Infrastructure

Posted by BORTAMAN on Saturday, August 29, 2009
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Main articles: Transport in Malaysia and Communications in Malaysia
See also: Buildings and structures in Kuala Lumpur and Buildings and structures in Putrajaya
The Damansara Link section of Klang Valley's Sprint Expressway.
Quay cranes at the Northport inPort Klang, Malaysia.

Malaysia has extensive roads that connect all major cities and towns on the western coast of peninsular Malaysia. The total length of the Malaysian expressway network is 1,499.5 kilometres (931.7 mi) and another 219.3 kilometres (136.3 mi) is still under construction. The network connects all major cities and conurbations such as Klang Valley, Johor Bahru and Penang to each other. The major motorway (E1 and E2, the E1 is the section North of KL while the E2 is the Southern section), spans from the northern and the southern tips of peninsular Malaysia at Bukit Kayu Hitam and Johor Bahru respectively. It is a part of the Asian Highway Network, which also connects into Thailand and Singapore.

Roads in the East Malaysia and the eastern coast of peninsular Malaysia are still relatively undeveloped. Those are highly curved roads passing through mountainous regions and many are still unsealed, gravel roads. This has resulted in the continued use of rivers and the necessary use of airplanes as the main or alternative mode of transportation for the interior residents.

Train service in West Malaysia is operated by the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Malayan Railways) and has extensive railways that connect all major cities and towns on the peninsula, which also extends toSingapore. There is also a short railway in Sabah operated by Sabah State Railway that mainly carries freight.

There are seaports throughout the country. The major ports are Port Klang and Port of Tanjung Pelepas in Johor. Other important ports can be found in Tanjung Kidurong, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Kuantan, Pasir Gudang, Penang, Miri, Sandakan and Tawau.

Airports are also found throughout the country. Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is the main airport of the country. Other important airports include Kota Kinabalu International Airport, Penang International Airport, Kuching International Airport,Langkawi International Airport, and Senai International Airport. There are also airports in smaller towns, as well as small domestic airstrips in rural Sabah and Sarawak. There are daily flight services between West and East Malaysia, which is the only convenient option for passengers travelling between the two parts of the country. Malaysia is the home of the first low-cost carrier in the region, AirAsia. It has Kuala Lumpur as its hub and maintains flights to Southeast Asia and China as well. In Kuala Lumpur, it operates out of the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in KLIA.

Kuala Lumpur Tower

The intercity telecommunication service is provided on peninsular Malaysia mainly by microwave radio relay. International telecommunications are provided through submarine cables and satellite. One of the largest and most significant telecommunication companies in Malaysia is Telekom Malaysia (TM), providing products and services from fixed line, mobile as well as dial-up and broadband Internet access service. It has the near-monopoly of fixed line phone service in the country.

In December 2004, Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik reported that only 0.85% or 218,004 people in Malaysia used broadband services. However, these values are based on subscriber number, whilst household percentage can reflect the situation more accurately. Lim Keng Yaik had urged local telecommunication companies and service provider to open up the last mile and lower prices to benefit the users. Malaysia has set a national broadband plan in 2004 which set a target of 50% household penetration by 2010. In the 1st quarter of 2009, Malaysia's household broadband penetration had reached 22.9%.

[edit]Culture

Main article: Culture of Malaysia
See also: Tourism in Malaysia, Cuisine of Malaysia, and Music of Malaysia
A cook making a murtabak, a type of pancake filled with eggs, small chunks of meat and onions, in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multilingual society. The population as of February 2007 is 26.6 million consisting of 62% Bumiputeras (including Indigenous people), 24% Chinese, 8% Indians, with other minorities along with foreigners(mostly semi-skilled workers) (Dept of Stats. Malaysia). Ethnic tensions have been volatile in recent months in tandem with the rising temperature of the political scenario in the country.[81]

The Malays, who form the largest community, are defined as Muslims in the Constitution of Malaysia. The Malays play a dominant role politically and are included in a grouping identified as bumiputra. Their native language is Malay (Bahasa Malaysia). Malay is the national language of the country[22], but English is widely spoken in major towns and cities across the country.

People of Indian origin inKuala Lumpur.

In the past, Malays wrote in Sanskrit or using Sanskrit-based alphabets[citation needed]. After the 15th century, Jawi (a script based on Arabic) became popular.[citation needed] Over time, romanised script overtook Sanskrit and Jawi as the dominant script. This was largely due to the influence of the colonial education system, which taught children in roman writing rather than in Arabic script.[citation needed]

The largest non-Malay indigenous tribe is the Iban of Sarawak, who number over 600,000. Some Iban still live in traditional jungle villages in long housesalong the Rajang and Lupar rivers and their tributaries, although many have moved to the cities. The Bidayuhs, numbering around 170,000, are concentrated in the southwestern part of Sarawak. The largest indigenous tribe in Sabah is the Kadazan. They are largely Christian subsistence farmers. The 140,000 Orang Asli, or aboriginal peoples, comprise a number of different ethnic communities living in peninsular Malaysia. Traditionally nomadic hunter/gatherers and agriculturalists, many have been sedentarised and partially absorbed into modern Malaysia.

