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.
Malaysian Indian Congress
The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC; ; formerly known as Malayan Indian Congress) is a Malaysian political party and is one of the founding members of Barisan Nasional, previously known as the Alliance, that was in power from when the country achieved independence in 1957 until the recent 2018 elections. The party was among the first to fight for Malayan Independence and one of the oldest parties in Malaysia.