Malaysia

            Malaysia, population of about 30 million, is comprised of 5 ethnic groups: 50 percent Maley, 24 percent Chinese, 11percent Indiginous  also known as Orang Asal, 7 percent Indian, and 8 percent other. The Maley and Orang Asal people are granted Bumiputra status which means “son of the land/soil”. This has led to a racial discrimination and classification of class. In all, most of the population is made up of about 60 percent.

            The government in Malaysia is a federal constitutional elective monarchy with a national and state government. Their government has similar houses, such as, A House of Representatives and a Senate.            The capital of Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur and it is the biggest city in the country.

            Education in Malaysia is broken up into five different sections. The first is non-compulsory Kindergarten education. The second is for students to take six years of compulsory primary education which goes from ages 7-12. Primary education is broken up into two different types of schools: national primary in the language of Malay and vernacular using the language of Chinese or Tamil.  Third part is optional secondary education which goes from ages 13-18/19.  Most of secondary Sciences and Mathematics had been taught in English up until 2009 when the government decided to go back to using Malay. On top of secondary public and private schools, Malaysia has Religious Secondary School, Technical School, Residential Schools, and Junior Science colleges. During the final year of secondary, if students choose to partake, is to take the Malaysian Certificate of Education exam so that they may enter into the set of schooling in Pre University. Pre University is a 12 month program for students to be in in order to get in to a university. There are only 10 percent of schools to which students of non Bumiputera students can enter into. After Pre University, continuing students may be able to enter into local universities also known as Tertiary schooling. Comparatively, students in American schools must go through 13-14 years of schooling in order to get into a community or university school. Oddly enough, it is required for students to begin junior and high school but they do have the option of dropping out. In Malaysia, students can choose to enter into secondary education but is not required of them.

            Along with education, the Malaysian people have different culture. One of which includes Holidays and Celebrations. Their holidays are either federally public holidays or observed by certain states or observed by particular religious groups. A few common national holidays they have are to commemorate the independence of the Federation of Malaya and Malaysia day to commemorate the federation. They celebrate 4 different independences that they had had over their years.

            Malaysian education system is a very interesting system. Instead of grades they go through forms in which they need to pass in order to move on. Government plays a big role in education. Many of the holidays are followed and observed by certain people. The people in Malaysia seem to be very separated and there is a cultural diversity among the people. They are not united but separated.