1.
Malaysia
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Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy located in Southeast Asia. Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government, with a population of over 30 million, Malaysia is the 44th most populous country. The southernmost point of continental Eurasia, Tanjung Piai, is in Malaysia, located in the tropics, Malaysia is one of 17 megadiverse countries on earth, with large numbers of endemic species. Malaysia has its origins in the Malay kingdoms present in the area which, from the 18th century, the first British territories were known as the Straits Settlements, whose establishment was followed by the Malay kingdoms becoming British protectorates. The territories on Peninsular Malaysia were first unified as the Malayan Union in 1946, Malaya was restructured as the Federation of Malaya in 1948, and achieved independence on 31 August 1957. Malaya united with North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore on 16 September 1963 to become Malaysia, less than two years later in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation. The country is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, which plays a role in politics. About half the population is ethnically Malay, with minorities of Malaysian Chinese, Malaysian Indians. The constitution declares Islam the state religion while allowing freedom of religion for non-Muslims, the government system is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system and the legal system is based on common law. The head of state is the king, known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and he is an elected monarch chosen from the hereditary rulers of the nine Malay states every five years. The head of government is the prime minister, since its independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with its GDP growing at an average of 6. 5% per annum for almost 50 years. The economy has traditionally been fuelled by its resources, but is expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce. Today, Malaysia has a newly industrialised market economy, ranked third largest in Southeast Asia, the name Malaysia is a combination of the word Malay and the Latin-Greek suffix -sia/-σία. The word melayu in Malay may derive from the Tamil words malai and ur meaning mountain and city, land, malayadvipa was the word used by ancient Indian traders when referring to the Malay Peninsula. Whether or not it originated from these roots, the word melayu or mlayu may have used in early Malay/Javanese to mean to steadily accelerate or run. This term was applied to describe the current of the river Melayu in Sumatra. The name was adopted by the Melayu Kingdom that existed in the seventh century on Sumatra
2.
Selangor
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Selangor /səˈlæŋə/ also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Ehsan, or Abode of Sincerity is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sembilan to the south and it surrounds the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, both of which were previously part of Selangor. The state capital is Shah Alam, however the first city in Selangor, another major urban centre is Petaling Jaya which was awarded city status on 20 June 2006. Selangor is one of only two Malaysian states with more than one city, the other is Sarawak, Selangor has the largest city in Malaysia and it is growing rapidly due to modernisation in the Klang Valley. The state of Selangor has the largest economy in Malaysia in terms of domestic product with RM128.815 billion in 2010 making up 23% of the total GDP of Malaysia. This state is also the most developed in Malaysia with good infrastructure such as highways, the state also has the largest population in Malaysia, with a high standard of living and the states poverty rate is the lowest in the country. A more plausible theory claims the name is derived from the term Selang Ur meaning land of the straits Aur also means river in Malay. Hence, Selangor may mean river straits, a major problem with this hypothesis is that the word selang does not in fact mean strait in Malay, not even in obsolete usage according to the Kamus Dewan, the proper word for strait is selat. Another possible origin of the name is combination of the words Sela. It may be possible that the banks of the Selangor River was full of bamboo groves in the distant past, however bamboo do not grow well in the marshy soil of the lower reaches of the river. It is also possible that the word Selangor is an Orang Asli term as some rivers have Orang Asli names, in the 15th century, Selangor was ruled by the Sultanate of Malacca. After the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese in 1511, the area became disputed between the Portuguese, Johor, Aceh and Siam. When the Dutch displaced the Portuguese from Malacca in 1641, they brought in Muslim Bugis mercenaries from Sulawesi and they established the present hereditary sultanate in 1740. In many districts, Bugis settlers displaced the Minangkabau settlers from Sumatra, in the 19th century, the economy boomed due to the exploitation of huge tin reserves. In 1854, the Sultan of Selangor granted Raja Abdullah the control of Klang, passing over Raja Mahdi and this would eventually led to the Selangor Civil War of 1867 to 1874, which was essentially a struggle for control of the revenues from tin. Tin Mining also attracted an influx of Chinese migrant labourers. Chinese secret clan societies, allied with Selangor chiefs, fought for control of the tin mines, in 1874, Sultan Adbul Samad of Selangor accepted a British Resident in a system allowed the British to govern while the Sultan remained the apparent ruler. Under the stability imposed by the British, Selangor again prospered, the Federated Malay States evolved into the Federation of Malaya in 1948, which became independent in 1957, and Malaysia in 1963
3.
