Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that can help answer the question.
Query: What is the national dish of Malaysia?
Marrybrown Sdn Bhd (doing business as Marrybrown) is a Malaysian-based halal-certified fast food restaurant chain established in 1981. It was the first local fast food chain to franchise its business in Malaysia with more than 138 restaurants locally. Marrybrown has over 350 international outlets serving fried chicken, burgers, finger food, desserts, and beverages aside from serving Malaysian local dishes such as seafood, rice-based products, noodles and porridge. The Malaysian national rice dish, nasi lemak became the feature list on the menu as 'Nasi Marrybrown'.
The Malay language is one of the major languages of the world and of the Austronesian family. Variants and dialects of Malay are used as an official language in Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. The language is also spoken in Thailand, Cocos Islands, Christmas Island, Sri Lanka. It is spoken natively by approximately 33 million people throughout the Malay Archipelago and is used as a second language by an estimated 220 million.
The majority of people on Peninsular Malaysia are ethnic Malays, predominantly Muslim. Large Chinese and Indian populations exist. The Orang Asli are the indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia; they number around 140,000 and mostly lived in inland parts of the region.
Malaysia signed the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity on 12 June 1993, and became a party to the convention on 24 June 1994. It has subsequently produced a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, which was received by the convention on 16 April 1998. The country is megadiverse with a high number of species and high levels of endemism. It is estimated to contain 20 per cent of the world's animal species. High levels of endemism are found on the diverse forests of Borneo's mountains, as species are isolated from each other by lowland forest. There are about 210 mammal species in the country. Over 620 species of birds have been recorded in Peninsular Malaysia, with many endemic to the mountains there. A high number of endemic bird species are also found in Malaysian Borneo. 250 reptile species have been recorded in the country, with about 150 species of snakes and 80 species of lizards. There are about 150 species of frogs, and thousands of insect species. Malaysia's exclusive economic zone is 1.5 times larger than its land area, and some of its waters are in the Coral Triangle, a biodiversity hotspot. The waters around Sipadan island are the most biodiverse in the world. Bordering East Malaysia, the Sulu Sea is a biodiversity hotspot, with around 600 coral species and 1200 fish species. The unique biodiversity of Malaysian Caves always attracts lovers of ecotourism from all over the world.
Alcohol is generally prohibited for Muslim consumers in the country as Malaysia's sharia law forbids Muslim from drinking and selling alcohol to them. Alcohol is mostly banned for Muslims in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu. The legal age drinking for Malaysia is 21 years old and above, which was changed from the previous legal drinking age of 18, as of 1 December 2017. The legal limit for alcohol while driving in Malaysia is 80 milligrams per decilitre or 100 millilitres. Any vendors, restaurants and retailers need a license to serve or sell tap/draft beers, liquor and spirits in the country, but bottled and canned beers are exempted from such license requirements which is why it is common to find many vendors and coffee houses continue to serving alcohol in their premises without any license throughout the country. Malaysia also impose a nationwide regulations for vendors to place their alcoholic drinks into separate refrigerators or storage places, although this was opposed by certain vendors in the state of Penang. The high tax on alcohol has led to the increase price of alcoholic drinks in Malaysia, this has contributed to alcohol-related harm as many indigenous in the interior turn to unsafe alcohol that being smuggled from neighbouring countries.
The rhinoceros hornbill is the state bird of the Malaysian state of Sarawak and the country's National Bird. Some Dayak people, especially the Ibanic groups, believe it to be the chief of worldly birds or the supreme worldly bird, and its statue is used to welcome the god of the augural birds, Sengalang Burong, to the feasts and celebrations of humankind. Contrary to some misunderstandings, the rhinoceros hornbill does not represent their war god, who is represented in this world by the brahminy kite.
Other popular dishes include "carne asada" (roasted meat); chicken with rice and corn; fried fish with pickled onions; and fried or baked plantain. In the coastal areas and in the Bay Islands, seafood and meats are sometimes prepared with coconut milk.
Malaysia's predominant political party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), held power in the coalition known as the Barisan Nasional (formerly the Alliance) with other parties since Malaya's independence in 1957 until 2018. In 1973, an alliance of communally based parties was replaced with a broader coalition – the Barisan Nasional — composed of fourteen parties. Today the Barisan Nasional coalition has three prominent members – the UMNO, MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) and MIC (Malaysian Indian Congress). The current Prime Minister of Malaysia is from Pakatan Harapan (PH) who is the ex-UMNO leader, marking the first time the post is occupied by a non-UMNO party member.
