, the Chinese dominate the company scene. There is a sizable middle-class consisting of the Chinese.
The 3rd biggest group are the Indians. The Indians in Malaysia mostly are Hindu Tamils from southern India whose native language is Tamil. Of course there are more Indian communities living here plus they speak many dialects like Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi. Many middle to upper-middle class Indians in Malaysia also speak English as a first language. There's also a vigorous 200,000-strong Indian Muslim community that thrives as an independent cultural group. Actually, if you achieve hungry in the middle of the night, you most likely will head to a 'mamak', a type of 24-hour restaurant that is often of an Indian Muslim. There is also a sizable Sikh community in Malaysia numbering over 100,000.
The biggest non-Malay indigenous tribe is the Iban of Sarawak, who number over 600,000. Some still reside in traditional jungle villages in long houses across the Rajang and Lupar rivers, though many has progressed to the cities. Then, you will find the Bidayuhs, who number around 170,000 and therefore are concentrated in the south western part of Sarawak. Then there are the Kadazans, the largest indigenous tribe in Sabah and they're mostly Christian farmers. Then there are the 140,000 Orang Asli, or aborigines, living in Peninsular Malaysia. Traditionally nomadic hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists, many have been partially made available to 'modern' Malaysia.
Besides that, through interracial marriage, there are a significant number of racial groups such as the Eurasians, who're descendants of marriages among the British, Dutch and Portuguese and also the locals. They speak a Portuguese-based creole, called Papi? Kristang. There are also Eurasians of Filipino and Spanish descent, mostly in Sabah. Descended from immigrants in the Philippines, some speak Chavacano, the only real Spanish-based creole language in Asia. Then there are Cambodians and Vietnamese, who are mostly Buddhists. There are Thai Malaysians, who populate a big part of the northern peninsular states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu. Besides speaking Thai, many of them are Buddhists, celebrate Songkran or Water festival and may speak Hokkien, but some seem to be Muslim and speak the Kelantanese Malay dialect. Then there are the Bugis and Javanese, who make up an element of the population in Johor. Additionally, there has been many foreigners and expatriates who've made Malaysia their vacation home, also contributing to Malaysia's population. There are the Babas and Nyonyas, or Straits Chinese; descendants of Chinese who came to trade in ancient Malacca who married local Malays. They combine Malay and Chinese traditions in a way as to produce a new culture. Most of them dress yourself in typical Malay fashion, wearing the kebaya ketat, which is a Malay traditional costume, plus they speak a unique type of Malay, and cook food that's a mixture of the both cultures.
Being a multiracial country, cultural exchanges and cultural integrations are inevitable. For instance, this is often observed in Malay marriage ceremonies, which incorporates elements of the Hindu traditions of southern India. The bride and also the groom dress yourself in gorgeous brocades, sit in state, and feed one another yellow rice with hands painted with henna. Another example would be that the Muslims and Hindus have adapted the Chinese custom of giving little red packets of money or 'ang pau' at festivals such as Aidilfitri, and Deepavali. The shades from the packets vary, however the practice is comparable.
Teach in MalaysiaIn Malaysia, it's entirely possible to go from the kampong or perhaps a village, to a rubber estate to a Chinese cafe and feel like you have often seen so many different sides to 1 country. Travel to any Kuala Lumpur suburb and observe. A Chinese house will have a parent praying and lighting joss sticks for her ancestors, an Indian family is going to be playing radio stations featuring the latest Tamil hit, as the Malay family will be receiving prepared to walk towards the closest mosque.
Racial relations remain a thorny issue that permeates every aspect of the Malaysian life. Stereotypes are then inevitable. The Malays are lazy and slow, the Chinese are greedy and prefer to gamble, and the Indians are always drunk plus they beat their wives. You can still hear this frequently in the streets, more often than not like a joke, but sometimes being an insult. To become identified with your race is extremely common. For example, job interviews require you to state your race, though this practice is slowly diminishing. Whenever you tell a Malaysian that you saw a road accident, he would likely ask you if it was a Malay, a Chinese or perhaps an Indian. Should you got robbed, you'd be asked if it was a Malay or perhaps an Indian. If you get paid peanuts, your manager is likely Chinese. Should you ride a motorbike, you're most likely Malay. If you reside in a high-end neighbourhood, you're probably Chinese. I possibly could continue, however i encourage you to identify out these stereotypes yourself!