Royal Malaysia Police
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The Royal Malaysia Police, is a uniformed federal police force in Malaysia. The force is a centralised organisation and its headquarters are located at Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur. The police force is led by an Inspector-General of Police who, the constitution, control, employment, recruitment, funding, discipline, duties and powers of the police force are specified and governed by the Police Act 1967. Rakan Cop is a community outreach programme launched on 9 August 2005, a police force has been in existence in Malaysia since the days of the Malacca Sultanate. Malaccas canonical law created what was essentially a police force in Malaysia in the century, through the institution of the Temenggung and Hulubalang. His tasks were to arrest criminals, build jails and implement sentences, apart from the Temenggung, there were a number of Penghulu or village chiefs who had the duty of detroy their respective villages. Their main tasks included tax collection, law enforcement and preserving village security and these Malacca police systems ended when, on 10 August 1511, a Portuguese fleet led by Afonso de Albuquerque conquered Malacca for the Portuguese crown. Police duties were largely performed by the Portuguese soldiers. During the sixteenth century, Malaysia became a society and the Portuguese government introduced the Kapitan administration. The Dutch retained the Kapitan system, but when the number of Europeans in Malaysia made change necessary. The Burgher Guard was controlled by the Dutch, but their subordinates were made up of the local citizens, village leaders continued to assume the duties of policemen under Dutch rule, as they had since before the Portuguese arrived. Following the assimilation of Malacca into the British Empire in 1795, most of the officers were of British origin. Later, this organisation was developed in the Straits Settlements and other Malay states, at that time, independent police forces were established for each respective state. Only after World War II was a police organisation formed. This organisation was formed in Malaya and led by a British colonial, longworthy, who had to stabilise the police forces after the anarchy of Japanese occupation. One of the problems faced by the police at this time was the rebellion of the communist party. Almost a year after Independence Day, on 24 July 1958, in 1963, the Royal Federation of Malayan Police, the North Borneo Armed Constabulary and the Sarawak Constabulary were merged to form the Royal Malaysia Police. The Singapore Police Force became a component unit of the RMP until Singapores independence in 1965, the flag and insignia of the Royal Malaysia Police has a blue coloured background which symbolises the Malaysian masses
4.
Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia
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The Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia, popularly known as Bomba, is the fire and rescue services agency in Malaysia. The Malay term Bomba is derived from the Portuguese word bombeiros which carries the same meaning, the fire and rescue services in Malaysia started in 1883 with the establishment of the Selangor state fire and rescue volunteers squad headed by H. F. Bellamy with 15 crews. In 1946 after the World War II, the Malayan Union Fire Services was formed with Flight Lt. W. J Gerumandi being appointed as the Director of Malayan Union Fire Services, MUS was based in Kuala Lumpur. Through the Federation of Malayas agreement, the fire and rescue service was handed over to the state governments, the service was then integrated as a federal-level department on 1 January 1976, reporting to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. On 15 May 1981, the department was renamed as the Malaysian Fire Services Department, mahathir Mohamad-the fourth Malaysian Prime Minister. Honda ST1000 Pan European, VFR800 – Rapid intervention motorcycles, honda 6x6 All-Terrain Buggy – Rescue missions and forest firefighting. Isuzu Morita Super Gyro Turntable tadder – 4WD rescue vehicle, scania Medium Fire Rescue Tender, Magirus TL30 Turn table ladder. Mercedes Benz Atego – Light fire rescue tender, Actros 1831/Amdac-Magirus – Turntable ladder, mercedes Benz Actros – Pumper/Heavy tanker/Water tender. Sinotruk HOWO – Pumper/Heavy tanker/Water tender, volvo N1227 Numela 30m Skylift HP – Bought in the early 80s, SLEP Programme Upgrades, gradually to be phased-out. GMC C3500 – Rapid intervention fire rescue tender, Ford F350XL – Rapid intervention fire rescue tender, Ford Ranger Everest 4WD Command Vehicle. Mitsubishi Pajero – 4WD Fire Commander Vehicle, dRB-Hicom Handalan Mk 2 – 4WD General purpose 3 tonne truck with rear lift. Perodua Rusa Utility Van – Gradually being phased out, replaced with Nissan Urvan Utility Van/MPV, Jinbei Haise Utility Van/MPV. Korean KIA Pregio – Fire investigation/forensics vehicle, scania c/w Trailer, MAN c/w Trailer –20,000 litres water tanker. Toyota Hiace – Emergency medical and rescue services EMRS ambulance, isuzu DMAX – 4WD utility vehicle. Kevlar Composite Boat-Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat RHIB, agusta A109 – Search and rescue. AgustaWestland AW139 – Search and rescue, agustaWestland AW189 – Fire fighting, disaster relief and search and rescue. Mil Mi-17 – Search and rescue, list of fire departments Official website Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia on Facebook
5.
