1.
Malay language
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Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It has a status in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia. As the Bahasa Kebangsaan or Bahasa Nasional of several states, Standard Malay has various official names, in Singapore and Brunei it is called Bahasa Melayu, in Malaysia, Bahasa Malaysia, and in Indonesia, Bahasa Indonesia and is designated the Bahasa Persatuan/Pemersatu. However, in areas of central to southern Sumatra where the language is indigenous, Indonesians refer to it as Bahasa Melayu and consider it one of their regional languages. There are also several Malay trade and creole languages which are based on a lingua franca derived from Classical Malay, as well as Macassar Malay, Malay historical linguists agree on the likelihood of the Malay homeland being in western Borneo stretching to the Bruneian coast. A form known as Proto-Malay language was spoken in Borneo at least by 1000 BCE and was, it has been argued, the ancestral language of all subsequent Malayan languages. The history of the Malay language can be divided into five periods, Old Malay, the Transitional Period, the Malacca Period, Late Modern Malay and it is not clear that Old Malay was actually the ancestor of Classical Malay, but this is thought to be quite possible. Old Malay was influenced by Sanskrit literary language of Classical India, Sanskrit loanwords can be found in Old Malay vocabulary. Batenburg on November 29,1920 at Kedukan Bukit, South Sumatra, on the banks of the Tatang and it is a small stone of 45 by 80 centimetres. The earliest surviving manuscript in Malay is the Tanjong Tanah Law in post-Pallava letters and this 14th-century pre-Islamic legal text produced in the Adityawarman era of Dharmasraya, a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom that arose after the end of Srivijayan rule in Sumatra. The laws were for the Minangkabau people, who still live in the highlands of Sumatra. The Malay language came into use as the lingua franca of the Malacca Sultanate. During this period, the Malay language developed rapidly under the influence of Islamic literature, the development changed the nature of the language with massive infusion of Arabic, Malayalam and Sanskrit vocabularies, called Classical Malay. Under the Sultanate of Malacca the language evolved into a form recognisable to speakers of modern Malay, however, there is no connection between Malaccan Malay as used on Riau and the Riau vernacular. One of the oldest surviving letters written in Malay is a letter from Sultan Abu Hayat of Ternate, Maluku Islands in present-day Indonesia, the letter is addressed to the king of Portugal, following contact with Portuguese explorer Francisco Serrão. The letters show sign of non-native usage, the Ternateans used the unrelated Ternate language, Malay was used solely as a lingua franca for inter-ethnic communications. Malay is a member of the Austronesian family of languages, which includes languages from Southeast Asia, malagasy, a geographic outlier spoken in Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, is also a member of this language family. Although each language of the family is mutually unintelligible, their similarities are rather striking, many roots have come virtually unchanged from their common ancestor, Proto-Austronesian language
2.
Unicameralism
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In government, unicameralism is the practice of having one legislative or parliamentary chamber. Thus, a parliament or unicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of one chamber or house. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multicameralism, many multicameral legislatures were created to give separate voices to different sectors of society. Multiple chambers allowed for guaranteed representation of different social classes, ethnic or regional interests, where these factors are unimportant, in unitary states with limited regional autonomy, unicameralism often prevails. Unicameral legislatures are also common in official Communist states such as the Peoples Republic of China, similarly, many formerly Communist states, such as Ukraine, Moldova and Serbia, have retained their unicameral legislatures, though others, such as Romania and Poland, adopted bicameral legislatures. Both the former Russian SFSR and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were bicameral, the two chambers were the Soviet of Nationalities and the Soviet of the Union. The Russian Federation retained bicameralism after the dissolution of the USSR, the principal advantage of a unicameral system is more efficient lawmaking, as the legislative process is much simpler and there is no possibility of deadlock. Proponents of unicameralism have also argued that it costs, even if the number of legislators stay the same, since there are fewer institutions to maintain. There is also the risk that important sectors of society may not be adequately represented, approximately half of the worlds sovereign states are currently unicameral, including both the most populous and the least populous. Many subnational entities have unicameral legislatures, and all of the Brazilian states. In the United Kingdom, the devolved Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales, Congress of Deputies of Second Spanish Republic was unicameral between 1931 and 1936. Dissolved at the end of Spanish Civil War, the actual Spanish Parliament is bicameral, Supreme Assembly of Uzbekistan was unicameral before being replaced in 2005 by the current, bicameral Supreme Assembly. National Assembly of Cameroon was unicameral before being replaced in 2013 by the current, chamber of Peoples Representative of Equatorial Guinea was unicameral before being replaced in 2013 by the current, bicameral Parliament of Equatorial Guinea. National Assembly of Kenya was the unicameral legislature before becoming the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Kenya in 2013. National Assembly of Ivory Coast was the unicameral legislature before becoming the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Ivory Coast in 2016. Nebraskas state legislature is also unique in the sense that it is the state legislature that is entirely nonpartisan. In 1999, Governor Jesse Ventura proposed converting the Minnesota Legislature into a unicameral chamber. Although debated, the idea was never adopted, if those constitutional changes had been approved, Puerto Rico could have switched to a unicameral legislature as early as 2015
3.
Abdul Taib Mahmud
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Tun Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib bin Mahmud is the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak, in office since 2014. Previously he was Chief Minister of Sarawak from 1981 to 2014, Taib was also the President of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, which is part of the Barisan Nasional coalition. He is of ethnic Melanau descent, Taib is informally known as Pak Uban, which translates into white-haired uncle. Among Chinese speaking communities he is known as Pek Moh which means white hair, another informal name for him, in reference to the British Brooke family that ruled Sarawak as White Rajahs in the 19th and early 20th century, is the last white rajah or white-haired rajah. Holding the post of Chief Minister of Sarawak from 1981 to 2014 and he assumed the Chief Minister post at the age of 45. Being a member of the Malaysian Parliament for 38 years, Taib is also the second longest-serving parliamentarian in Malaysia after Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Taib and his wider family are regularly accused of corruption and personally benefiting from Sarawaks natural and economic resources. On 12 February 2014, Taib handed over his letter to the Governor of Sarawak to vacate his chief minister post. His former brother-in-law, Adenan Satem, succeeded him as Chief Minister with effect from 1 March 2014 and he became the second Sarawakian to be appointed as the Governor after formally relinquishing the post of Chief Minister. Taib wed 18-year-old Laila Taib, a Polish Muslim, at South Australias Adelaide mosque on 13 January 1959, Taibs son Sulaiman Abdul Rahman is married to Anisa, who is the daughter of Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam. His daughter, Jamilah Taib and husband Sean Murray are involved in property development in Ottawa, Ontario, on 29 April 2009, Taibs wife Laila died of cancer. She was buried at the Demak Jaya cemetery in Kuching the following day, on 3 June 2009, Taibs four-year-old granddaughter Celestia Lulua Mahmud Abu Bekir died two days after slipping into the swimming pool at her home at Duta Nusantara Condominium in Kuala Lumpur. Celestia was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Kuala Lumpur Hospital after the accident and she was buried at the Bukit Kiara Muslim Cemetery. On 8 January 2011, he was together with his new wife Puan Sri Ragad Waleed Alkurdi attending a wedding reception of a former MP in Kuala Lumpur. Both held a wedding reception sometime in the middle of January, Taib Mahmud was born on 21 May 1936 at Kampung Sungei Merbau, Miri, Sarawak. He is the eldest child of Mahmud bin Haji Abang Yahya, Taib has nine siblings namely Ibrahim, Onn, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Arip, Mohammad Tufail, Aisah Zainab, Roziah, Faridah Hanon and Zaleha. Taibs father was a descendent of Pehin Datu Yahya Setia Raja, however, Taib had an impoverished life because his father worked as a carpenter for Shell Oil Company. Taibs uncle, Abdul Rahman Yakub raised Taib since he was a boy, Taib was five years old when the Japanese army landed in Miri in 1941. Taibs father, considering his familys safety from Japanese occupation, decided to move his family to his village in Mukah
4.
