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DEFINITION OF FOOD CULTUREFOOD CULTURE refers to the practices, attitudes, and beliefs as well as the networks and institutions surrounding the production.

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DEFINITION OF FOOD CULTUREFOOD CULTURE refers to the practices, attitudes, and beliefs as well as the networks and institutions surrounding the production.

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A one-dish meal contains a balanced proportion of the recommended daily allowances from each of the major food groups.

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Describe about Asean anthems.

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ASEAN - Southeast Asian Countries' National Anthems

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Fried rice:
mixed it with veggies, chicken, beef, seafood, whatever it is that you can think of. What makes Indonesian Fried Rice different is the use of sweet, thick soy sauce called keycap and garnished with acar, pickled cucumber and carrots.

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I am pretty sure that you've heard of Indonesia or maybe some of you think that Bali is somewhere near Indonesia and thought that it is a country of its own. Maybe it was all because the diversity of Indonesian culture that made us (or some of us) think that way. There are so many ways to explore Indonesia and if you have little time to actually travel to the beautiful Indonesia, you can do it by tasting our FOOD!

As you may know and realise, food speaks for itself. So here I am to present to you the top 10 (out of uncountable) Indonesian food that you definitely have to try. Of course, you have to visit the country after you try the food!

In no particular order, I proudly present to you some of the best Indonesian dishes:
1. Indonesian Satay
Satay is meat skewers that are cooked over coals. These juicy skewers is usually served with rice cakes (ketupat) with peanut sauce poured all over the satay. It is a national dish conceived by street vendors and has been one of most celebrated food in Indonesia. It is practically everywhere and highly addictive.
4. Nasi Rawon
Nasi Rawon is a dish made of beef stew from East Java. Rawon has this nutty flavour and a deep, black color from the use of keluak nut. It is rich in flavor. This dish is best enjoyed with a bowl of rice. Yummy and hearty at the same time. Find out for yourself.

Now tell me how long did you manage to withhold your drool? Getting hungry now? 😉

Visit our website for more Indonesian Food Goodness!

IndoChili Indonesian Restaurant Singapore

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Top 10 Indonesian Food that You Just Have to Try!

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I am pretty sure that you've heard of Indonesia or maybe some of you think that Bali is somewhere near Indonesia and thought that it is a country of its own. Maybe it was all because the diversity of Indonesian culture that made us (or some of us) think that way.

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Did you know that Indonesia has the fourth largest population in the world? Some facts about Indonesia are astounding. Indonesia is the largest island country in the world with more than 17,000 islands. Indonesia is also the most populous Muslim-majority country with more than 200 million people.

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This video link is one of the reasons why Malaysia is popular

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Malaysia Vacation Travel Guide | Expedia

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Different kind of snacks and how it taste like will be shown in this video

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Kids Try Snacks from Indonesia | Kids Try | HiHo Kids

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This video is about the different type of Malaysia. uisine, like Roti prata,

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Malaysia Cuisine : An Introduction to Malaysian Food

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There are few countries that I've visited that offer up such a diverse range of cuisine that can be found in Malaysia. Aside from Malay dishes, Malaysian food features Indian cuisine and Chinese cuisine with a local twist. Many of the dishes are fusion types of concoctions blending South Asian and Chinese influences with local Southeast Asian ingredients and spices.

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Indonesia has it is also famous for its batik. for its food.
This website that is attach to is based on a lot of popularity in In donesia.

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Answer (1 of 27): Depends from which country's point of view actually... Indonesia is actually a popular destination for many Southeast Asians, Chinese and Europeans.. but it is less known by the US. In the US, Indonesia is either unknown, or a large Islamic nation that receive bad reputation due...

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Indonesia (/ˌɪndəˈniːʒə/
officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia [rɛpublik ɪndonesia]),[lacks stress] is a transcontinental unitary sovereign state located mainly in Southeast Asia, with some territories in Oceania. Situated between the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is the world's largest island country, with more than thirteen thousand islands.[12] At 1,904,569 square kilometres (735,358 square miles), Indonesia is the world's 14th largest country in terms of land area.

The website in based on the origin of the country, Indonesia.

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Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia ( Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea. Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state and the 14th-largest country by area, at 1,904,569 square kilometres (735,358 square miles). With around 279 million people, Indonesia is the world's fourth-most populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority country. Java, the world's most populous island, is home to more than half of the country's population.

Indonesia is a presidential republic with an elected legislature. It has 38 provinces, of which nine have special status. The country's capital, Jakarta, is the world's second-most populous urban area. Indonesia shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and the eastern part of Malaysia, as well as maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and India. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support one of the world's highest levels of biodiversity.

The Indonesian archipelago has been a valuable region for trade since at least the seventh century when the Srivijaya and later Majapahit Kingdoms traded with entities from mainland China and the Indian subcontinent. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign influences from the early centuries, and Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished. Muslim traders later brought Islam, and European powers fought one another to monopolise trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery. Following three and a half centuries of Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured its independence after World War II. Indonesia's history has since been turbulent, with challenges posed by natural disasters, corruption, separatism, a democratisation process, and periods of rapid economic change.

Indonesia consists of thousands of distinct native ethnic and hundreds of linguistic groups, with Javanese being the largest. A shared identity has developed with the motto "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" ("Unity in Diversity" literally, "many, yet one"), defined by a national language, cultural diversity, religious pluralism within a Muslim-majority population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. The economy of Indonesia is the world's 16th-largest by nominal GDP and the 7th-largest by PPP. It is the world's third-largest democracy, a regional power and is considered a middle power in global affairs. The country is a member of several multilateral organisations, including the United Nations, World Trade Organization, G20, and a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, East Asia Summit, D-8 and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

The name Indonesia derives from the Greek words Indos () and nesos (), meaning "Indian islands". The name dates back to the 19th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia. In 1850, George Windsor Earl, an English ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians-and, his preference, Malayunesians-for the inhabitants of the "Indian Archipelago or Malay Archipelago". In the same publication, one of his students, James Richardson Logan, used Indonesia as a synonym for Indian Archipelago. Dutch academics writing in East Indies publications were reluctant to use Indonesia. They preferred Malay Archipelago ( Dutch: Maleische Archipel); the Netherlands East Indies ( Nederlandsch Oost Indië), popularly Indië; the East ( de Oost); and Insulinde.

After 1900, Indonesia became more common in academic circles outside the Netherlands, and native nationalist groups adopted it for political expression. Adolf Bastian of the University of Berlin popularized the name through his book Indonesien oder die Inseln des Malayischen Archipels, 1884-1894. The first native scholar to use the name was Ki Hajar Dewantara when in 1913, he established a press bureau in the Netherlands, Indonesisch Pers-bureau.

Early history

A Borobudur ship carved on Borobudur temple, c. 800 CE. Outrigger boats from the archipelago may have made trade voyages to the east coast of Africa and Madagascar as early as the 1st century CE.[18]

Fossilised remains of Homo erectus, popularly known as the " Java Man", suggest the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited two million to 500,000 years ago. Homo sapiens reached the region around 43,000 BCE. Austronesian peoples, who form the majority of the modern population, migrated to Southeast Asia from what is now Taiwan. They arrived in the archipelago around 2,000 BCE and confined the native Melanesians to the far eastern regions as they spread east.

Ideal agricultural conditions and the mastering of wet-field rice cultivation as early as the eighth century BCE allowed villages, towns, and small kingdoms to flourish by the first century CE. The archipelago's strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade, including with Indian kingdoms and Chinese dynasties, from several centuries BCE. Trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history.

From the seventh century CE, the Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished due to trade and the influences of Hinduism and Buddhism. Between the eighth and tenth centuries CE, the agricultural Buddhist Sailendra and Hindu Mataram dynasties thrived and declined in inland Java, leaving grand religious monuments such as Sailendra's Borobudur and Mataram's Prambanan. The Hindu Majapahit kingdom was founded in eastern Java in the late 13th century, and under Gajah Mada, its influence stretched over much of present-day Indonesia. This period is often referred to as a "Golden Age" in Indonesian history.

The earliest evidence of Islamized populations in the archipelago dates to the 13th century in northern Sumatra. Other parts of the archipelago gradually adopted Islam, and it was the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra by the end of the 16th century. For the most part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing cultural and religious influences, which shaped the predominant form of Islam in Indonesia, particularly in Java.

Colonial era

The first Europeans arrived in the archipelago in 1512, when Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serrão, sought to monopolise the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in the Maluku Islands. Dutch and British traders followed. In 1602, the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became the dominant European power for almost 200 years. The VOC was dissolved in 1799 following bankruptcy, and the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a nationalised colony.

For most of the colonial period, Dutch control over the archipelago was tenuous. Dutch forces were engaged continuously in quelling rebellions on and off Java. The influence of local leaders such as Prince Diponegoro in central Java, Imam Bonjol in central Sumatra, Pattimura in Maluku, and the bloody thirty-year Aceh War weakened the Dutch and tied up the colonial military forces. Only in the early 20th century did Dutch dominance extend to what was to become Indonesia's current boundaries.

The Japanese invasion and occupation during World War II ended Dutch rule and encouraged the independence movement. Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta issued the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence. Then, Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta and Sutan Sjahrir, influential nationalist leaders, were appointed president, vice-president and prime minister respectively.

The Netherlands attempted to re-establish their rule, beginning the Indonesian National Revolution which ended in December 1949 when the Dutch recognised Indonesian independence in the face of international pressure. Despite extraordinary political, social, and sectarian divisions, Indonesians, on the whole, found unity in their fight for independence.

Post-World War II

As president, Sukarno moved Indonesia from democracy towards authoritarianism and maintained power by balancing the opposing forces of the military, political Islam, and the increasingly powerful Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI). Tensions between the military and the PKI culminated in an attempted coup in 1965. The army, led by Major General Suharto, countered by instigating a violent anti-communist purge that killed between 500,000 and one million people and incarcerated roughly a million more in concentration camps. The PKI was blamed for the coup and effectively destroyed. Suharto capitalised on Sukarno's weakened position, and following a drawn-out power play with Sukarno, Suharto was appointed president in March 1968. His "New Order" administration, supported by the United States, encouraged foreign direct investment, which was a crucial factor in the subsequent three decades of substantial economic growth.

Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. It brought out popular discontent with the New Order's corruption and suppression of political opposition and ultimately ended Suharto's presidency. In 1999, East Timor seceded from Indonesia, following its 1975 invasion by Indonesia and a 25-year occupation marked by international condemnation of human rights abuses.

Since 1998, democratic processes have been strengthened by enhancing regional autonomy and instituting the country's first direct presidential election in 2004. Political, economic and social instability, corruption, and instances of terrorism remained problems in the 2000s; however, the economy has performed strongly since 2007. Although relations among the diverse population are mostly harmonious, acute sectarian discontent and violence remain problematic in some areas. A political settlement to an armed separatist conflict in Aceh was achieved in 2005.

Indonesia lies between latitudes 11°S and 6°N and longitudes 95°E and 141°E. A transcontinental country spanning Southeast Asia and Oceania, it is the world's largest archipelagic state, extending 5,120 kilometres (3,181 mi) from east to west and 1,760 kilometres (1,094 mi) from north to south. The country's Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investments Affairs says Indonesia has 17,504 islands (with 16,056 registered at the UN) scattered over both sides of the equator, around 6,000 of which are inhabited. The largest are Sumatra, Java, Borneo (shared with Brunei and Malaysia), Sulawesi, and New Guinea (shared with Papua New Guinea). Indonesia shares land borders with Malaysia on Borneo and Sebatik, Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea, East Timor on the island of Timor, and maritime borders with Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Palau, and Australia.

At 4,884 metres (16,024 ft), Puncak Jaya is Indonesia's highest peak, and Lake Toba in Sumatra is the largest lake, with an area of 1,145 km2 (442 sq mi). Indonesia's largest rivers are in Kalimantan and New Guinea and include Kapuas, Barito, Mamberamo, Sepik and Mahakam. They serve as communication and transport links between the island's river settlements.

Indonesia lies along the equator, and its climate tends to be relatively even year-round. Indonesia has two seasons-a wet season and a dry season-with no extremes of summer or winter. For most of Indonesia, the dry season falls between May and October, with the wet season between November and April. Indonesia's climate is almost entirely tropical, dominated by the tropical rainforest climate found on every large island of Indonesia. More cooling climate types do exist in mountainous regions that are 1,300 to 1,500 metres (4,300 to 4,900 feet) above sea level. The oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) prevails in highland areas adjacent to rainforest climates, with reasonably uniform precipitation year-round. In highland areas near the tropical monsoon and tropical savanna climates, the subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb) is prevalent with a more pronounced dry season.[citation needed ]

Köppen-Geiger climate classification map of Indonesia[82]

Some regions, such as Kalimantan and Sumatra, experience only slight differences in rainfall and temperature between the seasons, whereas others, such as Nusa Tenggara, experience far more pronounced differences with droughts in the dry season and floods in the wet. Rainfall varies across regions, with more in western Sumatra, Java, and the interiors of Kalimantan and Papua, and less in areas closer to Australia, such as Nusa Tenggara, which tends to be dry. The almost uniformly warm waters that constitute 81% of Indonesia's area ensure that land temperatures remain relatively constant. Humidity is quite high, at between 70 and 90%. Winds are moderate and generally predictable, with monsoons usually blowing in from the south and east in June through October and from the northwest in November through March. Typhoons and large-scale storms pose little hazard to mariners; significant dangers come from swift currents in channels, such as the Lombok and Sape straits.

Several studies consider Indonesia to be at severe risk from the projected effects of climate change. These include unreduced emissions resulting in an average temperature rise of around 1 °C (2 °F) by mid-century, raising the frequency of drought and food shortages (with an impact on precipitation and the patterns of wet and dry seasons, and thus Indonesia's agriculture system) as well as numerous diseases and wildfires. Rising sea levels would also threaten most of Indonesia's population, who live in low-lying coastal areas. Impoverished communities would likely be affected the most by climate change.

Major volcanoes in Indonesia. Indonesia is in the Pacific Ring of Fire area.

Tectonically, most of Indonesia's area is highly unstable, making it a site of numerous volcanoes and frequent earthquakes. It lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the Indo-Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate are pushed under the Eurasian plate, where they melt at about 100 kilometres (62 miles) deep. A string of volcanoes runs through Sumatra, Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara, and then to the Banda Islands of Maluku to northeastern Sulawesi. Of the 400 volcanoes, around 130 are active. Between 1972 and 1991, there were 29 volcanic eruptions, mostly on Java. Volcanic ash has made agricultural conditions unpredictable in some areas. However, it has also resulted in fertile soils, a factor in historically sustaining the high population densities of Java and Bali.

A massive supervolcano erupted at present-day Lake Toba around 70,000 BCE. It is believed to have caused a global volcanic winter and cooling of the climate and subsequently led to a genetic bottleneck in human evolution, though this is still in debate. The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora and the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa were among the largest in recorded history. The former caused 92,000 deaths and created an umbrella of volcanic ash that spread and blanketed parts of the archipelago and made much of the Northern Hemisphere without summer in 1816. The latter produced the loudest sound in recorded history and caused 36,000 deaths due to the eruption itself and the resulting tsunamis, with significant additional effects around the world years after the event. Recent catastrophic disasters due to seismic activity include the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake.

Biodiversity and conservation

Indonesia's size, tropical climate, and archipelagic geography support one of the world's highest levels of biodiversity, and it is among the 17 megadiverse countries identified by Conservation International. Its flora and fauna are a mixture of Asian and Australasian species. The Sunda Shelf islands (Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Bali) were once linked to mainland Asia and have a wealth of Asian fauna. Large species such as the Sumatran tiger, rhinoceros, orangutan, Asian elephant, and leopard were once abundant as far east as Bali, but numbers and distribution have dwindled drastically. Having been long separated from the continental landmasses, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, and Maluku have developed their unique flora and fauna. Papua was part of the Australian landmass and is home to a unique fauna and flora closely related to that of Australia, including over 600 bird species.

Indonesia is second only to Australia in terms of total endemic species, with 36% of its 1,531 species of bird and 39% of its 515 species of mammal being endemic. Tropical seas surround Indonesia's 80,000 kilometres (50,000 miles) of coastline. The country has a range of sea and coastal ecosystems, including beaches, dunes, estuaries, mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass beds, coastal mudflats, tidal flats, algal beds, and small island ecosystems. Indonesia is one of the Coral Triangle countries with the world's most enormous diversity of coral reef fish, with more than 1,650 species in eastern Indonesia only.

British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace described a dividing line ( Wallace Line) between the distribution of Indonesia's Asian and Australasian species. It runs roughly north-south along the edge of the Sunda Shelf, between Kalimantan and Sulawesi, and along the deep Lombok Strait, between Lombok and Bali. Flora and fauna on the west of the line are generally Asian, while east from Lombok is increasingly Australian until the tipping point at the Weber Line. In his 1869 book, The Malay Archipelago, Wallace described numerous species unique to the area. The region of islands between his line and New Guinea is now termed Wallacea.

Indonesia's large and growing population and rapid industrialisation present serious environmental issues. They are often given a lower priority due to high poverty levels and weak, under-resourced governance. Problems include the destruction of peatlands, large-scale illegal deforestation (causing extensive haze across parts of Southeast Asia), over-exploitation of marine resources, air pollution, garbage management, and reliable water and wastewater services. These issues contribute to Indonesia's low ranking (number 116 out of 180 countries) in the 2020 Environmental Performance Index. The report also indicates that Indonesia's performance is generally below average in both regional and global context.

Indonesia has one of the world's fastest deforestation rates. In 2020, forests covered approximately 49.1% of the country's land area, down from 87% in 1950. Since the 1970s, log production, various plantations and agriculture have been responsible for much of the deforestation in Indonesia. Most recently, it has been driven by the palm oil industry, which has been criticised for its environmental impact and displacement of local communities. The situation has made Indonesia the world's largest forest-based emitter of greenhouse gases. It also threatens the survival of indigenous and endemic species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) identified 140 species of mammals as threatened and 15 as critically endangered, including the Bali myna, Sumatran orangutan, and Javan rhinoceros. Some academics describe the deforestation and other environmental destruction in the country as an ecocide.

Government and politics

Indonesia is a republic with a presidential system. Following the fall of the New Order in 1998, political and governmental structures have undergone sweeping reforms, with four constitutional amendments revamping the executive, legislative and judicial branches. Chief among them is the delegation of power and authority to various regional entities while remaining a unitary state. The President of Indonesia is the head of state and head of government, commander-in-chief of the Indonesian National Armed Forces ( Tentara Nasional Indonesia, TNI), and the director of domestic governance, policy-making, and foreign affairs. The president may serve a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms.

The highest representative body at the national level is the People's Consultative Assembly ( Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat, MPR). Its main functions are supporting and amending the constitution, inaugurating and impeaching the president, and formalising broad outlines of state policy. The MPR comprises two houses; the People's Representative Council ( Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR), with 575 members, and the Regional Representative Council ( Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, DPD), with 136. The DPR passes legislation and monitors the executive branch. Reforms since 1998 have markedly increased its role in national governance, while the DPD is a new chamber for matters of regional management.

Most civil disputes appear before the State Court ( Pengadilan Negeri); appeals are heard before the High Court ( Pengadilan Tinggi). The Supreme Court of Indonesia ( Mahkamah Agung) is the highest level of the judicial branch and hears final cessation appeals and conducts case reviews. Other courts include the Constitutional Court ( Mahkamah Konstitusi) which listens to constitutional and political matters, and the Religious Court ( Pengadilan Agama), which deals with codified Islamic Personal Law ( sharia) cases. Additionally, the Judicial Commission ( Komisi Yudisial) monitors the performance of judges.

