THINGS / GUIDE TO KNOW ABOUT MALAYSIA

Malaysia is a fascinating and enchanting nation of different races, cultures and religions. Malaysia consist of two regions – Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia, which are separated by 1,030 km of the South China Sea, Malaysia is a federation of 13 states and three federal territories.

Malaysia is a multiracial country with a population of more than 26 million which consists of Malay, Chinese and Indian as many other indigenous races.Bahasa Malaysia is the national language, but English, Mandarin and Tamil are widely used too. Islam is the official religion of Malaysia, but the Constitutionguarantees freedom of worship to all races, so faiths like Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and other religions are freely practiced.

The climate is warm and humid throughout the year. Malaysia is a physically blessed country which does not experience drastic weather changes or natural calamities. Temperatures is around 30oC during the day and 22oC at night. Malaysia has the world's largest tin deposits and extensive reserves of oil and gas. The infrastructure of Malaysia is one of the most developed in Asia. There are 200 industrial parks along with specialized parks such as Technology Park Malaysia and Kulim Hi-Tech Park. There is an impressive network of roads and rail links, while the international airport, KLIA, provides world-class facilities and services, as well as hosting airlines from every corner of the world. Port Klang, a transhipment hub, has positioned itself as Malaysia’s sea gateway to the world and together with Northport and Southport, offers impressive multipurpose port facilities.

Malaysia takes pride in being one of the world’s largest exporters of palm oil, natural rubber, natural gas, timber, cocoa beans and pepper. It is also one of the leading exporters of manufactured products such as semiconductors, audio-visual products, electrical goods, rubber-dipped products and oleo chemicals in the world.

Education is another growing industry where Malaysia is gaining acceptance as a reputed study destination. The education sector offers a variety of higher educational programmes. Underlying this is the current trend of setting up branch campuses in Malaysia by reputable universities from the UK and Australia.

Furthermore, various universities from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, France, Germany and New Zealand are offering twinning, franchised and external degree programmes in partnership with Malaysian educational institutions.

The local currency is the Ringgit, which is made up of 100 sen. Credit cards are accepted in most commercial businesses, while Travellers’ Cheques can be changed at any of the numerous commercial banks, hotels and authorized moneychangers.