Barisan Nasional
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The National Front is a right-wing political party in Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of right-wing and centre parties. It is the largest party in the Parliament of Malaysia, Party Chairman Najib Razak has been Prime Minister of Malaysia from 3 April 2009. In state level, it is also the largest party in the 10 of 13 state legislative assemblies of Malaysia, along with its predecessor, it is considered the longest continuing ruling party in the democratic world. The Barisan Nasional is the successor to the three-party Alliance coalition formed of United Malays National Organisation, Malaysian Chinese Association. It was founded in the aftermath of the 1969 general election, the Alliance Party lost ground in the 1969 election to the opposition parties, in particular the two newly formed parties Democratic Action Party and Gerakan, and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party. In 1973, the Alliance Party was replaced by Barisan Nasional, the Barisan Nasional, which included regional parties from Sabah and Sarawak, was formed as a grand coalition of 11 parties under the leadership of the prime minister Tun Abdul Razak. It registered in June 1974 to contest the 1974 general election, in 1977, PAS was expelled from the Barisan Nasional following a revolt within the Kelantan state legislature against a chief minister appointed by the federal government. By 2003, Barisan Nasional had grown to a coalition formed of more than a dozen communal parties and it performed particularly well in the 2004 general election, winning 198 out of 219 seats. In the 2008 general elections, Barisan Nasional lost more than one-third of the seats to Pakatan Rakyat. This marked Barisans first failure to secure a two-thirds supermajority in Parliament since 1969, five state governments, Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak, and Selangor, fell to Pakatan Rakyat. Perak however was later returned via court ruling following a constitutional crisis, since 2008, the coalition has seen its non-Malay component parties greatly diminished in the Peninsula. The losses continued in the 2013 general election, and it recorded its worst ever election result, BN regained Kedah, but lost several more seats in Parliament along with the popular vote to Pakatan. It won only 47% of the vote, nevertheless it managed to gain 60% of the 222 parliamentary seats. As of 2013, the vast majority of Barisan Nasionals seats are held by its two largest Bumiputera-based political parties—the United Malays National Organisation, and Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu. Nevertheless, practically each component party purports to represent – and limit membership – to a race, UMNO for the Malays, MCA for the Chinese. In the view of scholars, Since its inception the Alliance remained a coalition of communal parties. Each of the component parties operated to all intents and purposes, save that of elections and their membership was communal, except perhaps Gerakan, and their success was measured in terms of their ability to achieve the essentially parochial demands of their constituents. Although both the Alliance and BN registered themselves as parties, membership is only possible indirectly through one of the constituent parties
5.
Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu
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The Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu or is a right-wing political party in Malaysia. It is currently the largest political party in Sarawak, with only in the rural areas. The party is one of the constituents of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu was formed from the combination of three parties in Sarawak, Parti Negara Sarawak, Barisan Rakyat Jati Sarawak and Parti Pesaka Anak Sarawak. The formation of the party was for the purpose of the improvement of the livelihood and protect the rights of the Bumiputera in many such as politics, economy. Bumiputera is a Malaysian political term and translates to son of earth, being mentioned in the partys name, this directly relates to the ethnic groups that are seen as native to the state of Sarawak. Members of the party are solely of Sarawak Bumiputera ethnicity, PANAS which was formed on 9 April 1960 by Datu Patinggi Abang Haji Mustapha, was the second political party to be formed after Sarawak United Peoples Party. BARJASA was formed on 4 December 1961 by Tuanku Bujang Tuanku Othman, Abdul Rahman Yakub and Abdul Taib Mahmud were among the earliest members of the party. Parti Pesaka Anak Sarawak was formed in Sibu in August 1962 to cater for the Ibans of Batang Rajang and its promoters refused to join the Sarawak National Party, which they claimed only catered for Ibans from Saribas. Among the initiators of the party were Penghulu Masam Anak Radin, Pengarah Banyang, Penghulu Chundi Anak Resa, Temenggong Jugah, Temenggong Oyong Lawai Jau and Jonathan Bangau joined later. While Jugah and Oyong Lawai Jau were incipiently members of PANAS, other Penghulus from other divisions such as Penghulu Tawi Sli and Penghulu Abok Anak Jalin also joined PESAKA. PESAKA was therefore known as the Penghulus’ Party, however, the person who actually mooted the idea of forming PESAKA was Thomas Kana, a former dresser at Kuala Belait. He was made the first secretary-general of the party, in order to ensure the domination of Muslim Bumiputra in Sarawak politics, PANAS and BARJASA initiated a plan of merger a few months after the local council elections of Sarawak in 1963. Initially, both parties were willing to dissolve themselves in order to allow United Malays National Organisation to enter Sarawak, however, UMNO was not interested in accepting non-Malay bumiputeras as members. Therefore, the Malaysian federal government recommended that the two combine to form a new separate party. After a series of negotiations, Parti Bumiputera Sarawak was formed on 30 March 1968, according to Sanib, Parti Bumiputera exercised a significant role in the Sarawak cabinet under the leadership of Sarawak chief minister Tawi Sli. Taib Mahmud dominated most of the decision making, Parti Bumiputera and Sarawak Chinese Association were the members of Sarawak Alliance. During the 1970 Sarawak state election, Parti Bumiputera won 12 seats while SCA won 3 seats out of a total of 48 seats, however, not a single party command a majority in Council Negri. Abdul Rahman from Parti Bumiputera was able to convince SUPP to form a government with him as the chief minister
6.
Chong Chieng Jen
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Chong Chieng Jen, is a Malaysian lawyer and politician from the Democratic Action Party. He owns a legal firm named Chong Brothers Advocates and he is currently the member of Malaysian Parliament for Bandar Kuching seat and the member of the Sarawak State Assembly for Kota Sentosa. He is also the Vice-Chairman of DAP Malaysia, the Chairman of DAP Sarawak, DAP Socialist Advisor of Youth Sarawak & Kuching, DAP Kuching Branch chairman and he started his primary education in SJK Methodist, Sibu. He continued his education from Primary 3 to 5 at Kuchings Chung Hua Primary School No.3 and he continued his secondary education in SMK St. Joseph, Kuching and Saint Patricks School, Singapore. He was admitted into Victoria Junior College, one of the top colleges in Singapore. He pursued his studies at the Australian National University, Canberra and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce. He first took part in 1999 parliamentary election for Bandar Kuching as a DAP candidate but lost to SUPP candidate, in the following 2001 Pandungan state election, again, he lost to Lily Yong, a SUPP candidate. Once again, he defended his state assembly seat from Datuk Yap Chin Loi with a majority vote of 4,824 in 2011, on 17 December 2012, during the DAP 16th National Congress, Chong is among the seven DAP leaders appointed to the Central Executive Committee
7.
Democratic Action Party (Malaysia)
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The DAP usually draw much of their support from secular and liberal religious voters with a stable electorate from voters of big cities, coastal regions, professional middle-class, and working class. The partys strongholds include the state of Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, in the 2013 Malaysian general election, DAP contested in 51 federal constituencies and won 38 seats, representing a win rate of 75%, the highest among the major political parties contesting. The party formally registered itself as a democratic socialist party on 18 March 1966, in the August of that year, the official party organ, The Rocket, was first published. In October that year, the DAP joined 55 other socialist parties belonging to the Socialist International at the SI International Conference in Zurich, devan Nair who was amongst those who founded the DAP, later returned to Singapore. I persuaded him to come back, the DAP contested a general election for the first time in 1969. In line with their commitment to equality, the DAP originally campaigned against Bumiputra privileges and they also continued Lee Kuan Yews campaign for a Malaysian Malaysia, the idea of which was originally conveyed by Lee in Parliament, Malaysia – to whom does it belong. I hope I am, Mr Speaker, Sir, but sometimes, sitting in this chamber, I doubt whether I am allowed to be a Malaysian. The 1969 election marked the biggest gains ever made by a party in Malaysia. However, a made by the DAP along with Gerakan as part of the opposition team led to violence. Parliament was suspended for two years, and the branch of the government assumed power. When Parliament reconvened, it passed pieces of such as the Sedition Act that illegalised discussion of repealing certain portions of the Constitution. Most of these concerned Bumiputra privileges, such as Article 153, the DAP and the Peoples Progressive Party were the only parties that voted against the Act, which passed by a vote of 125 to 17. After the 1969 election, the DAP would never close to repeating its past successes for the next 38 years. Although the DAP remained an opposition party, the ruling coalition had clung solidly to its two-thirds parliamentary majority. It is widely believed they were arrested for protesting the expansion of the New Economic Policy, in 1995 the party ran what has become widely known as the Robocop campaign to wrest Penang from the BN. Despite the hype, the campaign was a failure as the party won one state. The strategy backfired when Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, BN leaders, following the ousting of Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in September 1998, DAP co-founded the Barisan Alternatif coalition along with PAS and the newly formed Keadilan. PAS became the opposition party in Parliament
8.
