Malaysia

Malaysia

Malaysia

Capital: Kuala Lumpur (and Malaysia's largest city) Area Code: +60 Country Code: MY Language: Malay (de jure) Drivers use left-hand side of road Currency: Malaysian ringgit (RM) (MYR) ( Currency converter website link ) ( Tourism and Ex-pat information )

This is an "abridged" article about Malaysia as of Sept, 2024. Source information is available at [ Sources ]

Malaysia (/məˈleɪziə, -ʒə/ mə-LAY-zee-ə, -⁠zhə; Malay: [məlejsiə]) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malaysia. Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. Kuala Lumpur is the national capital, largest city, and the seat of the federal government's legislative branch. The nearby planned capital of Putrajaya is the administrative capital, which represents the seat of the executive branch (Cabinet, federal ministries and agencies) and the federal government's judicial branch. With a population of over 32 million, Malaysia is the world's 43rd-most populous country. The southernmost point of continental Eurasia is in Tanjung Piai. Malaysia is one of 17 megadiverse countries in the tropics, home to several endemic species.

History

Malaysia originates in the Malay kingdoms, which, from the 18th century, became subject to the British Empire and the British Straits Settlements protectorate. Peninsular Malaysia was unified as the Malayan Union in 1946. Malaya was restructured as the Federation of Malaya in 1948 and achieved independence on 31 August 1957. The independent Malaya united with the then British crown colonies of North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore on 16 September 1963 to become Malaysia. In August 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation and became a separate independent country.

The country is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, which significantly affects its politics. About half the population is ethnically Malay, with minorities of Chinese, Indians, and indigenous peoples. The country's official language is Malaysian, a standard Malay language. English remains an active second language. While recognizing Islam as the country's established religion, the constitution grants freedom of religion to non-Muslims. The government is modeled on the Westminster parliamentary system, and the legal system is based on common law. The head of state is an elected monarch, chosen from among the nine state sultans every five years. The head of government is the Prime Minister.

After independence, the Malaysian GDP grew at an average of 6.5% annually for almost 50 years. The economy has traditionally been fuelled by its natural resources but is expanding in science, tourism, commerce, and medical tourism. Malaysia has a newly industrialized market economy, ranked third-largest in Southeast Asia and 33rd-largest in the world.

The Malacca Sultanate played a significant role in spreading Islam throughout the Malay Archipelago. Evidence of modern human habitation in Malaysia dates back 40,000 years. In the Malay Peninsula, the first inhabitants are thought to be Negritos. Traders and settlers from India and China arrived as early as the first century AD, establishing trading ports and coastal towns in the second and third centuries. Their presence resulted in strong Indian and Chinese influences on the local cultures, and the people of the Malay Peninsula adopted the religions of Hinduism and Buddhism. Sanskrit inscriptions appear as early as the fourth or fifth century. The Kingdom of Langkasuka arose in the northern Malay Peninsula around the second century, lasting until about the 15th century. Between the 7th and 13th centuries, much of the southern Malay Peninsula was part of the maritime Srivijayan empire. By the 13th and 14th centuries, the Majapahit empire had successfully wrested control over most of the peninsula and the Malay Archipelago from Srivijaya. Islam began to spread among Malays in the 14th century. In the early 15th century, Parameswara, a runaway king of the former Kingdom of Singapura linked to the old Srivijayan court, founded the Malacca Sultanate. Malacca was an important commercial center during this time, attracting trade from around the region.

In 1511, Portugal conquered Malacca, after which it was taken by the Dutch in 1641. In 1786, the British Empire established a presence in Malaya when the Sultan of Kedah leased Penang Island to the British East India Company. The British obtained the town of Singapore in 1819 and, in 1824, took control of Malacca following the Anglo-Dutch Treaty. By 1826, the British directly controlled Penang, Malacca, Singapore, and the island of Labuan, which they established as the crown colony of the Straits Settlements. By the 20th century, the states of Pahang, Selangor, Perak, and Negeri Sembilan, known as the Federated Malay States, had British residents appointed to advise the Malay rulers, to whom the rulers were bound to defer by treaty. While not directly under British rule, the remaining five states in the peninsula, known as the Unfederated Malay States, also accepted British advisers around the turn of the 20th century. Development on the peninsula and Borneo were generally separate until the 19th century. Under British rule, the immigration of Chinese and Indians to serve as laborers was encouraged. The Sabah area came under British control as North Borneo when the Sultan of Brunei and the Sultan of Sulu transferred their respective territorial rights of ownership between 1877 and 1878. In 1842, Sarawak was ceded by the Sultan of Brunei to James Brooke, whose successors ruled as the White Rajahs over an independent kingdom until 1946, when it became a crown colony.

