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 national football team
Although the Federation of Malaysia have been formed on 16 September 1963, the name are still being maintained for the national squad, thus there is some debate as most Malaysian in the East felt the ""Malaya"" term does not cover the whole country. Some supporters in the East felt offended when the media in the West Malaysia keep continuously using the term even some in the West said it is just a small matter and the naming issue had been politicised as the term ""Malayan tiger"" came from an endangered endemic tiger subspecies in Malay Peninsula rather than a geopolitical reason.