Kuala Lumpur
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Kuala Lumpur, officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, or more commonly called KL is the national capital of Malaysia as well as its largest city. Being rated as an Alpha world city, Kuala Lumpur is the global city in Malaysia which covers an area of 243 km2 and has an estimated population of 1.73 million as of 2016. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an agglomeration of 7.25 million people as of 2017. It is among the fastest growing regions in South-East Asia, in terms of population. Kuala Lumpur is the seat of the Parliament of Malaysia, the city was once home to the executive and judicial branches of the federal government, but they were moved to Putrajaya in early 1999. Some sections of the judiciary still remain in the city of Kuala Lumpur. The official residence of the Malaysian King, the Istana Negara, is situated in Kuala Lumpur. Kuala Lumpur is the cultural, financial and economic centre of Malaysia due to its position as the capital as well as being a key city. Kuala Lumpur is one of three Federal Territories of Malaysia, enclaved within the state of Selangor, on the central west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Since the 1990s, the city has played host to international sporting, political and cultural events including the 1998 Commonwealth Games. Kuala Lumpur has undergone rapid development in recent decades and it is home to the tallest twin buildings in the world, the Petronas Twin Towers, which have become an iconic symbol of Malaysias futuristic development. Kuala Lumpur means muddy confluence, kuala is the point where two rivers join together or an estuary, and lumpur means mud. One suggestion is that it was named after Sungai Lumpur, it was recorded in 1824 that Sungei Lumpoor was the most important tin-producing settlement up the Klang River. It has also proposed that Kuala Lumpur was originally named Pengkalan Lumpur in the same way that Klang was once called Pengkalan Batu. Another suggestion is that it was initially a Cantonese word lam-pa meaning flooded jungle or decayed jungle, there is however no firm contemporary evidence for these suggestions other than anecdotes. It is also possible that the name is a form of an earlier. It is unknown who founded or named the settlement called Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur was originally a small hamlet of just a few houses and shops at the confluence of Sungai Gombak and Sungai Klang before it grew into a town. The miners landed at Kuala Lumpur and continued their journey on foot to Ampang where the first mine was opened
6.
