Sabah

History

• Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its south-west. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south. In spite of its status as a Malaysian state, Sabah remains a disputed territory; the Philippines has a dormant claim over much of the eastern part of the territory. The capital of Sabah is Kota Kinabalu, formerly known as Jesselton. Sabah is known as "Sabah, negeri di bawah bayu", which means "Sabah, the land below the wind", because of its location just south of the typhoon-prone region around the Philippines.
• Earliest human migration and settlement into the region is believed to have dated back about 20,000–30,000 years ago. These early humans are believed to be Australoid or Negrito people. The next wave of human migration, believed to be Austronesian Mongoloids, occurred around 3000 BC. During the 7th century CE, a settled community known as Vijayapura, a tributary to the Srivijaya empire, was thought to have been the earliest beneficiary to the Bruneian Empire existing around the northeast coast of Borneo. Another kingdom which suspected to have existed beginning the 9th century was P'o-ni. It was believed that Po-ni existed at the mouth of Brunei River and was the predecessor to the Sultanate of Brunei. The Sultanate of Brunei began after the ruler of Brunei embraced Islam. During the reign of the fifth sultan known as Bolkiah between 1473–1524, the Sultanate's thalassocracy extended over Sabah, Sulu Archipelago and Manila in the north, and Sarawak until Banjarmasin in the south. In 1658, the Sultan of Brunei ceded the northern and eastern portion of Borneo to the Sultan of Sulu in compensation for the latter's help in settling a civil war in the Brunei Sultanate. In 1749, the Sultanate of Borneo ceded southern Palawan to Spain.
• In 1761, Alexander Dalrymple, an officer of the British East India Company, concluded an agreement with the Sultan of Sulu to allow him to set up a trading post in the region, although it proved to be a failure. In 1846, the island of Labuan on the west coast of Sabah was ceded to Britain by the Sultan of Brunei and in 1848 it became a British Crown Colony. Following a series of transfers, the rights to North Borneo were transferred to Alfred Dent, whom in 1881 formed the British North Borneo Provisional Association Ltd.[citation needed] In the following year, the British North Borneo Company was formed and Kudat was made its capital. In 1883 the capital was moved to Sandakan. In 1885, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Germany signed the Madrid Protocol of 1885, which recognized the sovereignty of Spain in the Sulu Archipelago in return for the relinquishment of all Spanish claims over North Borneo. In 1888 North Borneo became a protectorate of the United Kingdom.
• As part of the Second World War Japanese forces landed in Labuan on January 1, 1942, and continued to invade the rest of North Borneo. From 1942 to 1945, Japanese forces occupied North Borneo, along with most of the island. Bombings by the allied forces devastated of most towns including Sandakan, which was razed to the ground. In Sandakan there was once a brutal POW camp run by the Japanese for British and Australian POWs from North Borneo. The prisoners suffered under notoriously inhuman conditions, and Allied bombardments caused the Japanese to relocate the POW camp to inland Ranau, 260 km away. All the prisoners, then were reduced to 2504 in number, were forced to march the infamous Sandakan Death March. Except for six Australians, all of the prisoners died. The war ended on 10 September 1945. After the surrender, North Borneo was administered by the British Military Administration and in 1946 it became a British Crown Colony. Jesselton replaced Sandakan as the capital and the Crown continued to rule North Borneo until 1963.

Ipoh

• Ipoh is a city in Malaysia and is the capital of the state of Perak. It is 200 km (125 miles) north of Kuala Lumpur via the North-South Expressway.
• Ipoh developed into one of Malaysia's main cities due to the booming tin mining industry around the turn of the 19th century. During the British colonial era, Ipoh was Malaysia's second city for administration purposes. There are several notable buildings from the British Colonial era such as the railway station and the town hall. 70% of Ipoh's population is of Chinese origin.
• The name Ipoh is derived from a local tree commonly known as pokok ipoh. The sap of this plant is poisonous and was used by Orang Asli (indigenous people) to coat the tips of the darts of their blowpipes.
• The Cantonese name for Ipoh derives the word Yee Poh (Chinese: 怡保) meaning found treasure. This is because the Hoi San which are Cantonese were the first to move to the area for mining. They then build a small town for trading of food and hardware for the miner. They were happy with the new found tin mining town and name it "yee poh" (found treasure).
• Ipoh is sometimes called "Paloh" (Chinese: 壩羅) among local Chinese, referring to the gigantic mining pump used for early tin ore extraction. This is because the extension of the old town to the new town which was first refer as Paloh Chuin or Poloh Village. It was also called "the Town built on Tin" (Chinese: 锡城) and "City of Millionaires", referring to the vast fortunes made during the boom of the tin mining industries.
• Other nicknames include "The Bougainvillea City" and "Shan Cheng" (Chinese: 山城) which means "The Hill City" in the Cantonese dialect.