Malay is the main language spoken in the state, although with a different creole from Sarawak Malay and Peninsular Malay. The state has its own slang for Malay which originated either from indigenous words, Brunei Malay, Suluk, Cocos Malay and Indonesian language. The indigenous languages of Sabah can be divided into four language families of Dusunic, Murutic, Paitanic and Sama–Bajau. As the Hakka forms the majority of Chinese in Sabah, the Hakka dialect is the most commonly spoken Chinese dialect in the state apart from Cantonese and Hokkien dialects.
The Malaysian ringgit (; plural: ringgit; symbol: RM; currency code: MYR; formerly the Malaysian dollar) is the currency of Malaysia. It is divided into 100 "sen" ("cents"). The ringgit is issued by the Bank Negara Malaysia.
After reviewing the Cobbold Commission's findings, the British government appointed the Landsdowne Commission to draft a constitution for Malaysia. The eventual constitution was essentially the same as the 1957 constitution, albeit with some rewording; for instance, giving recognition to the special position of the natives of the Borneo States. North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore were also granted some autonomy unavailable to the states of Malaya. After negotiations in July 1963, it was agreed that Malaysia would come into being on 31 August 1963, consisting of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore. The date was to coincide with the independence day of Malaya and the British giving self-rule to Sarawak and North Borneo. However, Indonesia and the Philippines strenuously objected to this development, with Indonesia claiming Malaysia represented a form of "neocolonialism" and the Philippines claiming North Borneo as its territory. The opposition from the Indonesian government led by Sukarno and attempts by the Sarawak United People's Party delayed the formation of Malaysia. Due to these factors, an eight-member UN team was formed to re-ascertain whether North Borneo and Sarawak truly wanted to join Malaysia. Malaysia formally came into being on 16 September 1963, consisting of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore. In 1963 the total population of Malaysia was about 10 million.
In Latin America, dishes may be claimed or designated as a ""plato nacional"", although in many cases, recipes transcend national borders with only minor variations. Both Peru and Ecuador claim "ceviche" as their national dish. Stews of meat, plantains, and root vegetables are the "platos nacionales" of several countries in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean: Colombian "ajiaco", as well as the "sancocho" of the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Panama, are examples of platos nacionales. Janer (2008) observes that this sharing of the same "plato nacional" by different countries calls into question the idea that every country has a unique national dish that is special to that country; she states that cuisine does not respect national and geopolitical borders.
The Philippines and Indonesia strenuously objected to this development, with Indonesia claiming Malaysia represented a form of neocolonialism and the Philippines claiming Sabah as its territory. The United Nations sent a commission to the region which approved the merger after having delayed the date of Malaysia's formation to investigate. Despite further protests from the Indonesian President, Sukarno, the formation of Malaysia was proclaimed on 16 September 1963. Indonesia then declared a "confrontation" with Malaysia, sending commandos to perform guerilla attacks in East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak). The confrontation was ended when a military coup replaced Sukarno with Suharto. The Philippines, which had withdrawn diplomatic recognition from Malaysia, also recognised Malaysia around the same time.
Ancient Malaysian and Indonesian cultures and civilizations in ancient Malaya, Sumatra and Java influenced the history, lifestyles, and culture of the Filipino peoples. The Malay language, along with Philippine languages belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian language family, has also had an immense influence on many languages spoken in the Philippines. This is because Old Malay used to be the lingua franca throughout the archipelago, a good example of this is Magellan's translator Enrique using Malay to converse with the native "Sugbuanon" (Cebuano) during this time period.
Brazilian cuisine varies greatly by region, reflecting the country's varying mix of indigenous and immigrant populations. This has created a national cuisine marked by the preservation of regional differences. Examples are Feijoada, considered the country's national dish; and regional foods such as beiju, feijão tropeiro, vatapá, moqueca, polenta (from Italian cuisine) and acarajé (from African cuisine).
Peninsular Malaysia is more populated than East Malaysia where 79.2% of the population lives in the Peninsular. In 2002, 59% of Malaysian population lived in urban areas, while the rest live in rural areas. The largest city is Kuala Lumpur with a population of 1.89 million people in the city, and about 7 million in the metropolitan area known as Klang Valley. Other major cities include George Town, Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Kuching, and Kota Kinabalu.
