The island is also an important conservation site for sea turtles. Previously, the indiscriminate economic exploitation of turtle eggs had caused fewer turtles returning to nest on the island. This has led the Terengganu state government to set up the Koperasi Setiajaya Pulau Redang in 1989, a cooperative aiming to develop and manage socio-economic programmes that could improve the livelihood of Pulau Redang locals without endangering its natural resources.[citation needed]

The waters around Pulau Redang also contain two historic shipwrecks: HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse. The ships were sunk here at the start of World War II, setting the stage for the Japanese occupation of Malaya.

The Pulau Redang archipelago comprises Pulau Redang, Pulau Lima, Pulau Paku Besar, Pulau Paku Kecil, Pulau Kerengga Kecil, Pulau Kerengga Besar, Pulau Ekor Tebu, Pulau Ling and Pulau Pinang. Pulau Redang is the biggest of all the islands in the Marine Park, measuring about 7 km long and 6 km wide. Its highest peak is Bukit Besar at 359 metres above sea level. The boundary of the Pulau Redang Marine Park is established by a line linking all points 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) from the shores of Pulau Redang, Pulau Lima, Pulau Ekor Tebu and Pulau Pinang. The other nearby islands of Pulau Perhentian Besar, Pulau Perhentian Kecil, Pulau Lang Tengah, Pulau Kapas and Pulau Susu Dara are also gazetted and protected as Marine Parks. Today, only the bigger islands like Redang, Lang Tengah, Perhentian and Kapas have resort facilities for visitors. The management of Marine Parks primarily involves protection of the sensitive marine and terrestrial ecosystems by controlling the impact from human activities. These include waste & pollution management and conservation of coral reefs and terrestrial habitats.

The 2000 film, Summer Holiday was filmed on the Laguna Redang resort, and a replica of the tea house now serves as the resort’s gift shop.

Since its incorporation, Petronas has grown to be an integrated international oil and gas company with business interests in 31 countries. As of the end of March 2005, the Petronas Group comprised of 103 wholly-owned subsidiaries, 19 partly-owned outfits and 57 associated companies. Together, these companies make the Petronas Group, which is involved in various oil and gas based activities. The Financial Times has identified Petronas as one of the “new seven sisters”[5]: the most influential and mainly state-owned national oil and gas companies from countries outside the OECD.

The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.

The Petronas Twin Towers were officially opened on Malaysia’s 42nd National Day, August 31 1998 – in the Corporation’s 24th Anniversary year.

History

The Encyclopedia of Malaysia: Early History, has pointed out a total of three theories of the origin of Malay:

1. The Yunnan theory, Mekong river migration (published 1889)
2. The New Guinea theory (published 1965)
3. The Taiwan theory (published 1997)

The ancestor of Malays are believed to be seafarers knowledgeable in oceanography. They moved around from island to island in great distances between New Zealand and Madagascar, and they served as navigation guide, crew and labour to Indian, Persian and Chinese traders for nearly 2000 years. Over the years they settled at various places and adopted various cultures and religions. Notable Malay seafarers of today are Moken and Orang laut.

Some historians suggested they were descendants of Austronesian-speakers who migrated from the Philippines and originally came from Taiwan. Malay culture reached its golden age during Srivijayan times and they practiced Buddhism, Hinduism, and their native Animism before converting to Islam in the 15th century.

Etymology

In the History of Jambi, the word Melayu originated from a river with name Melayu River near to Batang Hari River of today’s Muara Jambi, Jambi province of Sumatra, Indonesia and even a Melayu Kingdom existed from the record of Yi Jing (a Tang Dynasty Buddhist monk) and archaeological research of Jambi, large numbers of ancient artifacts and ancient architectures of the Melayu Kingdom have been found with photo evidence. However further tracing the root of the word, a small town in Tamil district appeared called Malai Yur which means “Land of Mountains” (malai means mountain and yur means land), a reference to the hilly nature of the Malay Archipelago. Other ancient Indian sources , the Purana text, claimed “Malayadvipa” on Sumatra with the meaning ‘dvipa’ land surrounded by water, while the ancient Sanskrit word Himalaya means ’snow mountain’. “Maleu-kolon” was used by Ptolemy which was also derived from Sanskrit ‘malayakom’ or ‘malaikurram’, according to G. E. Gerini that was to refer to Tanjung Kuantan while Roland Bradell claimed it on Tanjung Penyabung, both in the peninsula. (see Tamil place names in Malaysia)

The word Melayu began in use during the time of Sultanate of Melaka, founded by the fleeing prince Parameswara, from the declining Melayu Kingdom of Srivijaya in Palembang. And the word was in popular use in 17th century onwards.