Parties and elections

Since 1999, Indonesia has had a multi-party system. In all legislative elections since the fall of the New Order, no political party has won an overall majority of seats. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which secured the most votes in the 2019 elections, is the party of the incumbent president, Joko Widodo. Other notable parties include the Party of the Functional Groups ( Golkar), the Great Indonesia Movement Party ( Gerindra), the Democratic Party, and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

The first general election was held in 1955 to elect members of the DPR and the Constitutional Assembly ( Konstituante). The most recent elections in 2019 resulted in nine political parties in the DPR, with a parliamentary threshold of 4% of the national vote. At the national level, Indonesians did not elect a president until 2004. Since then, the president is elected for a five-year term, as are the party-aligned members of the DPR and the non-partisan DPD. Beginning with the 2015 local elections, elections for governors and mayors have occurred on the same date. In 2014, the Constitutional Court ruled that legislative and presidential elections would be held simultaneously, starting in 2019.

Administrative divisions

Indonesia has several levels of subdivisions. The first level are the provinces, which have a legislature ( Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah, DPRD) and an elected governor. A total of 38 provinces have been established from the original eight in 1945, with the most recent change being the split of Southwest Papua from the province of West Papua in 2022. The second level are the regencies ( kabupaten) and cities ( kota), led by regents ( bupati) and mayors ( walikota) respectively and a legislature ( DPRD Kabupaten/Kota). The third level are the districts ( kecamatan, distrik in Papua, or kapanewon and kemantren in Yogyakarta), and the fourth are the villages (either desa, kelurahan, kampung, nagari in West Sumatra, or gampong in Aceh).

The village is the lowest level of government administration. It is divided into several community groups ( rukun warga, RW), which are further divided into neighbourhood groups ( rukun tetangga, RT). In Java, the village ( desa) is divided into smaller units called dusun or dukuh (hamlets), which are the same as RW. Following the implementation of regional autonomy measures in 2001, regencies and cities have become chief administrative units responsible for providing most government services. The village administration level is the most influential on a citizen's daily life and handles village or neighbourhood matters through an elected village head ( lurah or kepala desa).

Nine provinces-Aceh, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Papua, Central Papua, Highland Papua, South Papua, Southwest Papua and West Papua-are granted a special autonomous status ( otonomi khusus) from the central government. Aceh, a conservative Islamic territory, has the right to create some aspects of an independent legal system implementing . Jakarta is the only city with a provincial government due to its position as the capital of Indonesia. Yogyakarta is the only pre-colonial monarchy legally recognised within Indonesia, with the positions of governor and vice governor being prioritised for the reigning Sultan of Yogyakarta and Duke of Pakualaman, respectively. The six Papuan provinces are the only ones where the indigenous people have privileges in their local government.

Foreign relations

Indonesia serves as the seat of ASEAN Headquarters and capital city Jakarta serves as the organization's diplomatic capital.[143]

Indonesia maintains 132 diplomatic missions abroad, including 95 embassies. The country adheres to what it calls a "free and active" foreign policy, seeking a role in regional affairs in proportion to its size and location but avoiding involvement in conflicts among other countries.

Indonesia was a significant battleground during the Cold War. Numerous attempts by the United States and the Soviet Union, and China to some degree, culminated in the 1965 coup attempt and subsequent upheaval that led to a reorientation of foreign policy. Quiet alignment with the Western world while maintaining a non-aligned stance has characterised Indonesia's foreign policy since then. Today, it maintains close relations with its neighbours and is a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN) and the East Asia Summit. In common with most of the Muslim world, Indonesia does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and has actively supported Palestine. However, observers have pointed out that Indonesia has ties with Israel, albeit discreetly.

Indonesia has been a member of the United Nations since 1950 and was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Indonesia is a signatory to the ASEAN Free Trade Area agreement, the Cairns Group, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and a former member of OPEC. Indonesia has been a humanitarian and development aid recipient since 1967, and recently, the country established its first overseas aid programme in late 2019.

Indonesia's Armed Forces (TNI) include the Army (TNI-AD), Navy (TNI-AL, which includes Marine Corps), and Air Force (TNI-AU). The army has about 400,000 active-duty personnel. Defence spending in the national budget was 0.7% of GDP in 2018, with controversial involvement of military-owned commercial interests and foundations. The Armed Forces were formed during the Indonesian National Revolution when it undertook guerrilla warfare along with informal militia. Since then, territorial lines have formed the basis of all TNI branches' structure, aimed at maintaining domestic stability and deterring foreign threats. The military has possessed a strong political influence since its founding, which peaked during the New Order. Political reforms in 1998 included the removal of the TNI's formal representation from the legislature. Nevertheless, its political influence remains, albeit at a reduced level.

Since independence, the country has struggled to maintain unity against local insurgencies and separatist movements. Some, notably in Aceh and Papua, have led to an armed conflict and subsequent allegations of human rights abuses and brutality from all sides. The former was resolved peacefully in 2005, while the latter has continued amid a significant, albeit imperfect, implementation of regional autonomy laws and a reported decline in the levels of violence and human rights abuses as of 2006. Other engagements of the army include the conflict against the Netherlands over the Dutch New Guinea, the opposition to the British-sponsored creation of Malaysia (" Konfrontasi"), the mass killings of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), and the invasion of East Timor, which remains Indonesia's most massive military operation.

Vast palm oil plantation in Bogor Regency, West Java. Indonesia is the world's largest producer of palm oil.[169]

Indonesia has a mixed economy in which the private sector and government play vital roles. As the only G20 member state in Southeast Asia, the country has the largest economy in the region and is classified as a newly industrialised country. Per a 2023 estimate, it is the world's 16th largest economy by nominal GDP and 7th in terms of GDP at PPP, estimated to be US$1.417 trillion and US$4.393 trillion, respectively. Per capita GDP in PPP is US$15,835, while nominal per capita GDP is US$ 5,108. Services are the economy's largest sector and account for 43.4% of GDP (2018), followed by industry (39.7%) and agriculture (12.8%). Since 2009, it has employed more people than other sectors, accounting for 47.7% of the total labour force, followed by agriculture (30.2%) and industry (21.9%).

Over time, the structure of the economy has changed considerably. Historically, it has been weighted heavily towards agriculture, reflecting both its stage of economic development and government policies in the 1950s and 1960s to promote agricultural self-sufficiency. A gradual process of industrialisation and urbanisation began in the late 1960s and accelerated in the 1980s as falling oil prices saw the government focus on diversifying away from oil exports and towards manufactured exports. This development continued throughout the 1980s and into the next decade despite the 1990 oil price shock, during which the GDP rose at an average rate of 7.1%. As a result, the official poverty rate fell from 60% to 15%. Trade barriers reduction from the mid-1980s made the economy more globally integrated. The growth ended with the 1997 Asian financial crisis that severely impacted the economy, including a 13.1% real GDP contraction in 1998 and a 78% inflation. The economy reached its low point in mid-1999 with only 0.8% real GDP growth.

Relatively steady inflation and an increase in GDP deflator and the Consumer Price Index have contributed to strong economic growth in recent years. From 2007 to 2019, annual growth accelerated to between 4% and 6% due to improvements in the banking sector and domestic consumption, helping Indonesia weather the 2008-2009 Great Recession, and regain in 2011 the investment grade rating it had lost in 1997. As of 2019, 9.41% of the population lived below the poverty line, and the official open unemployment rate was 5.28%. During the first year of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the economy suffered its first recession since the 1997 crisis but recovered in the following year.

Indonesia has abundant natural resources. Its primary industries are fishing, petroleum, timber, paper products, cotton cloth, tourism, petroleum mining, natural gas, bauxite, coal and tin. Its main agricultural products are rice, coconuts, soybeans, bananas, coffee, tea, palm, rubber, and sugar cane. These commodities make up a large portion of the country's exports, with palm oil and coal briquettes as the leading export commodities. In addition to refined and crude petroleum as the primary imports, telephones, vehicle parts and wheat cover the majority of additional imports. China, the United States, Japan, Singapore, India, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand are Indonesia's principal export markets and import partners.

Indonesia's transport system has been shaped over time by the economic resource base of an archipelago and the distribution of its 275 million people highly concentrated on Java. All transport modes play a role in the country's transport system and are generally complementary rather than competitive. In 2016, the transport sector generated about 5.2% of GDP.

The road transport system is predominant, with a total length of 542,310 kilometres (336,980 miles) as of 2018. Jakarta has the most extended bus rapid transit system globally, boasting 251.2 kilometres (156.1 miles) in 13 corridors and ten cross-corridor routes. Rickshaws such as bajaj and becak and share taxis such as Angkot and Minibus are a regular sight in the country.

Most railways are in Java, and partly Sumatra and Sulawesi, used for freight and passenger transport, such as local commuter rail services (mainly in Greater Jakarta and Yogyakarta-Solo) complementing the inter-city rail network in several cities. In the late 2010s, Jakarta and Palembang were the first cities in Indonesia to have rapid transit systems, with more planned for other cities in the future. In 2023, a high-speed rail connecting the cities of Jakarta and Bandung commenced operations, a first for Southeast Asia and the Southern Hemisphere.

Indonesia's largest airport, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, is among the busiest in the Southern Hemisphere, serving 54 million passengers in 2019. Ngurah Rai International Airport and Juanda International Airport are the country's second-and third-busiest airport, respectively. Garuda Indonesia, the country's flag carrier since 1949, is one of the world's leading airlines and a member of the global airline alliance SkyTeam. The Port of Tanjung Priok is the busiest and most advanced Indonesian port, handling more than 50% of Indonesia's trans-shipment cargo traffic.

In 2019, Indonesia produced 4,999 terawatt-hours (17.059 quadrillion British thermal units) and consumed 2,357 terawatt-hours (8.043 quadrillion British thermal units) worth of energy. The country has substantial energy resources, including 22 billion barrels (3.5 billion cubic metres) of conventional oil and gas reserves (of which about 4 billion barrels are recoverable), 8 billion barrels of oil-equivalent of coal-based methane (CBM) resources, and 28 billion tonnes of recoverable coal.

In late 2020, Indonesia's total national installed power generation capacity stands at 72,750.72 MW. Although reliance on domestic coal and imported oil has increased between 2010 and 2019, Indonesia has seen progress in renewable energy, with hydropower and geothermal being the most abundant sources that account for more than 8% in the country's energy mix. A prime example of the former is the country's largest dam, Jatiluhur, which has an installed capacity of 186.5 MW that feeds into the Java grid managed by the State Electricity Company (Perusahaan Listrik Negara, PLN). Furthermore, Indonesia has the potential for solar, wind, biomass and ocean energy, although as of 2021, power generation from these sources remain small.

Science and technology

Palapa satellite launch in 1984

Government expenditure on research and development is relatively low (0.3% of GDP in 2019), and Indonesia only ranked 61st on the 2023 Global Innovation Index report up from 87th in 2021. Historical examples of scientific and technological developments include the paddy cultivation technique terasering, which is common in Southeast Asia, and the pinisi boats by the Bugis and Makassar people. In the 1980s, Indonesian engineer Tjokorda Raka Sukawati invented a road construction technique named Sosrobahu that later became widely used in several countries. The country is also an active producer of passenger trains and freight wagons with its state-owned company, the Indonesian Railway Industry (INKA), and has exported trains abroad.

Indonesia has a long history of developing military and small commuter aircraft. It is the only country in Southeast Asia to build and produce aircraft. The state-owned Indonesian Aerospace company ( PT. Dirgantara Indonesia) has provided components for Boeing and Airbus. The company also collaborated with EADS CASA of Spain to develop the CN-235, which has been used by several countries. Former President B. J. Habibie played a vital role in this achievement. Indonesia has also joined the South Korean programme to manufacture the 4.5-generation fighter jet KAI KF-21 Boramae.

Indonesia has a space programme and space agency, the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space ( Lembaga Penerbangan dan Antariksa Nasional, LAPAN). In the 1970s, Indonesia became the first developing country to operate a satellite system called Palapa, a series of communication satellites owned by Indosat. The first satellite, PALAPA A1, was launched on 8 July 1976 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United States. As of 2019, Indonesia has launched 18 satellites for various purposes.

Borobudur in Central Java, the world's largest Buddhist temple, is the single most visited tourist attraction in Indonesia.[212]

Tourism contributed around US$9.8 billion to GDP in 2020, and in the previous year, Indonesia received 15.4 million visitors. Overall, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and Japan are the top five sources of visitors to Indonesia. Since 2011, Wonderful Indonesia has been the country's international marketing campaign slogan to promote tourism.

Raja Ampat Islands, West Papua, has the highest recorded level of diversity in marine life, according to Conservation International.[216]

Nature and culture are prime attractions of Indonesian tourism. The country has a well-preserved natural ecosystem with rainforests stretching over about 57% of Indonesia's land (225 million acres). Forests on Sumatra and Kalimantan are examples of popular destinations, such as the Orangutan wildlife reserve. Moreover, Indonesia has one of the world's longest coastlines, measuring 54,716 kilometres (33,999 mi). The ancient Borobudur and Prambanan temples, as well as Toraja and Bali with their traditional festivities, are some of the popular destinations for cultural tourism.

Indonesia has nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Komodo National Park and the Sawahlunto Coal Mine; and a further 19 in a tentative list that includes Bunaken National Park and Raja Ampat Islands. Other attractions include specific points in Indonesian history, such as the colonial heritage of the Dutch East Indies in the old towns of Jakarta and Semarang and the royal palaces of Pagaruyung, Ubud, and Yogyakarta.

Demographics

Indonesia's ten metropolitan areas labeled with their populations

The 2020 census recorded Indonesia's population as 270.2 million, the fourth largest in the world, with a moderately high population growth rate of 1.25%. Java is the world's most populous island, where 56% of the country's population lives. The population density is 141 people per km ² (365 per sq mi), ranking 88th in the world, although Java has a population density of 1,067 people per km ² (2,435 per sq mi). In 1961, the first post-colonial census recorded a total of 97 million people. It is expected to grow to around 295 million by 2030 and 321 million by 2050. The country currently possesses a relatively young population, with a median age of 30.2 years (2017 estimate).

The spread of the population is uneven throughout the archipelago, with a varying habitats and levels of development, ranging from the megacity of Jakarta to uncontacted tribes in Papua. As of 2017, about 54.7% of the population lives in urban areas. Jakarta is the country's primate city and the second-most populous urban area globally, with over 34 million residents. About 8 million Indonesians live overseas; most settled in Malaysia, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong, the United States, and Australia.

Ethnic groups and languages

A map of ethnic groups in Indonesia

Indonesia is an ethnically diverse country, with around 1,300 distinct native ethnic groups. Most Indonesians are descended from Austronesian peoples whose languages had origins in Proto-Austronesian, which possibly originated in what is now Taiwan. Another major grouping is the Melanesians, who inhabit eastern Indonesia (the Maluku Islands, Western New Guinea and the eastern part of the Lesser Sunda Islands).

The Javanese are the largest ethnic group, constituting 40.2% of the population, and are politically dominant. They are predominantly located in the central to eastern parts of Java and also in sizeable numbers in most provinces. The Sundanese are the next largest group (15.4%), followed by Batak, Madurese, Betawi, Minangkabau, Bugis and Malay people. A sense of Indonesian nationhood exists alongside strong regional identities.

The country's official language is Indonesian, a variant of Malay based on its prestige dialect, which had been the archipelago's lingua franca for centuries. It was promoted by nationalists in the 1920s and achieved official status in 1945 under the name Bahasa Indonesia. Due to centuries-long contact with other languages, it is rich in local and foreign influences. Nearly every Indonesian speaks the language due to its widespread use in education, academics, communications, business, politics, and mass media. Most Indonesians also speak at least one of more than 700 local languages, often as their first language. Most belong to the Austronesian language family, while over 270 Papuan languages are spoken in eastern Indonesia. Of these, Javanese is the most widely spoken and has co-official status in the Special Region of Yogyakarta.

In 1930, Dutch and other Europeans (), Eurasians, and derivative people like the Indos, numbered 240,000 or 0.4% of the total population. Historically, they constituted only a tiny fraction of the native population and remain so today. Also, the Dutch language never had a substantial number of speakers or official status despite the Dutch presence for almost 350 years. The small minorities that can speak it or Dutch-based creole languages fluently are the aforementioned ethnic groups and descendants of Dutch colonisers. This reflected the Dutch colonial empire's primary purpose, which was commercial exchange as opposed to sovereignty over homogeneous landmasses. Today, there is some degree of fluency by either educated members of the oldest generation or legal professionals, as specific law codes are still only available in Dutch.

Despite guaranteeing religious freedom in the constitution, the government officially recognises only six religions: Islam, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism, with indigenous religions only partly acknowledged. With 231 million adherents (86.7%) in 2018, Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, with Sunnis being the majority (99%). The Shias and Ahmadis, respectively, constitute 1% (1-3 million) and 0.2% (200,000-400,000) of Muslims. About 10% of Indonesians are Christians, who form the majority in several provinces in eastern Indonesia. Most Hindus are Balinese, and most Buddhists are Chinese Indonesians.

A Hindu prayer ceremony at Besakih Temple in Bali, the only Indonesian province where Hinduism is the predominant religion

The natives of the Indonesian archipelago originally practised indigenous animism and dynamism, beliefs that are common to Austronesian peoples. They worshipped and revered ancestral spirits and believed that supernatural spirits () might inhabit certain places such as large trees, stones, forests, mountains, or sacred sites. Examples of Indonesian native belief systems include the Sundanese Sunda Wiwitan, Dayak's Kaharingan, and the Javanese Kejawèn. They have significantly impacted how other faiths are practised, evidenced by a large proportion of people-such as the Javanese abangan, Balinese Hindus, and Dayak Christians-practising a less orthodox, syncretic form of their religion.

Hindu influences reached the archipelago as early as the first century CE. The Sundanese Kingdom of Salakanagara in western Java around 130 was the first historically recorded Indianised kingdom in the archipelago. Buddhism arrived around the 6th century, and its history in Indonesia is closely related to that of Hinduism, as some empires based on Buddhism had their roots around the same period. The archipelago has witnessed the rise and fall of powerful and influential Hindu and Buddhist empires such as Majapahit, Sailendra, Srivijaya, and Mataram. Though no longer a majority, Hinduism and Buddhism remain to have a substantial influence on Indonesian culture.

Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh, Aceh. The spread of Islam in Indonesia began in the region.

Islam was introduced by Sunni traders of the Shafi'i school as well as Sufi traders from the Indian subcontinent and southern Arabia as early as the 8th century CE. For the most part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing cultural and religious influences, resulting in a distinct form of Islam (). Trade, Islamic missionary activity such as by the Wali Sanga and Chinese explorer Zheng He, and military campaigns by several sultanates helped accelerate the spread of Islam. By the end of the 16th century, it had supplanted Hinduism and Buddhism as the dominant religion of Java and Sumatra.

Catholicism was brought by Portuguese traders and missionaries such as Jesuit Francis Xavier, who visited and baptised several thousand locals. Its spread faced difficulty due to the Dutch East India Company policy of banning the religion and the Dutch hostility due to the Eighty Years' War against Catholic Spain's rule. Protestantism is mostly a result of Calvinist and Lutheran missionary efforts during the Dutch colonial era. Although they are the most common branch, there is a multitude of other denominations elsewhere in the country.

There was a small Jewish presence in the archipelago until 1945, mostly Dutch and some Baghdadi Jews. Since most left after Indonesia proclaimed independence, Judaism was never accorded official status, and only a tiny number of Jews remain today, mostly in Jakarta and Surabaya.