In the Second World War, the Japanese Army invaded and occupied Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore for over three years. During this time, ethnic tensions were raised, and nationalism grew. Popular support for independence increased after Allied forces reconquered Malaya. Post-war British plans to unite the administration of Malaya under a single crown colony called the "Malayan Union" met with strong opposition from the Malays, who opposed the weakening of the Malay rulers and the granting of citizenship to the ethnic Chinese. The Malayan Union, established in 1946 and consisting of all the British possessions in the Malay Peninsula except for Singapore, was quickly dissolved and replaced on 1 February 1948 by the Federation of Malaya, which restored the autonomy of the rulers of the Malay states under British protection.

During this time, the mostly ethnically Chinese rebels under the leadership of the Malayan Communist Party launched guerrilla operations designed to force the British out of Malaya. The Malayan Emergency (1948–1960) involved a long anti-insurgency campaign by Commonwealth troops in Malaya. On 31 August 1957, Malaya became an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations. After this, a plan was implemented to federate Malaya with the crown colonies of North Borneo (which joined as Sabah), Sarawak, and Singapore. The date of the federation was planned to be 31 August 1963 to coincide with the anniversary of Malayan independence; however, the federation was delayed until 16 September 1963 for a United Nations survey of support for federation in Sabah and Sarawak, called for by parties opposed to federation including Indonesia's Sukarno and the Sarawak United Peoples' Party, to be completed.

Federation brought heightened tensions, including a conflict with Indonesia as well continuous conflicts against the Communists in Borneo and the Malayan Peninsula, which escalated to the Sarawak Communist Insurgency and Second Malayan Emergency together with several other issues such as the cross-border attacks into North Borneo by Moro pirates from the southern islands of the Philippines, Singapore being expelled from the Federation in 1965, and racial strife. This strife culminated in the 13 May race riots in 1969. After the riots, Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak launched the controversial New Economic Policy, trying to increase the share of the economy held by the Bumiputera. Under Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, rapid economic growth and urbanization began in the 1980s. The economy shifted from being agriculturally based to one based on manufacturing and industry. Numerous mega-projects, such as the Petronas Towers, the North-South Expressway, the Multimedia Super Corridor, and Putrajaya's new federal administrative capital, were completed. However, in the late 1990s, the Asian financial crisis almost caused the currency's collapse and the stock and property markets, although they later recovered. The 1MDB scandal was a major global corruption scandal that implicated then-Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2015. The scandal contributed to the first change in the ruling political party since independence in the 2018 general election. In the 2020s, the country was gripped by a political crisis that coincided with health and economic crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spanking in Malaysia

In the 20th century, school corporal punishment fell out of fashion and was gradually banned in many countries, a trend that continues until the present day.

As of May 2008, Malaysia permits corporal punishment in schools.

Spanking children for punishment has a long tradition in Malaysia and continues to the present day. Spankings are most commonly given with a rattan cane, either on the clothed bottom (at school) or on the bare bottom (in the privacy of the home, rarely in public because that is considered too shameful).

Hand-spanking is probably also common for smaller children, but little information is available.

Located in the heart of Southeast Asia, Malaysia is one of the world's leading rattan producers; therefore, such canes are available at low prices in shops, even in modern supermarkets. For preteen children, lightweight canes of small diameter are used, whereas bigger diameter canes are usually reserved for older (teenaged) children. Malaysian boys are probably subject to more and harder canings than girls, though there are no known statistics on that.