Penang

• Penang is a state in Malaysia, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. Penang is the second smallest state in Malaysia by area after Perlis, and the eighth most populous. A resident of Penang is colloquially known as a Penangite.
• Archaeological evidence shows that Penang (island and its mainland territory) was inhabited by the Semang-Pangan of the Juru and Yen lineage, both now considered extinct cultures. They were hunter-gatherers of the Negrito stock having short stature and dark complexion, and were dispersed by the Malays as far back as 900 years ago. The last recorded aboriginal settlement in Penang was in the 1920s in Kubang Semang.
• The history of modern Penang, originally part of the Malay Sultanate of Kedah, began when the island was leased to Captain Francis Light, an English trader-adventurer working for the Madras-based firm, Jourdain Sullivan and de Souza, in exchange for military protection from Siamese and Burmese armies who were threatening Kedah. On 11 August 1786, Francis Light landed on Penang at what is later called Fort Cornwallis and renamed the island Prince of Wales Island in honour of the heir to the British throne. In Malaysian history, the occasion marked the beginning of more than a century of British involvement in Malaya.
• Unbeknownst to Sultan Abdullah of Kedah, Light had acted without the approval of the company when he promised military protection. When Light reneged on his promise, the Sultan tried to recapture the island in 1790. The attempt was unsuccessful, and the Sultan was forced to cede the island to the company for an honorarium of 6,000 Spanish dollars per annum. Light established Penang as a free port to entice traders away from nearby Dutch trading posts. He also encouraged immigrants by promising them as much land as they could clear. He reportedly fire silver dollars from his ship's cannons deep into the jungle to expedite the process. Many early settlers, including Light himself, succumbed to malaria, earning early Penang the epithet "the white man's grave".
• The cenotaph at the Esplanade, erected after World War I, commemorates fallen soldiers
• After Light's demise, Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Wellesley arrived in Penang to coordinate the defences of the island. In 1800, Lieutenant-Governor Sir George Leith secured a strip of land across the channel as a buffer against attacks and named it Province Wellesley (Seberang Prai). The annual payment to Sultan of Kedah was increased to 10,000 Spanish dollars per annum after the acquisition. Today, the Penang state government still pays RM 18,800.00 to the Sultan of Kedah annually.
• In 1826, Penang, along with Malacca and Singapore, became part of the Straits Settlements under the British administration in India, moving to direct British colonial rule in 1867. During the First World War, in the Battle of Penang, the German cruiser SMS Emden sank two allied warships off the coasts of George Town.
• Penang suffered devastating aerial bombardments during World War II and finally fell to invading Japanese forces on 17 December 1941 as the British withdrew to Singapore after declaring George Town an open city. Penang under Japanese occupation was marked by widespread fear, hunger, and massacres which targeted the local Chinese populace.

Malacca

• Malacca  is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south. The capital is Malacca Town. This historical city centre has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 7 July 2008.
• Although it was the location of one of the earliest Malay sultanates, the monarchy was abolished when the Portuguese conquered it in 1511. The Yang di-Pertua Negeri or Governor, rather than a Sultan, acts as the head of state now.
• The state of Malacca covers an area of 1,950-km2, or 0.5 percent of the whole area of Malaysia. The state is divided into 3 districts: Central Melaka (Melaka Tengah) (314 km²), Alor Gajah (660 km²), and Jasin (676 km²). Malacca sits upon the southwestern coast of Malay Peninsula opposite Sumatra, with the state of Negeri Sembilan to the north and Johor to the east. Malacca is also situated roughly two-thirds of the way down the West coast, 148 km south of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia and 245 km north of Singapore and commands a central position on the Straits of Malacca. The state capital Malacca Town is strategically located between the two national capitals (of Malaysia and Singapore, respectively) and connected with excellent roads and highways. Malacca still harbors no train station, though the terminal at Tampin, Negeri Sembilan is easily accessible. However, a domestic airport terminal rests in Batu Berendam.
• Before the arrival of the first Sultan, Malacca was a simple fishing village inhabited by local Malays. Malacca was founded by Parameswara, the last Raja of Singapura (present day Singapore) following a Majapahit attack in 1377. He found his way to Malacca c. 1400 where he found a good port accessible in all seasons and on the strategically located narrowest point of the Malacca Straits.
• According to a popular legend, Parameswara was resting under a gray tree near a river while hunting, when one of his dogs cornered a mouse deer. In self-defence, the mouse deer pushed the dog into the river. Impressed by the courage of the deer, and taking it as a propitious omen of the weak overcoming the powerful, Parameswara decided on the spot to found an empire on the very place that he was sitting. He named it 'Melaka' after the tree under which he had taken shelter. Another version of the story says that Parameswara chose the name 'Malacca' from the Tamil word 'mallakka' which means upside down or on ones back. Old illustrations of the scene where the mousedeer kicks the dog shows the dog falling on its back into the river, hence the inspiration. In collaboration with allies from the sea-people (orang laut) the wandering proto-Malay privateers of the Straits, he established Malacca as major international port by compelling passing ships to call there, and establishing fair and reliable facilities for warehousing and trade. Mass settlement of Chinese, mostly from the imperial and merchant fleet occurred during the reign of Parameswara, occurred in the vicinity of the Bukit China ("Chinese Hill") area, which was perceived as having excellent Feng Shui (geomancy) in Malacca then. Sultan Iskandar Shah died in 1424. He was buried on Bukit Larangan (now Fort Canning Hill in Singapore) and was succeeded by his son, Sri Maharaja also called Sultan Muhammad Shah.