At the national and local level, Indonesia's political leadership and civil society groups have played a crucial role in interfaith relations, both positively and negatively. The invocation of the first principle of Indonesia's philosophical foundation, Pancasila (i.e. the belief in the one and only God), often serves as a reminder of religious tolerance, though instances of intolerance have occurred. An overwhelming majority of Indonesians consider religion to be essential and an integral part of life.

Education and health

University of Indonesia is one of Indonesia's top universities

Education is compulsory for 12 years. Parents can choose between state-run, non-sectarian schools or private or semi-private religious (usually Islamic) schools, supervised by the ministries of Education and Religion, respectively. Private international schools that do not follow the national curriculum are also available. The enrolment rate is 93% for primary education, 79% for secondary education, and 36% for tertiary education (2018). The literacy rate is 96% (2018), and the government spends about 3.6% of GDP (2015) on education. In 2018, there were 4,670 higher educational institutions in Indonesia, with most (74%) located in Sumatra and Java. According to the QS World University Rankings, Indonesia's top universities are the University of Indonesia, Gadjah Mada University and the Bandung Institute of Technology.

Government expenditure on healthcare was about 3.3% of GDP in 2016. As part of an attempt to achieve universal health care, the government launched the National Health Insurance (Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional, JKN) in 2014. It includes coverage for a range of services from the public and also private firms that have opted to join the scheme. Despite remarkable improvements in recent decades, such as rising life expectancy (from 62.3 years in 1990 to 71.7 years in 2019) and declining child mortality (from 84 deaths per 1,000 births in 1990 to 23.9 deaths in 2019), challenges remain, including maternal and child health, low air quality, malnutrition, high rate of smoking, and infectious diseases.

Riots on the streets of Jakarta on 14 May 1998

In the economic sphere, there is a gap in wealth, unemployment rate, and health between densely populated islands and economic centres (such as Sumatra and Java) and sparsely populated, disadvantaged areas (such as Maluku and Papua). This is created by a situation in which nearly 80% of Indonesia's population lives in the western parts of the archipelago and yet grows slower than the rest of the country.

In the social arena, numerous cases of racism and discrimination, especially against Chinese Indonesians and Papuans, have been well documented throughout Indonesia's history. Such cases have sometimes led to violent conflicts, most notably the May 1998 riots and the Papua conflict, which has continued since 1962. LGBT people also regularly face challenges. Although LGBT issues have been relatively obscure, the 2010s (especially after 2016) has seen a rapid surge of anti-LGBT rhetoric, putting LGBT Indonesians into a frequent subject of intimidation, discrimination, and even violence. In addition, Indonesia has been reported to have sizeable numbers of child and forced labourers, with the former being prevalent in the palm oil and tobacco industries, while the latter in the fishing industry.

The cultural history of the Indonesian archipelago spans more than two millennia. Influences from the Indian subcontinent, mainland China, the Middle East, Europe, Melanesian and Austronesian peoples have historically shaped the cultural, linguistic and religious makeup of the archipelago. As a result, modern-day Indonesia has a multicultural, multilingual and multi-ethnic society, with a complex cultural mixture that differs significantly from the original indigenous cultures. Indonesia currently holds twelve items of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage, including a wayang puppet theatre, kris, batik, pencak silat, angklung, gamelan, and the three genres of traditional Balinese dance.

Art and architecture

Traditional Balinese painting depicting cockfighting

Indonesian arts include both age-old art forms developed through centuries and recently developed contemporary art. Despite often displaying local ingenuity, Indonesian arts have absorbed foreign influences-most notably from India, the Arab world, China and Europe, due to contacts and interactions facilitated, and often motivated by trade. Painting is an established and developed art in Bali, where its people are famed for their artistry. Their painting tradition started as classical Kamasan or Wayang style visual narrative, derived from visual art discovered on bas reliefs in eastern Java.

There have been numerous discoveries of megalithic sculptures in Indonesia. Subsequently, tribal art has flourished within the culture of Nias, Batak, Asmat, Dayak and Toraja. Wood and stone are common materials used as the media for sculpting among these tribes. Between the 8th and 15th centuries, the Javanese civilisation developed refined stone sculpting art and architecture influenced by the Hindu-Buddhist Dharmic civilisation. The temples of Borobudur and Prambanan are among the most famous examples of the practice.

As with the arts, Indonesian architecture has absorbed foreign influences that have brought cultural changes and profound effects on building styles and techniques. The most dominant has traditionally been Indian; however, Chinese, Arab, and European influences have also been significant. Traditional carpentry, masonry, stone and woodwork techniques and decorations have thrived in vernacular architecture, with numbers of traditional houses' () styles that have been developed. The traditional houses and settlements vary by ethnic group, and each has a specific custom and history. Examples include Toraja's Tongkonan, Minangkabau's Rumah Gadang and Rangkiang, Javanese style Pendopo pavilion with Joglo style roof, Dayak's longhouses, various Malay houses, Balinese houses and temples, and also different forms of rice barns ( lumbung).[citation needed ]

Music, dance and clothing

The music of Indonesia predates historical records. Various indigenous tribes incorporate chants and songs accompanied by musical instruments in their rituals. Angklung, kacapi suling, gong, gamelan, talempong, kulintang, and sasando are examples of traditional Indonesian instruments. The diverse world of Indonesian music genres results from the musical creativity of its people and subsequent cultural encounters with foreign influences. These include gambus and qasida from the Middle East, keroncong from Portugal, and dangdut-one of Indonesia's most popular music genres-with notable Hindi influence as well as Malay orchestras. Today, the Indonesian music industry enjoys both nationwide and regional popularity in Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei, due to the common culture and mutual intelligibility between Indonesian and Malay.

Indonesian dances have a diverse history, with more than 3,000 original dances. Scholars believe that they had their beginning in rituals and religious worship. Examples include war dances, a dance of witch doctors, and a dance to call for rain or any agricultural rituals such as Hudoq. Indonesian dances derive their influences from the archipelago's prehistoric and tribal, Hindu-Buddhist, and Islamic periods. Recently, modern dances and urban teen dances have gained popularity due to the influence of Western culture and those of Japan and South Korea to some extent. However, various traditional dances, including those of Java, Bali and Dayak, remain a living and dynamic tradition.

Indonesia has various clothing styles due to its long and rich cultural history. The national costume originates from the country's indigenous culture and traditional textile traditions. The Javanese Batik and Kebaya are arguably Indonesia's most recognised national costumes, though they have Sundanese and Balinese origins as well. Each province has a representation of traditional attire and dress, such as Ulos of Batak from North Sumatra; Songket of Malay and Minangkabau from Sumatra; and Ikat of Sasak from Lombok. People wear national and regional costumes during traditional weddings, formal ceremonies, music performances, government and official occasions, and they vary from traditional to modern attire.

Theatre and cinema

Pandava and Krishna in an act of the Wayang Wong performance

Wayang, the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese shadow puppet theatre display several mythological legends such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. Other forms of local drama include the Javanese Ludruk and Ketoprak, the Sundanese Sandiwara, Betawi Lenong, and various Balinese dance dramas. They incorporate humour and jest and often involve audiences in their performances. Some theatre traditions also include music, dancing and silat martial art, such as Randai from the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra. It is usually performed for traditional ceremonies and festivals and based on semi-historical Minangkabau legends and love story. Modern performing art also developed in Indonesia with its distinct style of drama. Notable theatre, dance, and drama troupe such as Teater Koma are famous as it often portrays social and political satire of Indonesian society.

Advertisement for Loetoeng Kasaroeng (1926), the first fiction film produced in the Dutch East Indies

The first film produced in the archipelago was Loetoeng Kasaroeng, a silent film by Dutch director L. Heuveldorp. The film industry expanded after independence, with six films made in 1949 rising to 58 in 1955. Usmar Ismail, who made significant imprints in the 1950s and 1960s, is generally considered the pioneer of Indonesian films. The latter part of the Sukarno era saw the use of cinema for nationalistic, anti-Western purposes, and foreign films were subsequently banned, while the New Order utilised a censorship code that aimed to maintain social order. Production of films peaked during the 1980s, although it declined significantly in the next decade. Notable films in this period include Pengabdi Setan (1980), (1987), Tjoet Nja' Dhien (1988), Catatan Si Boy (1989), and Warkop's comedy films.

Independent film making was a rebirth of the film industry since 1998, when films started addressing previously banned topics, such as religion, race, and love. Between 2000 and 2005, the number of films released each year steadily increased. Riri Riza and Mira Lesmana were among the new generation of filmmakers who co-directed Kuldesak (1999), Petualangan Sherina (2000), Ada Apa dengan Cinta? (2002), and Laskar Pelangi (2008). In 2022, KKN di Desa Penari smashed box office records, becoming the most-watched Indonesian film with 9.2 million tickets sold. Indonesia has held annual film festivals and awards, including the Indonesian Film Festival ( Festival Film Indonesia) held intermittently since 1955. It hands out the Citra Award, the film industry's most prestigious award. From 1973 to 1992, the festival was held annually and then discontinued until its revival in 2004.

Mass media and literature

Media freedom increased considerably after the fall of the New Order, during which the Ministry of Information monitored and controlled domestic media and restricted foreign media. The television market includes several national commercial networks and provincial networks that compete with public TVRI, which held a monopoly on TV broadcasting from 1962 to 1989. By the early 21st century, the improved communications system had brought television signals to every village, and people can choose from up to 11 channels. Private radio stations carry news bulletins while foreign broadcasters supply programmes. The number of printed publications has increased significantly since 1998.

Like other developing countries, Indonesia began developing Internet in the early 1990s. Its first commercial Internet service provider, PT. Indo Internet began operation in Jakarta in 1994. The country had 171 million Internet users in 2018, with a penetration rate that keeps increasing annually. Most are between the ages of 15 and 19 and depend primarily on mobile phones for access, outnumbering laptops and computers.

Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesia's most famous novelist. Many considered him to be Southeast Asia's leading candidate for a Nobel Prize in Literature.[335]

The oldest evidence of writing in the Indonesian archipelago is a series of Sanskrit inscriptions dated to the 5th century. Many of Indonesia's peoples have firmly rooted oral traditions, which help define and preserve their cultural identities. In written poetry and prose, several traditional forms dominate, mainly syair, pantun, gurindam, hikayat and babad. Examples of these forms include Syair Abdul Muluk, Hikayat Hang Tuah, Sulalatus Salatin, and Babad Tanah Jawi.

Early modern Indonesian literature originates in the Sumatran tradition. Literature and poetry flourished during the decades leading up to and after independence. Balai Pustaka, the government bureau for popular literature, was instituted in 1917 to promote the development of indigenous literature. Many scholars consider the 1950s and 1960s to be the Golden Age of Indonesian Literature. The style and characteristics of modern Indonesian literature vary according to the dynamics of the country's political and social landscape, most notably the war of independence in the second half of the 1940s and the anti-communist mass killings in the mid-1960s. Notable literary figures of the modern era include Hamka, Chairil Anwar, Mohammad Yamin, Merari Siregar, Marah Roesli, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, and Ayu Utami.

Nasi Padang with rendang, gulai and vegetables

Indonesian cuisine is one of the world's most diverse, vibrant, and colourful, full of intense flavour. Many regional cuisines exist, often based upon indigenous culture and foreign influences such as Chinese, European, Middle Eastern, and Indian precedents. Rice is the leading staple food and is served with side dishes of meat and vegetables. Spices (notably chilli), coconut milk, fish and chicken are fundamental ingredients.

Some popular dishes such as nasi goreng, , , and are ubiquitous and considered national dishes. The Ministry of Tourism, however, chose as the official national dish in 2014, describing it as binding the diversity of various culinary traditions. Other popular dishes include , one of the many Minangkabau cuisines along with and . Another fermented food is , similar in some ways to but uses a variety of bases (not only soy), created by different fungi, and is prevalent in West Java.

A demonstration of Pencak Silat, a form of martial arts

Badminton and football are the most popular sports in Indonesia. Indonesia is among the few countries that have won the Thomas and Uber Cup, the world team championship of men's and women's badminton. Along with weightlifting, it is the sport that contributes the most to Indonesia's Olympic medal tally. Liga 1 is the country's premier football club league. On the international stage, Indonesia was the first Asian team to participate in the FIFA World Cup in 1938 as the Dutch East Indies. On a regional level, Indonesia won a bronze medal at the 1958 Asian Games as well as three gold medals at the 1987, 1991 and 2023 Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games). Indonesia's first appearance at the AFC Asian Cup was in 1996 and successfully qualified for a total of five tournaments, although they never make the knockout phase.

Other popular sports include boxing and basketball, which has a long history in Indonesia and was part of the first National Games ( Pekan Olahraga Nasional, PON) in 1948. Sepak takraw and karapan sapi (bull racing) in Madura are some examples of Indonesia's traditional sports. In areas with a history of tribal warfare, mock fighting contests are held, such as caci in Flores and in Sumba. Pencak Silat is an Indonesian martial art and, in 2018, became one of the sporting events in the Asian Games, with Indonesia appearing as one of the leading competitors. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia is one of the top sports powerhouses by topping the SEA Games medal table ten times since 1977, most recently in 2011.

References

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Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia ( Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea.

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1.Street food – a cook preparing murtabak at a mamak stall

Murtabak:
Malaysian cuisine consists of cooking traditions and practices found in Malaysia, and reflects the multiethnic makeup of its population.[1]The vast majority of Malaysia's population can roughly be divided among three major ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese and Indians. The remainder consists of the indigenous peoples of Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia, the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia, the Peranakan and Eurasian creole communities, as well as a significant number of foreign workers and expatriates.

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Malaysian cuisine consists of cooking traditions and practices found in Malaysia, and reflects the multi-ethnic makeup of its population. The vast majority of Malaysia's population can roughly be divided among three major ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese and Indians. The remainder consists of the indigenous peoples of Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia, the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia, the Peranakan and Eurasian creole communities, as well as a significant number of foreign workers and expatriates.

As a result of historical migrations, colonisation by foreign powers, and its geographical position within its wider home region, Malaysia's culinary style in the present day is primarily a melange of traditions from its Malay, Chinese, Indian, Indonesian and ethnic Bornean citizens, with heavy to light influences from Thai, Portuguese, Dutch, Arabian cuisines and British cuisines, to name a few. This resulted in a symphony of flavours, making Malaysian cuisine highly complex and diverse. The condiments and spices used in cooking varies as the land is blessed with these natural resources that brings bursting flavours in the outcome of meal preparation.

Because Peninsular Malaysia shares a common history with Singapore, it is common to find versions of the same dish across both sides of the border regardless of place of origin, such as laksa and chicken rice. Also because of their proximity, historic migrations and close ethnic and cultural kinship, Malaysia shares culinary ties with Indonesia, as both nations often share certain dishes, such as satay, rendang and sambal. Indian cuisine has a mixture of north-south Indian and Sri Lankan diversity that can be differentiated by dry or a more watery based curry dish preparation.

The Malaysian cuisine is a mixture of cooking cultures from India, China, the Middle East, Indonesia, and several European countries. This diverse culinary culture stems from Malaysia's diverse culture and colonial past. The cuisine was developed as a melange between local and foreign. In the 15th century, the region now known as Malaysia became an important passageway for maritime trade. Passing through Malaysia were Arab traders who brought spices from the Middle-East, and Portuguese, Dutch, and English colonizers and traders who introduced food staples such as peanuts, pineapples, avocado, tomato, squash and pumpkin. Later, under the British rule, the colonizers brought many Chinese and Indian laborers who contributed to the diversity in tastes in the Malaysian cuisine.

Chilli peppers are indispensable to Malaysian kitchens, and both fresh and dried chilies are used. Chillies come in several sizes, shapes and even colours. As a general rule, two type of chilli cultivars are the most commonly available: the bird's eye chili ( cili padi), which although small in size are extremely pungent and very hot; and longer varieties, which tend to be much milder. Green chillies are more peppery in taste, while red chillies, green chillies which have been left to ripen, have a slightly sweeter heat. If a milder flavour is preferred, the seeds and membranes are removed from the chili pods before they are cut, or the chillies are left whole and removed prior to serving. Some common uses include but are not limited to: grinding the chillies into a paste or sambal; chopping fresh chillies as a condiment or garnish; and pickling whole or cut chillies.

Belacan is essential to Malaysian cooking. It is a type of shrimp paste which is pressed into a block and sun-dried. In its raw form it has a very pungent smell. Once cooked, the shrimp paste's aroma and flavour mellows and contributes a depth of flavour to the dish. To prepare belacan for use, one typically wraps a small amount in foil, which is then roasted over a flame or placed into a preheated oven. Belacan is most commonly pounded or blended with local chilli peppers, shallots and lime juice to make the most popular and ubiquitous relish in Malaysia, sambal belacan. Belacan is also crumbled into a ground spice paste called rempah, which usually includes garlic, ginger, onions or shallots, and fresh or dried chilli peppers. A rempah paste is similar in form and function to an Indian wet paste or Thai curry paste, and is often browned and caramelised ( Malay: tumis) to mellow the raw flavours of its component ingredients and produce a harmonised finish.

The coconut ( Malay: kelapa) is another quintessential feature of Malaysian cuisine, and virtually all parts of the plant are used for culinary purposes. The white fleshy part of the coconut endosperm may be grated, shredded and used as is; dried to make desiccated coconut; or toasted until dark brown and ground to make kerisik. Grated coconut flesh is also squeezed to make coconut milk, which is used extensively in savoury dishes and desserts throughout the country. Coconut oil is used for cooking and cosmetic purposes, and may be either obtained by processing copra (dried coconut flesh) or extracted from fresh coconuts as virgin coconut oil. Coconut water, the clear liquid found inside the cavity of each coconut, is a popular cooler in Malaysia's hot and humid climate. Gula melaka is unrefined palm sugar produced from the sap of the coconut flower. It is the most traditional sweetener in Malaysian cooking and imbues a rich caramel-like flavour with a hint of coconut. Coconut fronds are traditionally used to wrap food, hollowed out coconut husks and shells may be used as a source of charcoal fuel for barbecued meats and traditional pastry making, and even the apical bud or growing tip of the coconut palm is a popular delicacy served in rural communities and specialist restaurants.

Soy sauce of different varieties is another important ingredient. Light soy sauce contributes its pleasantly salty flavour to a variety of stir-fries, marinades and steamed dishes. In some hawker establishments, freshly sliced or pickled chillies arrive immersed in light soy sauce to be used for dipping. Dark soy sauce is thicker, more intense in flavour and less salty. It is often used when a heartier flavour is desired, particularly with masak kicap (a style of braising with a blend of soy sauce varieties) dishes, and also to darken the color of a dish. Kicap manis, sweetened soy sauce sometimes flavoured with star anise or garlic, is also a popular seasoning for cooking. The sweet and savoury taste of kicap manis also functions as a substitute to approximate the combination of dark soy sauce and thick caramel sauce, which is primarily used to colour and season stewed dishes.

Common herbs include lemongrass ( Malay: serai), a type of grass with a lemony aroma and flavour. Young, fresh stems are more desirable as older stems tend to acquire a woody texture: the tender white part closest to the base of the stem is thinly sliced and eaten raw in salads, or pounded with other aromatics to make a rempah. It is also used whole in boiled and simmered dishes. The pandan (screwpine) leaf is the Asian equivalent of vanilla in Western cuisine. The subtle aroma is released when the leaves are bruised by tying one or two long leaves into a knot, and used for cooking curries, rice and desserts. The leaves can also be used to wrap items like rice, chicken or fish for cooking. Pandan leaf is also available in liquid essence or powdered form to flavour and colour cakes. Turmeric ( Malay: kunyit) is a rhizome popular for its flavour as well as colouring properties. The leaves and flowers of the turmeric plant are also used in cooking or eaten raw.