The Chinese population in Malaysia are mostly Buddhist (of Mahayana sect) or Taoist, although some of the younger generations are choosingChristianity as their religion. The Chinese community in Malaysia speak a variety of Chinese dialects including Mandarin Chinese, Hokkien,Cantonese, Hakka, and Teochew. A large majority of Chinese in Malaysia, especially those from the larger cities such as Kuala Lumpur,Petaling Jaya, Ipoh, Klang and Penang speak decent English as well. There has also been an increasing number of the present generation Chinese who consider English as their first language. The Chinese have historically been dominant in the Malaysian business and commerce community.

The Indians in Malaysia are mainly Hindu Tamils from southern India whose native language is Tamil, there are also other Indian communities which is Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi-speaking, living mainly in the larger towns on the west coast of the peninsula. Many middle to upper-middle class Indians in Malaysia also speak English as a first language. A vigorous 200,000-strong Tamil Muslim community also thrives as an independent subcultural group. There are also prevalent Tamil Christian communities in major cities and towns. Most Indians originally migrated from India as traders, teachers or other skilled workers. A larger number were also part of the forced migrations from India by the British during colonial times to work in the plantation industry.[82][83] There is also a sizable Sikh community in Malaysia of over 100,000. The Sikhs came to Malaya to work as police, soldiers and jagas (security guards).

Penang Rojak in Malaysia.

Eurasians, Cambodians, Vietnamese, Thais, Bugis, Javanese and indigenous tribes make up the remaining population. A small number of Eurasians, of mixed Portuguese and Malay descent, speak a Portuguese-based creole, called Papiá Kristang. There are also Eurasians of mixed Filipino and Spanish descent, mostly in Sabah. Descended from immigrants from the Philippines, some speak Chavacano, the onlySpanish-based creole language in Asia. Cambodians and Vietnamese are mostly Buddhists (Cambodians of Theravada sect and Vietnamese, Mahayana sect). Thai Malaysians have been populating a big part of the northern peninsular states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu. Besides speaking Thai, most of them are Buddhists, celebrate Songkran (Water festival) and can speak Hokkien, but some of them are Muslim and speak the Kelantanese Malay Dialect. Bugis and Javanese make up a part of the population in Johore. In addition, there have been many foreigners and expatriates who have made Malaysia their second home, also contributing to Malaysia's population.

Chinese and Islamic forms heavily influence Malaysian traditional music. The music is based largely around the gendang (drum), but includes other percussion instruments (some made of shells); the rebab, a bowed string instrument; the serunai, a double-reed oboe-like instrument; flutes, and trumpets. The country has a strong tradition of dance and dance dramas, some of Thai, Indian and Portuguese origin. In recent years, dikir barat has grown in popularity, and the government has begun to promote it as a national cultural icon.[84]

Malaysia shares certain art forms with neighbouring Indonesia, including silat (a stylised martial art) and craft techniques such as weaving andmetallurgy.[citation needed]

[edit]Holidays

Main article: Public holidays in Malaysia
Typical festive fare during Hari Raya Puasa or Hari Raya Haji(clockwise from bottom left): beef soup, ketupat (compressed rice cubes), beef rendang and sayur lodeh.

Malaysians observe a number of holidays and festivities throughout the year. Some holidays are federal gazetted public holidays and some are public holidays observed by individual states. Other festivals are observed by particular ethnic or religion groups, but are not public holidays.

The most celebrated holiday is the "Hari Kebangsaan" (Independence Day), otherwise known as "Merdeka" (Freedom), on 31 August commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya in 1957, whileMalaysia Day is only celebrated in the state of Sabah on 16 September to commemorate the formation of Malaysia in 1963. Hari Merdeka, as well as Labour Day (1 May), the King's birthday (first Saturday of June) and some other festivals are federal gazetted public holidays.

Muslims in Malaysia celebrate Muslim holidays. The most celebrated festival, Hari Raya Puasa (also calledHari Raya Aidilfitri) is the Malay translation of Eid al-Fitr. It is generally a festival honoured by the Muslims worldwide marking the end of Ramadan, the fasting month. The sight of the new moon determines the end of Ramadan. This determines the new month, therefore the end of the fasting month. In addition to Hari Raya Puasa, they also celebrate Hari Raya Haji (also called Hari Raya Aidiladha, the translation of Eid ul-Adha), Awal Muharram (Islamic New Year) and Maulidur Rasul (Birthday of the Prophet).

Chinese in Malaysia typically celebrate festivals that are observed by Chinese around the world. Chinese New Year is the most celebrated among the festivals which lasts for fifteen days and ends with Chap Goh Mei(十五瞑). Other festivals celebrated by Chinese are the Qingming Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival. In addition to traditional Chinese festivals, Buddhists Chinese also celebrateVesak.

The majority of Indians in Malaysia are Hindus and they celebrate Diwali/Deepavali, the festival of light, while Thaipusam is a celebration whichpilgrims from all over the country flock to Batu Caves. Apart from the Hindus, Sikhs celebrate the Vaisakhi, the Sikh New Year.

Other festivals such as Good Friday (East Malaysia only), Christmas, Hari Gawai of the Ibans (Dayaks), Pesta Menuai (Pesta Kaamatan) of theKadazan-Dusuns are also celebrated in Malaysia.

[edit]See also

Main article: Outline of Malaysia
Malaysia portal

[edit]Sources

[edit]References

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