Besides as being a melting pot of numerous races, Malaysia is another multi-religious society with Islam as the official religion. Roughly 63 percent from the population practice Islam; 18 percent Buddhism; 7 percent Christianity; 6 percent Hinduism; and 2 percent traditional Chinese religions for example Taoism. The rest of the numbers are taken into account by other faiths, including Animism, Folk religion, Sikhism, while 1 % has no religion.
As the Malaysian constitution guarantees religious freedom, Malay Muslims are obliged to follow the decisions of Syariah courts when it comes to matters concerning Islam. Converting from Islam in Malaysia is really a largely problematic issue, and while it's been attempted by some, it's a process that requires long legal battles and isn't well-received through the most of the Muslim faithful. The Islamic judges in the Syariah courts are required to follow the Shafi`I school of Islam, the main denomination of Islam in Malaysia. The strength of the Shariah court is restricted simply to Muslims over matters for example marriage, inheritance, apostasy, religious conversion, and custody. Not one other criminal or civil offenses are under the jurisdiction from the Syariah courts. But there has been moves through the Pan Islamic Party to implement the hudud law, or Islamic law.
That was a lot to digest. But it is worth focusing on how culture, race and religion work in Malaysia to be able to understand Malaysian life. Now go out and try to recognize who's Malay, who's Chinese, who's Indian, and who's, once we Malaysians love to say, Lain-lain, or others.
ESL jobs MalaysiaEconomy
Let's take a fast consider the Malaysian economy now.
Spice trade was once big business in Malaysia during the time of the Malaccan Sultanate. Once the British took over, rubber and palm oil trees became big business. Soon, Malaysia had become the world's largest producer of tin, rubber, and palm oil. With these three lucrative commodities, Malaysia was poised for nice economic growth.
In this growth period, the government attempted to eradicate poverty with the controversial New Economic Policy, or the NEP, after the May 13 Incident of racial rioting in 1969. At that time, the economies were raced based- the Malays worked as farmers within the paddy fields or civil servants, china owned businesses and also the Indians tapped rubber trees within the rubber estates. The policy's main objective was the removal of the association of race with economic work as it was during the time of the British. However, the New Economic Policy was laden with controversial affirmative policies that favoured the Malays, and it would be a supply of discontent even until today.
In those days, Malaysia was very reliant on agriculture. It needed to move to an economy based on manufacturing. Inspired by the Asian Tigers in the 70s, which were Columbia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, Malaysia moved from being just a few mining and agriculture to an economy according to manufacturing. Then, Malaysia consistently achieved a lot more than 7% GDP growth along with low inflation within the 1980s and also the 1990s. Today, Malaysia is home to among the world's largest computer hard disk manufacturing sites.
The Asian Economic crisis hit within the fall of 1997 and delivered a shock to Malaysia's economy. Foreign direct investment fell sharply and, as capital flowed from the country, the value of the ringgit dropped from 2.50 Ringgit versus 1 US Dollar to, at one point, 4.80 Ringgit versus 1 US Dollar. A National Economic Action Council was then formed to deal with the monetary crisis. Bank Negara, the nation's central bank imposed capital controls and pegged the Malaysian ringgit at 3.80 to the US dollar. Malaysia refused economic aid packages in the International Monetary Fund and also the World Bank, much towards the surprise of numerous analysts.
Rejuvenation of the Malaysian economy coincided with massive government spending and budget deficits in the years to come the crisis. It eventually enjoyed faster economic recovery when compared with its neighbours. Malaysia's rapid economic growth and prosperity is symbolized through the building of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the tallest twin buildings on the planet and also the headquarters of the national oil giant.
As the pace of Malaysia's development today isn't as rapid, it is viewed as more sustainable. Malaysia is also the earth's largest Islamic banking and financial centre.
Eventually, the fixed exchange rate was abandoned in July 2005 towards a managed floating system inside an hour of China announcing exactly the same move. In that very same week, the ringgit strengthened one percent against various major currencies and was likely to appreciate further.
Currently Malaysia is recognized as a newly industrialized country and as of 2008, includes a GDP per capita of 14,215 USD, ranking the nation 48th on the planet, and 2nd in Southeast Asia, but lagging far behind its Southern neighbour, Singapore.