Tofu products, specifically fried tofu, are widely used as cooking ingredients and as side accompaniments. While fried tofu can be bland in flavour on their own, its main contribution is texture and especially with tofu puffs, the ability to soak up the flavour of whatever they are cooked in. Fried tofu products are found as a versatile component ingredient for dishes like stir fried noodles, (fruit and vegetable salad), noodle soups, and stews. A popular way of serving fried tofu on its own is a salad with bean sprouts, shredded cucumber and spring onions, covered in a thick sweet and spicy dressing and dusted with roasted ground peanuts. Fried tofu may also be stuffed with a mixture of ground meat or shredded vegetables.

Dried seafood products contribute a savoury depth of flavour to some Malaysian dishes. Small dried anchovies, known as ikan bilis, are very popular. It acquires a very crispy texture when deep-fried, and is served as an accompaniments or prepared as a sambal relish in this capacity. Ikan bilis is also boiled to make fish stock; in fact, instant ikan bilis stock granules are a popular seasoning in modern kitchens. Dried shrimp and salted dried fish are also used in various ways.

Other essential seasoning and garnishes include tamarind ( Malay: asam jawa), specifically the paste-like pulp extracted from the fruit pod which contributes a tart flavour to many dishes. Candlenuts ( Malay: buah keras) are similar in appearance to macadamia nuts, being round, cream coloured and have a high oil content. Candlenuts are normally ground to thicken sauces. Lup cheong is a type of dried Chinese sausage made from pork meat and spices. Mainly used by the Malaysian Chinese community, these sweet sausages are usually sliced very thinly and added for additional flavour and texture. Recent studied have shown that there are 62 commonly consumed Malaysian foods that include biogenic amines.

Rice ( Malay: nasi) was and still is the most important staple food in Malaysia. According to Indonesian-born food and cookery writer Sri Owen, there is some evidence for rice cultivation found in the state of Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo dated 2300 BC, and about 900 years of history for the state of Kelantan in West Malaysia. Today Malaysia produces about seventy percent of the amount of rice it needs to support itself, and the rest is imported. This is a matter of policy as the government believes that national resources can be used more profitably instead of attempting to achieve self-sufficiency with rice production; the prevalent attitude is that revenue generated from its industries enables the country to import up to half the rice it needs. Nevertheless, the government is fully committed and involved in planning, allocating resources and managing subsidies for the rice farming industry. The state of Kedah is considered the "rice bowl" ( Malay: jelapang padi) of the country, accounting for about half of Malaysia's total production of rice.

Plain steamed white rice, to be served with side dishes of meat or vegetables, is typically prepared with an electric rice cooker at home. Some households and food establishments prefer to cook rice on a stove top with the absorption method or the rapid-boil method. Compressed rice, called nasi himpit, is another method of preparing and cooking rice: the rice is wrapped with fronds or leaves and compressed into the form of a cylinder, which is then cooked by boiling. The rice would compress and merge during the cooking process. Compressed rice is usually eaten cold with some sort of gravy, although it may be served warm in a broth or soup. A notable variant of compressed rice prepared by the Bugis community is : rice is precooked with coconut milk before it is wrapped in banana leaves and steamed until fully cooked.

Besides the ubiquitous white rice, there are different types of locally grown and imported rice available in the market, and each type has a specific cooking method to bring out optimal results. Glutinous rice ( Malay: pulut) is one example: because of its low amylose and high amylopectin content which results in a sticky texture after cooking, glutinous rice is prepared with different measurements and techniques and is not a suitable substitute for normal rice or vice versa. It is typically used for making snacks and desserts, but glutinous rice is also prepared as a savoury staple by indigenous peoples like the Orang Asli as well as the Dayak people of Borneo. is glutinous rice roasted in a hollowed bamboo tube, and is prepared for festive occasions like Ari Gawai, Hari Raya Aidilfitri, and Hari Raya Aidiladha.

A popular dish based on rice in Malaysia is nasi lemak, rice steamed with coconut milk and pandan leaves to give it a rich fragrance. Of Malay origin, nasi lemak is very popular and frequently referred to as the national dish. It is customarily served with ikan bilis or fried anchovies, peanuts, sliced cucumber, hard boiled eggs and . Although it is often considered a breakfast dish, because of the versatility of nasi lemak in being able to be served in a variety of ways, it is commonly eaten at any time of the day. For a more substantial meal, nasi lemak may be served with fried chicken, curries, or a spicy meat stew called .

Congee is a type of rice porridge or gruel popular among Malaysia's ethnic communities. It is eaten primarily as a breakfast food or late supper. It is also considered particularly suitable for the sick as a mild, easily digestible food. Congee is called bubur in Malay; 粥 written in Chinese, pronounced as zhou in Mandarin Chinese and juk in Cantonese; and kanji (கஞ்சி) in Tamil. It may be served plain with little embellishment, or cooked with ingredients like fish slices, seafood, chicken, beef, pork, vegetables, and even spices. The importance and popularity of congee in the Malaysian diet is such that bubur ayam or chicken congee is a permanent fixture on the menu of Malaysian McDonald's restaurants.

Noodles are another popular staple, particularly in Malaysian Chinese cuisine, but used by other groups as well. Noodles such as bi hoon (米粉, Hokkien: bí-hún, Malay: bihun; rice vermicelli), kuay teow (粿條, Hokkien: kóe-tiâu) or ho fun (河粉, Cantonese: ho4 fan2; flat rice noodles), mee (麵 or 面, Hokkien: mī, Malay: mi; yellow noodles), mee suah (麵線 or 面线, Hokkien: mī-sòaⁿ; wheat vermicelli), yee meen (伊麵 or 伊面, Cantonese: ji1 min6; golden wheat noodles), dongfen(冬粉, Hokkien: tang-hún, Cantonese: dung1 fan2; cellophane noodles), Lao Shu Fen (老鼠粉, Cantonese: lou5 syu2 fan2; silver needle noodles), and others provide an alternative source of carbohydrate to a serving of rice that accompanies every meal. Stir-fried noodle dishes ( Malay: mee goreng) are ubiquitous throughout Malaysia's cities, towns and villages, with numerous localised variants prepared by various ethnic communities according to their culinary traditions and preferences.

Malaysia does not produce wheat, and all supplies are imported from wheat-producing countries. Nevertheless, Western style white bread and Indian breads made with wheat flour like roti canai are fairly common foods in the modern Malaysian diet today. A very typical way of serving white bread in Malaysia is having it toasted and spread with kaya, a sweet spread made from a base of coconut milk, eggs and sugar. Reflecting the British colonial influence in Malaysia, kaya toast or roti bakar is a popular breakfast staple and afternoon tea snack. It is typically paired with a cup of local brewed coffee or tea, and soft-boiled eggs to be seasoned to taste by the diner with soy sauce & ground white pepper. Roti kahwin is a variation where butter is sandwiched along with a layer of kaya between slices of untoasted white bread.

Traditional wheat-based pleated steamed bao or pao (Chinese : 包子) is a Chinese staple which has become tightly woven into Malaysia's gastronomic fabric. Pao are found in restaurants doing brunch dim sum trade, as well as specialist Chinese kopitiam. Sweet fillings may include tausa, lotus seed paste, kaya, pandan, ground peanuts, and custard; savoury fillings may consist of delicious stewed char siu (Chinese : 叉燒), chicken or pork. Malay versions ( pau) may be found in night markets ( pasar malam) and they are always halal, with fillings of curried potato, chicken or beef. Some variants have a quail egg in the middle in addition to the curry.

Oven-baked bread buns are also available in specialist bakeries, kopitiam, and restaurants. One local speciality in particular - a bun with a buttery core and topped with a crispy and fragrant coffee pastry crust - has achieved iconic status in Malaysia, and franchises like Rotiboy and Pappa Roti which specialise in these coffee buns have successfully expanded abroad to multiple nations and spawned hundreds of outlets. However, the popular buns that remain a favourite among Malaysians are the buns that are filled with a deliciously sweet shredded coconut filling, kaya (coconut jam), pandan kaya (screwpine with coconut jam), sweet corn, chocolate, red bean paste and butter buns.

Malaysian poultry is handled according to Halal standards, to conform with the country's dominant and official religion, Islam. Imported poultry is available at major hypermarkets, supermarkets and speciality stores especially in affluent areas where a significant expatriate community can be found.

Fish, both freshwater and sea, features prominently in the Malaysian diet. Most local fish is purchased soon after it is caught, while frozen fish is generally imported. Such fish, namely salmon and cod, are well received on the Malaysian table but are not found in Malaysian waters.

Many types of seafood are consumed in Malaysia, including shrimp or prawn, crab, squid, cuttlefish, clams, cockles, snails, sea cucumber and octopus. In general, members of all ethnic communities enjoy seafood, which is considered halal by Malaysian Muslims (according to Shafi'i fiqh), though some species of crabs are not considered Halal as they can live on both land and sea. Sea cucumbers are considered halal.

Beef is common in the Malaysian diet, though it is notable that the consumption of beef is proscribed by some followers of Hinduism and certain Chinese folk religious sects. Beef can be commonly found cooked in curries, stews, roasted, or eaten with noodles. Malays generally eat beef that is halal. Australian fresh beef which is prepared under supervision of the Government Supervised Muslim Slaughter System (AGSMS) is imported into Malaysia and that beef is halal.

Malaysian Malays, who form about half of Malaysia's population, are Muslim and therefore do not consume pork since Islam forbids it. This does not prohibit others from producing and consuming pork products, and thus pork can be found in wet markets, supermarkets and hypermarkets, usually displayed with a non-halal disclaimer. Pork is consumed by the Chinese Communities, the Iban, the Kadazan, Murut, Lun Bawang / Lundayeh, the Orang Asli, and expatriates.

In Malaysia, the term " mutton" refers to goat meat; lamb, or the meat of a young sheep, is always imported from countries like Australia and New Zealand. In the past mutton was primarily associated with the cooking of the Malaysian Indian community, and was not as widely eaten due to health concerns as well as its perceived gamey flavour. Today, dishes like whole spit roast of mutton, mutton briyani and mutton soup are now a common sight at banquets and events. Today, the demand for mutton during the fasting month and Hari Raya period has now far exceeded that for Deepavali and Christmas combined.

Locally grown vegetable produce is available year-round as Malaysia is a tropical country and does not have four seasons. During rainy seasons, vegetable yields may decrease (which may result in an increase on market price), but rarely if ever stop altogether. Imported produce has made inroads into the market in recent years, either to supplement local demand for essential ingredients like garlic and potatoes, or to supply produce which do not grow well in Malaysia's climate and soil conditions. A few regions in Malaysia, like Cameron Highlands and the foothills adjacent to Mount Kinabalu provide the appropriate mean temperatures and soil conditions for the cultivation of temperate produce like Camellia sinensis or tea.

In some areas in Malaysia local produce is grown on a small scale, and many rural communities like the Peninsular Orang Asli and certain tribal peoples of Sarawak forage wild edible ferns or vegetables to supplement their diet. Diplazium esculentum, better known as pucuk paku pakis, is perhaps the most widely available fern and is found in eateries and restaurants throughout the nation. Stenochlaena palustris is another type of wild fern popularly used for food. Endemic to East Malaysia, it is called midin in Sarawak and is prized for its fiddleheads by locals and visitors. Stenochlaena palustris is known by the native peoples of Sabah as lemiding, lembiding or lombiding, where both the leaves and the fiddleheads of the plant are eaten. The young shoots of plants like bamboo and coconut are popularly harvested as food by communities outside urban areas.

A popular way to cook leafy vegetables like kangkung and sweet potato leaves is stir frying with a pungent sauce made from belacan (shrimp paste) and hot chilli peppers. Other vegetables popularly cooked this way include bean pods and fiddlehead ferns like paku pakis and midin. Vegetables like carrots, cucumbers, onions and yardlong beans are used to make a localised variety of pickle called . Vegetables and herbs are also popularly served undressed and often raw in some rural indigenous communities as ulam. An ulam spread may include items such as banana blossoms, cucumber, winged beans, leaves, petai, and yardlong beans, typically eaten with a pungent dipping sauce like sambal belacan.

Malaysia's tropical climate allows for fruit to be grown all year round. A huge variety of common and obscure fruits, either locally grown or imported are available throughout the country. While the vast majority of fruits grown in Malaysia naturally thrive in the tropics, a few areas in the country like Cameron Highlands or Kundasang in Sabah have a different climate zone which enables the cultivation of temperate fruits like strawberries. Fruit are commonly served after a meal as desserts, and fruit juices are highly sought after as drinks of choice in a climate that is hot and humid all year round. Pickled fruits or jeruk are popular and widely available, whether sold from street stalls or specialist shops. Many localities are named after native fruits, most notably Alor Setar () and Malacca (buah melaka).

Fruits are used to make a popular salad dish called (Chinese: 水果囉喏). Pieces of fruit and vegetable bound with a viscous dark sauce made from shrimp paste, sugar, chili, and lime juice. The Penang version is particularly popular and well regarded. The dish is usually topped with a generous sprinkling of toasted ground peanuts.

Notable fruits which are cultivated in Malaysia include:

The , or pisang in Malay. Many different cultivars are available on the market, and plantain is used for pisang goreng. Other parts of the banana plant may be used for culinary purposes.

The cempedak, a fruit with a large and rough pod like body. The edible flesh coating each pod is sweet in taste, and has a soft texture that is custard-like.

The , called jambu or jambu batu in Malay. It is a crunchy fruit often eaten plain or garnished with a tart seasoning mix.

The , which means "dragon eye" in Chinese. A related species called mata kucing (literally "cat's eye" in Malay) has a virtually identical taste to commercially cultivated longan. However, the mata kucing fruit (Euphoria malaiense) is smaller, the fleshy aril is thinner, and the yellow rind is bumpy and leathery like a lychee fruit.

The , or mangga in Malay. The state of Perlis is famous for its Harumanis variety (from the mangifera indica cultivar), which is registered as a product of geographical indication (GI) with the Malaysian Intellectual Property Organisation (MyIPO). Another notable species of mango found only in Borneo and used extensively in local cookery is the mangifera pajang, known in Sabah as bambangan and Sarawak as buah mawang.

The , or nanas in Malay. It is widely eaten as a fruit and used extensively in local cooking, such as a curried pineapple dish called pajeri nanas.

The pitaya, better known locally as dragon fruit. Dragon fruit is available in red and white fleshed varieties.

The , or limau bali in Malay. Pomelos grown in the Sungai Gedung area in the state of Perak has been granted GI status. It is also called limau tambun, after the town of Tambun which is also famed for its pomelo produce. As pomelos are associated with traditional Chinese festivities, most farms harvest twice a year in conjunction with Chinese New Year and Mid Autumn Festival.

The rambutan, as the name suggests, have fleshy pliable spines or 'hairs' on its outer shell which is usually red or yellow in colour. Once the hairy exterior is peeled away, the tender, fleshy, sweet and sour tasting fruit is revealed.

The , called jambu air or jambu merah in Malay, which is not to be confused with jambu batu or guava. The term refers to various Syzygium species which are grown for their fruit. The fruit may be eaten on its own, or tossed through a rojak salad.

The , known as durian belanda in Malay and lampun to the Dusun people of Borneo. The fruit is commonly made into juice and smoothies, and the leaves of the soursop plant are boiled and taken as a herbal infusion.

The , or belimbing in Malay. Malaysia is a global leader in starfruit production by volume and ships the fruit widely to Asia and Europe.

The , also called marang, is a fruit that is native to Borneo and is related to cempedak and jackfruit. While the fruits are about the same size and shape as a durian and also emits a noxious odour, the spines of the tarap are soft and rubbery compared to the durian's hard, thorny spines. The fruit itself is smooth, soft and creamy, and the flavour is reminiscent of sweet custard apple with a hint of tartness.

The sugar apple, or epal kustard in Malay. This fruit comes in red or green varieties.

(plural: kuih-muih) are usually, but not always, bite-sized foods associated with the Malay and Min-speaking Chinese communities of Malaysia. In the context of the term being cultural as opposed to being physically descriptive, the concept of kuih may refer to a selection of cakes, cookies, confections, pastries and sweetmeats. Kuih may be eaten throughout the day for light breakfast, afternoon tea (a tradition adopted from the British), as a snack and increasingly as an after meal course.

More often steamed or fried and based on rice or glutinous rice, kuih items are very different in texture, flavour and appearance from Western oven-baked cakes or puff pastries. Most kuih items are sweet, and may be classified and eaten as desserts, but some are also savoury. Kuih is an important feature for festive occasions and is traditionally made at home, but are now available for purchase from home caterers, street hawker vendors, market stallholders and specialist cafes, shops and restaurants. It is difficult to distinguish between kuih of Malay or Peranakan (also known as "Straits Chinese") origin because the histories of traditional kuih recipes have not been well-documented, and cross-cultural influencing over the centuries were commonplace. Even the word kuih itself is derived from the Hokkien/Teochew word 粿 (pronounced kueh or kway).

Examples of notable kuih-muih include:

Ang koo kueh (Chinese: 紅龜粿) - a small round or oval shaped Chinese pastry with red-coloured soft sticky glutinous rice flour skin wrapped around a sweet filling in the centre.

Apam balik - a turnover pancake with a texture similar to a crumpet with crisp edges, made from a thin flour based batter with raising agent. It is typically cooked on a griddle and topped with castor sugar, ground peanut, creamed corn, and grated coconut in the middle, and then turned over. Many different takes on this dish exist as part of the culinary repertoire of the Malay, Chinese, Peranakan, Indonesian, and ethnic Bornean communities; all under different names.

Bahulu - tiny crusty sponge cakes which come in distinctive shapes like button and goldfish, acquired from being baked in moulded pans. Bahulu is usually baked and served for festive occasions.

- deep-fried fritters, sometimes known as jemput-jemput. Typical varieties include cucur udang (fritters studded with a whole unshelled prawn), cucur badak (sweet potato fritters), and cucur kodok (banana fritters).

Curry puff - a small pie filled with a curried filling, usually chicken or potatoes, in a deep-fried or baked pastry shell.

Cincin - a deep fried dough pastry-based snack popular with East Malaysia's Muslim communities.

Dadar/Ketayap is a rolled crepe (usually flavoured with pandan juice) and filled with grated sweet coconut filling (flavoured with gula melaka (Malaysian palm sugar)).

Jelurut - also known as kuih selorot in Sarawak, this kuih is made from a mixture of gula apong and rice flour, then rolled with palm leaves into cones and steam cooked.

Kapit, sapit or sepi - crispy folded coconut-flavoured wafer biscuits, colloquially known as "love letters".

Kochi - glutinous rice dumplings filled with a sweet paste, shaped into a pyramid-like and wrapped with banana leaves.

(Chinese : 年糕) or kuih bakul - a brown sticky and sweet rice cake customarily associated with Chinese New Year festivities. It is also available year-round as a popular street food treat, made with pieces of niangao sandwiched between slices of taro and sweet potato, dipped in batter and deep-fried.

Pie tee - this Nyonya speciality is a thin and crispy pastry tart shell filled with a spicy, sweet mixture of thinly sliced vegetables and prawns.

Onde onde - small round balls made from glutinous rice flour coloured and flavoured with pandan, filled with palm sugar syrup and rolled in freshly grated coconut.

