Why Malaysia is Separated into Two Different Parts on the Map #documentary #malaysia #history

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]Malaysia is separated into two different parts on the map, West Malaysia and East Malaysia. West Malaysia is also known as Peninsular Malaysia. To understand the geography of Malaysia, we have to travel back to 1948, before Malaysia gained independence from British rule.

[00:00:15]This time, Malaysia consisted only of the west part, and it was strictly known as Malaya.

[00:00:19]Malaya was to gain independence from Britain in 1957. Another small neighboring island country was also to gain independence in 1959. This country is Singapore. But there were concerns that Singapore was too small to survive on its own. So, Malaya and Singapore were to become one country.

[00:00:37]The leaders of Malaya, however, were not really so happy with this arrangement.

[00:00:40]You see, they had serious concerns that the majority Chinese population of Singapore was going to disturb the racial balance. This could undermine the rights of the indigenous people of Malaya, the Malays. Then came the solution. On the eastern side of Malaya, there were regions including Sarawak and Sabah, which had indigenous Malay people. Then came the proposal to include Sarawak and Sabah to balance up the racial composition. Hence, Malaysia was formed. But only 2 years after the formation of the new Malaysian state, Singapore was kicked out.

[00:01:11]With the ejection of Singapore, Malaysia consists of Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah.

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