Essay: Malaysia: Land of fascinating places.

Imagine a country with multi racial and multi ethnic staying together in harmony and peace. The home for ecology and nature paradise with an estimation of 20% of the worlds animal species, 620 species of bird, 150 species of snakes, 15,000 species of vascular plants and forest believed to be more than 130 million years old. The country is also famous for its world tallest twin tower, world class formula one circuit, world class diving destinations, world class cuisine and world class airlines. This country is no other than Malaysia, Malaysia Truly Asia. Malaysia has long been one of the worlds best kept tourism secrets. It is an ideal tourism destination in so many different respects as it offers a wide range of diverse attraction to suit all tastes and most importantly, at relatively affordable prices. Tourist can get high quality product at a cheaper prices. Malaysia is also home to some of the most beautiful beaches and resorts in the world. With its equatorial weather, the white sandy beaches of Malaysia attract tourists from all over the world the whole year round. Redang and Tioman are among favourite beach for scuba divers.

Malaysia is located at strategic places. Malaysia is a country in South-East Asia, located partly on a peninsula of the Asian mainland and partly on the northern third of the island of Borneo. West Malaysia shares a border with Thailand, is connected by a causeway and a bridge (Malaysia-Singapore Second Link) to the island state of Singapore, and has coastlines on the South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca. East Malaysia (Borneo) shares borders with Brunei and Indonesia. A wide area at Malaysia cause there are variety of earth structure, such as river, mountain and beach. Malaysia has a long coastline with several offshore islands and sea sports are coming to the fore. There are plenty of opportunities to water-ski and wind-surf or snorkel and dive in the many islands and marine parks found throughout the country. The country's large river system has made canoeing and white-water rafting popular adventure sports. For those who are like to climb, Malaysia has lots of national parks and mountains to climb. Most adventurous are Mount Kinabalu, Taman Negara in Pahang and Mount Mulu. Other than that, there is a great network of caves in Malaysia for carving enthusiasts. It has been found that most caves date back to the Stone Age and some caves in Sarawak are 60 million years old. The majority of caves are limestone and are above ground level. These include Gua Kolam in Perlis, Gua Tempurung and Kundu in Perak, Batu Caves in Selangor and 1

Gua ikan in Kuala Krai, Kelantan. The appearances of caves can change within months as the humid Malaysian weather affects stalagmite and stalactite formation.

In the Asian landscape, Malaysia has among the most diverse cultures in the world. This nation's tourism tagline is "Malaysia Truly Asia," and true to its slogan, it is home to a unique potpourri of Asian cultures Malay, Chinese, Indian along with many indigenous groups on Borneo island. Tourists can learn about culture from these races. Malaysia is a multiracial country. Malaysia has a population of 23.27 million consisting of 61 percent Malays, 30 percent Chinese, 8 percent Indians and 1 percent of other ethnic groups. Malaysia is unique because of its diversity of races, religions and cultures, the stability of the country and many places of interests. Besides, there are many international achievements which are the pride of our nation. Diversity of races, religions and cultures is a significant characteristic of our nation. Malaysia is a multiracial country with a rich cultural heritage. Unique to Malaysia is the 'Open House' concept where during the various cultural and religious festival like Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Gawai Day and others, friends and families and even strangers would visit the homes of those who are celebrating the festival, to wish them well and enjoy the feast prepared by the hosts. Although the visitors may be from different races, they still can tolerate with each other and live under the same roof where they celebrate the festival together. This will help to strengthen the ties among themselves. Moreover, the stability and peacefulness of Malaysia is also a uniqueness of us. Malaysian live harmoniously in a country where there are no wars and conflicts among Malaysians. Therefore, Malaysia is unique because of the stability and peaceful environment.

Malaysia also well-known as heaven for dishes. There are just so much to choose from, whether traditional or modern cuisines, deem to satisfy the choosiest tastes buds. Malaysian food, just like its people, is divided into Malay, Chinese and Indian and is still prepared by their own unique ways. Malay food, in general is rich with herbs like lemongrass, tamarind, dried and fresh chilies, ginger and garlic. Malay dishes can be distinguished into a few methods of cooking namely masak merah (tomato sauce), masak lemak (coconut milk), masak asam (sourish tamarind) and masak pedas (spicy). Popular dishes that cannot be missed are such as nasi lemak (coconut milk steamed rice), sambal belacan (shrimp paste with pounded chilies), beef rending (dried curry) and serunding (beef floss). Satay, or barbequs meat on a stick, is 2

originated from Malay cuisine has presence in restaurants all over the world today. Indian food, on the other hand, has very much integrated northern Indian and southern Indian cuisines when they reach Malaysian shores. Popular for their curries, banana leaf rice and breads such as chapati, naan and roti (prata in some countries). Indian food has also been assimilated with Malay food through their mix marriages of Indian Malay. The resultant is Mamak food, which cannot be found in India, itself. Examples are like teh tarik (tea with milk), murtabak and rojak (mixture of fruits with peanut sauce). Chinese food, like Indian food, has been assimilated with local cuisines. In China itself, Chinese are divided into so many provinces namely the Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien, Hainan, Teochew and so forth. In Malaysian, Cantonese food makes the most presence with its stir fry and steaming method. Chinese dishes such as dim sum, sweet and sour dishes, char siew (sweet barbecued pork),bak kut teh (herbal soup) are a few popular dishes. Steamboat or fondue is also widely available and can be a great experience. Based on the list of types of dishes, there is no denial that Malaysia is a food heaven.

Finally, Malaysia is a very nice place to visit. It is a land for fascinating places. Tourist can learn more about others cultures, including their food, custome, art dan believes. Visit Malaysia means visit Asia. It is worthy to spend time and money at Malaysia as the expenditure is affordable. Tourist can get new interesting experiences and challenge theirselves with ecotourism activity. If you are looking a place for a great vacation, Malaysia is among the ideal one.