Horse-drawn vehicle
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A horse-drawn vehicle is a mechanized piece of equipment pulled by one horse or by a team of horses. These vehicles typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers and/or a load and they were once common worldwide, but they have mostly been replaced by automobiles and other forms of self-propelled transport. A two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle is a cart, four-wheeled vehicles have many names – one for heavy loads is most commonly called a wagon. Very light carts and wagons can also be pulled by donkeys, other smaller animals are occasionally used, such as large dogs, llamas and goats. Heavy wagons, carts and agricultural implements can also be pulled by other large animals such as oxen, water buffalo, yaks or even camels. Vehicles pulled by one animal have two shafts which attach either side of the rearmost animal, Vehicles which are pulled by a pair have a pole which attaches between the wheel pair. Other arrangements are possible, for example three or more abreast, a wheel pair with a single lead animal, or a wheel pair with three lead animals abreast. Very heavy loads sometimes had a team behind to slow the vehicle down steep hills. Sometimes at a hill with frequent traffic such a team would be hired to passing wagons to help them up or down the hill. Two-wheeled vehicles are balanced by the distribution of weight of the load over the axle, four-wheeled vehicles remain level on their own, and so the shafts or pole are hinged vertically, allowing them to rise and fall with the movement of the animals. A four-wheeled vehicle is steered by the shafts or pole, which are attached to the front axle. Ambulance, much the purpose as the modern sense. Details of the varied but would be a lightly built and well-sprung, enclosed vehicle with provision for seated casualties. Barouche, an elegant, high-slung, open carriage with a seat in the rear of the body and a bench at the front for the driver. Berlin Brake Britzka Brougham Buckboard Bus, see omnibus Buggy, a light, open, four-wheeled carriage, joseph Hansom based the design of his public hire vehicle on the cabriolet so the name cab stuck to vehicles for public hire. Cabriolet Calash or Calèshe, see barouche, cape cart Cariole Carriage, in the late eighteenth century, roughly equivalent to the modern word vehicle. It later came to be restricted to vehicle and even to private. This last is the adopted by the linked article
7.
Water buffalo
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The water buffalo or domestic Asian water buffalo is a large bovid originating in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and China. Today, it is found in Europe, Australia, South America. The wild water buffalo native to Southeast Asia is considered a different species, Water buffalo were traded from the Indus Valley Civilisation to Mesopotamia, in modern Iraq,2500 BC by the Meluhhas. The seal of a scribe employed by an Akkadian king shows the sacrifice of water buffalo, at least 130 million domestic water buffalo exist, and more people depend on them than on any other domestic animal. They are especially suitable for tilling rice fields, and their milk is richer in fat, the large feral population of northern Australia became established in the late 19th century, and smaller feral herds are in New Guinea, Tunisia, and northeastern Argentina. Feral herds are present in New Britain, New Ireland, Irian Jaya, Papua New Guinea, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Brazil. The skin of buffalo is black, but some specimens may have dark. Swamp buffalo have a skin at birth, but become slate blue later. Albinoids are present in some populations, River buffalo have comparatively longer faces, smaller girths, and bigger limbs than swamp buffalo. Their dorsal ridges extend further back and taper off more gradually and their horns grow downward and backward, then curve upward in a spiral. Swamp buffalo are heavy-bodied and stockily built, the body is short, the forehead is flat, the eyes prominent, the face short, and the muzzle wide. The neck is long, and the withers and croup are prominent. A dorsal ridge extends backward and ends abruptly just before the end of the chest and their horns grow outward, and curve in a semicircle, but always remain more or less on the plane of the forehead. The tail is short, reaching only to the hocks, height at withers is 129–133 cm for males, and 120–127 cm for females. They range in weight from 300–550 kg, but weights of over 1,000 kg have also been observed, Tedong bonga is a black pied buffalo featuring a unique black and white colouration that is favoured by the Toraja of Sulawesi. The swamp buffalo has 48 chromosomes, the buffalo has 50 chromosomes. The two types do not readily interbreed, but fertile offspring can occur, buffalo-cattle hybrids have not been observed to occur, but the embryos of such hybrids reach maturity in laboratory experiments, albeit at lower rates than non-hybrids. The rumen of the buffalo has important differences from that of other ruminants
8.