However, the federal Malaysian government in Kuala Lumpur denied that the Kelantanese dinar had a legal-tender status, stating that the buyers had been misled by the Kelantanese government. The only currency that is legal tender in Kelantan is the Malaysian ringgit. According to the Malaysian constitution, ninth schedule, list I sub 7.a, the states of Malaysia do not have the right to issue coins. In fact, the federal government had already declared publicly in 2006, in response to the plan announced by the Kelantanese government and before any of the coins were minted, that state governments could not issue their own currency.
On 9 April 2009, she was appointed Minister of Tourism in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's new cabinet. Under her stewardship, Malaysia was rated the ninth most popular tourist destination by United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). In 2011, Malaysia received 24.8 million tourists, generating RM58.3 billion in tourism receipts. The ministry also spent RM 1.8 million on a Facebook marketing campaign to promote tourism.
Malaysia is Singapore's biggest trading partner, with bilateral trade totalling roughly 91 billion US dollars in 2012, accounting for over a fifth of total trade within ASEAN. Singapore’s trade with major trading partners such as Malaysia, China, Indonesia and South Korea increased in 2012, while trade with EU27, United States, Hong Kong and Japan decreased in 2012. Since 2009, the value of exports exceeds imports for Singapore’s trade with China. In comparison, the value of imports exceeds exports for Singapore’s trade with the US since 2006.
Malaysia and Vietnam are two Southeast Asian countries with maritime boundaries which meet in the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea. The two countries have overlapping claims over the continental shelf in the Gulf of Thailand. Both countries have, however, come to an agreement to jointly exploit the natural resources in the disputed area pending resolution of the dispute over sovereignty.
The abundant sea harvest of the Indian Ocean around the Atolls of the Maldives and, Lakshadweep in India yields many pelagic fishes, like skipjack, yellowfin tuna, little tunny (known locally as laṭṭi) and frigate mackerel. All these fishes have been traditionally processed on the Maldive Islands as a main source of food as well as income for Maldivians.
Some cultural disputes exist between Malaysia and neighbouring Indonesia. The two countries share a similar cultural heritage, sharing many traditions and items. However, disputes have arisen over things ranging from culinary dishes to Malaysia's national anthem. Strong feelings exist in Indonesia about protecting that nation's national heritage. The rivalry between the two countries began during Konfrontasi just after Malaysian independence, when Indonesia and Malaysia were almost at war. Building resentment since then coupled with the economic success of Malaysia mean these feelings are still strong in Indonesia today. The Malaysian government and the Indonesian government have met to defuse some of the tensions resulting from the overlaps in culture. Feelings are not as strong in Malaysia, where most recognise that many cultural values are shared.
Some cultural disputes exist between Malaysia and neighbouring countries, notably Indonesia. The two countries have a similar cultural heritage, sharing many traditions and items. However, disputes have arisen over things ranging from culinary dishes to Malaysia's national anthem. Strong feelings exist in Indonesia about protecting their national heritage. The Malaysian government and the Indonesian government have met to defuse some of the tensions resulting from the overlaps in culture. Feelings are not as strong in Malaysia, where most recognise that many cultural values are shared.
A sample of representative Malaysian Chinese dishes found nationwide include:Malaysian Indian cuisine, or the cooking of the ethnic Indian communities in Malaysia consists of adaptations of authentic dishes from India, as well as original creations inspired by the diverse food culture of Malaysia. As the vast majority of Malaysia's Indian community are mostly ethnic Tamils who are descendants of the modern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka's Northern Province, much of Malaysian Indian cuisine is predominantly South Indian inspired in character and taste. A typical Malaysian Indian dish is likely to be redolent with curry leaves, whole and powdered spice, and contains fresh coconut in various forms. Ghee is still widely used for cooking, although vegetable oils and refined palm oils are now commonplace in home kitchens. Before a meal it is customary to wash hands as cutlery is often not used while eating, with the exception of a serving spoon for each respective dish.
Malaysian Indian cuisine, or the cooking of the ethnic Indian communities in Malaysia consists of adaptations of authentic dishes from India, as well as original creations inspired by the diverse food culture of Malaysia. Because the vast majority of Malaysia's Indian community are of South Indian descent, and are mostly ethnic Tamils who are descendants of immigrants from a historical region which consists of the modern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka's Northern Province, much of Malaysian Indian cuisine is predominantly South Indian inspired in character and taste. A typical Malaysian Indian dish is likely to be redolent with curry leaves, whole and powdered spice, and contains fresh coconut in various forms. Ghee is still widely used for cooking, although vegetable oils and refined palm oils are now commonplace in home kitchens. Before a meal it is customary to wash hands as cutlery is often not used while eating, with the exception of a serving spoon for each respective dish.