Quorum
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A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised, the requirement for a quorum is protection against totally unrepresentative action in the name of the body by a small number of persons. The term quorum is from a Middle English wording of the commission formerly issued to justices of the peace, derived from Latin quorum, of whom, genitive plural of qui, as a result, quora as plural of quorum is not a valid Latin formation. Each assembly determines the number of members constitutes a quorum in its governing documents. The quorum may also be set by law, in the absence of such a provision, a quorum in an assembly whose membership can be determined is a majority of the entire membership. In the meetings of a convention, unless provided otherwise, a quorum is a majority of registered delegates, in a mass meeting or in an organization in which the membership cannot be accurately determined, the quorum consists of those who attend the meeting. In committees and boards, a quorum is a majority of the members of the board or committee unless provided otherwise, the board or committee cannot set its own quorum unless given such power. In a committee of the whole or its variants, a quorum is the same as the assembly unless otherwise provided, in online groups, a quorum has to be determined in a different manner since no one is actually present. The rules establishing such groups would have to prescribe this determination, an example is that a quorum in such groups could be established as present if enough members state that they are present at the designated meeting time. The chair of the group has the responsibility to determine if a quorum is present, in addition, any member can raise a point of order about an apparent absence of a quorum. When a quorum is not met, the assembly can only take limited procedural actions. These limited actions are to fix the time to which to adjourn, adjourn, recess, or take measures to obtain a quorum, any other business that is conducted is not valid unless it is ratified at a later meeting where a quorum is present. However, there is no obligation to ratify such action and those responsible may be punished for their actions, in legislatures and other assemblies that have the legal power to compel the attendance of their members, the call of the house procedure may be used to obtain a quorum. This procedure does not exist in ordinary societies, since voluntary associations have no coercive power, when a call of the house is ordered, the clerk calls the roll of members and then the names of absentees. Members who do not have an excused absence are arrested and brought in, the arrested members may be charged a fee. In the United States Senate, the procedure was used in the morning hours of February 25,1988. Byrds motion was approved 45-3 and arrest warrants were signed for all 46 Republicans, after a cleaning woman gave a tip that Senator Robert Packwood of Oregon was in his office, Giugni opened the door with a skeleton key. Packwood attempted to shove the door closed, but Giugni and two assistants pushed it open, Packwood was carried feet-first into the Senate chamber by three plainclothes officers and sustained bruised knuckles
9.
Majority
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A majority is the greater part, or more than half, of the total. It is a subset of a set consisting of more than half of the sets elements, Majority can be used to specify the voting requirement, as in a majority vote. A majority vote is more than half of the votes cast, a majority can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset considered. A plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset considered may consist of less than half the sets elements and this can occur when there are three or more possible choices. In British English the term majority is also used to refer to the winning margin. Other related terms containing the majority have their own meanings. A majority is the part, or more than half. For example, say a group consists of 20 individuals, in this case, a majority would be 11 or more individuals. For this group, having 10 or fewer individuals would not constitute a majority, in parliamentary procedure, the term majority simply means more than half. As it relates to a vote, a majority vote is more than half of the votes cast, abstentions or blanks are excluded in calculating a majority vote. Also, the totals do not include votes cast by someone not entitled to vote or improper multiple votes by a single member, depending on the parliamentary authority used, there may be a difference in the total that is used to calculate a majority vote due to illegal votes. Illegal votes are votes which are cast for unidentifiable or ineligible candidates or choices, in this definition, illegal refers to the choices made on the ballot and does not refer to the persons who cast the votes. In Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised, illegal votes are counted as votes cast, in The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure, illegal votes are not included in the total and a majority vote is defined as being more than half of all eligible votes cast. The issue of illegal votes does not exist when only two options are possible, such as when a majority vote is required to adopt a proposal, in this context, a majority vote is more yes votes than no votes. A majority vote is not the same as a vote of a majority of the present or a vote of a majority of the entire membership. For example, assume that votes are cast for three people for an office, Alice, Bob, and Carol, in Scenario 1, Alice received a majority vote. There were 20 votes cast and Alice received more than half of them, in Scenario 2, assume all three candidates are eligible. In this case, no one received a majority vote and this example also illustrates that half the votes cast is not a majority vote
10.
Sarawak United Peoples' Party
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The Sarawak United Peoples Party, or SUPP is a political party in Malaysia. The party is one of the constituent members of the ruling Barisan Nasional and it was established in 1959 mainly by leftists and working class Chinese, many of whom were members of the underground communist movement in Sarawak. For the first decade of its existence, many of its members were deported from Sarawak for communist activities, several of its senior members moved across the border into Kalimantan where they took up arms against the Sarawak government. In the early 1960s, SUPP opposed the formation of the Malaysian state, in the Malaysian general election,2008, SUPP managed to retain all of the seats it won previously. On 9 April 2010, Robert Lau Hoi Chew, Member of Parliament of Sibu, deputy Secretary-General of SUPP, Wong Soon Koh had announced that they are ready for the upcoming by-election. They nominated Robert Laus cousin, Robert Lau Hui Yew to contest for the Sibu by-election on 16 May 2010, in the by-election, SUPP was beaten by a candidate from the DAP despite personal campaigning by the PM, Najib. The current president of the party is Peter Chin who is a Federal Minister and he took over in 2011 after the then party president, George Chan, was defeat in the 2011 Sarawak state elections. The future of the SUPP remains uncertain after its performance in the Sarawak State Election held in April 2011. On the 13th General Election, SUPP suffered a major setback and it only won 1 out of 7 seats contested, with them losing the contests in Stampin, Sarikei and Lanang to DAP, while Miri to PKR. Its only Bumiputera candidate, Datuk Richard Riot Jaem successfully defended the Serian seat, Chinese Politics in Sarawak, a Study of the Sarawak United Peoples Party New York, Oxford University Press, ISBN 983-56-0039-2 James Chin. Forced to the Periphery, Recent Chinese Politics in East Malaysia
11.
Parti Demokratik Progresif
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The Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party, or SPDP is a Sarawak based political party in Malaysia founded in 2002. The party is one of the component party of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, at the 2011 Sarawak state election, the SPDP won six out of the eight seats it contested. In the 2013 General Election, all 4 of their candidates won their seats, including William Mawan himself. N02 – Tasik Biru – Henry Harry Jinep N48 – Meluan – Rolland Duat Jubin N76 – Marudi – Penguang Manggil Khoo, sabah and Sarawak, The more things change, the more they remain the same, in Chin Kin Wah Southeast Asian Affairs 2004 James Chin. Forced to the Periphery, Recent Chinese Politics in East Malaysia
12.
People's Justice Party (Malaysia)
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The Peoples Justice Party is a centrist multiracial political party in Malaysia formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian Peoples Party. The party enjoys strong support from states such as Selangor. KeADILan was formed for Anwar Ibrahim and his justice and promotes an agenda with a strong emphasis on social justice. 1997 saw the economy of Malaysia affected by what is now known as the Asian Economic Crisis, the Finance Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, instituted a series of economic reforms and austerity measures in response. These actions were exacerbated when he tabled amendments to the Anti Corruption Act that sought to increase the powers of the Anti Corruption Agency. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad disagreed with these measures and ultimately sacked Anwar from all his posts, further arrests were made on 10 April 2001 and those arrested were subsequently charged and incarcerated under the Internal Security Act. They became known as the Reformasi 10, the party entered the campaign with many of its key leaders under arrest and as a result saw it winning only five parliamentary seats in the elections despite gaining 11. 67% of the total votes cast. The Barisan Alternatif as a whole gained 40. 21% of the votes cast with PAS gaining 27 seats. The post election period saw negotiations between KeADILan and Parti Rakyat Malaysia on a possible merger, despite some opposition in both parties to the move, a 13-point Memorandum of Understanding was eventually signed by the two parties on 5 July 2002. On 3 August 2003, the new merged entity was officially launched and assumed its current name, the party fared poorly in the elections and only managed to retain one parliamentary seat, Permatang Pauh which is held by Dr Wan Azizah, despite winning 9% of the popular vote. On 2 September 2004, in a decision by the Federal Court, Anwar Ibrahims sodomy conviction was overturned and this unexpected turn of events came timely for KeADILan which was facing flagging morale due to its dismal performance in the elections. In the 2008 elections, KeADILan won 31 seats in Parliament, with the DAP, the offices of the Menteri Besar of Selangor and the Deputy Chief Minister of Penang were held by KeADILan elected representatives, Khalid Ibrahim and Mohd Fairus Khairuddin, respectively. On 14 April 2008, Anwar celebrated his return to the political stage. A gathering of more than 10,000 supporters greeted Anwar in a rally welcoming back his return to politics, in the midst of the rally, police interrupted Anwar after he had addressed the rally for nearly half an hour and forced him to stop the gathering. Campaigning wrapped up 7 March for general elections that would see gains for Malaysias opposition amid anger over race and religion among minority Chinese, malaysians voted on 8 March 2008 in parliamentary elections. Reasons for the setback of the party, which had retained power since the nation declared independence in 1957, were the rising inflation, crime. Malaysias government and ruling coalition declared defeat in a victory in the by-election by Anwar Ibrahim. Muhammad Muhammad Taib, information chief of the United Malays National Organisation which leads the Barisan Nasional coalition stated and we were the underdogs going into this race
13.
