1963-1981 since 2003







Malaysia, 1981-2003


Administration . From 1981 to 2003, Dato Seri Mahathir bin Mohamad (UNMO) held the post of PM. When deputy PM Anwar Ibrahim publicly criticized PM Mahathir Mohamad, in 1999 he was accused and convicted of corruption and sodomy, in a case which was widely regarded as politically motivated.
General elections were held in 1982, 1986, 1990, 1995 and 1999, the governing Barisan Coalition, consisting of UNMO, MCA and MIC, being victorious in all cases.

Foreign Policy . Malaysia continued to be a member of ASEAN, which expanded in the 1990es, taking in Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. ASEAN pursues the policy on not interfering in member countries' internal affairs; the rise of terrorism in Southeast Asia (Bali Bombings 2002), the East Timor Crisis 1999, the maltreatment of ethnic minorities in Myanmar causing the exodus of refugees (since 1978/1984, in progress) are partially blamed on ASEAN's inaction.
Malaysia's PM Mahathir Mohamad was an outspoken critic of Israel. Malaysia did not participate in the international effort to oust Iraqi troops from occupied Kuwait, and did not join the Coalition of the Willing in 2003 either.

The Economy Malaysia implemented Five Year Development Plans : the Fourth Malaysia Plan 1981-1985, Fifth Malaysia Plan 1986-1990, Sixth Malaysia Plan 1991-1995, Seventh Malaysia Plan 1996-2000, Eighth Malaysia Plan 2001-2005. From the Third Malaysia Plan onward, emphasis lay with the development of the overall economy. The country's infrastructure (roads, mass transportation, education, health care) were developed to reach international standard. Malaysia aims at attracting tourism and provides residence for retirees from advanced nations. Under the Mahathir administration, Malaysia was among the world's fastest developing nations. From 1970 to 1997, the GNP increased tentold; the poverty rate dropped from 52 to 7 %.
Originally, rubber and tin were the backbones of Malaysia's economy. The development plans succeeded in establishing new industries, such as palm oil production and electronics industries, which became the country's main revenue earners.
This development paralleled a decline in the country's traditional industries. Malaysia's rice production stagnated around 1.8 to 2.1 million metric tons annually (IHS p.200). It lost the position of Asia's leading producer of rubber to Indonesia in 1991, and dropped to the Asia's third largest producer in 1992 (IHS p.260).
Malaysian production of tin ore dropped dramatically, from 59,900 metric tons in 1981 to 5,8000 metric tons in 1999 (IHS p.398), its production of refined tin dropped from 70,000 metric tons in 1981 to 28,000 metric tons in 1999 (IHS p.434).
Malaysia joined WTO in 1995.
In the course of the 1997 East Asian Financial Crisis, the exchange rate for the Malaysian Ringgit to the U.S. Dollar dropped from 2.50 to 3.80 and caused the country to enter a brief recession. Malaysia, the economy of which, at the time of the crisis, was in a boom to a considerable extent financed by foreign capital, was by comparison hit less hard than fellow ASEAN members Indonesia and Thailand.

Social History . J. Lahmeyer estimates the population of Malaysia in 1981 as 14.1 million; the census of 2001 counted 23.2 million Malaysians.

Cultural History . In 1998 the Petronas Towers were completed, until 2004 the world's tallest building. In 1999 the Malaysian Grand Prix was added to the Formula One car racing tour. Kuala Lumpur hosted the Southeast Asian Games in 1989 and 2001. Malaysian athletes participated in the Summer Olumpics at Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000. A silver medal by Malaysia's men's doubles badminton team in Atlanta 1996 was the greatest Olympic success of Malaysia's athletes so far.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Links on Malaysia (chapter on M. History) from Univ. Oregon, Asian Studies
Sejarah Melayu. A History of the Malay Peninsula, from malaya.org.uk
National Archives of Malaysia; Museums in Malaysia
Eighth Malaysia Plan, from IDS
Article Mahathir bin Mohamad, Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysian New Economic Policy, Malaysian Social Contract, Barisan Nasional, East Asian Financial Crisis : Malaysia, Petronas Towers, Petronas, Malaysian Grand Prix, Southeast Asian Games, Malaysia at the 1984 Summer Olympics, Malaysia at the 1988 Summer Olympics, Malaysia at the 1992 Summer Olympics, Malaysia at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Malaysia at the 2000 Summer Olympics, History of Malaysia : Modern Malaysia, Elections in Malaysia, from Wikipedia
Economic History of Malaysia, by J.H. Drabble
DOCUMENTS Malaysian Statesmen, from World Statesmen (B. Cahoon)
Historical Population Statistics : Malaysia, from Population Statistics (J. Lahmeyer)
REFERENCE Article : Malaysia, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1981 pp.524-525, 1982 pp.523-524, 1983 pp.517-518, 1984 pp.514-516, 1985 pp.517-518, 731, 1986 pp.512-513, 729, 1987 pp.482, 697, 1988 pp.439-440, 649, 1989 pp.439-440, 650, 1990 pp.456, 650 1991 pp.438, 649, 1992 pp.410-411, 650, 1993 pp.414, 662, 1994 pp.414-415, 661, 1995 pp.441-442, 661, 1996 pp.439-440, 661, 1997 pp.448, 659, 2002 pp.461-462, 666 [G]
Article : Malaysia, in : The Statesman's Year-Book 1981-1982 pp.821-835, 1983-1984 pp.814-837, 1984-1985 pp.814-837, 1985-1986 pp.816-829, 1986-1987 pp.815-828, 1987-1988 pp.819-832, 1988-1989 pp.821-834, 1989-1990 pp.830-843, 1990-1991 pp.831-844, 1991-1992 pp.832-845, 1992-1993 pp.915-928, 1993-1994 pp.912-925, 1994-1995 pp.910-921, 1995-1996 pp.907-918, 1996-1997 pp.856-867, 1997-1998 pp.869-878, 1998-1999 pp.933-940, 2000 pp.1064-1072, 2001 pp.1040-1048, 2002 pp.1081-1089, 2003 pp.1084-1091, 2004 pp.1090-1097 [G]
Article : Malaysia, in : The World in Figures 1st ed. 1976 pp.186-187, 2nd ed. 1978 pp.186-187, 4th ed. 1984 pp.186-187 [G]
Entry : Background Notes - Malaysia, pp.232-237; Travel Warnings - Malaysia, pp.549-550, in : Countries of the World and their Leaders Yearbook, 2000, Supplement [G]
Entry : Malaysia, Cabinet, pp.64-65; Background Notes, pp.861-865, in : Countries of the World and their Leaders Yearbook, 2003 [G]
Article : Malaysia, in : Americana Annual 1988 p.342, 1989 p.346, 1990 pp.338-339, 1992 p.344, 1993 p.343, 1994 p.344, 1998 pp.333-334, 2006 p.251 [G]
Entry : Malaysia, pp.688-695 in : IMF, International Financial Statistics Yearbook 2001 [G]
Entry : Malaysia, in : The Commonwealth Yearbook 1989 pp.255-272 [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on May 16th 2002, last revised on June 1st 2007

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