Healthcare
Let's take a fast look at healthcare in Malaysia. Malaysia generally has an efficient and widespread system of healthcare. It implements a universal healthcare system, and co-exists having a private healthcare system. Anyone can enter a government hospital and obtain treatment for free, though waiting time is generally longer. Prescriptions could cost cash except are often provided to the patient at a subsidized rate. Infant mortality rate - a typical in determining the general efficiency of healthcare - in 2005 was 10, coming in favourably inside a comparison with the Usa and Western Europe. Life expectancy at birth in 2005 was 74 years.
If you want medical assistance in Malaysia, you're liberated to enter any government or nursing homes, but like a tourist, you won't have the ability to benefit from the free healthcare.
Education
Before we get into some language lesson, Let me tell you how the Malaysian education product is organized. So why do different children visit different types of school? At this time, you'd not be surprised if I tell you that the training product is very much based on race too.
If you're between Three to six years of age, you'd probably visit a kindergarten. Usually they're run privately, but some are run through the government.
Whenever you turn 7, you'd move on to primary school for the following six years. There's two kinds of primary school you can visit. The very first is the SRK, or Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan, which are government run schools. You would be using the Malay language as the medium of instruction.
Or, in case your parents are Chinese or Indian, they might decide to give back towards the second kind of school called SJK, or Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan. Here, you will be using either Mandarin or Tamil, based on which school put forth. If you're a girl, you will wear a dark blue pinafore, coupled with a white shirt, or the dark blue and white baju kurung, or Malay traditional costume. If you're a boy, you'll wear dark blue pants or shorts and a white shirt. And you will happily slog through 6 years, and by no more year 6 or when you are 12 years of age, you will be going for a much-dreaded exam known as the Primary School Achievement Test or Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah, UPSR.
Then, you'd start Secondary education where you will study for the following 5 years. National secondary schools use Malay as the main medium of instruction. At the end of Form Three when you turn 15, you'll take another much-dreaded exam called Lower Secondary Assessment or Penilaian Menengah Rendah, not so fondly known as PMR. And finally, within the last year of secondary education or Form Five whenever you turn 17, you sit for the really dreaded Malaysian Certificate of Education or Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, SPM. It is similar to the British Ordinary or 'O' Levels, and much more comprehensive the American SATs.
You'll realize there are a lot of exams for Malaysians students to take. The reason being we take following the British system of 'qualification by examination', a legacy in our colonial days.
While English and Maths used to be taught in English for a while, the federal government will quickly scrap this measure and revert to Bahasa Malaysia, starting in 2012, a move many have protested.
Here's another stereotype. Due to the stringent teaching methods, Chinese schools are recognized for producing a few of the top students in the united states, making some Malay and Indian parents send their kids to these schools too.
Oh, your education journey is not over at this time. At 17, if you're lucky enough to be born Malay and bumiputra, you get right into a fast track called matriculation and secure a safe seat at university. Consistent with affirmative action policies that favour your race, you won't have to worry much if you'll get a place. If you are Chinese, Indian or Lain- Lain, you will need to go through two years of upper secondary education called Form Six, split into Lower Six and Upper Six, at the end of which you'll be rewarded most abundant in dreaded of exams- the Malaysian Higher School Certificate or Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia, or STPM. It's the Malaysian equivalent to the British Advanced or 'A' levels. However, if you have money to burn, you can purchase your way out of STPM by enrolling yourself inside a matriculation course in private colleges.
And finally, the pinnacle of education- the university. The amount of public universities in Malaysia is few, actually under 20, so places are extremely limited. Getting a place in a public university is definitely an annual supply of frustration, with lots of qualified students visiting the media to complain they've been denied a place. If you are Malay or bumiputra, you can save your parents' retirement fund and secure an almost guaranteed devote a public university, where schooling fees are minimal. However, if you are Chinese or Indian and also you fail to secure a place, your other option is private college education, where you will need to ask your folks to postpone their retirement by a few years.
Used to do tell you just how race plays an important role in the Malaysian society.
Then, after 3 to 6 years of university, you graduate having a degree and may decide to continue your posting graduate studies.
Language
Alright, that's the end of our education on education. And today, comes the practical part. Here are some handy tips for you to make your visit to Malaysia better.