Plurality voting
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The plurality voting system is a system in which each voter is allowed to vote for only one candidate, and the candidate who polls the most among their counterparts is elected. In a system based on single-member districts, it may be called first-past-the-post, single-choice voting, in a system based on multi-member districts, it may be referred to as winner-takes-all or bloc voting. The system is used to elect members of a legislative assembly or executive officers. It is the most common form of the system, and is used in Canada, the house in India, the United Kingdom. Plural voting is distinguished from a majority voting system, in which, to win, more votes than all other candidates combined. In some countries such as France a two-ballot or runoff election plurality system is used and this may require two rounds of voting. If on the first round no candidate receives over 50% of the votes, then a second round takes place and this ensures that the winner gains a majority of votes in the second round. Alternatively, all candidates above a threshold in the first round may compete in the second round. If there are more than two standing, then a plurality vote may decide the result. In political science, the use of the plurality voting system with multiple and this combination is also variously referred to as winner-takes-all to contrast it with proportional representation systems. This term is also used to refer to elections for multiple winners in a particular constituency using bloc voting. Plurality voting is particularly prevalent in the United Kingdom and former British colonies, including the United States, Canada and this makes the plurality voting system among the simplest of all voting systems for voters and vote counting officials. Under the plurality system, the winner of the election becomes the representative of the entire electoral district. In an election for a seat, such as for president in a presidential system, the same style of ballot is used. In the two-round voting system, usually the two highest polling candidates in the first ballot progress to the second round Run-off ballot, in a multiple member plurality election, with n seats available, the winners are the n candidates with the highest numbers of votes. The rules may allow the voter to vote for one candidate, or for up to n candidates, generally plurality ballots can be categorized into two forms. The simplest form is a ballot where the name of a candidate is written in by hand. A more structured ballot will list all the candidates and allow a mark to be next to the name of a single candidate
14.
First-past-the-post voting
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First-past-the-post voting method is one of several plurality voting methods. It is a common, but not universal, feature of voting methods with single-member electoral divisions, the method is widely used in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and most of their current and former colonies and protectorates, and a few other countries. There is some confusion between highest vote, majority vote and plurality voting methods, all three use a first-past-the-post voting method, but there are subtle differences in the method of execution. First-past-the-post voting is used in two-round systems and some exhaustive ballots. First-past-the-post voting methods can be used for single- and multiple-member electoral divisions, in a single-member election, the candidate with the highest number – not necessarily a majority – of votes is elected. The two-round voting method uses a first-past-the-post voting method in each of the two rounds, the first round determines which two candidates will progress to the second, final-round ballot. In a multiple-member, first-past-the-post ballot, the first number of candidates – in order of highest vote, if there are six vacancies, then the first six candidates with the highest vote are elected. The Electoral Reform Society is a pressure group based in the United Kingdom which advocates abolishing the first-past-the-post method for all national and local elections. It argues FPTP is bad for voters, bad for government and it is the oldest organisation concerned with electoral methods in the world. States other than Maine and Nebraska use a form of simple plurality, first-past-the-post voting. Under a first-past-the-post voting method the highest polling candidate is elected, in this real-life example, Tony Tan obtained a greater number than the other candidates, and so was declared the winner, even though majority of voters did not vote for him. It is more likely that a party will hold a majority of legislative seats. In the United Kingdom,18 out of 23 general elections since 1922 have produced a single-party majority government. For example, the 2005 United Kingdom general election results in Great Britain are as follows, It can be seen that Labour took a majority of seats, 57%, the largest two parties took 69% of votes and 88% of seats. Meanwhile, the smaller Liberal Democrat party took more than a fifth of votes, another example would be the UK General Election held on 7 May 2015, Here, the Conservatives took 51% of the seats with only 37% of the vote. It should be noted that the Liberal Democrats also suffered under first-past-the-post, the benefits of FPTP are that its concept is very easy to understand, and ballots can be easily counted and processed. Alternative methods such as rank-based voting require far more work or processing power to tabulate results than a single choice, supporters of FPTP argue that it is the electoral method providing the best governance. It trades fairness in representation for more responsible government and its tendency to produce majority rule allows the government to pursue a consistent strategy for its term in office and to make decisions that may be both correct and unpopular
15.
New Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building
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The New Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building is the current state legislative complex of Sarawak, located in Kuching, Malaysia. It is the place where state assemblymen from all over Sarawak will meet and preside over debates. The complex is located at the bank of the Sarawak River in between The Astana, which is the official residence of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak. The building was opened by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia. This nine-storey high building is the venue for future Sarawaks new state legislative assembly sittings, the distinctive payung roof of the new DUN complex is an iconic landmark for Sarawak. The new complex development covers an area measuring 172 acres near The Astana on the banks of Sarawak River in Petra Jaya, the new chamber can hold up to 108 members, each with their own office. It also has 142 seats for civil servants,86 in the VIP gallery and 106 in the public gallery and its architecture and design have meticulously taken into account the future needs of elected representatives. The building is equipped with high-tech information and communication technology. This new DUN complex, perched on the promontory on the bank of the Sarawak River between the Astana and Fort Margherita, has described as one of the most beautiful buildings in Southeast Asia. The best view of the complex is from the Kuching Waterfront and it is also a depiction of the state’s struggles and achievements over the years after gaining independence through the formation of Malaysia and as a multi-racial society. Reinforced by nine gigantic pillars and numerous arches, the building reflects the sovereignty of the power as well as the support of all the races in the state. The contract for the design, construction and completion of the new complex was valued at RM296.5 million and it was completed on 31 May 2009. Meanwhile, Naim Cendera Sdn Bhd is an owned subsidiary of Main Board of Bursa Malaysia listed entity Naim Cendera Holdings Berhad. The Sarawak State Assembly complex’s opening in July cost the government more than RM1mil – and nearly half of the amount went to organising a river float parade. Second Minister of Planning and Resource Management Datuk Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said RM581,179 was spent on the ceremony and RM437,250 on the float parade. Approved permits were obtained from the Federal Government and the cars were bought from Brunei at a reasonable price, Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Wisma Bapa Malaysia The Astana, Sarawak Official website
16.
Petra Jaya
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Petra Jaya is a suburb of Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. This suburb was named after sixth Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Yahya Petra of Kelantan, the suburb was founded in the 1970s. The area where Petra Jaya is sited was formerly known as Matang, most of the land in the area then was undeveloped. Kampungs or villages along and near the riverbanks of the Sarawak river were the residential areas. The area was accessible by the Satok suspension bridge, ferry or sampan. Petra Jaya is under the jurisdiction of Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara. The Kuching North City Hall headquarters is located here, in addition to that, the Administrative Centre of the Sarawak Government is located here. The land in the area are flat with several hilly areas near Semariang. Most lands in this area are classified as Native Area Land and as such, relatively Petra Jaya is the most developed area in Kuching City North barring areas under DBKU which are south of the Sarawak River. It is fairly densely developed in the south or near the river, most of the development in Petra Jaya are residential in nature. Commercial developments are few and far in between with scattered blocks of shophouses and it is notable that industries except for light small scale ones, are almost absent in Petra Jaya. Petra Jaya is accessible from Kuching City South via Datuk Patinggi Tun Abdul Rahman Yaakub Bridge from Satok, alternative access is via the Bako Causeway or Jalan Matang-Batu Kawa. Petra Jaya typical low density characteristic of a suburb has caused residents to be reliant on cars because public transportation is quite poor in this part of Kuching
17.
