East Malaysia
East Malaysia comprises the states of Sabah, Sarawak, and the Federal Territory of Labuan.
In the pan-regional style, city status is reserved for only a few settlements, including Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Miri.
Singapore left the Federation two years later in 1965 after being expelled[11] by then the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman.
The islands of Labuan were once part of North Borneo in 1946 before becoming a Federal Territory in Malaysia on 16 April 1984.
Since 2010, there has been some speculation and discussion, at least on the ground level, about the possibility of secession from the Federation of Malaysia[12] because of allegations of resource mishandling, illegal processing of immigrants, etc.
[13] The Borneo States of Sabah and Sarawak joined the Federation of Malaysia as equal partners with Malaya and Singapore.
[14] The Constitution (Amendment) Act 2022 received royal assent on 19 January 2022 and came into force on 11 February 2022.
Compared to West Malaysia, political parties in Sarawak and Sabah started relatively late.
The indigenous people in both Sarawak and Sabah do not form an absolute majority, while the non-native population in East Malaysia mainly consisting of entirely Chinese.
With the support of the Malaysia federal government, native Muslim parties in Sabah and Sarawak were strengthened.
[25] On several occasions, the federal government chaired its weekly cabinet meetings in Kuching instead of Putrajaya.
[29] In October 2018, both Sabah and Sarawak chief ministers met to discuss common goals in demanding from the Malaysian federal government regarding the rights stipulated inside the Malaysia Agreement.
[14] The Constitution (Amendment) Act 2022 received royal assent on 19 January 2022 and came into force on 11 February 2022.
The Gunung Mulu National Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in November 2000.
[38] The Baronia Field is a domal structural trap between two east–west growth faults, which produces from late Miocene sandstones interbedded with siltstones and clays at 2 km depth in 75 m of water.
[38]: 431 The Samarang Field produces from late Miocene sandtones in an alternating sequence of sandstones, siltstones and clays in an anticline at a depth of about 3 km in water 9–45 m.[38]: 431 The Central Luconia Gas Fields produce from middle to late Miocene carbonate platform and pinnacle reefs from 1.25 to 3.76 km deep and water depths 60-100m.
A significant part of the population of East Malaysia today reside in towns and cities.
The largest city and urban centre is Kuching, which is also the capital of Sarawak and has a population of over 600,000 people.
Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, and Miri are the only three places with city status in East Malaysia.
Other important towns include Sandakan and Tawau in Sabah, Sibu and Bintulu in Sarawak, and Victoria in Labuan.
For hundreds of years, there has been significant migration into East Malaysia and Borneo from many parts of the Malay Archipelago, including Java, the Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi, and Sulu.
While among Indian communities, unlike their fellows in Peninsular Malaysia where they are considered as one of the several major ethnic groups in Peninsula, their population in East Malaysia was quite tiny, consists just about 0.3%, with the majority of them resides in the urban areas such as Kota Kinabalu, Tawau, Labuan and Miri, in addition to Kuching.
Citizenships are alleged to be granted to immigrants from Indonesia and Philippines in order to keep the UMNO ruling party in power.
[44] However, federal government funds have been allocated for the upgrade of the highway, which will be carried out in stages until completion in 2025.
Rivers are used by boats and ferries for communications (i.e. mail) and passenger transport between inland areas and coastal towns.
Shipyards in Sabah and Sarawak build steel vessels for offshore supply, tug, barge and river ferries when compared to shipyards in Peninsular Malaysia that focus on building steel and aluminium vessels for the government as well as oil and gas companies.
