The climate is hot and humid throughout the year, with plenty of sunshine and temperatures ranging from 21øC to 32øC. The average annual rainfall is between 2,000 mm to 2,500 mm. The rainy seasons are August - September along the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia and November - February on the peninsula's East Coast and East Malaysia.
Malaysia has a population of slightly over 17 million with 14 million living in Peninsular Malaysia, and 3 million in Sabah and Sarawak. They are of a variety of racial backgrounds, with Malays, Chinese and Indians forming the majority on the peninsula, and Iban, Kadazan and Bidayuh being the main indigenous ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak. Bahasa Malaysia is the official national language, but Chinese dialects and Tamil are still widely used in their respective communities, and most people speak English.
Malaysian time is eight hours ahead of G.M.T. and sixteen hours ahead of U.S. Pacific Standard Time.
The National flag consists of fourteen red and white stripes (along the fly) of equal width, a union or canton of dark blue, a crescent and a star. The red and white stripes stand for the equal status in the federation of the member states and the federal government.
The union or canton of dark blue in the upper quarter of the flag next to the staff represents the unity of the people of Malaysia. The union contains the crescent which is the symbol of Islam, and the star, the fourteen points of which symbolise the unity of the thirteen states of the federation with the federal government. The yellow of the crescent and the star is the royal colour of the Rulers.
The national flower is the bunga raya (hibiscus) (Rosasinensis) which has an interesting history. No one knows when flower was first introduced to Malaysia but undoubtedly it came by trade from its original homeland in China, Japan and the Pacific Islands, probably before the twelfth century.
From early times the bunga raya has been known to have many uses, mostly medicinal. Its petals were commonly used to darken and enhance women's eyebrows: some people still use the roots of the flowers as a cure for fever and said to be relieved by the application of the juice obtained from its leaves and roots, while a poultice prepared from the leaves is often applied to cure headache.
The bunga raya is found abundantly in Malaysia today. It grows in several varieties of colour: the red, five- petalled grows in several varieties type was chosen for Malaysia's national flower.
Bahasa Malaysia is the official language but English is widely used for business and in the tourism industry. Mandarin and Tamil are also familiar local languages and are taught concurrently with Bahasa and English in the educational system.
Radio and television broadcasts are in Bahasa, English, Chinese and Tamil. Television programmes are Broadcast on four main channels. They are the government-run Television 1 and 2 of Radio Television Malaysia (RTM), Television 3(TV3) and Television 4 (Metro Vision) which is a privatised channel.
This is all about what I can think for an brief intro about Malaysia. This page will be the main page and I will be including feature articles about Malaysia soon.GREETINGS
English Malay ------- ----- Good morning Selamat pagi Good afternoon Selamat tengahari Good evening Selamat petang Good night Selamat malam Goodbye Selamat tinggal What is your name? Siapa nama anda? My name is.... Nama saya.....PRONOUNS/NOUNS
English Malay ------- ----- I Saya We Kami You Anda/awak He/she Dia They Mereka Ms Cik Mr Encik Man Lelaki Woman Perempuan Child Budak People Orang Wife Isteri Husband SuamiUSEFUL WORDS & EXPRESSIONS
English Malay ------- ----- Bus stop Perhentian bas Taxi-stand Perhentian teksi Railway station Stesen keretapi Airport Lapangan terbang Room Bilik Toilet Tandas Bathroom Bilik air Pillow Bantal Mosquito coil Ubat nyamuk Matches Mancis Hot Panas Cold Sejuk Good Bagus/baik Bad Tidak bagus Sleep Tidur Bathe Mandi Pain/unwell Sakit
But for now, you can read one of our major daily newpaper here.