Kuching
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Kuching /ˈkuːtʃɪŋ/, officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division, Kuching was the third capital of Sarawak in 1827 during the administration of the Bruneian Empire. The town continued to receive attention and development during the rule of Charles Brooke such as the construction of a system, hospital, prison, fort. In 1941, the Brooke administration had a Centenary Celebration in Kuching, during World War II, Kuching was occupied by Japanese forces from 1942 to 1945. The Japanese government set up a Batu Lintang camp near Kuching to hold prisoners of war, after the war, the town survived intact. However, the last Rajah of Sarawak, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke decided to cede Sarawak as part of British Crown Colony in 1946, Kuching remained as capital during the Crown Colony period. After the formation of Malaysia in 1963, Kuching retained its status as capital and was granted city status in 1988. Since then, the Kuching city is divided into two administrative regions managed by two local authorities. The administrative centre of Sarawak state government is located at Wisma Bapa Malaysia, Kuching is a major food destination for tourists and the main gateway for travellers visiting Sarawak and Borneo. The city has one of the major industrial and commercial centres in East Malaysia. The name of Kuching was already in use for the city by the time Brooke arrived in 1841, there are many theories as to the derivation of the word Kuching. It was perhaps derived from the Malay word for cat, kucing or from Cochin, an Indian trading port on the Malabar Coast, some Hindu artefacts can be seen today at the Sarawak State Museum. However, another source reported that the Kuching city was known as Sarawak before the Brooke arrived. The settlement was renamed to Sarawak proper during the kingdom expansion and it was only in 1872 that Charles Brooke renamed the settlement to Kuching. There was one unlikely theory based on a story on miscommunication, according to the story, James Brooke arrived in Kuching on his yacht Royalist. He then asked his local guide about the name of the town, the local guide thinking that James Brooke was pointing towards a cat, and said the word Kuching. However, ethnic Malays in Sarawak usually refer the name of a cat as pusak instead of the Malay word kucing, some source also stated that it was derived from a fruit called mata kucing, a fruit that grows widely in Malaysia and Indonesia. There was also a hill in the city that was named after the fruit, which is called Bukit Mata Kuching
18.
Sarawak
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Sarawak is one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. The capital city, Kuching, is the centre of the state. Other cities and towns in Sarawak include Miri, Sibu, as of the 2015 census, the total population of Sarawak is 2,636,000. Sarawak has a climate with tropical rainforests and abundant animal. It has several prominent cave systems at Gunung Mulu National Park, Rajang River is the longest river in Malaysia, Bakun Dam, one of the largest dams in Southeast Asia, is located on one of its tributaries, the Balui River. Mount Murud is the highest point in Sarawak, the earliest known human settlement in Sarawak, located at the Niah Caves, dates back to 40,000 years ago. A series of Chinese ceramics dated from the 8th to 13th century AD was uncovered at the site of Santubong. The coastal regions of Sarawak came under the influence of the Bruneian Empire in the 16th century, in 1839, James Brooke, a British explorer, arrived in Sarawak. He, and his descendants, governed the state from 1841 to 1946, during World War II, it was occupied by the Japanese for three years. After the war, the last White Rajah, Charles Vyner Brooke, ceded Sarawak to Britain, on 22 July 1963, Sarawak was granted self-government by the British and subsequently became one of the founding members of the Federation of Malaysia, established on 16 September 1963. However, the federation was opposed by Indonesia leading to a three-year confrontation, the creation of the Federation also resulted in a communist insurgency that lasted until 1990. The head of state is the Governor, also known as the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, Sarawak exhibits notable diversity in ethnicity, culture, and language, major ethnic groups in Sarawak are, Iban, Malay, Chinese, Melanau, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu. English and Malay are the two official languages of the state, there is no official religion. The Gawai Dayak is a festival celebrated on a public holiday. The official explanation of the word Sarawak is that it is derived from the Sarawak Malay word serawak, which means antimony. A popular alternative explanation is that it is a contraction of the four Malay words purportedly uttered by Pangeran Muda Hashim, Saya serah pada awak, James Brooke became the first of the White Rajah dynasty to govern Sarawak. Sarawak is nicknamed Land of the Hornbills and these birds are important cultural symbols for the Dayak people, representing the spirit of God. It is also believed if a hornbill is seen flying over residences
19.
State legislative assemblies of Malaysia
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A state legislative assembly is the legislative branch of the state governments of each of the 13 Malaysian states. Members of a legislative assembly comprises elected representatives from single-member constituencies during state elections through the first-past-the-post system. The assemblies have powers to enact state laws as provided for by the Constitution of Malaysia, the majority party in each assembly forms the state government, and the leader of the majority party becomes menteri besar or chief minister of the state. After the March 2008 general election, the Barisan Nasional coalition were the majority party in eight states, in February 2009, BN regained Perak after 3 Pakatan Rakyat assembly members defected. The state legislative assemblies are unicameral, unlike the bicameral Parliament of Malaysia, the hereditary rulers or Yang di-Pertua Negeri are vested with powers to dissolve their respective state legislative assemblies on the advice of the menteri besar or chief minister. Once dissolved, elections must be carried out within a period of sixty days. Usually, state elections are held simultaneously with the parliamentary elections, with the exception of Sarawak
20.
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
21.
States and federal territories of Malaysia
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The states and federal territories of Malaysia are the principal administrative divisions of Malaysia. Malaysia is a federation comprising thirteen states and three federal territories, eleven states and two federal territories are located on the Malay Peninsula, collectively called Peninsular Malaysia or West Malaysia. Two states are on the island of Borneo, and the remaining one federal territory consists of islands offshore of Borneo, out of the 13 states in Malaysia,9 of the states are hereditary monarchies. The governance of the states is divided between the government and the state governments, while the federal territories are directly administered by the federal government. The specific responsibilities of the federal and the governments are listed in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution of Malaysia. Theoretically, any matter not set out in the Ninth Schedule can be legislated on by the individual states, however, legal scholars generally view this as a paupers bequest because of the large scope of the matters listed in the Ninth Schedule. The courts themselves have generally favoured a broad interpretation of the language of the Ninth Schedule, the Ninth Schedule specifically lists the following matters as those that can only be legislated on by the states, land tenure, the Islamic religion, and local government. Nine of the states, based on historical Malay kingdoms, are known as the Malay states. Each Malay state has a ruler as titular head of state. The rulers of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilans elective ruler holds the title of Yamtuan Besar, whereas the ruler of Perlis is titled Raja. The federal head of state, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is elected among the nine rulers to serve a 5-year term and they have separate immigration policies and controls and a unique residency status. Each state has a legislature called Dewan Undangan Negeri. Members of DUN are elected from single-member constituencies drawn based on population, the state leader of the majority party in DUN is usually appointed Chief Minister by the Ruler or Governor. The term of DUN members is five years unless the assembly is dissolved earlier by the Ruler or Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister, however, Rulers and Governors hold discretionary powers in withholding consent to dissolve the DUN. Each state sends two senators elected by the DUN to the Dewan Negara, the house of the federal parliament. The law in question must also be passed by the assembly as well. Non-Islamic issues that fall under the purview of the state may also be legislated on at the level for the purpose of conforming with Malaysian treaty obligations. Each state is divided into districts, which are then divided into mukim
22.