Or Kuih (Chinese : 芋粿) - a steamed savoury cake made from pieces of taro (commonly known as "yam" in Malaysia), dried prawns and rice flour. It is then topped with deep fried shallots, spring onions, sliced chilli and dried prawns, and usually served with a chilli dipping sauce.

Pineapple tart - flaky pastries filled with or topped with pineapple jam.

Pinjaram or penyaram - a saucer-shaped deep fried fritter with crisp edges and a dense, chewy texture towards the centre. It is widely sold by street food vendors in the open air markets of East Malaysia.

Putu piring - a round steamed cake made of rice flour dough, with a palm sugar sweetened filling.

Seri Muka - a two-layered kuih with steamed glutinous rice forming the bottom half and a green custard layer made with pandan juice.

or wajik - a compressed Malay confection made of glutinous rice cooked with coconut milk and gula melaka.

There is no standard breakfast ( Malay: sarapan) menu due to Malaysia's multi-ethnic social fabric as well as the advent of modern influences. Western-style breakfast like breakfast cereal, cooked eggs and toast have become commonplace in homes and when dining out, but heartier traditional fare based predominantly on noodles and rice dishes are still very popular. One may choose to start the day with the ubiquitous nasi lemak or kuih; venture for Chinese-style congee, dim sum and noodle soups; or settle for Indian-influenced fare such as roti canai, idli ( Tamil: இட்லி iṭli /ɪɖlɪ/), thosai ( Tamil: தோசை tōcai /t̪oːsaj/), and upma. In the state of Kelantan, the term nasi berlauk refers to a breakfast meal which consists of a small serve of rice and complementary dishes or lauk.

For lunch and dinner, food is not customarily served in courses but rather concurrently. A meal may consist of a single dish for solitary diners, or rice with many complementary dishes shared by all. At restaurants where food is cooked to order, there is often no distinction between appetizers/starters and main courses, and food will arrive at the table whenever it is ready. At some traditionally-run eateries where pre-cooked food is served, diners are meant to help themselves by starting with a plate of plain rice and choose from a buffet spread of assorted dishes. Like the Indonesian Nasi Padang, this is not an all-you-can-eat for a fixed price dining experience. The cost of the meal would depend on what the diner selects and how many different items were placed on the plate for consumption. In Malay-run (a small family-owned casual eatery or café) or restaurants ( kedai makan), this style of dining is known as nasi campur which means "mixed rice". A similar concept exist at some eateries serving home-style Malaysian Chinese food, where it may be known as economy rice (Chinese: 杂饭).

A practice known as "open house" ( Malay: rumah terbuka) is popular during festive seasons, and even as an elaborate occasion to celebrate birthdays and weddings. Open house events are traditionally held at the home of the host: well-wishers are received and that everyone, regardless of background, is invited to attend. Home-cooked or catered food is provided by the host(s) at their own expense, and while it is acceptable for guests to bring along gifts for the host, they are expected to help themselves to the food as much as they like. Open house events may also be held at restaurants and larger public venues, especially when hosted by government agencies or corporations.

A kopitiam or kopi tiam is a traditional coffee shop patronised for meals and beverages, predominantly operated by Chinese proprietors and especially members of the Hainanese community. The word kopi is a Malay/Hokkien term for coffee and tiam is the Hokkien and Hakka term for shop (Chinese : 店). A common sight in Malaysia and neighbouring Singapore, menus often feature offerings like nasi lemak, boiled eggs, roti bakar, noodle dishes, bread and kuih. The owners of some kopitiam establishments may lease premise space to independent stallholders, who sometimes offer more specialised dishes beyond standard Chinese kopitiam fare. Typical beverages include Milo, a malted chocolate drink considered iconic to Malaysians of all ages, as well as coffee ( kopi) and tea ( teh). Diners would use slang terms specific to kopitiam culture to order and customise drinks to their taste.

The omnipresent Mamak stall is a Malaysian institution. Available throughout the country and particularly popular in urban areas, Mamak stalls and restaurants offer a wide range of food and some are open 24 hours a day. The proprietors of these establishments are members of Malaysia's Tamil Muslim community, who have developed a distinct culinary style and wield an enormous influence on Malaysian food culture disproportionate to their numbers. A type of meal served buffet-style at some Mamak eateries is called nasi kandar, which is analogous to the Malay nasi campur where you pay for what you have actually eaten. The diner is to choose from a variety of curried dishes made with chicken, beef, mutton, or seafood. A mixture of curry sauces is then poured on the provided rice: this is called banjir (literally means "flooding").

For a traditional Malay meal, rice is considered the centerpiece of a meal, with everything else considered as an accompaniment, relish or side for the rice. Malay cuisine bears many similarities to Indonesian cuisine, in particular some of the regional traditions from Sumatra. It has also been influenced by Chinese, Indian, Thai and many other cultures throughout history, producing a distinct cuisine of their own. Some regional Malay dishes, such as and kacang pool, are examples of influence from Arab cuisine due to longstanding historical and religious ties. Many Malay dishes revolve around a rempah, which is usually sauteed in oil ( tumis) to draw out flavours to form the base of a dish. A dipping relish called sambal is an essential accompaniment for most Malay dishes.

Air bandung - a cold milk drink flavoured with rose cordial syrup, giving it a pink colour. Despite the name, there is no connection to the city of Bandung in Indonesia. Bandung within this context refers to anything that comes in pairs or is mixed from many ingredients.

- a sour and spicy stew of meat, with the core ingredients being tamarind and chili. Depending on region, tomatoes, lady's fingers, shredded torch ginger bud and Vietnamese coriander (Malay: daun kesum) may also be added. Usually cooked with fish like mackerel or stingray, although some recipes use chicken and even oxtail.

Ayam goreng - a generic term for deep fried chicken, typically marinated in a base of turmeric and other seasonings prior to cooking.

Ayam masak merah - this dish literally means red-cooked chicken in English. Pieces of chicken are first fried to a golden brown then slowly braised in a spicy tomato sauce. Peas are sometimes added to the dish, and it is garnished with shredded kaffir lime leaves as well as coriander. It is often paired with nasi tomato - rice cooked with tomato sauce or paste, milk, dried spices, and a sauteed rempah base of garlic, onions, ginger.

Ayam percik - also known as ayam golek in some states, ayam percik is grilled marinated chicken basted with a spiced coconut milk gravy.

Bubur lambuk - a savoury rice porridge consumed during the fasting month of Ramadhan, made with a mixture of lemongrass, spices, vegetables, and chicken or beef. It is usually cooked communally at a local mosque, which is then distributed to the congregation as a meal to break the fast every evening. In the state of Terengganu, bubur lambuk is prepared with wild herbs, budu, sweet potatoes, and seafood.

Ikan bakar - barbecued or char grilled fish, usually smeared with a sambal-based sauce. It may also be accompanied with air asam, a dip made from shrimp paste, onion, chillis and tamarind juice.

Ikan goreng - a generic term for shallow or deep fried fish, which is almost always marinated prior to cooking. There are countless recipes and variants for what is arguably the most popular and typical method of cooking fish in Malaysia.

Kebebe- the food which made of 13 ingredients that has a bitter, salty, sweet, sour and spicy mixed taste. Its allegedly able to get rid of nausea after taking too much food.

Kerabu - a type of salad-like dish which can be made with any combination of cooked or uncooked fruits and vegetables, as well as the occasional meat or seafood ingredient. There are many kerabu recipes, which often have little common in preparation: kerabu taugeh is made with blanched bean sprouts and quintessentially Malay ingredients like kerisik, while preparations like kerabu mangga (shredded green mango salad) resemble a Thai-style yam salad in taste profile.

Keropok lekor - a speciality of the state of Terengganu and other states on the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia, keropok lekor is a savoury fritter made from a combination of batter and shredded fish. Sliced and fried just before serving, it is eaten with hot sauce.

Kerutuk Daging - a type of coconut milk-based curry. Traditionally it is best eaten with white rice, sambal belacan and ulam-ulaman or Malay salad.

- a variant of compressed rice, wrapped in a woven palm frond pouch. As the rice boils, the grains expand to fill the pouch and the rice becomes compressed. This method of cooking gives the ketupat its characteristic form and texture. Usually eaten with rendang (a type of dry beef curry) or served as an accompaniment to satay, ketupat is also traditionally served on festive occasions such as Eid (Hari Raya Aidilfitri) as part of an open house spread.

Laksam or Laksang - a different variant on laksa found in the northern and northeastern states of the Peninsular. Laksam consists of thick flat rice noodle rolls in a full-bodied, rich and slightly sweet white gravy of minced fish, coconut milk and shredded aromatic herbs.

Masak lemak is a style of cooking which employs liberal amounts of turmeric-seasoned coconut milk. Sources of protein like chicken, seafood smoked meats and shelled molluscs, perhaps paired with fruits and vegetables such as bamboo shoots, pineapples and tapioca leaves are often cooked this way. Certain states are associated with a specific variant of this dish: for example, masak lemak cili api/padi is an iconic speciality of Negeri Sembilan.

Nasi dagang - rice cooked with coconut milk and fenugreek seeds, served with a fish gulai (usually tuna or ikan tongkol), fried shaved coconut, hard-boiled eggs and vegetable pickles. Nasi dagang ("trader's rice" in Malay) is a staple breakfast dish in the northeastern states of Kelantan and Terrenganu. It should not be confused with nasi lemak, as nasi lemak is often found sold side-by-side with nasi dagang for breakfast in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

Nasi goreng - a generic term for fried rice, of which there are many, many different permutations and variations. Variants includes Nasi goreng kampung, Nasi goreng pattaya, and Nasi paprik.

Nasi tumpang - rice packed in a cone-shaped banana leaf. A pack of nasi tumpang consists of an omelette, meat floss, chicken or shrimp curry and sweet gravy. It is traditionally served as a meal of convenience for travellers on the road.

- rice salad tossed with a variety of thinly shredded herbs and greens (daun kaduk, daun cekur, daun kesum and so on) as well as pounded dried shrimp, kerisik and chopped shallots. A variant popular in the eastern coast states of Peninsular Malaysia is called nasi kerabu, which is blue-coloured rice served with various herbs, dried fish or fried chicken, crackers, pickles and vegetables.

- a spicy meat and coconut milk stew originating from the Minangkabau people of Indonesia, many of whom have settled in the state of Negeri Sembilan. Buffalo meat is the most traditional choice for this dish, but beef and chicken are by far more commonly used for rendang in restaurants and home cooking. The common addition of kerisik is another distinctively Malaysian touch. Rendang is traditionally prepared by the Malay community during festive occasions, served with ketupat or nasi minyak.

- The name is derived from the Malay words roti (bread) and jala (net). A special ladle with a five-hole perforation used to form its lacy pattern. Roti jala is usually eaten as an accompaniment to a curried dish, or served as dessert with a sweet dipping sauce.

Roti john - a spiced meat omelette sandwich, popularly eaten for breakfast or as a snack.

- the term sambal not only refers to a relish-like sauce made from chili peppers pounded together with secondary ingredients like belacan and thinned with calamansi lime juice, it also refer to a cooking style where meat, seafood, and vegetables like brinjal (Malay: sambal terung) and (Malay: sambal petai) are braised in a spicy sambal-based sauce.

- one of Malaysia's most popular foods, Satay (written as sate in Malay) is made from marinated beef and chicken pieces skewered with wooden sticks and cooked on a charcoal grill. It is typically served with compressed rice cut onions, cucumber, and a spiced peanut gravy for dipping. The town of Kajang in Selangor is famous for its satay; Sate Kajang is a term for a style of sate where the meat chunks are bigger than that of a typical satay, and the sweet peanut sauce is served along with a portion of fried chilli paste.

Sup kambing - a hearty mutton soup slow simmered with aromatic herbs and spices, and garnished with fried shallots, fresh cilantro and a wedge of calamansi lime. Variants include soups cooked with beef (Malay: daging), beef ribs (Malay: tulang), or oxtail (Malay: buntut/ekor), all seasoned with the same herbs and spices.

Javanese-influenced cuisine

There are certain Malaysian dishes with overt Javanese influences or are direct adaptations from Javanese cuisine, brought to Malaysia by Javanese immigrants who have been assimilated or integrated into the wider Malay community to various degrees. Javanese cuisine is highly distinct from mainstream Malay cooking, being noted for its simplicity and sweeter flavours, as opposed to mainstream Malay cuisine which is predominantly based on the complex and spicy regional cuisines of Sumatra. A popular way of serving Javanese-influenced food in the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia is termed nasi ambang, which consists of shared platters of white rice served with accompaniments like chicken cooked in soy sauce or curried gravy, stir fried noodles, sambal goreng, fried shredded coconut pieces, egg, vegetables and so on. .

Ayam penyet - deep fried chicken which is smashed prior to serving. The other key component to this dish is a spicy sambal. Other accompaniments include cucumbers, fried tofu and tempeh.

Begedil - spherical fritters made from mashed potato and occasionally ground meat. It is called perkedel in Indonesia.

Botok botok - steamed banana leaf parcels of sliced fish seasoned with ground spices and shredded herbs.

- vegetables stewed in a lightly spiced coconut milk soup, usually served with compressed rice and additional condiments added either during cooking or in individual servings. It is eaten during festive occasions, and also as a breakfast meal. In Indonesia this dish would be called sayur lodeh, and the compressed rice lontong.

Nasi kuning - rice cooked with coconut milk and turmeric. A common breakfast dish in certain regions like the east coast of Sabah, where it is typically served with sambal, eggs, coconut-based serundeng, and spiced fish. Not to be confused with the Peranakan nasi kunyit, which uses glutinous rice.

- a dish which consists of egg noodles drenched in a spicy aromatic sauce thickened with cooked and mashed tuber vegetables. Versions of mee rebus found in other parts of Malaysia are sometimes called mee jawa, perhaps as a nod to its likely Javanese origin.

- pecal is a vegetable salad with cucumber slices, long beans, beansprout, fried tofu, blanched kangkung and tempeh dressed in a peanut sauce.

Rempeyek - deep-fried savoury cracker made from flour (usually rice flour) with other ingredients (such as peanuts) bound or coated by crispy flour batter.

- Meat broth, typically served with plain rice, lontong, or noodles depending on regional variation as well as personal preference.

Telur pindang - marbled eggs boiled with herbs and spices. Commonly seen in Javanese Malaysian wedding feasts and festive occasions, particularly in Johor.

Tempeh - a staple source of protein in Javanese cuisine, made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form, similar to a very firm vegetarian burger patty, which can then be cooked and served in a variety of ways.

Malaysian Chinese cuisine is derived from the culinary traditions of Chinese Malaysian immigrants and their descendants, who have adapted or modified their culinary traditions under the influence of Malaysian culture as well as immigration patterns of Chinese to Malaysia. Because the vast majority of Chinese Malaysians are descendants of immigrants from southern China, Malaysian Chinese cuisine is predominantly based on an eclectic repertoire of dishes with roots from Cantonese cuisine, Hakka cuisine, Fujian cuisine and Teochew cuisine.

As these early immigrants settled in different regions throughout what was then British Malaya and Borneo, they carried with them traditions of foods and recipes that were particularly identified with their origins in China, which gradually became infused with the characteristics of their new home locale in Malaysia while remaining distinctively Chinese. For example, Hainanese chicken rice is usually flavoured with tropical pandan leaves and served with chilli sauce for dipping, and tastes unlike the typical chicken dishes found in Hainan Island itself. Some of these foods and recipes became closely associated with a specific city, town or village, eventually developing iconic status and culminating in a proliferation of nationwide popularity in the present day.

Chinese food is especially prominent in areas with concentrated Chinese communities, at roadside stalls, hawker centres and kopitiam, as well as smart cafes and upmarket restaurants throughout the nation. Many Chinese dishes have pork as a component ingredient, but chicken is available as a substitution for Muslim customers from the wider community, and some Chinese restaurants are even halal-certified.

A sample of representative Malaysian Chinese dishes found nationwide include:

(Chinese : 肉骨茶) (pork ribs soup). The root meaning for the dish, "Bak Kut" (Hokkien dialect) is the term for meaty ribs, at its simplest cooked with garlic, dark soy sauce and a specific combination of herbs and spices which have been boiled for many hours. Popularly regarded as a health tonic, this soup is historically eaten by hard working Chinese coolies working on the wharfs at Port Swettenham (now Port Klang) and clearing estates, accompaniment with strong tea ("Teh") on the side. There are some differences in seasoning amongst other Chinese communities; the Teochew prefer a clear broth which is heavier on garlic and pepper, while the Cantonese may include additional varieties of medicinal herbs and spices. Variations include the so-called chik kut teh (made with chicken and a version that is gaining popularity with Muslim diners), seafood bak kut teh, and a "dry" (reduced gravy) version which originated from the town of Klang.

Cantonese fried noodles (Chinese : 廣府炒) refers to a preparation of noodles which are shallow or deep fried to a crisp texture, then served as the base for a thick egg and cornstarch white sauce cooked with sliced lean pork, seafood, and green vegetables like choy sum. A variation called yuen yong (Chinese : 鴛鴦) involves mixing both crisp-fried rice vermicelli as well as hor fun to form a base for the sauce. A related dish called wa tan hor (Chinese : 滑旦河) uses hor fun noodles, but the noodles are not deep fried, merely charred.

Char kway teow (Chinese: 炒粿條，炒河粉). Stir fried rice noodles with bean sprouts, prawns, eggs (duck or chicken), chives and thin slices of preserved Chinese sausages. Cockles and lardons were once standard offerings, but mostly relegated to optional additions these days due to changing taste preferences and growing health concerns. Penang-style char kway teow is the most highly regarded variant both in Malaysia as well as abroad.

Chee cheong fun (Chinese: 豬腸粉) is square rice sheets made from a viscous mixture of rice flour and water. This liquid is poured onto a specially made flat pan in which it is steamed to produce the square rice sheets. The steamed rice sheets is rolled or folded for ease in serving. It is usually served with tofu stuffed with fish paste. The dish is eaten with accompaniment of semi sweet fermented bean paste sauce, chilli paste or light vegetable curry gravy. Ipoh and Penang have different variants of the dish as well; certain stalls in Ipoh serve the dish with a red sweet sauce, thinly sliced pickled green chillies and fried shallots, whilst in Penang, a type of sweet, black shrimp sauce called hae ko is the main condiment.

Cheong Cheng style steamed fish (Chinese: 酱蒸鱼) - Cheong cheng literally mean gravy or sauce steamed. The main ingredients for the gravy or sauce are fermented bean paste and chillies.

Chicken rice (Chinese: 雞飯) - chicken rice is one of the most popular Chinese-inspired dishes in Malaysia. Hainanese chicken rice (Chinese : 海南雞飯) is the best known version: it is prepared with the same traditional method used for cooking Wenchang chicken, which involve steeping the entire chicken at sub-boiling temperatures within a master stock until cooked, to ensure the chicken meat becomes moist and tender. The chicken is then chopped up, and served with a bowl or plate of rice cooked in chicken fat and chicken stock, along with another bowl of clear chicken broth and a set of dips and condiments. Sometimes the chicken is dipped in ice to produce a jelly-like skin finishing upon the completion of the poaching process. In Malacca, the chicken rice is served shaped into balls.