Malaysia introduced Western-style school uniforms in the late 19th century during the British colonial era. Today, school uniforms are almost universal in the public and private school systems. Public school uniforms are compulsory for all students and standardized nationwide.

Malaysia is also one of the few countries that still use judicial corporal punishment and prison corporal punishment. Such punishments are also given with a rattan cane on the delinquent's bare buttocks, but a longer and thicker cane is used, and the strokes are given with full force so that they do severe damage to the body tissue, draw blood and can also leave scars. The delinquent is restrained in an A-frame for the procedure. Only males are subject to judicial canings. Caning is a standard punishment for more than 40 crimes in Malaysia, ranging from sexual abuse to drug use. The law defines punishment ranges from 6 to a maximum of 24 strokes.

Malaysia's preference for corporal punishment may be in part due to the British rule from 1824 to 1960 and in part due to the corporal punishment traditions of Islam, which is the main religion of the country. However, non-muslim Malaysians, such as significant parts of the Chinese or Indian minorities, spank their children no less.

The Malay word for 'cane' is rotan, which means rattan and is the origin of the English word.

Judicial caning

An A-frame for judicial caning in Pudu Prison, Kuala Lumpur.

A mannequin tied to an A-frame, to demonstrate judicial caning in Malaysia. Note the torso shield that covers the lower back and upper thighs while leaving the buttocks exposed.

Malaysia is one of the few countries that still use JCP (in the form of caning, with a maximum of 24 strokes) for various crimes, similar to those punishable by caning in Singapore. Only men above the age of 50 (excluding those convicted of rape), those certified medically unfit for caning, boys below the age of 10, and women are exempted from judicial caning. It was estimated that thousands of men were subjected to caning every year, and most of them were foreigners.

Two types of rattan canes are used for judicial canings:

• Thinner cane, used on white-collar criminals who have committed less serious offenses
• Thicker cane (3.6 feet long and 0.49 inches thick), used on offenders who have committed serious and violent crimes. This cane is 1.09 meters long and 1.25 centimeters thick (slightly smaller than the Singapore judicial cane).

The canes are also treated with antiseptic before use to prevent infection.

Caning in Malaysia has never been conducted in public. It is always conducted in an isolated area inside the prison, usually an open courtyard, out of the view of other prisoners and the public. The offender is only notified on the day his sentence is to be carried out. He is ordered to strip completely naked and is given an apron-like a garment (sometimes called a sarong) to wear, which covers only the front lower half of his body. He then receives a medical examination by a doctor. If the doctor certifies him medically fit for caning, he will be sent to a waiting area along with other prisoners who will be caned on the same day. He is only escorted to the courtyard when it is his turn. The prison director oversees the caning, along with other officers and a doctor. The director will read the terms of punishment to the offender and ask him to confirm the number of strokes he will receive.

The prisoner is then led to the A-frame, and his wrists and ankles are secured tightly to the frame by leather straps, such that he assumes an inward-facing spreadeagle-like position - hands tied above his head, legs apart. The front of his pelvis rests on a padded cushion, causing his bottom to stick out slightly. A torso shield (or special padding in some cases) is fastened around his hips, covering his lower back and thighs, so that the vulnerable kidney, lower spine and genital areas are protected from any strokes that land off target. Only his bared buttocks are exposed. A prison officer stands in front of the prisoner and wraps his hands around the prisoner's head in case the prisoner jerks back his head and injures his neck.

The punishment is administered by specially trained and certified prison officers. The caning officer takes a position on the prisoner's left and holds the cane horizontally above his head with both hands. When the command is given, he releases his left hand's grip and uses his right hand to swing the cane with full force toward the prisoner's buttocks.

This form of caning is very severe and usually draws blood and leaves permanent scars. The caning officers sometimes wear protective smocks, gloves and goggles to protect themselves from infection. If the prisoner is HIV-positive, the cane used will be burnt immediately after use. After the caning, the prisoner is untied and given medical treatment.

Authentic Malaysian Judicial (Miss Sultrybelle), is a spanking video that recreates this form of caning (photos)

Differences between judicial caning in Malaysia and in Singapore

• In Malaysia, local courts may order the caning of boys under 16. In Singapore, only the High Court may do so.