Johor Bahru

• Johor Bahru, also spelled Johor Baharu, Johor Baru, ("Baru" means "new" and "Johor" means "Jewel" in Malay) or Johore Bahru and abbreviated as JB, is the capital city of Johor in southern Malaysia. Johor Bahru is the southernmost city of the Eurasian mainland,[1] and Pasir Pelangi, the royal village, is located within Johor Bahru city.
• With a population of approximately 900,000 in the city, and nearly 2 million in its metropolitan area, it is the second largest urban area in the country after the national capital, Kuala Lumpur and its associated Klang Valley region.[2] The total population of the Singapore-Johor Bahru conurbation is 7 million, and part of the 8 million metropolitan area of the Sijori Growth Triangle, which is one of the highest in Southeast Asia.[3][4] Johor Bahru is within walking distance from Singapore[citation needed], and receives 49.9% of the country's annual 22.5 million foreign tourists via its bridges and road links to Singapore. The city is an important industrial, tourism and commercial hub for southern Malaysia and one of the biggest industrial centers of the country. The population growth rate of Johor Bahru is among the highest in Southeast Asia.
• The city of Johor Bahru is located at 1°29′N 103°44′E. The city council administers the highly developed southern central coast of the metropolitan area, with a total area of 185 km². It is situated on the Straits of Johor (also known as the Straits of Tebrau), which separates Malaysia and Singapore. Metropolitan Johor Bahru occupies extensive coastal land consisting of ecologically rich swamp lands and important river systems such as Sungai Johor, Sungai Pulai and Sungai Tebrau.
• Johor Bahru was founded in 1855 as when the sovereign ruler of Johor, Temenggong Daing Ibrahim established his administrative headquarters here. It was then-known as "Tanjung Puteri", and was a small Malay fishing village. Temenggong Ibrahim renamed "Tanjung Puteri" in 1858. His son and successor, Temenggong Abu Bakar (Sultan from 1885) renamed it as "Johor Bahru" on 1 January 1866. Johor Bahru quickly expanded into a town under Abu Bakar's direction. Many of the town's buildings were constructed during Abu Bakar's reign, notably the State Mosque, Istana Besar and the Menteri Besar's residence, many of which were built by Wong Ah Fook, a Toisanese-Chinese contractor who became a close patron of Abu Bakar. The town also saw an influx of Chinese immigrants settling in the town.
• Under Sultan Ibrahim's reign, Johor Bahru continued to witness modest developments; the Malay Peninsula railway extension was completed in 1909, and the completion of the Causeway in 1923 linked the railway and road systems between Singapore and Malay Peninsula.[10] Johor Bahru witnessed a modest rate of development during the interwar period. The state secretariat building, Sultan Ibrahim Building was completed in 1940 as the British colonial government attempted to streamline the state's administration.
• The Japanese army invaded Johor Bahru on 31 January 1942 during the Battle of Malaya, and the Sultan's residence at Istana Bukit Serene became the military's preparatory base for their conquest of Singapore. Shortly after the war ended in 1946, Johor Bahru became a hotspot for Malay nationalism in the state. A local politician, later to become the Menteri Besar of Johor, Onn Jaafar formed the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) in May 1946 after the Malays expressed widespread disenchantment with the British government for granting lax citizenship laws to non-Malays.
• Johor Bahru expanded in size from the 1960s onwards, and new townships and industrial estates were built in villages and hamlets such as Tebrau and Plentong that were north and east of Johor Bahru during the 1970s and 1980s. By the early 1990s, Johor Bahru had considerably expanded in size, and was officially granted recognition as a city on 1 January 1994. Johor Bahru's city council, Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru (MBJB) was formed and the Dataran Bandaraya Johor Bahru was constructed to commemorate this event.
• A Central business district was developed in the centre of the city from the mid-1990s in the area around Jalan Wong Ah Fook and the Johor-Singapore Causeway. The state and federal government channelled considerable amount of funds for the development of the city, particularly more so after 2006, when the Iskandar Malaysia development region blueprint was formalized.

