Malaysia: grows economy and Islam (an overview)

Malaysia is a confederation of 13 states and three federal territories (the wilayah persekutuan): the cities of Kuala Lumpur (the capital), Labuan and Putrajaya. The population of nearly 24 million people is divided into four ethnic groups: Malay (around 12 million); Chinese (around six million); Indians (2.4 million) and tribals (around four million). The official language is Bahasa Melayu. The government consists of a constitutional monarchy with a parliament in two chambers: the Senate (Dewan Negara, with 70 seats) and the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat, with 219 seats).

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) amounts to more 103 million US dollars. Industrial production hinges for the most part on electronic, textiles, shoe-making and chemical industries. In recent years, Malaysia registered a steady increase in the economic sector. In the period 2003-2004 alone, the trade balance increased by 14.47 billion Euros with an increase of 12.32 million Euros compared to the same period in 2002. Exportation increased by 21.8%: this result is due even to an increase in external demand, especially in the electric and electronic sectors. Importation increased by 27.5% and reached 70.26 billion Euros thanks to an increase in purchases from abroad of intermediate, capital and consumer goods. The largest trading partners of Malaysia, with an overall volume of more than 56% of the total, are the United States, Singapore, Japan, China and Hong Kong.

The religion of the federation is Islam with 12.3 million adherents (52.9% of the population). Christians add up to 1.5 million people, that is, 6.4% of the population with more than 500,000 Catholics, that is, 3% of the population.

The other religions are: Buddhism (more than four million, that is, 17.3% of the population); Hinduism (1.6 million, meaning 7%); Taoism (2.7 million, that is, 11.6%); Sikhism, shamanism and traditional animist religions) 1.1 million people meaning 4.8%.

The Constitution guarantees full freedom of worship but emphasizes that "no person can receive instruction or take part in any ceremony or act of worship of a religion which is not his own", and that "the religion of a person under 18 years must be decided by his parents or guardians" (art 12/3 e 4). According to the Constitutional charter, conversion is practically impossible and a "Malay citizen" is only "a person who professes Islam, speaks the national language and practices its culture". Whoever forswears this faith will lose his civil rights if his conversion is not accepted by religious Muslim Councils. For decades, a strong islamisation drive has been under way, led by UMNO (United Malays National Organization), the party in government which tends to uphold Islam as a means to favour the majority ethnic Malays.

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