White Rajahs
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Other men sometimes referred to as White Rajahs include Englishman Alexander Hare in Borneo, Scot John Clunies Ross in the Cocos Islands, and Dane Mads Lange in Bali. The first ruler was Englishman James Brooke, as a reward for helping the Sultanate of Brunei fight piracy and insurgency among the indigenous peoples, he was granted the landmass of Sarawak in 1841 and received independent kingdom status. His nephew had been the heir to the throne and objected to the cession. He was later confirmed with the title of Rajah of the territory, the Kingdom of Sarawak developed and expanded during the rule of the first two White Rajahs, growing to occupy much of the north region of the island of Borneo. The Brooke administrations leased or annexed more land from Brunei, the White Rajahs were all related, James and Charles had short grammar school educations, Vyner, Bertram, and Anthony went to public schools and Cambridge University. All but Anthony died in England and are buried at Sheepstor parish church, Anthony Brooke had his ashes interred at Sheepstor as well as at the Brooke Family graveyard in Kuching, as per his last wish. The White Rajahs pursued a policy of paternalism, with the goal of protecting the native peoples from capitalist exploitation, while James Brooke laid much of the groundwork for the expansion of Sarawak, his nephew Charles, the second rajah, was the great builder. He constructed public buildings to serve welfare, such as a hospital and he worked to extend the borders of the state. Vyner Brooke instituted significant political reforms during his tenure and he ended the absolute rule of the Rajah in 1941, before the Japanese invasion of World War II, by granting new powers to the Council Negri. Bertram co-ruled with his brother, taking turns of 6 –8 months in charge of the country each year. Charles inherited under the Will in 1868, and confirmed the succession in his own will of 1913, on his accession in 1918, his son Vyner swore to uphold the Will as forming the constitution of the state. This unique testamentary trust became known as The Sarawak Sovereignty Trust, when James Brooke first arrived in Sarawak, it was governed as a vassal state of the Sultanate of Brunei, the system of government was based on the Bruneian model. Brooke reorganised the government according to the British model, eventually creating a civil service and it recruited European, chiefly British, officers to run district outstations. The Sarawak Service was continually reformed by Rajah James and his successors, Rajah James retained many of the customs and symbols of Malay monarchy, and combined them with his own style of absolute rule. The Rajah had the power to introduce laws and acted as judge in Kuching. The White Rajahs were determined to prevent the peoples of Sarawak from being exploited by Western business interests. They allowed the Borneo Company Limited to assist in managing the economy, the core of the early Sarawak economy was antimony, later followed by gold, which was mined in Bau by Chinese syndicates who imported numerous workers from China. After the local Chinese uprising in 1857, the operations were gradually taken over by the Borneo Company
23.
Kingdom of Sarawak
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The Kingdom of Sarawak was a state in Borneo established in 1841 by James Brooke receiving independent kingdom status from the Sultanate of Brunei as a reward for helping fight piracy and insurgency. Its statehood and identity as a country was first recognised by the United States in 1850. Sarawak gained self-government from the British on 22 July 1963 and formed the Federation of Malaysia together with Singapore, North Borneo, however, it never restore its full independence and sovereignty as enjoyed during the rule of the White Rajahs. Sarawak was part of the Sultanate of Brunei in Borneo, during the reign of Pangeran Indera Mahkota, Sarawak was in chaos from piracy and insurgency. Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II the Sultan of Brunei, ordered Pengiran Muda Hashim in 1839 to restore order, Pangeran Muda Hashim initially requested assistance but James Brooke refused. Brooke was by then an independent adventurer with his own ship having left military employment in India after recovering from battle injuries. In 1841, James Brooke paid another visit to Sarawak and this time he agreed to assist Pangeran Muda Hashim, the success in defeating the pirates and insurgents led to the signing of a treaty in 1841 ceding as a reward Sarawak and Serian to James Brooke. Thereafter, on 24 September 1841, Pangeran Muda Hashim bestowed the title Rajah on James Brooke and he effectively became the Rajah of Sarawak and founded the White Rajah Dynasty of Sarawak, later extending his administration through an agreement with the Sultan of Brunei. James Brooke, who was to become the first White Rajah, as time went on Sarawaks size would increase tremendously as more territory was leased or annexed from the Sultanate of Brunei. When the Pacific War began in December 1941, Sarawak was brought into the war against Japan on the side of the Allies as part of the British Empire, Sarawak depended upon British protection as she had very limited armed forces, although the Sarawak Rangers were mobilised. Sarawaks small merchant marine was used by the British in the Far Eastern campaign, a government in exile was formed, although it proved ineffectual due to the lack of contact with Sarawak. Sarawak, along with the rest of Borneo, was liberated by the Australian Imperial Force in 1945, after World War II, Vyner Brooke ceded Sarawak to the Colonial Office for a sizeable pension for him and his three daughters. Duncan Stewart, the second British governor of Sarawak, was assassinated in the resulting unrest, as of now there is no serious movement for the restoration of the monarchy. Sarawak is notably different from peninsular Malaysia and even Sabah in that its ethnic groups are more varied due to the proportion of tribal peoples such as Dayaks. Chinese migration was encouraged at various times by the Brookes, when he assumed control of the original area around Kuching in the 1840s much of the system of government was based on the ineffective Bruneian model. James set about reforming the government and eventually creating a service known as the Sarawak Service which recruited European. He invited the Anglican Mission to set up church and schools, particularly, the mission through Father McDougall set up the St. Thomas Anglican School, in 1848, still the oldest established European school in Southeast Asia. Thus, the residents became exposed to and trained in many British and European methods, however, James retained many of the customs and symbols of neighbouring Malay monarchies and combined them with his own style of absolute rule
24.
Charles Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak
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Charles Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, GCMG, born Charles Anthoni Johnson, ruled as the head of state of Sarawak from 3 August 1868 until his death. He succeeded his uncle, James Brooke, as the second White Rajah of this country on the coast of Borneo. Charles was born in Berrow Vicarage, Burnham, Somerset, in England, to the Rev. Francis Charles, Emma Frances Johnson, née Brooke, was the younger sister of James Brooke, the first Rajah of Sarawak. Charles was educated at Crewkerne Grammar School and entered the Royal Navy and he adopted his uncle Jamess name and entered his service in 1852 as Resident at the Lundu station. In 1865, James named Charles as his successor, Charles married Margaret Alice Lili de Windt at Highworth, Wiltshire on 28 October 1869, she was raised to the title of Ranee of Sarawak with the style of Her Highness on the same day. Esca was later adopted by Rev. William Daykin, moved to Canada, in 1891 he established the Sarawak Museum, the first museum in Borneo. Brooke founded a school in 1903, called the Government Lay School. This was the forerunner of SMK Green Road, by the time of his death, Britain had granted Sarawak protectorate status, it had a parliamentary government and a railway, and oil had been discovered. All three White Rajahs are buried in St Leonards Church in the village of Sheepstor on Dartmoor, the White Rajahs of Sarawak, Dynastic Intrigue and the Forgotten Canadian Heir. The Name of Brooke, the End of White Rajah Rule in Sarawak
25.
James Brooke
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Sir James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, KCB, was a Briton born and raised under the Company Raj in NE India, who became the first White Rajah of Sarawak in Borneo. After a few years of education in England, he served in the Bengal Army, was wounded and he bought a ship and sailed out to the Malay Archipelago where, by helping to crush a rebellion, he became governor of Sarawak. He then vigorously suppressed piracy in the region and, in the turmoil, restored the Sultan of Brunei to his throne. Brooke was not without detractors and was criticised in the British Parliament and he was, however, honoured in London for his work. The naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace was one of many visitors whose published work spoke of his hospitality and his final years were spent quietly in England. Brooke was born in Bandel, near Calcutta, Bengal, but baptised in Secrole, Brooke stayed at home in India until he was sent, aged 12, to England for a brief education at Norwich School from which he ran away. Some home tutoring followed in Bath before he returned to India in 1819 as an ensign in the Bengal Army of the British East India Company and he saw action in Assam during the First Anglo-Burmese War until seriously wounded in 1825, and was sent to England for recovery. In 1830, he arrived back in Madras but was too late to rejoin his unit and he remained on the ship he had travelled out in, the Castle Huntley, and returned home via China. Brooke attempted to trade in the Far East, but was not successful, in 1833 he inherited £30,000, which he used as capital to purchase a 142-ton schooner, Royalist. Setting sail for Borneo in 1838, he arrived in Kuching in August to find the settlement facing an uprising against the Sultan of Brunei, Rajah Brooke was highly successful in suppressing the widespread piracy of the region. However, some Malay nobles in Brunei, unhappy over Brookes measures against piracy, arranged for the murder of Muda Hashim, Brooke, with assistance from a unit of Britains China Squadron, took over Brunei and restored its sultan to the throne. In 1846 Brooke presented the island of Labuan to the British government and he was appointed governor and commander-in-chief of Labuan. In 1842 Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien II ceded complete sovereignty of Sarawak to Brooke and he was granted the title of Rajah of Sarawak on 24 September 1841, although the official declaration was not made until 18 August 1842. After investigation, the Commission dismissed the charges but the continued to haunt him. Brooke wrote to Alfred Russel Wallace on leaving England in April 1853, during his rule, Brooke faced threats from Sarawak warriors like Sharif Masahor and Rentap, and an uprising by Liu Shan Bang in 1857, but remained in power. Brooke ruled Sarawak until his death in 1868, following three strokes over ten years, all three White Rajahs are buried in St Leonards Church in the village of Sheepstor on Dartmoor. Having no legitimate children, in 1861 he formally named Captain John Brooke Johnson-Brooke, his sisters eldest son, two years later, the Rajah reacted to criticism by returning to the east, after a brief meeting in Singapore John was deposed and banished from Sarawak. James increased the charges to treasonous conduct and later named Johns younger brother, Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke, Brooke was influenced by the success of previous British adventurers and the exploits of the British East India Company
26.