During the European colonization, the word “Malay” was adopted into English via the Dutch word “Malayo”, itself from Portuguese “Malaio”, which originates from the Malay word “Melayu”. According to one popular theory, the word Melayu means “migrating” or “fleeing”, which might refer to the high mobility of these people across the region (cf. Javanese verb ‘mlayu’ means “to run”, cognate with Malay verb ‘melaju’, means “to accelerate”) or perhaps the original meaning is “distant, far away” (cf. Tagalog ‘malayo’) with the root word ‘layo’, which means ‘distance’ or ‘far’ in Tagalog and some Malayo-Polynesian languages.

Located in the serene and scenic Kuala Lumpur Lake Gardens, it is only 10 minutes drive away from the city centre of Kuala Lumpur. It is the home to more than 2,000 birds of approximately 200 species of local and foreign birds.

Sprawling approximately 20.9 acres of verdant valley terrain, the park is divided into 4 zones; Zone 1 and 2 make up the free-flight zone; Zone 3 is the Hornbill Park and Zone 4 is where the birds are placed in separate cages and mini aviaries.

One of KL Bird Park’s most extraordinary feature is that in Zone 1, 2 and 3, birds are let free in the aviary which closely resembles their natural habitat. With this free-flight concept, birds are able to breed naturally in this unique environment.

The total population of Malaysia is over 25 million people, with 1.5 million in the capital Kuala Lumpur. Bahasa Melayu is the National language though English is widely spoken throughout Malaysia as well as a number of Chinese languages – Mandarin, Cantonese and Hokien.

Malaysia is divided into 13 states, of these 11 being in Mainland Malaysia and the 2 states of Sabah and Sarawak located in East Malaysia on Borneo Island.

Top 10 Things to do in Malaysia

1. The food – for me the highlight of Malaysia is the food. The great variety that is found here is amazing. From traditional Malaysian spicy curries, to Indian Tandoori chicken to the many different types of Chinese cuisines found throughout Malaysia.

2. The Orangutan – Malaysia’s national treasure – the Borneo Orangutan found in Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia.

3. Relaxing on Langkawi Island. Langkawi is the perfect place to just sit and relax. There is plenty to do on the island if you are energetic though also perfect for relaxing.

4. Visit the Elephant Sanctuary at Kuala Gandah around 2 hours drive from Kuala Lumpur.

5. Food markets in Kuala Lumpur – yes food again though the food markets are an experience more than just tasting food.

6. River cruise in Sarawak – traveling down the Rajang River from Kuching inland to visit the traditional villages with their longhouses surrounded by jungle.

7. Scuba diving or snorkeling on the Perhentian Islands. Some of the best coral reefs to be found in Malaysia are found around the two island Perhentian Besar and Perhentian Kecil.

8. Climb Mount Kinabalu – Kota Kinabalu Sabah, not for the unfit, the climb can take 6 – 7 hours leaving late at night to arrive at the summit in time to watch the sunrise.

9. Central Markets Kualu Lumpur – for a shopping spree you can’t go past Central Markets. Selling a wide variety of souvenirs and gifts including Malaysian arts and crafts, batiks, fabrics and clothing and more food!

10. Sultan Ahmad Shah Mosque – located in Kuantan Pahang, this is an impressive structure. Unfortunately you cannot visit inside the mosque if you are not Muslim, though the outside and it’s surrounding grounds are still impressive.

Upcoming events in Malaysia

Each year Malaysia hold some amazing festivals and international sporting events. Here is a list of the upcoming events:

Sandakan Memorial Day 15th August 2009 commemorating the deaths of Australian soldiers in World War II at Sandakan Memorial Park Sabah.

Ramadan Bazaar 22nd August to 19 September 2010. These are night food markets arranged all throughout Malaysia for breaking the fast at night time.

Hari Raya Aidil Fitri 20th September to 21st September. After the month of fasting during Ramadan this day is celebrated with morning prayers at a Mosque with a celebration with friends and family afterwards.

Penang World Music Festival 2nd October to 4th October 2009. With international and local music.

Borneo International Marathon 11th October 2009. A half marathon and full marathon run being held in Kota Kinabalu Sabah.

Deepavali 17th October 2009. Deepavali is the Hindu Festival of Lights. Hindu families celebrate by having an open house for friends and families to visit and feast. It’s common for the exchange of sweets and lollies.

National Canoe Championships 4th until the 6th December 2009.  Held at the Water Sports Complex Putrajaya.

Chinese New Year festivities will be celebrating the new Year of the Tiger on 14th February 2010. Celebrations begin the week before and continue for a week after.

Malaysia F1 Grand Prix held in Sepang. 4th April 2010