Forgotten World (118): Malaysia
Malaysia consists of two regions separated by some 640 miles of the South China Sea (the eastern section is part of Borneo) and is a federation of 13 states and three federal territories.
It may be geographically close to countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, but it is in a totally different place economically and politically. It has enjoyed decades of rapid economic growth and is making a big effort to move into the information technology arena, with the aim of being the first developed Muslim country in the world by 2020. It has a population of 26M.
Politically Malaysia is a stable country if not wholly democratic. It is divided between three ethnic groups. The Malays remain the dominant group in politics while the Indians are among the poorest. Ethnic Chinese continue to hold economic power and are the wealthiest community.
January 9th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Malaysia has been in the news recently because its government has banned the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims. This was done even though the word Allah has been used in Malaysia for a long time, and the Malay-language Bible uses Allah for God. The government has also prohibited the use of three other words by non-Muslims: solat “prayer”, Kaabah “the shrine in Mecca”, and baitulah “the house of god”. See Malaysian Catholic weekly told to drop use of ‘Allah’ in order to renew publishing permit and Malaysia says Herald not allowed to use ‘Allah’ in its publications. The latter story includes the following ironic clarification: