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.
Sedomon Gunsanad Kina
On 16 September 1963, the birth of a new nation within the South East Asian region, known as Malaysia, was marked. Subsequently, both Sodomon and his brother Sundang, were invited to the peninsula to see the success and effectiveness of the Alliance administration. This administration worked based on the concept of power sharing, and was led by the Malay majority party UMNO, together with the Chinese and Indians in the MCA and MIC, respectively. Their visit convinced the Sabahan leaders that the Malays did not control everything.