(Chinese: 咖喱面). A bowl of thin yellow noodles mixed with bihun in a spicy curry soup enriched with coconut milk, and topped with tofu puffs, prawns, cuttlefish, chicken, long beans, cockles and mint leaves, with sambal served on the side. It is often referred to as curry laksa.
White Curry Mee ( Chinese : 白咖喱 ) similar to curry mee, however the soup base is in white colour instead of yellow or red. The white color comes from the Coconut gravy ( Malay : santan, Chinese : 椰浆 )

(Chinese: 鱼丸、鱼蛋、鱼圆) are fish paste shaped into a spherical shape. Usually fish ball is served as a condiment together with rice vermicelli or yellow noodles in a clear soup base. Bean sprouts and spring onions are also commonly added, complemented by a small plate of chilli padi soaked in soy sauce. Fishcake is also a common addition

Fish head bihun (Chinese : 鱼头米粉). A noodle soup in which the main ingredients are rice vermicelli and a deep fried fish head cut into chunks. The soup itself is somewhat creamy, which is usually achieved using a mixture of rich fish stock and milk. Tomatoes and pickled vegetables are sometimes added to cut the richness and provide a tangy foil for the noodle soup.

Hakka mee (Chinese : 客家麵) - Hakka Mee is a simple dish of noodles topped with a ground meat gravy. A popular hawker dish with Hakka cultural roots, it is based on an older recipe called Dabumian (Chinese : 大埔麵); the name indicates its place of origin as Dabu County (Chinese: 大埔县), the center of Hakka culture in mainland China.

Heong Peng (Chinese: 香饼) - these fragrant pastries, which resemble slightly flattened balls, are a famed speciality of Ipoh which are now widely available in Malaysia and are even exported overseas. It contains a sweet sticky filling made from malt and shallots, covered by a flaky baked crust and garnished with sesame seeds on the surface.

Hokkien Mee (Chinese: 福建炒麵) actually has two variants, with each being ubiquitous to a particular region of Peninsular Malaysia.

Penang Hokkien mee, colloquially referred to in Penang as Hokkien mee, is also known as (Chinese : 蝦麵) elsewhere in Malaysia. One of Penang's most famous specialties, it is a noodle soup with yellow and rice noodles immersed in an aromatic stock made from prawns and pork (chicken for halal versions), and garnished with a boiled egg, poached prawns, chopped and a dollop of spicy .

Hokkien char mee, a dish of thick yellow noodles braised, fried with thick black soy sauce and added with crispy lardons, is more commonly served in the Klang Valley. It was originally developed in Kuala Lumpur. Thus, within the central region of Peninsular Malaysia, the term Hokkien mee refers to this particular version.

Kam Heong (Chinese : 金香) - literally "golden fragrance" in English, Kam Heong is a method of cooking developed in Malaysia, and is a good example of the country's culinary style of mixing cultures. The tempering of aromatics with bird's eye chilies, curry leaves, crushed dried shrimp, curry powder, oyster sauce and various other seasonings yields a versatile stir-fry sauce that goes well with chicken, clams, crabs, prawns, and squid.

Kway chap (Chinese : 粿汁). Teochew dish of rice noodle sheets in a dark soy sauce gravy, served with pork pieces, pig offal, tofu products and boiled eggs.

Lor mee (Chinese: 滷麵). A bowl of thick yellow noodles served in a thickened gravy made from eggs, starch and pork stock.

Ngah Po Fan or Sha Po Fan (Chinese : 瓦煲飯 or 沙煲饭) - seasoned rice cooked in a claypot with secondary ingredients, and finished with soy sauce. A typical example is rice cooked with chicken, Chinese sausage, and vegetables. Claypots are also used for braising noodles, meat dishes and reducing soups. One of the most famous and common one is:
Claypot chicken rice (Chinese : 瓦煲鸡饭) - chicken rice served in a claypot, traditionally cooked with charcoal. Typical additions include salted fish and lap cheong. Bercham, a suburb in Ipoh is famous for claypot chicken rice.

or lor bak (Chinese: 五香 or 滷肉) - a fried meat roll made from spiced minced pork and chopped water chestnuts rolled up in soya bean curd sheets, and deep fried. It is usually served with small bowl of Lor (a thick broth thickened with corn starch and beaten eggs) and chili sauce. The term also extends to other items sold alongside the meat rolls, like tao kwa (hard tofu), pork sausages, tofu skin sheets etc.

(Chinese : 薄饼) - Hokkien/Teochew-style crepe stuffed and rolled up with cooked shredded tofu and vegetables like turnip and carrots. The Peranakan version contains julienned bangkuang (jicama) and bamboo shoots, and the filling is seasoned with tauchu (fermented soybean paste) and meat stock. Another variation consists of popiah doused in a spicy sauce. Popiah can also be deep fried and served in a manner similar to the mainstream Chinese spring roll.

Tau sar pneah (Chinese: 豆沙饼) - A famous Penang delicacy, this round-shaped Chinese pastry contains primarily green bean paste, and its ingredients include wheat flour, sugar and salt. It is also known as Tambun biscuits as it was widely believed that the pastry originated from Bukit Tambun, Penang. Its popularity as a delicacy has made this pastry one of the must-buy souvenirs from Penang.

(Chinese : 雲吞麵) - thin egg noodles with wonton dumplings (Chinese : 雲吞), choy sum and char siu. The dumplings are usually made of pork or prawns, and typically boiled or deep fried. The noodles may be served in a bowl of broth with dumplings as in the traditional Cantonese manner, but in Malaysia it is more commonly dressed with a dark soy sauce dressing, with boiled or deep-fried wonton dumplings as a topping or served on the side in a bowl of broth. Variations of this dish are usually in the meat accompaniments with the noodles. These may include roast pork (烧肉), braised chicken feet, and roast duck (烧鸭).

Yau Zha Gwai or Eu Char Kway or You Tiao (Chinese: 油炸鬼 or 油条) - a version of the traditional Chinese crueller, which is a breakfast favourite. It can be eaten plain with a beverage like coffee and soy milk, spread with butter or kaya, or dipped into congee. It is shaped like a pair of chopsticks, stuck together.

Yong tau foo (Chinese : 酿豆腐) - tofu products and vegetables like brinjals, lady's fingers, bitter gourd and chillies stuffed with fish paste or surimi. Originally developed in Ampang, Selangor, Malaysian yong tau foo is a localised adaptation of a Hakka dish called ngiong tew foo (stuffed tofu with ground pork paste) and is usually served in a clear broth, with or without noodles.

(Chinese : 鱼生) - a festive raw fish salad, also pronounced yee sang in the Cantonese manner. While raw fish preparations are thought to have existed in China during antiquity and can be found in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong province in modern times, yusheng was created and developed in Singapore in 1964 when the republic was still a member state of the Federation of Malaysia.[citation needed ] It consists of strips of raw fish tossed at the dining table with shredded vegetables, crispy tidbits and a combination of sauces and condiments. Yusheng literally means "raw fish" but since "fish (鱼)" is commonly conflated with its homophone "abundance (余)", Yúshēng (鱼生) is interpreted as a homophone for Yúshēng (余升) meaning an increase in abundance. Therefore, yusheng is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor. As a result, the mixing and tossing of yusheng with chopsticks and the subsequent consumption of the salad has become ritualised as part of the commemoration of Chinese New Year festivities in Malaysia and Singapore.

Lei Cha (Chinese: 擂茶) - This aromatic drink is a Hakka staple. The recipe differs from household to household, but generally green tea leaves are added to a mixture of salt, ground mint leaves, toasted sesame seeds and nuts. The mixture is ground or pounded into a fine powder, then brewed into a drink. Taste salty, minty, and full of nutrition.

Fuzhou Gong Pian>/b> (Chinese: 福州光饼) - The Gong Pians out of Sitiawan are generally sweet, but the Gong Pians in Sitiawan are salty. Best eaten when it is hot. It is also the popular souvenir if you travel in Sitiawan.

Malaysian Indian cuisine
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.

Food served in the traditional South Indian manner is termed banana leaf rice. Plain white or parboiled rice would be served with an assortment of vegetable preparations, lentil gravy, pickles, condiments, and papadum crackers on a banana leaf, which acts as a disposable plate. Banana leaf meals are eaten to celebrate special occasions such as festivals, birthdays, marriages, or to commemorate funeral wakes. It is customary to consume banana leaf meals by hand and to show appreciation for the food by folding the banana leaf inwards, though less ritual and etiquette is observed when the meal isn't part of a formal occasion, such as the Malayalee community's elaborate Sadya feasts. Boiled eggs, meat or seafood dishes are available at banana leaf restaurants which are not exclusively vegetarian or vegan.

Some notable Malaysian Indian dishes include:

Fish head curry - a dish where the head of a fish (usually ikan merah, or literally "red fish"), is braised in a thick and spicy curried gravy with assorted vegetables such as lady's fingers and brinjals.

Idli - made from a mashed mixture of skinned black lentils and rice formed into patties using a mould and steamed, idlis are eaten at breakfast or as a snack. Idlis are usually served in pairs with vadai, small donut-shaped fritters made from mashed lentils and spices, chutney, and a thick stew of lentils and vegetables called sambar.

Lassi - a yogurt-based drink which comes in savoury and sweet varieties. A common drink of Tamil origin which is similar to lassi but is thinner in consistency is called moru. It is seasoned with salt with flavoured with spices like asafoetida, curry leaves and mustard seeds.[24]

Nasi Beriani or Biryani - a rice dish made from a mixture of spices, basmati rice, yoghurt, meat or vegetables. The ingredients are ideally cooked together in the final phase and is time-consuming to prepare. Pre-mixed biryani spices from different commercial names are easily available in markets these days, which is meant to reduce preparation time.

Pachadi - a traditional South Indian side accompaniment or relish made with vegetables, fruits or lentils. The Malaysian Telugu community celebrate the Telugu New Year or Ugadi by preparing a special dish called Ugadi Pachadi, which blends six taste notes as a symbolic reminder of the various facets of life. It is made with green chilli (heat), unripe mangoes (tangy), neem flowers (bitter), jaggery (sweet), tamarind juice (sour) and salt.[26]

Poori - an unleavened deep-fried bread made with whole-wheat flour, commonly consumed for breakfast or as a light meal. A larger North Indian variant made with leavened all-purpose flour or maida is called bhatura.

Putu Mayam - the Indian equivalent of rice noodles, also known as idiyappam. Homemade versions tend to be eaten as an accompaniment to curried dishes or dal. The street food version is typically served with grated coconut and orange-coloured jaggery. In some areas, gula melaka is the favoured sweetener.

Roti canai - a thin unleavened bread with a flaky crust, fried on a skillet with oil and served with condiments. It is sometimes referred to as roti kosong. A host of variations on this classic dish may be found at all Mamak eateries, either at the creative whim of the cook or by customers' special request. A few examples include: roti telur (fried with eggs), roti bawang (fried with thinly sliced onions), roti bom (a smaller but denser roti, usually round in shape), roti pisang (banana), and so on.

Roti tissue - a variant of roti canai made as thin as a piece of 40-50 cm round-shaped tissue in density. It is then carefully folded by the cook into a tall, conical shape and left to stand upright. Roti tissue may be served with curry gravy, dal and chutneys, or finished off with sweet substances such as caramelised sugar and eaten as a dessert.

Teh tarik - literally meaning "pulled tea", teh tarik is a well-loved Malaysian drink. Tea is sweetened using condensed milk, and is prepared using outstretched hands to pour piping hot tea from a mug into a waiting glass, repetitively. The higher the "tarik" or pull, the thicker the froth. The pulling also has the effect of cooling down the tea. Teh tarik is an art form in itself and watching the tea streaming back and forth into the containers can be quite captivating. Similar drinks and variants include kopi tarik, or "pulled coffee" instead of tea; teh halia, tea brewed with ginger, and with or without the tarik treatment; and teh madras, which is prepared with three separate layers: milk at the bottom, black tea in the middle and foam at the top.[27]

Thosai, dosa or dosai - a soft crepe made from a batter of mashed urad dal and rice, and left to ferment overnight. The batter is spread into a thin, circular disc on a flat, preheated griddle. It may be cooked as it is for (which results in a foldable and soft crepe), or a dash of oil or ghee is then added to the thosai and toasted for crispier results.

Vadai, vada or vades - is a common term for many different types of savoury fritter-type snacks originated from South India with a set of common ingredients. The most common ingredients are lentils, chillis, onions and curry leaves.

East Malaysia
Across the sea from Peninsular Malaysia on Borneo island, lie the states of Sabah and Sarawak. Traditional lifestyles and limited roads still predominate outside of the major cities, especially in Sarawak, where rivers are the only major highways for much of the inland population. The jungles of Borneo are teeming with wild plants, fungi, and fruits, and its sweeping coastlines and many large rivers provide an abundance of seafood and freshwater fish fit for the dinner table. A rich variety of traditional food has been developed by Borneo's many tribes and indigenous groups over the centuries; much of it is healthy food, consisting of foraged (now increasingly cultivated due to modernisation) and fermented foods. Because much of the region was once under the Brunei Sultanate's thalassocracy, the Bruneian Malay people have left a lasting culinary influence, particularly on the cookery of the coastal Muslim communities of East Malaysia. According to the source paper written in 2006, the Malaysian food industrial sector accounted for about 14% of the total manufacturing energy consumption.

Like Peninsular Malaysia, rice is the undisputed staple food for the majority of the people of Sabah and Sarawak. Rice is central to Kadazandusun culture, and its paramount importance is reflected in the annual Kaamatan festival, as well as traditional beliefs and customs since antiquity which revolve around the veneration of rice spirits. But for other ethnic communities throughout Sabah and Sarawak, cassava or tapioca tubers as well as sago starch are also popular staples. The tapioca tuber is just as important as rice to the Bajau people of Sabah, while the Dayak peoples of Sarawak make extensive use of both the tuber and leaves of the tapioca plant in their cooking. Sago starch is derived from the pith extracted from the sago palm, and is the staple food for the Melanau and the Penan peoples of Sarawak.

Sago starch is prepared as a gooey and sticky paste by the Bisaya and Kedayan communities called ambuyat, and is called linut by the Melanau. It is eaten by rolling the paste around the prongs of a bamboo fork, and dipped it into soup, sambal, or other varieties of gravies and dipping sauces. Aside from being the source for sago pith, the sago palm is a source of another delicacy for the indigenous peoples of Borneo: the sago grub. Called butod in Sabah and ulat mulong in Sarawak, sago grubs are typically eaten raw but also served deep fried, roasted or sauteed.

Historically speaking, fresh produce is often scarce for hunter-gatherer nomadic tribes around the world, thus it is usually preserved out of necessity for important events and festivals. The tribal peoples of Sabah and Sarawak are no different - most of them have developed age-old techniques for curing, fermenting or preserving their supplies of fresh meat, fruit and vegetables. For example, during festive occasions the Murut people of Sabah would serve tamba ( jeruk or jaruk in the Malay language) made from fresh raw wild boar or river fish, which is stuffed in bamboo tubes along with rice and salt and left to ferment for a few weeks, a technique which is also practised by the Lun Bawang people across the border in Sarawak. Fermented products are also frequently used as a cooking ingredient besides eaten on its own. Dayak households in Sarawak may saute their version of fermented meat with garlic and tapioca leaves (either fresh or pickled), and fermented tempoyak is a popular cooking seasoning.

The production and consumption of traditional liquor plays an important cultural role for the non-Muslim peoples of East Malaysia. Alcoholic drinks made from rice is the most common form, as well as the widely available. In Sabah, the Penampang Kadazan lihing is perhaps the most well known. Yet due to the historical lack of a standardised Kadazandusun language used and understood statewide, ethnic groups from other districts in Sabah have very different names for similar fermented rice-based drinks: hiing (certain Dusun languages), kinomol, segantang, kinarung, kinopi, linahas, and even tapai To add to the confusion, tapai proper as understood by most Peninsular Malaysians is a fermented sweet and sour rice paste served as a snack or dessert, although further fermentation of the tapai to produce alcoholic drinks is possible. The preferred party drink of the Murut, made from the tuber of the cassava or tapioca plant, is also called tapai. The Iban of Sarawak call their rice wine tuak, which must not be confused with Sabahan talak, which is a hard liquor made from rice. To the native peoples of Sarawak, tuak may also refer to any alcoholic drink made from fermenting any carbohydrate-rich substance besides rice.

The food of Sabah reflects the ethnic diversity of its population and is very eclectic. Traditional Kadazandusun cuisine involves mostly boiling or grilling and employs little use of oil. From simple appetizers of seasoned unripe mango to a variety of pickled foods collectively known as noonsom, tangy and pungent flavours derived from souring agents or fermentation techniques is a key characteristic of traditional Kadazandusun cooking. Rice wine accompanies all Kadazandusun celebrations and rites, and at a Murut event there will be rows upon rows of jars with fermented tapioca tapai. Presently few eateries in Sabah serve traditional indigenous dishes, although it will always be found during festive occasions like weddings and funerals, as well as the Kaamatan and Kalimaran cultural festivals. Chinese-influenced dishes like northern Chinese potstickers and Hakka stuffed tofu, along with many original creations developed in Sabah's interior settlements by immigrants from both northern and southern China throughout the 20th century, feature prominently on the menus of many kopitiam establishments and upscale restaurants.

Sabah is notable for its excellent seafood, temperate produce and tea (Sabah tea has GI status) grown in the highlands of Mt. Kinabalu, and a small coffee plantation industry with Tenom coffee considered the best produce in the region. Local ingredients like freshwater fish, wild boar ( bakas in native dialects), bamboo shoots, wild ferns, and various jungle produce still figure prominently in the daily diet of the local population. As a significant portion of rural communities still subsist on agriculture as their primary source of income, small scale festivals are even held each year at certain towns to celebrate produce vital to the livelihoods of the local people: the Pesta Jagung of Kota Marudu, the Pesta Rumbia (sago) of Kuala Penyu, and Pesta Kelapa from the town of Kudat. Sabah vegetable, also known as cekuk manis or sayur manis (Chinese : 树仔菜), can be found on the menus of many eateries and restaurants throughout the state of Sabah. It is one of the local terms used for a variety of Sauropus albicans developed in Lahad Datu, which yields crunchy edible shoots in addition to its leaves. The flavour is reminiscent of spinach but more complex, "as though it had been fortified with broccoli and infused with asparagus", and is typically stir-fried with eggs or seasonings like sambal belacan.

Whether grilled, cured, deep-fried, steamed, stir-fried, braised, served raw, or made into soups, Sabah's seafood is famed for its freshness, quality, and good value for money. A vast variety of fish, cephalopods, marine crustaceans, shellfish, sea cucumbers and jellyfish have become mainstays on lunch and dinner menus at kopitiam, restaurants, and humble food shacks all over Kota Kinabalu and other coastal towns like Sandakan, Tawau, Lahad Datu and Semporna. Seafood paired with noodles also figure prominently for breakfast, for each day locals flock to speciality eateries where they may be served an assortment of fish-based products to start the day. Examples include: poached patties handmade with fresh fish paste; deep-fried fish cakes wrapped in tofu skin sheets; and noodle soups with toppings like sliced fish fillet, fish balls, prawn balls, and fish innards. A few eateries even serve "noodles" rolled out with fresh fish paste.
Cross-cultural adaptations and mixing cultures
Edible seaweed is a traditional food for certain seaside communities throughout Sabah and also possess GI status. Latok is similar in appearance to clusters of green-hued fish eggs or grapes, and is typically prepared as a salad by the Bajau people. Coral seaweed is another popular seaplant product; in recent times it is marketed as a gourmet health food to both locals and tourists, and is given the moniker of "sea bird's nest" (Chinese : 海底燕窝) as coral seaweed acquires a similar gelatinous texture when dissolved in water.

Among the foods and beverages particular to Sabah are:

Sarawakian is quite distinct from the regional cuisines of the Peninsular. It is considered less spicy, lightly prepared and with more emphasis on subtle flavours. The most important spice in Sarawakian cuisine is pepper. Pepper is commercially produced on an industrial scale as a cash crop, and the preferred choice by local cooks when heat is wanted in a dish. Granted GI status by MyIPO, Sarawak black pepper is highly regarded by international culinary figures such as Alain Ducasse.

