Culture of Malaysia
Malaysia consists of two distinct geographical regions: Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia. Malaysia was formed when the Federation of Malaya merged with North Borneo (today the province of Sabah), Sarawak, and Singapore (seceded 1965) in 1963, and cultural differences between Peninsular and East Malaysia remain. During the formation of Malaysia, executive power was vested in the Perikatan (later the Barisan Nasional) coalition of three racially based political parties, namely the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC). UMNO has dominated the coalition from its inception. Although Islam is the official state religion, the Constitution of Malaysia guarantees freedom of religion.
Malaysia and the United Nations
Since the existence of the organisation, the Federation of Malaya expressed an interest in joining the United Nations, and did so on 17 September 1957. Following a merger between Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak on 16 September 1963, it was later renamed Malaysia. However, less than two years after the merger, Singapore was expelled from the federation and joined the United Nations by itself on 21 September 1965.