Track (rail transport)
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The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties and ballast, plus the underlying subgrade. It enables trains to move by providing a surface for their wheels to roll upon. For clarity it is referred to as railway track or railroad track. Tracks where electric trains or electric trams run are equipped with a system such as an overhead electrical power line or an additional electrified rail. The term permanent way also refers to the track in addition to structures such as fences etc. Most railroads with heavy traffic use continuously welded rails supported by sleepers attached via baseplates that spread the load, a plastic or rubber pad is usually placed between the rail and the tieplate where concrete sleepers are used. The rail is held down to the sleeper with resilient fastenings. For much of the 20th century, rail track used softwood timber sleepers and jointed rails, jointed rails were used at first because contemporary technology did not offer any alternative. The joints also needed to be lubricated, and wear at the mating surfaces needed to be rectified by shimming. For this reason jointed track is not financially appropriate for heavily operated railroads, timber sleepers are of many available timbers, and are often treated with creosote, copper-chrome-arsenic, or other wood preservative. Pre-stressed concrete sleepers are used where timber is scarce and where tonnage or speeds are high. Steel is used in some applications, the track ballast is customarily crushed stone, and the purpose of this is to support the sleepers and allow some adjustment of their position, while allowing free drainage. A disadvantage of traditional track structures is the demand for maintenance, particularly surfacing and lining to restore the desired track geometry. Weakness of the subgrade and drainage deficiencies also lead to maintenance costs. This can be overcome by using ballastless track, in its simplest form this consists of a continuous slab of concrete with the rails supported directly on its upper surface. There are a number of systems, and variations include a continuous reinforced concrete slab. Many permutations of design have been put forward, however, ballastless track has a high initial cost, and in the case of existing railroads the upgrade to such requires closure of the route for a long period. Its whole-life cost can be lower because of the reduction in maintenance, some rubber-tyred metros use ballastless tracks
9.
Jetty
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A jetty is a structure that projects from the land out into water. Often, jetty refers to a walkway accessing the centre of an enclosed waterbody, the term is derived from the French word jetée, thrown, and signifies something thrown out. The nes jetties at Dunkirk were founded in the beach, by the aid of compressed air. Below low water of spring tides, and their solid masonry portion, on a foundation was raised 50 feet. Above low water of neap tides, hence a bar is produced that diminishes the available depth in the approach channel. By carrying out a solid jetty over the bar, however on each side of the outlet, the currents are concentrated in the channel across the bar. Where a river is narrow near its mouth, has a generally feeble discharge and a tidal range. The channel, also, beyond the outlet of the river Nervion into the Bay of Biscay has been regulated by jetties, and by extending the south-west jetty out for nearly 0
10.
Mangrove
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A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are salt tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to life in coastal conditions. They contain a complex filtration system and complex root system to cope with salt water immersion. They are adapted to the low oxygen conditions of waterlogged mud, the saline conditions tolerated by various mangrove species range from brackish water, through pure seawater, to water concentrated by evaporation to over twice the salinity of ocean seawater. The term mangrove comes to English from Spanish, and is likely to originate from Guarani and it was earlier mangrow, but this word was corrupted via folk etymology influence of the word grove. Mangrove swamps are found in tropical and subtropical tidal areas, areas where mangal occurs include estuaries and marine shorelines. The intertidal existence to which trees are adapted represents the major limitation to the number of species able to thrive in their habitat. High tide brings in water, and when the tide recedes. The return of tide can flush out these soils, bringing back to salinity levels comparable to that of seawater. At low tide, organisms are exposed to increases in temperature and desiccation. About 110 species are considered mangroves, in the sense of being a tree grows in such a saline swamp, though only a few are from the mangrove plant genus. However, a mangrove swamp typically features only a small number of tree species. It is not uncommon for a mangrove forest in the Caribbean to feature three or four tree species. For comparison, the tropical rainforest biome contains thousands of tree species, though the trees themselves are few in species, the ecosystem that these trees create provides a home for a great variety of other organisms. Mangrove plants require a number of adaptations to overcome the problems of anoxia, high salinity. Each species has its own solutions to problems, this may be the primary reason why, on some shorelines. Small environmental variations within a mangal may lead to greatly differing methods for coping with the environment, once established, mangrove roots provide an oyster habitat and slow water flow, thereby enhancing sediment deposition in areas where it is already occurring
11.