While the Iban constitute the largest Dayak subgroup as well as the most populous ethnic group in Sarawak, much of the ethnic Iban population is still concentrated away from Sarawak's main urban areas, congregating instead within longhouse communities scattered all over the interior regions of the state. The traditional cookery of the Iban is called pansoh or pansuh, which is the preparation and cooking of food in bamboo tubes. Ingredients like poultry, fish, pork, vegetables or rice are mixed with fragrant herbs like lemongrass, tapioca leaves and bungkang leaves (a species of myrtle from the Eugenia genus), then sealed within the bamboo tubes and placed directly over an open fire. Cooking food this way will infuse it with aroma and flavour from the bamboo tubes while keeping it moist.

Ambilla - a tangy dish of meat cooked with long beans (kacang), brinjals (terung) or pumpkin (labu).

Caldu Pescator - A seafood soup traditionally prepared by fishermen, as well as during the Feast of St Peter ("Festa San Pedro", in the local Cristang dialect, usually observed on 29 June), the Patron Saint of Fishermen.

Curry Debal - a quintessential Kristang dish, usually cooked during Christmas season to make use of the left-over meats from feasting. It is a very spicy curry flavoured with candlenuts, galangal and vinegar.

Curry Seku - a very dry curry prepared in a wok. Seku means "bottom" in Papia Kristang, and the wok was probably so-named because of the roundness of its shape that resembled the human bottom.

Chicken pie -, this meat pie, known as empada de galinha or galinha pia, is usually served during Christmas season and other special occasions.

Feng - a curried dish of pig offal, traditionally served for Christmas.

Pang Susi - a savoury meat bun with a dough that is bread-like and sweet in texture, made for auspicious and festive occasions such as Easter.

Pesce Assa or commonly known as Ikan Bakar or Sambal stingray- Portuguese baked/grilled fish is one of the Kristang community's most famous specialties, now found in major urban areas throughout Malaysia. The fish is smothered with diced lady's fingers and a robust sambal, before it is wrapped in banana leaves as well as a layer of metal foil, and then cooked on a grill. In spite of its name, this dish has little in common with modern Portuguese fish recipes.

Semur or Smoore - a fragrant beef stew. Versions of this dish are found wherever the Dutch have settled in Asia, including Malacca.

Soy Limang - a braised dish of fried brinjals, with soy sauce and lime juice as the primary seasonings.

Ais kacang - also known as air batu campur or abbreviated as ABC, this dessert consists of a base of shaved ice, coloured syrup, and evaporated or condensed milk with a variety of toppings. These may include sweet corn kernels, red beans, kidney beans, cincau (grass jelly), cendol, buah atap (fruit of the nipa palm), soaked basil seeds, peanuts, and ice cream.

Bubur cha cha - a Nyonya dessert of bananas, sweet potatoes, taro, black eyed beans and sago pearls cooked in pandan-flavoured coconut milk. May be served hot or cold.

Bubur kacang hijau - mung bean porridge cooked with coconut milk and sweetened with palm or cane sugar. It is called canje mungoo by the Kristang community, and is usually served in conjunction with the feast day of St John the Baptist (Festa da San Juang).

During Dayak festivals or Gawai, the Iban would slaughter locally reared pigs. The pig would be cleaned thoroughly after the slaughter, have its head and stomach removed, and the rest of the pig would be cut into smaller pieces in preparation for barbecuing. The head and stomach of a pig are usually put aside and prepared separately as they are considered the choicest parts of the animal; hence pig's heads are a common edible gift brought by visitors to an Iban longhouse, and dishes such as pork stomach cooked with pineapples are a must for Gawai.

Sarawak is notable for its rice; currently three varieties grown in Sarawak has been granted GI status by MyIPO. Among the foods and beverages particular to Sarawak are:

Being a multicultural country, Malaysians have over the years adapted each other's dishes to suit the taste buds of their own culture. For instance, Malaysians of Chinese descent have adapted the Indian curry, and made it more dilute and less spicy to suit their taste. Chinese noodles have been crossed with Indian and Malay tastes and thus Malay fried noodles and Indian fried noodles were born. Malaysians have also adapted famous dishes from neighbouring countries, or those with strong cultural and religious ties, and in the absence of an established community from said countries have made it completely their own, A notable example being tom yam, one of Thailand's most well known dishes.

After migrating south of the border, Thai tom yam takes on the visual characteristics of a Malaysian assam gravy with a flavour profile of sweet, sour and spicy. It is thickened with pounded chile paste which also turns it a vivid orange-red. Tamarind is often used instead of lime juice as its souring agent, and dried instead of fresh chilies are used to provide a fiery kick. Malay-style tom yam soup tends to be heavily seafood-based, whereas in Chinese-style eateries the broth's spiciness is toned down and usually serves as a base for noodle soup.

Peranakan cuisine, also called Nyonya food, was developed by the Straits Chinese whose descendants reside in today's Malaysia and Singapore. The old Malay word nyonya (also spelled nonya), a term of respect and affection for women of prominent social standing (part "madame" and part "auntie"), has come to refer to the cuisine of the Peranakans. It uses mainly Chinese ingredients but blends them with Malay ingredients such as coconut milk, lemon grass, turmeric, tamarind, pandan leaves, chillies and sambal. It can be considered as a blend of Chinese and Malay cooking, with influences from Indonesian Chinese cuisine (for the Nyonya food of Malaccan and Singaporean) and Thai cuisine (for Penang Nyonya cuisine). Traditional Nyonya cooking is often very elaborate, labour-intensive and time consuming, and the Peranakan community often consider the best Nyonya food is to be found in private homes.

Examples of Nyonya dishes include:

Desserts and sweets in Malaysia are diverse, due to the multi-ethnic and multicultural characteristics of its society. Traditional Malay and Nyonya desserts tend to share a common feature however: generous amounts of coconut milk are used, and the finished product usually flavoured with gula melaka (palm sugar) and pandan leaves. Some notable desserts include:

As of 2012, about one million people within Malaysia's total population were practising vegetarians, and vegetarian food is much easier to obtain when dining out today. However, because of the heavy emphasis on meat and seafood by traditional Malay cuisine as well as the common inclusion of shrimp paste and other seafood products in many local dishes, diners may find it difficult to negotiate their way around menus in search of vegetarian or vegan food in Malay cuisine restaurants.

Restaurants that display signs with the words sayur sayuran, vegetarian or the Chinese characters 素 or 斎 will offer a decent variety of food for diners who abstain from meat. There are many of them across the country, particularly in urban areas. These restaurants serve only vegetarian/vegan food and absolutely no meat or animal products is used in their cooking. Even restaurants that specialise in meat and seafood will make vegetarian dishes upon request. Some meat-serving restaurants have a vegetarian section in their menu.

Over 80% of Malaysian Chinese identify themselves as Buddhists, and some follow a vegetarian diet at least some of the time. Some vegetarian Chinese cuisine restaurants offer an exclusively vegetarian menu (Chinese: 素食, 斎) featuring Chinese dishes which resemble meat dishes in look and even taste like "roast pork", fried "fish" with "skin" and "bones", and "chicken drumsticks" complete with a "bone". These restaurants are run by proprietors who abstain from consumption of animal products and strong-tasting vegetables and spices as way of life for religious reasons, and are essentially vegan. The meat analogues used are often locally produced as opposed to imported, and are made solely from ingredients like soy, gluten, mushrooms and tuber vegetables.

Organic vegetarians has also slowly become a trendy modern vegetarian dietary nowsady. Most of the organic vegetarian menu will include superfood ingredients for example : organic quinoa, millet, chia seeds, flax seeds, avocado, egg, tofu, pine nuts, bluberry, almond milk and etc. A lot of organic fruit and vegetables are locally produced in recent years. There is even an organic version of vegetarian sambal balacan, Nasi lemak chili paste & etc.

Buddhist vegetarian restaurants are likely to be found in areas with a high concentration of Chinese and tend to be especially busy on certain festive days where many Buddhists adopt a strict vegetarian diet for at least a day. In Buddhism, some people who are full-time vegetarians are observing the Buddhist Five Precepts. They are vegetarian because they are observing the precept to abstain from killing or harming living beings intentionally. Another precept is to abstain from taking drugs or intoxicants for enjoyment, hence, alcohol is not used in most pure vegetarian shops. (This is different, however, when ordering vegetarian food off the menu of restaurants that serve meat dishes.)

Vegetarianism has a long and revered tradition in Indian culture. Some Malaysian Indians are born-and-bred vegetarians who often hail from a family line with generations of vegetarians. Some others practice vegetarianism on auspicious festivals such as Thai Ponggal, Hindu New Year, Deepavali, Full Moon Prayers, and on certain days of the week as a symbol of respect when they visit holy temples. Abstaining from meat before fulfilling a vow is a common practice to bring the body to a neutral and focused state, physically and mentally, during Thaipusam and other holy prayer events. Dishes, of South and North Indian types, are based on the ancient concept of Ayurveda and are known to include arusuvai or six types of tastes. Some Indian vegetarian dishes may incorporate dairy products and honey ( lacto vegetarian). Some others are heavily based on lavish coconut milk and nuts. There are many Indian eateries and restaurants in Malaysia that offer a pure vegetarian menu. South Indian restaurants, in particular, offer no shortage of meatless options such as Thali meal, also known as banana leaf rice, which is often vegetarian by default, and a wide array of sweets, snacks and light meals such as kesari, tose, idli, uppuma, vade, aviyal, idiyappam and paniyaram.

1. ^

2. ^ Kosaku Yoshino. "Malaysian Cuisine: A Case of Neglected Culinary Globalization" (PDF). Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture, Tokyo. p. 3.

3. ^ Raji, Mohd Nazri Abdul; Ab Karim, Shahrim; Ishak, Farah Adibah Che; Arshad, Mohd Mursyid (1 December 2017). "Past and present practices of the Malay food heritage and culture in Malaysia". Journal of Ethnic Foods. 4 (4): 221-231. doi:10.1016/j.jef.2017.11.001. ISSN 2352-6181.

4. ^ Raji, Mohd Nazri Abdul; Ab Karim, Shahrim; Ishak, Farah Adibah Che; Arshad, Mohd Mursyid (1 December 2017). "Past and present practices of the Malay food heritage and culture in Malaysia". Journal of Ethnic Foods. 4 (4): 221-231. doi:10.1016/j.jef.2017.11.001. ISSN 2352-6181.

5. ^ Raji, Mohd Nazri Abdul; Ab Karim, Shahrim; Ishak, Farah Adibah Che; Arshad, Mohd Mursyid (1 December 2017). "Past and present practices of the Malay food heritage and culture in Malaysia". Journal of Ethnic Foods. 4 (4): 221-231. doi:10.1016/j.jef.2017.11.001. ISSN 2352-6181.

6. ^ Melati Mohd Ariff (16 April 2008). "Malaysia's Rice Industry: A Revamp Needed?". Federal Agricultural and Marketing Authority. Bernama. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.

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8. ^ Dwayne A. Rules (7 April 2011). "Nasi lemak, our 'national dish'". The Star. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014.

9. Robert Saunders (1789) "Boutan & Thibet", ^ Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Vol. 79, p. 101

10. ^ ("Technical Document Carambola for Market Access on Star Fruit (Carambola)" PDF). Crop Protection and Plant Quarantine Services Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, Malaysia. International Plant Protection Convention. 2004.

11. ^ Su-Lyn Tan (2003). Malaysia & Singapore. Lonely Planet. pp. 17-. ISBN 978-1-74059-370-0.

12. ^ http://www.maggi.com.my/recipe/107/maggi-goreng-mamak

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14. ^ Ali, M. (2012). Energy and emission analysis in the malaysian food industries (3rd ed., Vol. 32, pp. 777-83). Wiley Online Library.

15. ^ "Preserved pork delicacy". Daily Express. 30 October 2013. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014.

16. "Rice in Many Forms". New Sabah Times. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015.

17. ^ Ronnie Teo (18 November 2010). "'Uniquely Sarawak' soaps". Borneo Post.

18. ^ Nifea; R. Ahmad; A.A. Putra (2012). "Effect of milk powder, sugar and citric acid on chemical and organoleptic properties of jackfruit-flavoured Malaysian dadih" (PDF). Asian Journal of Food and Agro-Industry. pp. 135-140. ISSN 1906-3040.

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20. ^ Eu Hooi Khaw (13 September 2013). "Mooncakes to love". The Malaysian Insider. Archived from the original on 14 April 2014.

21. ^ UFO on Astro on YouTube

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Malaysian cuisine consists of cooking traditions and practices found in Malaysia, and reflects the multi-ethnic makeup of its population. The vast majority of Malaysia's population can roughly be divided among three major ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese and Indians.

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Aseans's countries includes:

Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand,Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam

this website is attach to know what are the different countries in asean.

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ASEAN, an abbreviation for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 sovereign states in Southeast Asia. Together, its member states represent a population of over 600 million over a land area of 4.5 million km ² (1.7 million sq mi). The bloc generated a purchasing power parity (PPP) gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$10.2trillion in 2022, constituting approximately 6.5% of global GDP (PPP). ASEAN member states include some of the fastest growing economies in the world.

The primary objectives as stated by the association are "to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region", and "to promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries in the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter." The bloc has broadened its objectives beyond economic and social spheres, aiming to emulate the European Union by establishing a shared security regime.

ASEAN engages with other supranational entities in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond: it is a major partner of the UN, SCO, PA, GCC, MERCOSUR, CELAC, and ECO, It hosts diplomatic missions throughout the world, maintaining a global network of relationships, and is considered by many to be a global powerhouse, and even the central forum for cooperation in the region. Its success has become the driving force of some of the largest trade blocs in history, including APEC and RCEP.

ASEAN headquarters in Jakarta

The predecessor of ASEAN was the Association of Southeast Asia (ASA), formed on 31 July 1961 and consisting of Thailand, the Philippines, and the Federation of Malaya. ASEAN itself was created on 8 August 1967, when the foreign ministers of five countries- Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand-signed the ASEAN Declaration. According to the Declaration, ASEAN aims to accelerate economic, social, and cultural development in the region, as well as promoting regional peace, to collaborate on matters of shared interest, and to promote Southeast Asian studies and maintain close cooperation with existing international organisations.

The creation of ASEAN was initially motivated by the desire to contain communism, which had taken a foothold in mainland Asia after World War II, with the formation of communist governments in Korea, China, and Vietnam, accompanied by the a so-called communist "emergency" in British Malaya, and unrest in the recently decolonized Philippines.

These events also encouraged the earlier formation of the South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), led by the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, with several Southeast Asian partners in 1954 as an extension of "containment" policy, seeking to create an Eastern version of NATO. However, the local member states of ASEAN group achieved greater cohesion in the mid-1970s following a change in the balance of power after the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War in April 1975 and the decline of SEATO.

ASEAN's first summit meeting, held in Bali, Indonesia, in 1976, resulted in an agreement on several industrial projects and the signing of a Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, and a Declaration of Concord. The end of the Cold War allowed ASEAN countries to exercise greater political independence in the region, and in the 1990s, ASEAN emerged as a leading voice on regional trade and security issues.

On 15 December 1995, the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty was signed to turn Southeast Asia into a nuclear-weapon-free zone. The treaty took effect on 28 March 1997 after all but one of the member states had ratified it. It became fully effective on 21 June 2001 after the Philippines ratified it, effectively banning all nuclear weapons in the region.

On 7 January 1984, Brunei became ASEAN's sixth member and on 28 July 1995, following the end of the Cold War, Vietnam joined as the seventh member. Laos and Myanmar (formerly Burma) joined two years later on 23 July 1997. Cambodia was to join at the same time as Laos and Myanmar, but a Cambodian coup in 1997 and other internal instability delayed its entry. It then joined on 30 April 1999 following the stabilization of its government.

Besides their close geographic proximity, political scholars consider Southeast Asian nations a cultural crossroads between East Asia and South Asia, located at critical junctions of the South China Sea as well as the Indian Ocean, and as a result received much influence from Islamic and Persian influences prior to the European colonial ages.

Since around 100 BCE, the Southeast Asian archipelago occupied a central position at the crossroads of the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea trading routes, which stimulated the economy and the influx of ideas. This included the introduction of abugida scripts to Southeast Asia as well as the Chinese script to Vietnam. Besides various indigenous scripts, various abugida Brahmic scripts were widespread in both continental and insular Southeast Asia. Historically, scripts such as Pallava, Kawi (from ancient Tamil script) and Rencong or Surat Ulu were used to write Old Malay, until they were replaced by Jawi during Islamic missionary missions in the Malay Archipelago.

European colonialism influenced most ASEAN countries, including French Indochina (present-day Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia), British Burma, Malaya and Borneo (present-day Myanmar, Malaysia & Singapore, and Brunei), Dutch East Indies (present day Indonesia), Spanish East Indies (present-day Philippines and various other colonies), and Portuguese Timor (present-day Timor-Leste), with only Thailand (then Siam) not formed from a prior European colony. Siam served as a convenient buffer state, sandwiched between British Burma and French Indochina, but its kings had to contend with unequal treaties as well as British and French political interference and territorial losses after the Franco-Siamese War in 1893 and the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909. Under European colonization, Southeast Asian nations were introduced to European religions and technologies, as well as the Latin alphabet.

The Japanese Empire, in the vein of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere concept, sought to unite and create a pan-Asian identity against Western colonial occupation, but Japan's alliance with the Axis powers in World War II soured relations between many colonies of Europe and the United States. Atomic bombings of Japan eventuated in decolonization movements throughout Southeast Asia, resulting in the independent ASEAN states of today.

On 15 December 2008, the member states met in Jakarta to launch the charter signed in November 2007, to move closer to "an EU-style community". The charter formally established ASEAN as a legal entity, aiming to create a single trade bloc for a region encompassing 500 million people. Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stated: "This is a momentous development when ASEAN is consolidating, integrating, and transforming itself into a community. It is achieved while ASEAN seeks a more vigorous role in Asian and global affairs at a time when the international system is experiencing a seismic shift". Referring to climate change and economic upheaval, he concluded: "Southeast Asia is no longer the bitterly divided, war-torn region it was in the 1960s and 1970s".

The financial crisis of 2007-2008 was seen as a threat to the charter's goals, and also set forth the idea of a proposed human rights body to be discussed at a future summit in February 2009. This proposition caused controversy, as the body would not have the power to impose sanctions or punish countries which violated citizens' rights and would, therefore, be limited in effectiveness. The body was established later in 2009 as the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR).

In November 2012, the commission adopted the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration. However, their human rights declaration has been critiqued widely by the international community, with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating that the declaration was worded in problematic ways that do not easily align with international norms. Likewise, the Human Rights Watch in the United States noted several important fundamental rights were omitted or not clearly established.

In response to pandemics, ASEAN has coordinated with ASEAN+3 and other actors to create a regional public health response.

Since 2017, political, military and ethnic affairs in Myanmar have posed unusual challenges for ASEAN, creating precedent-breaking situations and threatening the traditions and unity of the group, and its global standing-with ASEAN responses indicating possible fundamental change in the nature of the organization.

The Rohingya genocide erupting in Myanmar in August 2017-killing thousands of Rohingya people in Myanmar, driving most into neighboring Bangladesh, and continuing for months-created a global outcry demanding ASEAN take action against the civilian-military coalition government of Myanmar, which had long discriminated against the Rohingya, and had launched the 2017 attacks upon them.

