Malaysia's head of state, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, is elected for a 5 year term from one of the sultans from the nine hereditary Sultans of the Malay states. Our government is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system and the head of the goverment is the Prime Minister.
Malaysia is a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multilingual society. Malays form the largest community and play a dominant role politically. Bahasa Malaysia is the national language of the country. Tamil is widespread within the Indian community, while Chinese Malaysians speak more than six dialects alongside Mandarin. The Dayaks, the majority population group of Malaysian Borneo have their own distinctive languages. English is also widely spoken in major towns and cities across the country.
Malaysians observe a number of holidays and festivities throughout the year. Some holidays are federally 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, while Malaysia Day is celebrated by some on 16 September to commemorate the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
Muslim holidays are prominent in Malaysia. The most celebrated being Hari Raya Puasa (also called Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Malay for Eid al-Fitr). 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). Malaysian Chinese typically celebrate the same festivals observed by Chinese around the world. Chinese New Year is the most celebrated among the festivals. Other festivals celebrated by Chinese are the Qingming Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival. Malaysian Buddhists celebrate Vesak or Wesak, the day of Buddha's birth. Hindus in Malaysia celebrate Diwali/Deepavali, the festival of light, while Thaipusam is a celebration in which pilgrims from all over the country flock to the Batu Caves. Sikhs celebrate the Sikh new year or Baisakhi, more commonly known as the Vaisakhi festival. Other Indian and Indochinese communities observe their new year celebrations at around the same time, such as Pohela Boishakh of the Bengalis and Songkran (water festival) of the Thais. Thai Malaysians in the northern states also celebrate Loy Kratong. Malaysia's Christian community celebrates most of the holidays observed by Christians elsewhere, most notably Christmas and Easter. East Malaysians also celebrate the harvest festivals of Gawai in Sarawak and Kaamatan in Sabah.
Despite most of the festivals being identified with a particular ethnic or religious group, all Malaysians celebrate the festivities together, regardless of their background.
Malaysia is a beautiful country. It is one of the region's key tourist destinations, offering excellent beaches and brilliant scenery.
- Kuala Lumpur — the multi-cultural capital, home of the Petronas Towers
- George Town — the cultural and cuisine capital of Penang
- Ipoh — capital of Perak with historic colonial old town
- Johor Bahru — capital of Johor, and gateway to Singapore
- Kuantan - capital of Pahang, and commercial centre of the east coast
- Kota Kinabalu — capital of Sabah
- Kuching — capital of Sarawak
- Malacca (Melaka) — the historical city of Malaysia with colonial-style architecture
- Miri — resort city of Sarawak and gateway to UNESCO World Heritage Site Gunung Mulu National Park
- Cameron Highlands — famous for its tea plantations
- Fraser's Hill — a time warp to the colonial era
- Kinabalu National Park — home of Mount Kinabalu, the tallest mountain in Borneo
- Langkawi — an archipelago of 99 islands known for its beaches, rainforest, mountains, mangrove estuaries and unique nature.
- Penang (Pulau Pinang) — formerly known as the "Pearl of the Orient", now bustling island with excellent cuisine which has retained more colonial heritage than anywhere else in the country
- Perhentian Islands (Pulau Perhentian) — glittering jewels off the East Coast still undiscovered by mass tourism
- Redang (Pulau Redang) — popular island destination for scuba divers
- Taman Negara National Park — a large area of rainforest spanning Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu
- Tioman (Pulau Tioman) — once nominated one of the most beautiful islands in the world
http://www.tourism.gov.my/
http://www.malaysia.com/
http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/
http://www.malaysiatravel.org.uk/
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia and http://wikitravel.org/en/Malaysia
