a malaysian abroad

source: MS Office clip art

It occurred to me that I have yet to officially introduce the three countries that are the foundation of this blog.

Today, I’ll give a brief overview of Malaysia.

Rather than blabbing on about history, geography, and the like (you can get all that from wikipedia ), I’ll use a few of her national symbols to tell the tale.

source: wikipedia

First and foremost, lets look at the Malaysian flag, the Jalur Gemilang (Stripes of Glory).  It was obviously based on that of the USA, with Muslim and local symbolism added:

• The crescent symbolises the official religion, Islam.
• The 14-point star represents the unity of the 13 states and the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya. The 14th point used to represent Singapore: she seceded in 1965, but the flag wasn’t changed. When the Federal Territory (then just of Kuala Lumpur) was formed in 1974, it “took over” the 14th point of the star.
• Blue stands for solidarity of the people.
• Yellow is for the color traditionally associated with royalty.  The symbolic head of most Malaysian states, and the Head of State, are Sultans, of royal blood.
• The seven red and white stripes, totaling 14, once again represent the 13 states and the Federal Territory.
• The stripes also represent the flesh and blood of people: red for the blood shed during the fight for independence, and white for the people.

Hibiscus Originally uploaded by Lohb

Next up, the national flower:

As pictured on the left, Malaysia’s floral emblem is the Bunga Raya (literal translation = big flower; hibiscus rosa-sinensis).

The bright red represents the vibrancy, courage, life of the Malaysian people.

Its five petals stand for the five “National Principles” (Rukunegara), a declaration of national philosophy to foster racial unity, established after the devastation of the 1969 race riots.

I still know the Rukunegara by heart; after all, we only recited it every day at the start of school throughout my secondary school years!

Tiger in the water Originally uploaded by B_cool

Moving on … the national animal:

The Malayan tiger has always been a symbol of Malaysia.  It features prominently in Malay folklore, and can also be considered the national personification of Malaysia; two tigers flank the national Coat of Arms, while its motif is used in many Malaysian corporations.

In 2004, the Malayan tiger was declared a sub-species in its own right (as opposed to being clumped together with the IndoChinese tiger) - yay!  Then the controversy started… Researchers proposed the name Panthera tigris jacksoni to recognize the work with big cats done by Peter Jackson (a zoologist, not the guy who did Lord of the Rings). Malaysia, of course, protested, arguing that the Malaysian Government should have been consulted over the naming of its own national icon. As such, the Malayan tiger is also known as Panthera tigris malayensis. I notice that the San Diego Zoo uses the Malaysia-approved naming convention, while wikipedia uses the jacksoni version.

KLCC Originally uploaded by miusam-ck

… and finally … while not an official symbol of the nation, this is perhaps the one building most immediately associated with Malaysia - the PETRONAS Twin Towers.

In 1998, the title of World’s Tallest Building was wrested away from Chicago’s Sears Tower amidst protests that the Twin Towers were topped by antennae, not spires. Chicago insisted they still had the world’s tallest building. In 2004, the point was moot: Taipei 101 took over the title.

As such, PETRONAS Twin Towers were only able to claim the coveted title of World’s Tallest Building from 1998 to 2004, but you know what? Unless someone else want to double their construction expense, I think this Malaysian landmark will continue to be the World’s Tallest TWIN Towers for quite a while more!

Do share your thoughts - was this overview of national symbols helpful for you get to know a little more about Malaysia?

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