• In Malaysia, the term "caning" is often used informally, and the phrases "strokes of the cane" and "strokes of the rotan" are used interchangeably. Still, officially, the correct term is "whipping," according to traditional British legislative terminology. In Singapore, the term "caning" describes the punishment in legislation and press reports.

• In Singapore, no man above 50 can be sentenced to caning. In Malaysia, however, this age limit has been abolished for rapists. In 2008, a 56-year-old man was sentenced to 57 years in jail and 12 strokes of the cane for rape.

• The Malaysian cane is marginally smaller than the Singaporean one, but there are no discernible differences when first-person accounts from both countries are compared. In Malaysia, a smaller cane is used for white-collar offenders but there are no reports of any such distinction being made in Singapore.

• The "torso shield" that covers the offender's lower back and upper thighs while leaving the buttocks exposed is used only in Malaysia. In Singapore, rubber-lined padding is secured around the prisoner's lower back to protect the kidney and lower spine area from any strokes that land off-target. This is also a reason why 'wrapping' hardly occurs in a Malaysian caning, and the wounds are more concentrated around the middle of the buttocks (because the torso shield covers the sides). In Singapore, 'wrapping' occurs nearly all the time because there is a very high tendency for the flexible cane to hit the side of the far buttock near the hip area (usually on the right side), which is not covered by any padding.

• The frame used to secure the prisoner in Malaysia differs from that used in Singapore. In Malaysia, the inmate stands upright (albeit leaning slightly forward) at the A-frame with his legs apart. At the same time, in Singapore, the offender bends over a padded crossbar on the caning trestle with his feet together.

• In Malaysia, men have sometimes been sentenced to more than 24 strokes, such as in a case in 2004 when a man was given 75 years in jail and 50 strokes of the cane for molesting his stepdaughter. There are no reports of any man being sentenced to more than 24 strokes in a single sentence in Singapore.

• Syariah caning is practiced in Malaysia but not in Singapore. This form of punishment applies only to Muslims (both Malaysian and non-Malaysian).

Syariah caning

Apart from its criminal law system, Malaysia also has a separate system of Syariah (or Sharia) courts, which can also order canings for only Muslims. Syariah caning is much less severe than judicial caning and may be administered to both men and women. The offender is fully dressed and is caned on his or her back (over clothing) by an officer of the same gender as the offender. Men stand when they receive the punishment while women are seated. The caning officer must exercise restraint and only use their wrist power without raising the entire arm. This form of punishment is meant to be symbolic and humiliating to the offender as opposed to the objective of inflicting pain (as in judicial canings).

Notable cases

• In 2009, Kartika Sari Dewi Sukarno, a Malaysian Muslim woman, was sentenced by a religious court to six strokes of the cane and a fine for drinking beer in a hotel bar. (Muslims are forbidden from consuming alcohol.) There was controversy surrounding the sentence, as some argued that the sentence did not conform to Islamic law while others defended it. On 1 April 2010, one day before the sentence was due to be carried out, the Sultan of Pahang commuted the sentence to three weeks of community service. Kartika has said she would rather be caned.

• On 9 February 2010, three Muslim women were caned by order of a Syariah court for having extramarital sex. This was the first time women have ever been subjected to an official punishment of caning in Malaysia. The advocacy group Sisters in Islam and the Malaysian Bar Council claimed that these canings violated laws in Malaysia that prohibit the punishment against females.
• On 3 September 2018, two Malaysian women were each sentenced to six strokes of the cane and a fine for having lesbian sex. The punishment was carried out at the Sharia High Court in Kuala Terengganu. The case sparked widespread controversy and drew strong criticism from various rights groups in Malaysia.

Malaysian spanking art

No Malaysian spanking artist is known so far, except for Malaysia's best-known cartoonist Lat, who made a few humorous cartoon references to spanking. The country's strict anti-pornography laws make it a legal problem to produce erotic adult spanking art. Non-erotic artwork, photographs, and videos of spanking or caning are no legal problem, however. In former Pudu Prison (KL), which is now a museum, visitors are shown photographs and a video of judicial caning, for example.

