Page 18 - The Guide To Malaysia 9th Edition

14 INTRODUCTION TO MALAYSIA
location on the strategic trade routes between East and West Asia. There is archaeological evidence of trade between China and the Malay Peninsula from the 1st Century CE, and a number of Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms arose in the succeeding centuries.
Modern Malaysian history began with the founding
of Melaka by Parameswara in the 15th Century. Melaka rose in just a few decades to become the commercial and Islamic capital of the East, but was captured by the Portuguese in 1511 and later by the Dutch in 1641. British colonisation began in the 18th Century, with the lease of Prince of Wales
Island (Pulau Pinang, 1786) and Province Wellesley (Seberang Perai, 1800)
by the British East India Company, along with the founding of Singapore by Sir Stamford Raffles (1819).
In 1826, the British Straits Settlements - comprising Penang, Melaka, and Singapore - was formed, followed by the Federated Malay States consisting of Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, and Pahang in 1896. The Unfederated Malay States, comprising Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, accepted British advisers around the turn of the 20th century.
In East Malaysia, Sarawak had been a dependency
of Brunei until English adventurer James Brooke obtained the title of “Rajah” in 1841 (recognised as hereditary in 1846) and the right to govern the Sarawak River District. Sabah, formerly governed by the Sultan of Sulu, was ceded
to the British North Borneo Company in 1881.
The British exploited Malaysia’s hinterland, containing major reserves of tin, iron ore, copper and bauxite, and vast tracts
of land were cleared for rubber, pepper and other agricultural products. These activities provoked mass immigration of Chinese and Indian labourers, dramatically changing Malaysia’s ethnic makeup. However, the British also developed the country, with a modern system of government, judiciary, schools, hospitals, roads, utilities, post and telecommunications.
The Japanese entered WWII in 1941 and occupied Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah for three and a half years. After the Japanese surrender,
the British returned and attempted to form the Malayan Union in the peninsula in 1945, which
Malaysians are very patriotic. Hari Merdeka (Independence Day, 31st August) is a great opportunity to show their love for the country
with flags attached to their car or displayed outside their home. Some companies even decorate whole buildings, such as Menara T.S. Law, seen here in 2021.
Independence Day is also known as Hari Kebangsaan (National Day). Here the Sabah International Convention Centre celebrates it as a festival of diversity, with attendees wearing their traditional ethnic costumes.