Malaysia 2019
Yearbook 2019
Malaysia. Malaysia’s economy slowed down during the year. For the period July to September, GDP grew by 4.4%, the lowest growth in one year. The US-China trade war contributed to this. But the central bank hoped that domestic demand would offset the slowdown in exports. The mining sector was the heaviest. A concern for the government was, according to Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad, that the currency, ringgit, has fallen in value and imported goods have become more expensive.
Veteran politician Mahathir, now 94, showed no signs of wanting to leave his post. But the brilliance of the year-old government coalition Hope’s Alliance (PH), a coalition of four parties, has faded. The lost four out of five elections in 2019 to the former government coalition National Front (BN). Some analysts believe it should be seen as a warning bell for the government.
UMNO, the largest party in the National Front, announced in September that it had formed an alliance with Muslim PAS (Malaysia’s Islamic Party). The goal is to win voters among Muslim Malays, the country’s largest ethnic group, in the next parliamentary elections in 2023.
- ABBREVIATIONFINDER.ORG: Click to see the meanings of 3-letter acronym and abbreviation of MYS in general and in geography as Malaysia in particular.
The legal rounds continued against former Prime Minister Najib Razak for his alleged involvement in the scandal surrounding the state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Najib denies allegations of locking $ 540 million into its own accounts and is charged with over 25 counts of corruption, money laundering and abuse of power. Najib’s wife and his stepson also refuse a crime. Another process is underway against US investment bank Goldman Sachs. More than $ 4.5 billion disappeared from 1MDB and legal proceedings are ongoing in several countries.
Another notable case came to an end. Two women – one from Indonesia and one from Vietnam – were released in March and May respectively. They were indicted for the February 2017 murder of Kim Jong Nam, half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un. The women pressed a cloth with the nerve poison VX to his face at the airport in Kuala Lumpur. The women claim that they were deceived and believed that they starred in a television program. However, the Vietnamese admitted that she hurt Kim and received a reduced sentence. North Korea has been singled out for the murder since Kim Jong Nam fell into disgrace.
Parliament voted to abolish a contentious law against fraud news that Najib pushed through 2018, but critics felt it was intended to prevent criticism.
Sultan Abdullah Riayatuddin al-Mustafa Billah Shah was crowned new king on January 24. His representative, Muhammad V, resigned at the beginning of the year. The kings are elected for a five-year term among the nine states of the nine states. No other king has departed prematurely since independence in 1957.
The country sold itself to neighboring countries and sent back hundreds of tons of polluted waste to the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia.
Malaysia’s last two sumatran rhinos died during the year and the species is now extinct in the country. According to the World Wildlife Fund WWF, fewer than 100 specimens remain in Indonesia.
Population 2019
According to CountryAAH, the population of Malaysia in 2019 was 31,949,666, ranking number 44 in the world. The population growth rate was 1.340% yearly, and the population density was 97.2448 people per km2.