School caning

In the 20th century, school corporal punishment fell out of fashion and was gradually banned in many countries, a trend that continues until the present day.

As of May 2008, Malaysia permits corporal punishment in schools.

Malaysia introduced Western-style school uniform s in the late 19th century during the British colonial era. Today, school uniforms are almost universal in the public and private school systems. They are compulsory for all students and are standardized nationwide.

School corporal punishment, in the form of caning, is lawful and is regulated by the government. Only schoolboys can be caned and the caning of schoolgirls is technically banned. The student must be caned on the buttocks over clothing or on the palm (hand caning). Most photos or videos of present-day school corporal punishment in Malaysia show the student receiving strokes of the cane on his clothed bottom in a standing position.

Caning is used as a punishment for repeated or serious offenses, and only the principal or an authorized school staff member is allowed to administer corporal punishment.

Although the government has outlawed the caning of schoolgirls, there are many reported cases suggesting that schoolgirls are still caned on their palms at some schools, up to and including the age of 19. Public Caning was supposedly banned in schools in 2006, but this has not stopped it from happening in practice.

Domestic spanking

The spanking of children in Malaysia has a long tradition and continues today. A thin rattan cane is used for this purpose, applied to the child's bared or clothed bottom, palm of the hand, thighs, or calves. Some parents may use other implements like feather duster handles, rulers and clothes hangers. Hand-spanking is probably also common for younger children, but little information exists.

For preteen children, lightweight canes of small diameters are used, while thicker canes are usually reserved for older children and teenagers. Malaysian boys are probably subject to more frequent and more severe corporal punishment than girls, but there are no statistics to support this.

Spanking artists in Malaysia

There are no known spanking artists from Malaysia so far, except for a cartoonist, Lat, who drew a few humorous cartoon references to spanking. The country's strict anti-pornography laws make it a legal problem to produce erotic adult spanking art. Non-erotic artwork, photographs, and videos of canings are allowed to be shown. For example, in the former Pudu Prison (near the capital Kuala Lumpur), which was briefly a museum in the 2000s, visitors were shown photographs and a video of a judicial caning.

Spanking videos

• A Judicial Caning For 5 Inmates: Jayda Blayze (Triple A Spanking, 2021), Malaysian cane, photos

• A Judicial Caning For 5 Inmates: Kajira Bound (Triple A Spanking), photos

• A Judicial Caning For 5 Inmates: Kalaisha Mae (Triple A Spanking), photos

• A Judicial Caning For 5 Inmates: Lily Swan (Triple A Spanking), photos

• A Judicial Caning For 5 Inmates: Reyna St Clair (Triple A Spanking), photos

• Authentic Malaysian Judicial (Miss Sultrybelle, 2020), photos

• Caned in Malaysia (Punished Brats, 2018), Adriana Evans, photos, more photos

• Lola Caned on the Singapore Frame (Miss Sultrybelle), photos

• Lola's Malaysian Judicial (Miss Sultrybelle, 2022), photos

• Malaysian Frame Caning (Miss Sultrybelle), photos
• Malaysian Frame Caning of Kendra (Miss Sultrybelle, 2023), Miss Belle, photos

• Malaysian Frame Judicial Caning of Gemma (Miss Sultrybelle), photos
• Malaysian Judicial (Miss Sultrybelle), photos

References

More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Malaysia ]

External links

• CIA Factbook link for Malaysia
• Images from Malaysia on Bing.com
• Real photos of a Singapore caning (Note: The website states wrongly that it's a Singapore caning. It's actually a Malaysia caning.) (Warning: Gruesome pictures)

• Various photographs of Malaysian judicial caning at World Corporal Punishment Research
• Malay spanking cartoons: 1, 2, 3, 4

Jump to: Main Page • Micropedia • Macropedia • Icons • Sexology • Time Line • History • Life Lessons • Links • Help
Chat rooms • What links here • Copyright info • Contact information • Category:RootSee also [ List of Countries ]