Kuala Lumpur

• Kuala Lumpur has its origins in the 1850s, when the Malay Chief of Klang, Raja Abdullah, hired some Chinese labourers to open new and larger tin mines for tin prospectors. The miners landed at the confluence of Sungai Gombak and Sungai Klang (Klang River) to open mines at Ampang, Pudu and Batu. These mines developed into a trading post which became a frontier town.
• The tin propectors settled in Ampang, and formed gangs within themselves. The two largest Chinese gangsters, the Hakka-dominated Hai San and the Hokkien-dominated Ghee Hin, frequently engaged in warfare to gain control of tin production in the town. The incessant warfare between the two factions brought tin mine production to a standstill, prompting the British, who ruled the Federation of Malaya at that time, to appoint a Chinese Kapitan (headman) to administer Kuala Lumpur. Hiu Siew, the owner of a mine in Lukut, was elected as the first Kapitan. As one of the first traders to arrive in Ampang (along with Yap Ah Sze), he sold provisions to the miners in exchange for tin.
• Early Kuala Lumpur had many problems, including the Selangor Civil War; it was also plagued by diseases and constant fires and floods. Around the 1870s, the third Chinese Kapitan of Kuala Lumpur, Yap Ah Loy, emerged as leader, and became responsible for the survival and subsequent systematic growth of this town. He began to develop Kuala Lumpur from a small, obscure settlement into a booming mining town. In 1880, the state capital of Selangor was moved from Klang to the more strategically advantageous Kuala Lumpur.
• In 1881, a flood swept through the town following a fire which engulfed it earlier. These successive problems destroyed the town's structures of wood and atap (thatching). As a response, Frank Swettenham, the British Resident of Selangor, required that buildings be constructed of brick and tile. Many of the new brick buildings mirrored those of shop houses in southern China, characterised by "five foot ways" as well as skilled Chinese carpentry work. This resulted in a distinct eclectic shop house architecture typical to this region. A railway line increased accessibility into the growing town. Development intensified in the 1890s, leading to the creation of a Sanitary Board. In 1896, Kuala Lumpur was chosen as the capital of the newly formed Federated Malay States.
• A mixture of different communities settled in various sections of Kuala Lumpur. The Chinese mainly settled around the commercial centre of Market Square, east of the Klang River, and towards Chinatown. The Malays, Indian Chettiars, and Indian Muslims resided along Java Street. The Padang, now known as Merdeka Square, was the center of the British administrative offices.
• During World War II, Kuala Lumpur was captured by the Japanese army on January 11, 1942. They occupied the city until August 15, 1945, when the commander in chief of the Japanese Seventh Area Army in Singapore and Malaya, Seishirō Itagaki, surrendered to the British administration following the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Kuala Lumpur grew through the war, the rubber and tin commodity crashes and the Malayan Emergency, during which Malaya was preoccupied with the communist insurgency. In 1957, the Federation of Malaya gained its independence from British rule. Kuala Lumpur remained the capital through the formation of Malaysia on September 16, 1963.

Kuala Lumpur

• Kuala Lumpur is the capital and largest city of Malaysia. The city proper, making up an area of 244 km2 (94 sq mi), has an estimated population of 1.6 million in 2006. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million. It is the fastest growing metropolitan region in the country, in terms of population as well as economy.
• Kuala Lumpur is the seat of the Parliament of Malaysia. The city was once home to the executive and judicial branches of the federal government, but they have since moved to Putrajaya starting in 1999. Some sections of the judiciary remain in the capital. The official residence of the Malaysian King, the Istana Negara, is also situated in Kuala Lumpur. Rated as an alpha world city, Kuala Lumpur is the cultural, financial and economic centre of Malaysia due to its position as the capital as well as being a primate city.
• Kuala Lumpur is defined within the borders of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and is one of three Malaysian Federal Territories. It is an enclave within the state of Selangor, on the central west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Residents of the city are colloquially known as K Lites.
• Since the 1990s, the city has played host to many international sporting, political and cultural events including the 1998 Commonwealth Games and the Formula One World Championship. In addition, Kuala Lumpur is home to the tallest twin buildings in the world, the Petronas Twin Towers, which have become a symbol of Malaysia's