Communication is easy in Malaysia. Contrary to popular belief, most of us speak English, a minimum of some English. Bahasa Malaysia or Malaysia language is the official language. Here are a few helpful conversational Bahasa Malaysia phrases you can test. Let's begin!
Good morning! Selamat Pagi
Good evening! Selamat Petang
How's it going? Apa Khabar?
I'm fine, thanks! Khabar Baik, Terima Kasih
Thank you! Terima Kasih
You're welcome! Sama-sama
Good night! Selamat Malam
See you later! Jumpa Lagi!
Farewell! Selamat Jalan!
If you need to ask for some help or directions, they are some useful phrases:
I'm lost Saya Sesat
Are you able to assist me to? Boleh Tolong Saya?
Where is the bathroom .? Mana Tandas?
Go straight! Then turn left/ right! Jalan Terus/ Kemudian Pusing Kiri/ Kanan
I'm searching for my pal. Saya Cari Kawan Saya.
Just how much is this? Berapa Harga Ni?
Excuse me!Maafkan Saya...
If you are really excited about testing out even more Bahasa Malaysia, here are some more complex phrases.
Would you speak English? Awak Cakap Bahasa Inggeris ke?
Just a little. Sedikit sahaja.
What's your company name? Apa nama awak?
I'm... Nama Saya...
Where are you from? Awak Dari Mana?
I'm from...Saya Dari...
Where are you living? Awak Tinggal Di mana?
I live in...Saya Tinggal Di
I must go Saya Pergi Dulu.
I'll be back! Saya Akan Pulang Nanti.
I do not Understand! Saya Tak Faham!
I Don't Know! Saya Tak Tau!
Now that you know some simple phrases, get cracking and converse with some locals, and obtain them to teach you more! There is no better method to socialize than by a little effort in learning their language. Malaysians will love you for this!
Tourist Tips
Here are some tips for you personally. If you are being introduced to a Malay Muslim the very first time, extend both both hands, grasp theirs and produce yours back to your chest. This is actually the traditional Malay 'salam.' To keep it simple, smiling and nodding is fine if you do not know whether or not to shake hands or not. With Muslim women, generally, if a hand isn't offered, it's best not to shake hands!
Should you ever get lost or need any help, search for the tourist officer. They may be identified by their chequered hat bands, dark blue shirts and trousers, and also the letter "I" for info on a red and blue badge on their own breast pocket. They usually stand around tourist areas. However, if you are seeking regular policemen, the number to call is 999 from your phone. Emergency calls in Malaysia have the freedom.
Malaysia has approximately 20 public holidays each year, so plan your vacation wisely and check using the Tourism Malaysia website. Also affecting travel are school holidays, as families take days off with their children, so song of the nation, like tourist sites and beaches could get crowded.
As you'll be doing a large amount of walking, you could buy standard water bottles for drinking, and it is generally unsafe to drink straight out of the tap. The electrical power is on the 240-volt 50-cycle system, similar to Britain.
If you want to atone for local news and events, english papers that are offered would be the New Straits Times, The Star, Business Times, Malay Mail, Daily Express, Sabah Daily News and Sarawak Tribune. If you would like international newspapers, you can most definitely find them at any major bookstores and newsstands. For events, try Time Out and Klue magazines.
The 2 significant climate changes focus on the monsoon season, but on top of that, the elements rarely changes. It's either hot with rain, or hot without rain. The conditions between 21 C and 32 C, but with mugginess. Rain has a tendency to occur between November and February on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, western Sarawak, and the north-eastern part of Sabah.
Due to the climate, light clothing is perfect. It is advisable for girls, when entering mosques and temples, to wear long sleeves and loose pants or long skirts. Or you might have a shawl- it is a lighter alternative.
If you want to adjust your watches before arriving, Malaysia is 8 hours in front of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
Remove shoes when entering homes and chapels. Malaysians don't wear shoes around the house.
While seated or resting in a group, do not direct your feet towards someone, or any religious statues.
Public display of affection in larger cities like Kl is usually tolerated but might invite unnecessary attention from the public. Public displays of affection in more rural areas are frowned wupon and really should be ignored. Also, same-sex relationship is taboo in Malaysia, so gay and lesbian travellers should avoid outward signs of affection, and this includes holding hands in public. Because of strong influence from Islam, homosexuality is technically illegal, however, there are many underground gay and lesbian clubs.