Bintulu
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Bintulu /biːnˈtuːluː/ is a coastal town on the island of Borneo in the central region of Sarawak, Malaysia. Bintulu is located 610 kilometres northeast of Kuching,216 kilometres northeast of Sibu, with a population of 114,058 as of 2010, Bintulu is the capital of the Bintulu District of the Bintulu Division of Sarawak, Malaysia. The name of Bintulu was derived from the native language Mentu Ulau. Bintulu was a fishing village when Rajah James Brooke acquired it in 1861. Brooke later built a fort there in 1862, in 1867, the first General Council meeting was convened in Bintulu. It is the earliest state legislature system in Malaysia, the construction of the earliest airstrip in Bintulu began in 1934 but was halted in 1938 due to financial difficulties. During World War II, the airstrip was heavily bombed by Allied forces, the British later rebuilt the airstrip, and it became fully operational in 1955. The old airport was replaced by a new airport in 2002, Bintulu remained a fishing village until 1969 when oil and gas reserves were discovered off the coast. Since then, Bintulu has become the centre of energy intensive industries such as a Malaysia LNG plant, a Shell Middle Distillate Synthesis plant, the economy has also expanded into oil palm and forest plantations, palm oil processing, wood-waste processing, and cement manufacturing. The port of Bintulu is the busiest in Sarawak, the town is also a gateway to Samalajau Industrial Park. The Borneo International Kite Festival is held annually in the town, during the 16th century, Bintulu was named River de Burulu by Portuguese cartographers. There are several legends surrounding the name Bintulu, during the Brooke dynasty, the indigenous practised headhunting to maintain their social status in the community. They threw the heads into the Kemena River, after which the heads had to be collected from the river, the practice of collecting the heads was known as Mentu Ulau in the local native language. Another story relates that two vaee segahan/segaan named Berengik and jaleb built houses along the river and they and their followers frequently carried out preservation of severed heads near a small river stream branching off from Sebezaw River because the river bank was flat and wide. Therefore, the river stream was named Mentu Ulau river. Outsiders who came to Bintulu subsequently pronounced the name as Mentulau, James Brooke was appointed the White Rajah of Sarawak by the Bruneian Empire in 1841. In 1861, the Sultanate of Brunei ceded the Bintulu region to Brooke, Bintulu was a small settlement at that time. A wooden fort named Fort Keppel was built in the village, named after Sir Henry Keppel, Sir Henry Keppel was responsible for crushing the Dayak piracy in the Saribas between 1840 and 1850
27.
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
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Constitution of Malaysia
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The Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which came into force in 1957, is the supreme law of Malaysia. The Federation was initially called the Federation of Malaya and it adopted its present name, Malaysia, the Constitution establishes the Federation as a constitutional monarchy having the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the Head of State whose roles are largely ceremonial. Reid Commission, The conference proposed the appointment of a commission to devise a constitution for a fully self-governing and this proposal was accepted by Queen Elizabeth II and the Malay Rulers. The report of the Commission was completed on 11 February 1957, Constitution, The Constitution came into force on 27 August 1957 but formal independence was only achieved on 31 August. The Constitution, in its current form, consists of 15 Parts containing 230 articles and 13 schedules, the following is a list of the schedules to the Constitution. Some of these liberties and rights are subject to limitations and exceptions, Article 5 enshrines a number of basic fundamental human rights, no person may be deprived of life or personal liberty except in accordance with law. A person who is unlawfully detained may be released by the High Court, a person has the right to be informed of the reasons of his arrest and to be legally represented by a lawyer of his choice. A person may not be arrested for more than 24 hours without a magistrates permission, Article 6 provides that no person may be held in slavery. All forms of forced labour are prohibited, but federal law, such as the National Service Act 1952 and it is expressly provided that work incidental to serving a sentence of imprisonment imposed by a court of law is not forced labour. • No person shall suffer greater punishment for an offence than was prescribed by law at the time it was committed. • A person who has been acquitted or convicted of an offence not be tried again for the same offence except where a retrial is ordered by a court. Article 8 by clause provides that all persons are equal before the law and this Article protects Malaysian citizens against being banished from the country. Article 10 is a key provision of Part II of the Constitution, several acts of law regulate the freedoms granted by Article 10, such as the Official Secrets Act, which makes it a crime to disseminate information classified as an official secret. The Police has extensive powers under the Act to maintain order in proclaimed areas. These include the power to close roads, erect barriers, impose curfews, another law which previously curtailed the freedoms of Article 10 is the Police Act 1967, which criminalised the gathering of three or more people in a public place without a licence. However the relevant sections of the Police Act dealing with such gatherings have been repealed by the Police Act 2012, the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, which came into operation on the same day, replaced the Police Act as the principal legislation dealing with public gatherings. Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 The Peaceful Assembly Act gives citizens the right to organise, under the law, citizens are allowed to hold assemblies, which includes processions, upon giving 10 days notice to the police. However, street protests, which consist of mass marches or rallies, are not permitted
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Tax
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A tax is a financial charge or other levy imposed upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state to fund various public expenditures. A failure to pay, or evasion of or resistance to taxation, is punishable by law. Taxes consist of direct or indirect taxes and may be paid in money or as its labour equivalent, the legal definition and the economic definition of taxes differ in that economists do not regard many transfers to governments as taxes. For example, some transfers to the sector are comparable to prices. Examples include tuition at public universities and fees for utilities provided by local governments, governments also obtain resources by creating money and coins, through voluntary gifts, by imposing penalties, by borrowing, and by confiscating wealth. In modern taxation systems, governments levy taxes in money, but in-kind and corvée taxation are characteristic of traditional or pre-capitalist states, the method of taxation and the government expenditure of taxes raised is often highly debated in politics and economics. Tax collection is performed by a government agency such as the Canada Revenue Agency, when taxes are not fully paid, the state may impose civil penalties or criminal penalties on the non-paying entity or individual. The levying of taxes aims to raise revenue to fund governing and/or to alter prices in order to affect demand, States and their functional equivalents throughout history have used money provided by taxation to carry out many functions. A governments ability to raise taxes is called its fiscal capacity, when expenditures exceed tax revenue, a government accumulates debt. A portion of taxes may be used to service past debts, governments also use taxes to fund welfare and public services. These services can include education systems, pensions for the elderly, unemployment benefits, energy, water and waste management systems are also common public utilities. A tax effectively changes relative prices of products and they have therefore sought to identify the kind of tax system that would minimize this distortion. Governments use different kinds of taxes and vary the tax rates, historically, taxes on the poor supported the nobility, modern social-security systems aim to support the poor, the disabled, or the retired by taxes on those who are still working. A states tax system often reflects its communal values and the values of those in current political power. To create a system of taxation, a state must make choices regarding the distribution of the tax burden—who will pay taxes and how much they will pay—and how the taxes collected will be spent. In democratic nations where the public elects those in charge of establishing or administering the tax system, in countries where the public does not have a significant amount of influence over the system of taxation, that system may reflect more closely the values of those in power. All large businesses incur administrative costs in the process of delivering revenue collected from customers to the suppliers of the goods or services being purchased. Taxation is no different, the resource collected from the public through taxation is always greater than the amount which can be used by the government, the difference is called the compliance cost and includes the labour cost and other expenses incurred in complying with tax laws and rules
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Legislature
