Malaysia’s National Day recalls many memories and journey that Malaysians have hurdled and cherished since our independence. Malaysia is largely influenced and shaped by three key factors, namely its strategic location in Southeast Asia, its attributes as a trading nation as well as its unique demography.
Malaysia is not only a country that has a rich history but also many achievements in the past 66 years since its independence in 1957. Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj, the founding father and the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, led the negotiations to achieve independence from the British in a peaceful manner.
That made him to be regarded as the Father of Independence. Six years after gaining independence, on September 16, 1963, Malaysia was officially formed with the inclusion of Sabah and Sarawak (two large states in Borneo) and a small island of Labuan, located across the South China Sea to the east of the peninsular Malaysia.
Malaysia’s National Day theme for this year, ‘Determination in unity, fulfilling hope’ is a concept inspired by the Honourable Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia. It is in line with the government’s commitment to develop a united country with its people living in peace and prosperity.
This will ensure Malaysians enjoy all forms of progress and modernity based on the sustainability of culture, creativity, confidence, well-being, mutual respect and compassion. Malaysia’s racial diversity was the element that made our country unique. This diversity had driven the resounding success of the ‘Malaysia Truly Asia’ branding in 1999, which turned Malaysia into a major destination for tourists.
With its cultural diversity, foreign visitors and tourists will find Malaysia always abuzz with various festivals, shows, events, conventions and celebrations. Multi-cultural Malaysia is also home to several Unesco World Heritage sites, namely the Lenggong Valley in the north of the peninsular, Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak, Kinabalu Park in Sabah, as well as Historical Cities in Melaka and George Town.
Its rich and colourful multicultural heritage, delectable cuisines, great mountains and rivers and idyllic tropical islands have made Malaysia a perfect destination with immense charms, perfect for Instagram and TikTok feeds.
While Malaysia develops and modernises rapidly, 60 per cent of its territory remains green with many areas being conserved. Malaysia is one of the top countries in the world that designates most of its green and marine areas, as parks and conservation zones to protect its rich floras and faunas.
From white sandy beaches to its rich marine life, cooling mountains to greeneries, world’s oldest rainforest to wildlife, astonishing cities to villages, Malaysia offers endless experiences to travellers looking for high-value travel destinations.
Simply, Malaysia is a holiday destination that offers multiple dream destinations in one. The interesting part is, Kenyans can visit Malaysia for a maximum of 30 days without having to apply for visa.
Besides, Malaysia has a world-class education system at very affordable prices. Malaysia also houses many branches of international universities, such as Curtin University, Monash University, Nottingham University, Xiamen University and many more. The affordable cost of living in Malaysia also attracts many foreign students to study in various universities and institutes of higher learning in the country.
The structural transformation of Malaysia’s economy over the last six decades has been spectacular. There are many factors that have enabled Malaysia to attract quality investments over the years such as world-class infrastructures, good connectivity, strategic location within ASEAN, liberal and transparent business policies with strong supporting industries.
History has proven that Malaysia is a resilient nation and has a well-diversified economy resting on the back of its solid economic fundamentals.
ASEAN remains the cornerstone of Malaysia’s foreign policy. Apart from ASEAN, the nation’s well-being is founded on strong and friendly relations with other countries bilaterally, and its commitment to the multilateral system.
Bilaterally, Malaysia and Kenya have a long-standing friendship with excellent cooperation in many areas. Kenya was Malaysia’s no 1 trade partner in Africa in 2022, and no 2 in 2023. While we have seen many accomplishments, we are cognisant that more work needs to be done with challenges ahead of us. For that, we all need to work closely together to achieve the intended accomplishment.
High Commissioner of Malaysia to Kenya