Ronald Ross
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His discovery of the malarial parasite in the gastrointestinal tract of a mosquito proved that malaria was transmitted by mosquitoes, and laid the foundation for the method of combating the disease. He was a polymath, writing a number of poems, published several novels and he was also an amateur artist and natural mathematician. He worked in the Indian Medical Service for 25 years and it was during his service that he made the groundbreaking medical discovery. After resigning from his service in India, he joined the faculty of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, in 1926 he became Director-in-Chief of the Ross Institute and Hospital for Tropical Diseases, which was established in honour of his works. He remained there until his death, Ronald Ross was born in Almora, India, the eldest of ten children of Sir Campbell Claye Grant Ross, General in the British Indian Army, and Matilda Charlotte Elderton. At age eight he was sent to England to live with his aunt and he attended Primary schools at Ryde, and for secondary education he was sent to a boarding school at Springhill, near Southampton, in 1869. From his early childhood he developed passion for poetry, music, literature, at fourteen years of age he won a prize for mathematics, a book titled Orbs of Heaven which sparked his interest in mathematics. In 1873, at sixteen, he secured first position in the Oxford, although he wanted to become a writer, his father arranged enrollment at St Bartholomews Hospital Medical College in London, in 1874. Not fully committed, he spent most of his composing music. He qualified on second attempt in 1881, and after a training at Army Medical School. Ronald Ross embarked for India on 22 September 1881 on the troopship Jumma, between 1881 and 1894 he was variously posted in Madras, Burma, Baluchistan, Andaman Islands, Bangalore and Secunderabad. In 1883, he was posted as the Acting Garrison Surgeon at Bangalore during which he noticed the possibility of controlling mosquitoes by limiting their access to water, in March 1894 he had his home leave and went to London with his family. On 10 April 1894 he met Sir Patrick Manson for the first time, Manson who became Rosss mentor, introduced him to the real problems in malaria research. Manson always had a belief that India was the best place for the study. Ross returned to India on P&O Ferries Ballaarat on 20 March 1895, even before his luggage was cleared in the custom office, he went straight for Bombay Civil Hospital, looking for malarial patients and started making blood films. Ross made his first important step in May 1895 when he observed the early stages of malarial parasite inside a mosquito stomach, however, his enthusiasm was interrupted as he was deployed to Bangalore to investigate an outbreak of cholera. Bangalore had no cases of malaria. He confided to Manson stating, I am thrown out of employment and have no work to do, in May 1896, he was given a short leave that enabled him to visit a malaria-endemic region around Ooty
12.
British Empire
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The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It originated with the possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23% of the population at the time. As a result, its political, legal, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread, during the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France, the independence of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after the American War of Independence caused Britain to lose some of its oldest and most populous colonies. British attention soon turned towards Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, after the defeat of France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Britain emerged as the principal naval and imperial power of the 19th century. In the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution began to transform Britain, the British Empire expanded to include India, large parts of Africa and many other territories throughout the world. In Britain, political attitudes favoured free trade and laissez-faire policies, during the 19th Century, Britains population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanisation, which caused significant social and economic stresses. To seek new markets and sources of raw materials, the Conservative Party under Benjamin Disraeli launched a period of imperialist expansion in Egypt, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand became self-governing dominions. By the start of the 20th century, Germany and the United States had begun to challenge Britains economic lead, subsequent military and economic tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of the First World War, during which Britain relied heavily upon its empire. The conflict placed enormous strain on the military, financial and manpower resources of Britain, although the British Empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after World War I, Britain was no longer the worlds pre-eminent industrial or military power. In the Second World War, Britains colonies in Southeast Asia were occupied by Imperial Japan, despite the final victory of Britain and its allies, the damage to British prestige helped to accelerate the decline of the empire. India, Britains most valuable and populous possession, achieved independence as part of a larger movement in which Britain granted independence to most territories of the empire. The transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997 marked for many the end of the British Empire, fourteen overseas territories remain under British sovereignty. After independence, many former British colonies joined the Commonwealth of Nations, the United Kingdom is now one of 16 Commonwealth nations, a grouping known informally as the Commonwealth realms, that share a monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The foundations of the British Empire were laid when England and Scotland were separate kingdoms. In 1496, King Henry VII of England, following the successes of Spain and Portugal in overseas exploration, Cabot led another voyage to the Americas the following year but nothing was ever heard of his ships again
that links it all the way to Kuala Lumpur.
The KESAS 
interchanges with the Pulau Indah Expressway 
in nearby Pandamaran connects to Westports and the PKFZ.
.[23]