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A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. Legislatures form important parts of most governments, in the separation of model, they are often contrasted with the executive. Laws enacted by legislatures are known as legislation, legislatures observe and steer governing actions and usually have exclusive authority to amend the budget or budgets involved in the process. The members of a legislature are called legislators, each chamber of legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a number of legislators present to carry out these activities. Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are delegated to committees made up of small selections of the legislators. The members of a legislature usually represent different political parties, the members from each party generally meet as a caucus to organize their internal affairs, the internal organization of a legislature is also shaped by the informal norms that are shared by its members. Legislatures vary widely in the amount of power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries, militaries. In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed a Parliamentary Powers Index in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures, such a system renders the legislature more powerful. Legislatures will sometime delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies, legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators, who vote on proposed laws. For example, a legislature that has 100 seats has 100 members, by extension, an electoral district that elects a single legislator can also be described as a seat, as, for, example, in the phrases safe seat and marginal seat. In parliamentary systems of government, the executive is responsible to the legislature which may remove it with a vote of no confidence, names for national legislatures include parliament, congress, diet and assembly. A legislature which operates as a unit is unicameral, one divided into two chambers is bicameral, and one divided into three chambers is tricameral. In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is considered the upper house. In federations, the upper house typically represents the component states. This is a case with the legislature of the European Union. Tricameral legislatures are rare, the Massachusetts Governors Council still exists, tetracameral legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. Legislatures vary widely in their size, among national legislatures, Chinas National Peoples Congress is the largest with 2987 members, while Vatican Citys Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7
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Parliament of Malaysia
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The Parliament of Malaysia is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the Head of State is the third component of Parliament. The Parliament assembles in the Malaysian Houses of Parliament, located in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. The term Member of Parliament usually refers to a member of the Dewan Rakyat, the term Senator usually refers to a member of the Dewan Negara, the upper house of the Parliament. In line with the nature of the new country, the upper house would also have members elected by state legislative assemblies in addition to members appointed by the King. Parliament first sat at the headquarters building of the Federated Malay States Volunteer Force on a hill near Jalan Tun Ismail. The Dewan Negara met in a hall on the floor while the Dewan Rakyat met in the hall on the first floor. In 1963, when Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore merged to form Malaysia, both Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara were expanded to include representatives from the new states. When Singapore seceded from Malaysia in 1965, it ceased to be represented in the Parliament of Malaysia, significant change regarding the composition of Dewan Negara occurred during this period. Under the 1957 Constitution of Malaya, senators elected by the assemblies were in the majority, totaling 22 members with 2 for each state. Parliament has been suspended only once in the history of Malaysia, from 1969 to 1971 – when Parliament reconvened – the nation was run by the National Operations Council. Debates in Parliament are broadcast on radio and television occasionally, such as during the tabling of a budget, the prohibitive cost was also cited as a reason. It is subordinate to the Head of State, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the Dewan Rakyat consists of 222 members of Parliament elected from single-member constituencies drawn based on population in a general election using the first-past-the-post system. A general election is held five years or when Parliament is dissolved by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the advice of the Prime Minister. Suffrage is given to registered voters 21 years and above, however voting is not compulsory, the age requirement to stand for election is 21 years and above. The Dewan Negara consists of 70 members,26 are elected by the 13 state assemblies,4 are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to represent the 3 federal territories, the rest 40 members are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the advice of the Prime Minister. Senators must be 30 years or above, and are appointed to a term for a maximum of two terms. The dissolution of the Parliament does not affect the Dewan Negara, Members of Parliament are permitted to speak on any subject without fear of censure outside Parliament, the only body that can censure an MP is the House Committee of Privileges
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Dewan Negara
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The Dewan Negara usually reviews legislation that has been passed by the lower house, the Dewan Rakyat. All bills must usually be passed by both the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara, before they are sent to the King for royal assent. However, if the Dewan Negara rejects a bill, it can delay the bills passage by a maximum of a year before it is sent to the King. Like the Dewan Rakyat, the Dewan Negara meets at the Malaysian Houses of Parliament in Kuala Lumpur, originally, the Dewan Negara was meant to act as a check on the Dewan Rakyat and represent the interests of the various states. However, the constitution, which provided for a majority of state-elected senators, has since been modified to make the vast majority of senators instead appointed by the King. Members of the Dewan Negara are referred to as Senators or Ahli Dewan Negara in Malay, the term of office is 3 years and senators may only be re-appointed once, consecutively or non-consecutively. Each of the 13 state legislative assemblies chooses two senators, the King appoints two senators for the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, and one respectively for the Federal Territories of Labuan and Putrajaya on the advice of the Prime Minister. Another 40 senators, regardless of their states, are appointed by the King, the intent of the original Constitution of Malaysia, which provided for only 16 Senators to be appointed by the King was to give the states some say over federal policy. Holders of a full-time profit-making position in the service are also ineligible. There is no requirement to belong to a political party, Parliament is permitted to increase the number of Senators to three per state, reduce the number of appointed Senators, or abolish the post of appointed Senator altogether. The process of appointment is set out by Article 45 of the Constitution, Senators can be appointed to ministerial posts in the Cabinet by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the advice of the Prime Minister. However, the Dewan Negara never supplies the Prime Minister, as the Prime Minister must be a member of the Dewan Rakyat. The Dewan Negara is not affected by the elections for the Dewan Rakyat, the Dewan Negara elects a President to preside over sittings of the Dewan Negara, ensure observance of the rules of the house, and interpret the Standing Orders of the house should they be disputed. Should the President be absent, his Deputy takes his place, the Dewan Negara may initiate legislation, except for financial and fiscal matters – a regulation directly from the Westminster system. It may also amend legislation, provided it does not deal with financial matters, any proposed legislation must first be passed by the Dewan Rakyat. Then it is presented to the Dewan Negara in three readings, at the first, the legislations proposer presents it to the assembly. At the second, the bill is debated, at the third, a vote is taken whether to pass or reject the bill. The Dewan Negara may not formally reject bills, it is allowed to delay their passage by one month
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Dewan Rakyat
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The Dewan Rakyat is the lower house of the Parliament of Malaysia, consisting of members elected during elections from federal constituencies drawn by the Election Commission. The Dewan Rakyat usually proposes legislation through a known as a bill. All bills must usually be passed by both the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara, before they are sent to the King for royal assent. However, if the Dewan Negara rejects a bill, it can delay the bills passage by a maximum of a year before it is sent to the King. Like the Dewan Negara, the Dewan Rakyat meets at the Malaysian Houses of Parliament in Kuala Lumpur, Members of the Dewan Rakyat are referred to as Members of Parliament or Ahli Dewan Rakyat in Malay. The term of office is as long as the wins in the elections. A member of the Dewan Rakyat must be at least 21 years of age, the presiding officer of the Dewan Rakyat is the Speaker, who is elected at the beginning of each Parliament or after the vacation of the post, by the MPs. Two Deputy Speakers are also elected, and one of them sits in place of the Speaker when he is absent, as of the 2013 general election, Dewan Rakyat has 222 elected members. Members are elected from federal constituencies drawn by the Election Commission, constituency boundaries are redrawn every ten years based on the latest census. Each Dewan Rakyat lasts for a maximum of five years, after which an election must be called. In the general election, voters select a candidate to represent their constituency in the Dewan Rakyat, the plurality voting system is used, the candidate who gains the most votes wins the seat. Before a general election can be called, the King must first dissolve Parliament on the advice of the Prime Minister, according to the Constitution, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has the right at his own discretion to either grant or withhold consent to dissolve the parliament. As the ultimate legislative body in Malaysia, Parliament is responsible for passing, amending and repealing acts of law, parliaments members are permitted to speak on any subject without fear of censure outside Parliament, the only body that can censure an MP is the House Committee of Privileges. An exception is made by the Sedition Act passed by Parliament in the wake of the 13 May racial riots in 1969, under the Act, all public discussion of repealing certain Articles of the Constitution dealing with Bumiputra privileges such as Article 153 is illegal. This prohibition is extended to all members of houses of Parliament. Members of Parliament are also forbidden from criticising the King and judges, the executive government, comprising the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, is usually drawn from members of Parliament, most of its members are typically members of the Dewan Rakyat. In practice, this is usually the leader of the largest party in Parliament, the Prime Minister then submits a list containing the names of members of his Cabinet, who will then be appointed as Ministers by the King. Members of the Cabinet must also be members of Parliament, the King has the discretion to grant or withheld consent to the dissolution