As the Rohingya were predominantly Muslim (in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar), and the ethnic cleansing was framed in religious terms, other largely-Muslim ASEAN nations (particularly Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Brunei) objected, some strongly-and also objected to the burden of Rohingya refugees arriving on their shores (as did ASEAN neighbors Buddhist-dominated Thailand and Muslim-dominated observer-nation Bangladesh.

ASEAN had a longstanding firm policy of "non-interference in the internal affairs of member nations," and was reluctant, as an organization, to take sides in the conflict, or act materially.

Internal and international pressure mounted for ASEAN to take a firmer stance on the Rohingya crisis, and by late 2018, the group's global credibility was threatened by its inaction.

However ASEAN's positions on the issue largely divided on religious lines, with Muslim nations siding more with the Rohingya, while Buddhist nations initially sided more with Myanmar's government, threatening a sectarian division of ASEAN. Authoritarian ASEAN nations, too (mostly Buddhist), were less enthusiastic than democratic ASEAN nations (mostly Muslim), about holding Myanmar officials accountable for crimes against their Rohingya minority.

In mid-2019, ASEAN was heavily criticized by human rights organizations for a report, which ASEAN commissioned, which turned out to praise Myanmar's work on Rohingya repatriation, while glossing over atrocities and abuses against the Rohingya.

On 1 February 2021, the day before a newly elected slate of civilian leaders was to take office in Myanmar, a military junta overthrew Myanmar's civilian government in a coup d'etat, declaring a national state of emergency, imposing martial law, arresting elected civilian leaders, violently clamping down on dissent, and replacing civilian government with the military's appointees.

Widespread protests and resistance erupted, and elements of the civilian leadership formed an underground " National Unity Government" (NUG). Global opposition to the coup emerged, and global pressure was brought on ASEAN to take action.

In April 2021, in the first-ever ASEAN summit called to deal primarily with a domestic crisis in a member state, ASEAN leaders met with Myanmar's coup leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and agreed to a five-point consensus solution to the crisis in Myanmar:

The immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar;

Constructive dialogue among all parties concerned... to seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the people;

Mediation facilitated by an envoy of ASEAN's Chair, with the assistance of ASEAN's Secretary-General;

Humanitarian assistance provided by ASEAN through its AHA Centre; and

A visit to Myanmar, by the special envoy and delegation, to meet with all parties concerned.

The ASEAN agreement with Myanmar drew strong criticism from over 150 human rights organizations for its lax approach, yet the Myanmar junta did not comply with any of the points of the plan.

On 18 June 2021, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)-in a rare move, with a nearly unanimous resolution-condemned Myanmar's coup, and called for an arms embargo against the country. The UNGA consulted with ASEAN and integrated most of ASEAN's 5-point consensus into the resolution (adding demands that the junta release all political prisoners). But, while Communist Vietnam voted "yes," along with the ASEAN democracies (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines), most authoritarian ASEAN states (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Brunei) abstained.

Following lobbying by the United Nations, United States, European Union, United Kingdom, and other nations, ASEAN declined to invite Myanmar's Gen. Hlaing to represent Myanmar at ASEAN's October 2021 summit-the first time in ASEAN's history that it did not invite a political leader from a member nation to one of its summits. Nor did ASEAN invite a representative of Myanmar's underground National Unity Government, saying it would consider inviting a non-political representative of the country, instead, (though none was actually invited).

Map showing the member states of ASEAN.

List of member states

There are currently two sovereign states seeking accession to ASEAN: Papua New Guinea and East Timor.

As of 1 July 2019, the population of the ASEAN was about 655 million people (8.5% of the world population). In 2019, 55.2 million children were age 0-4 and 46.3 million were older than 65 in the ASEAN. This corresponds to 8.4% and 7.1% of the total ASEAN population. The region's population growth is 1.1% per year with Thailand being the smallest at 0.2% per year, and Cambodia being the largest at 1.9% per year. ASEAN's sex ratio is 99.6, with 326.4 million males and 327.8 million females.

An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. The 20 largest metropolitan areas within ASEAN are as follows.

The "ASEAN Way" refers to a methodology or approach to solving issues that respect Southeast Asia's cultural norms. Masilamani and Peterson summarise it as "a working process or style that is informal and personal. Policymakers constantly utilise compromise, consensus, and consultation in the informal decision-making process... it above all prioritises a consensus-based, non-conflictual way of addressing problems. Quiet diplomacy allows ASEAN leaders to communicate without bringing the discussions into the public view. Members avoid the embarrassment that may lead to further conflict." It has been said that the merits of the ASEAN Way might "be usefully applied to global conflict management". However, critics have argued that such an approach can be only applied to Asian countries, to specific cultural norms and understandings notably, due to a difference in mindset and level of tension.

Critics object, claiming that the ASEAN Way's emphasis on consultation, consensus, and non-interference forces the organization to adopt only those policies which satisfy the lowest common denominator. Decision-making by consensus requires members to see eye-to-eye before ASEAN can move forward on an issue. Members may not have a common conception of the meaning of the ASEAN Way. Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos emphasize non-interference while older member countries focus on co-operation and co-ordination. These differences hinder efforts to find common solutions to particular issues, but also make it difficult to determine when collective action is appropriate in a given situation.

ASEAN Vision 2020 was formalized and made comprehensive through the Bali Concord II in 2003. Three major pillars of a single ASEAN community were established: Political-Security Community (APSC), Economic Community (AEC) and Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC). To fully embody the three pillars as part of the 2015 integration, blueprints for APSC and ASCC were subsequently adopted in 2009 in Cha-am, Thailand. The ASEAN Community, initially planned to commence by 2020, was accelerated to begin by 31 December 2015. It was decided during the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu in 2007.

At the 23rd ASEAN Summit in November 2013, leaders decided to develop a post-2015 Vision and created the High-Level Task Force (HLTF) that consists of ten high-level representatives from all member states. The Vision was adopted at the 27th Summit in November 2015 in Kuala Lumpur. The ASEAN community would revise and renew its vision every ten years to provide a framework for continuous development and further integration.

The terms in the post-2015 Vision are divided into four subcategories, namely APSC, AEC, ASCC, and Moving Forward. APSC issues are covered under articles 7 and 8. The former generally states the community's overall aspiration to aim for a united, inclusive and resilient community. It also puts human and environmental security as crucial points. Deepening engagement with both internal and external parties are also stressed to contribute to international peace, security and stability. The "Moving Forward" subcategory implies the acknowledgement of weaknesses of the institution's capacity to process and coordinate ASEAN work. Strengthening ASEAN Secretariat and other ASEAN organs and bodies is therefore desired. There is also a call for a higher level of ASEAN institutional presence at the national, regional and international levels.

Additionally, ASEAN institutional weakness has been further amplified by the ineffectiveness of its initiatives in fighting against COVID-19. ASEAN has been making painstaking efforts to combat the pandemic by establishing both intra and extra-regional ad hoc agencies such as theASEAN-China Ad-Hoc Health Ministers Joint Task Force, the Special ASEAN Summit on the COVID-19, COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund, and the Special ASEAN Plus Three Summit on COVID-19. These mechanisms aim to facilitate senior discussions among regional actors on how to contain the pandemic's spread and reduce its negative impacts. However, their practical implementations are still insignificant when the cooperation among member states is insubstantial, as illustrated by the polarization of their COVID-19 policies and the high number of cases and deaths in the region.

ASEAN leaders sign the declaration of the ASEAN Economic Community during the 27th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, 2015

The AEC aims to "implement economic integration initiatives" to create a single market for member states. The blueprint that serves as a comprehensive guide for the establishment of the community was adopted on 20 November 2007 at the 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore. Its characteristics include a single market and production base, a highly competitive economic region, a region of fair economic development, and a region fully integrated into the global economy. The areas of cooperation include human resources development, recognition of professional qualifications, closer consultation economic policies, enhanced infrastructure and communications connectivity, integrating industries for regional sourcing, and strengthening private sector involvement. Through the free movement of skilled labor, goods, services and investment, ASEAN would rise globally as one market, thus increasing its competitiveness and opportunities for development.

During the 14th ASEAN Summit, the group adopted the APSC Blueprint. This document is aimed at creating a robust political-security environment within ASEAN, with programs and activities outlined to establish the APSC by 2016. It is based on the ASEAN Charter, the ASEAN Security Community Plan of Action, and the Vientiane Action Program. The APSC aims to create a sense of responsibility toward comprehensive security and a dynamic, outward-looking region in an increasingly integrated and interdependent world.

The ASEAN Defense Industry Collaboration (ADIC) was proposed at the 4th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) on 11 May 2010 in Hanoi. It has the purpose, among others, to reduce defense imports from non-ASEAN countries by half and to further develop the defense industry in the region. It was formally adopted on the next ADMM on 19 May 2011, in Jakarta, Indonesia. The main focus is to industrially and technologically boost the security capability of ASEAN, consistent with the principles of flexibility and non-binding and voluntary participation among the member states. The concept revolves around education and capability-building programs to develop the skills and capabilities of the workforce, production of capital for defense products, and the provision of numerous services to address the security needs of each member state. It also aims to develop an intra-ASEAN defense trade. ADIC aims to establish a strong defense industry relying on the local capabilities of each member state and limit annual procurement from external original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Countries like the US, Germany, Russia, France, Italy, UK, China, South Korea, Israel, and the Netherlands are among the major suppliers to ASEAN. ASEAN defense budget rose by 147% from 2004 to 2013 and is expected to rise further in the future. Factors affecting the increase include economic growth, ageing equipment, and the plan to strengthen the establishment of the defense industry. ASEANAPOL is also established to enhance cooperation on law enforcement and crime control among police forces of member states.

The ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) was also adopted during the 14th ASEAN Summit. It envisions an "ASEAN Community that is people-centered and socially responsible with a view to achieving enduring solidarity and unity among the countries and peoples of ASEAN by forging a common identity and building a caring and sharing society which is inclusive and harmonious where the well-being, livelihood, and welfare of the peoples are enhanced". Among its focus areas include human development, social welfare and protection, social justice and rights, environmental sustainability, building the ASEAN identity, and narrowing the development gap.

The six-year Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Work Plans have been developed to assist Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, as well as other sub-regions to ensure quick growth. The First IAI Work Plan was implemented from 2002 to 2008. The second plan (2009-2015) supports the goals of the ASEAN Community and is composed of 182 prescribed actions, which includes studies, training programs, and policy implementation support, conducted through projects supported by older ASEAN member states, and ASEAN's Dialogue partners and external parties. The IAI Work Plan is patterned after and supports the key program areas in the three ASEAN Community Blueprints: ASPC, AEC, and ASCC. The IAI Task Force, composed of representatives of the Committee of Permanent Representatives and its working group from all member states, is in charge of providing general advice and policy guidelines and directions in the design and implementation of the plan. All member states are represented in the IAI Task Force, chaired by representatives of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam. The ASEAN Secretariat, in particular through the IAI and NDG Division, supports the implementation and management of the IAI Work Plan and coordinates activities related to sub-regional frameworks. The division works closely with the Dialogue Partners, and international agencies, to develop strategies and programs to assist in promoting and implementing IAI and NDG activities in ASEAN.

ASEAN's planned integration has challenged its citizens to embrace a regional identity. It delivers a challenge to construct dynamic institutions and foster sufficient amount of social capital. The underlying assumption is that the creation of a regional identity is of special interest to ASEAN and the intent of the 2020 Vision policy document was to reassert the belief in a regional framework designed as an action plan related to human development and civic empowerment. Accordingly, these assumptions will be the basis for recommendations and strategies in developing a participatory regional identity.

Part of the work towards the ASEAN Economic Community is the integration of the energy systems of the ASEAN member states. The blueprint for this integration is provided by the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC). APAEC is managed by the ASEAN Center for Energy.

The roadmap for financial integration is the latest regional initiative that aims to strengthen local self-help and support mechanisms. The roadmap's implementation would contribute to the realization of the AEC. Adoption of a common currency, when conditions are ripe, could be the final stage of the AEC. The roadmap identifies approaches and milestones in capital market development, capital account and financial services liberalization, and ASEAN currency cooperation. Capital market development entails promoting institutional capacity as well as the facilitation of greater cross-border collaboration, linkages, and harmonization between capital markets. Orderly capital account liberalization would be promoted with adequate safeguards against volatility and systemic risks. To expedite the process of financial services liberalization, ASEAN has agreed on a positive list modality and adopted milestones to facilitate negotiations. Currency cooperation would involve the exploration of possible currency arrangements, including an ASEAN currency payment system for trade in local goods to reduce the demand for US dollars and to help promote stability of regional currencies, such as by settling intra-ASEAN trade using regional currencies.

In regards to a common currency, ASEAN leaders agreed in November 1999 to create the establishment of currency swaps and repurchase agreements as a credit line against future financial shocks. In May 2000, ASEAN finance ministers agreed to plan for closer cooperation through the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI). The CMI has two components, an expanded ASEAN Swap Arrangement (ASA), and a network of bilateral swap arrangements among the ASEAN Plus Three. The ASA preceded the 1997 Asian financial crisis and was originally established by the monetary authorities of the five founding member states to help meet temporary liquidity problems. The ASA now includes all ten member states with an expanded facility of US$1 billion. In recognition of the economic interdependence of East Asia, which has combined foreign exchange reserves amounting to about US$1 trillion, a network of bilateral swap arrangements and repurchase agreements among the ASEAN Plus Three has been agreed upon. The supplementary facility aims to provide temporary financing for member states with balance-of-payments difficulties. In 2009, 16 bilateral swap arrangements (BSAs) were concluded with a combined amount of about US$35.5 billion. The CMI was signed on 9 December 2009 and took effect on 20 March 2014 while the amended version, the multilateralization of CMI (CMIM), was on 17 July 2014. The CMIM is a multilateral currency swap arrangement governed by a single contractual agreement. In addition, an independent regional surveillance unit called the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic and Research Office (AMRO) was established to monitor and analyze economies and to support the CMIM decision-making process. The amendments would allow access for the auction of a crisis prevention facility. These amendments are expected to fortify CMIM as the region's financial safety net in the event of any potential or actual liquidity difficulty.

Part of the aim of ASEAN integration is to achieve food security collectively via trade in rice and maize. Trade facilitation measures and the harmonization/equivalency of food regulation and control standards would reduce the cost of trade in food products. While specialization and revealed comparative and competitive indices point to complementarities between trade patterns among the member states, intra-ASEAN trade in agriculture is quite small, something that integration could address. The MARKET project would provide flexible and demand-driven support to the ASEAN Secretariat while bringing more private-sector and civil-society input into regional agriculture policy dialogue. By building an environment that reduces barriers to trade, ASEAN trade would increase, thereby decreasing the risk of food price crisis.

The group sought economic integration by creating the AEC by the end of 2015 that established a single market. The average economic growth of member states from 1989 to 2009 was between 3.8% and 7%. This was greater than the average growth of APEC, which was 2.8%. The ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), established on 28 January 1992, includes a Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) to promote the free flow of goods between member states. ASEAN had only six members when it was signed. The new member states (Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia) have not fully met AFTA's obligations, but are officially considered part of the agreement as they were required to sign it upon entry into ASEAN, and were given longer time frames to meet AFTA's tariff reduction obligations. The next steps are to create a single market and production base, a competitive economic region, a region of equitable economic development, and a region that is fully integrated into the global economy. Since 2007, ASEAN countries have gradually lowered their import duties to member states, with a target of zero import duties by 2016.

The ASEAN Centre for Energy publishes the ASEAN Energy Outlook every five years, analysing and promoting the integration of national energy systems across the region. The sixth edition was published in 2020.

ASEAN planned to establish a single market based upon the four freedoms by the end of 2015, with the goal of ensuring free flow of goods, services, skilled labour, and capital. The ASEAN Economic Community was formed in 2015, but the group deferred about 20% of the harmonization provisions needed to create a common market and set a new deadline of 2025.

Until the end of 2010, intra-ASEAN trade was still low as trade involved mainly exports to countries outside the region, with the exception of Laos and Myanmar, whose foreign trade was ASEAN-oriented. In 2009, realised foreign direct investment (FDI) was US$37.9 billion and increased two-fold in 2010 to US$75.8 billion. 22% of FDI came from the European Union, followed by ASEAN countries (16%), and by Japan and the United States.

In addition, six member states ( Malaysia, Vietnam (2 exchanges), Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore) have collaborated on integrating their stock exchanges, which includes 70% of its transaction values with the goal to compete with international exchanges.

Single market will also include the ASEAN Single Aviation Market (ASEAN-SAM), the region's aviation policy geared towards the development of a unified and single aviation market in Southeast Asia. It was proposed by the ASEAN Air Transport Working Group, supported by the ASEAN Senior Transport Officials Meeting, and endorsed by the ASEAN Transport Ministers. It is expected to liberalise air travel between member states allowing ASEAN airlines to benefit directly from the growth in air travel, and also free up tourism, trade, investment, and service flows. Since 1 December 2008, restrictions on the third and fourth freedoms of the air between capital cities of member states for air passenger services have been removed, while from 1 January 2009, full liberalisation of air freight services in the region took effect. On 1 January 2011, full liberalisation on fifth freedom traffic rights between all capital cities took effect. This policy supersedes existing unilateral, bilateral, and multilateral air services agreements among member states which are inconsistent with its provisions.

The concept of an Asian Currency Unit (ACU) started in the middle of the 1990s, prior to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. It is a proposed basket of Asian currencies, similar to the European Currency Unit, which was the precursor of the Euro. The Asian Development Bank is responsible for exploring the feasibility and construction of the basket. Since the ACU is being considered to be a precursor to a common currency, it has a dynamic outlook of the region. The overall goal of a common currency is to contribute to the financial stability of a regional economy, including price stability. It means lower cost of cross-border business through the elimination of currency risk. Greater flows of intra-trade would put pressure on prices, resulting in cheaper goods and services. Individuals benefit not only from the lowering of prices, they save by not having to change money when travelling, by being able to compare prices more readily, and by the reduced cost of transferring money across borders.

Free trade initiatives in ASEAN are spearheaded by the implementation of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) and the Agreement on Customs. These agreements are supported by several sector bodies to plan and to execute free trade measures, guided by the provisions and the requirements of ATIGA and the Agreement on Customs. They form a backbone for achieving targets of the AEC Blueprint and establishing the ASEAN Economic Community by the end of 2015.

On 26 August 2007, ASEAN stated its aim of completing free trade agreements (FTA) with China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, and New Zealand by 2013, which is in line with the start of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015. In November 2007, ASEAN states signed the ASEAN Charter, a constitution governing relations among member states and establishing the group itself as an international legal entity. During the same year, the Cebu Declaration on East Asian Energy Security was signed by ASEAN and the other members of the EAS (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea), which pursues energy security by finding energy alternatives to fossil fuels.

On 27 February 2009, an FTA with Australia and New Zealand was signed. It is believed that this FTA would boost combined GDP across the 12 countries by more than US$48 billion over the period between 2000 and 2020. The agreement with China created the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA), which went into full effect on 1 January 2010. In addition, ASEAN was noted to be negotiating an FTA with the European Union. Bilateral trade with India crossed the US$70 billion target in 2012 (target was to reach the level by 2015). Taiwan has also expressed interest in an agreement with ASEAN but needs to overcome diplomatic objections from China.

ASEAN, together with its six major trading partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea), began the first round of negotiations on 26-28 February 2013, in Bali, Indonesia on the establishment of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which is an extension of ASEAN Plus Three and Six that covers 45% of the world's population and about a third of the world's total GDP.

In 2019, Reuters highlighted a mechanism used by traders to avoid the 70% tariff on ethanol imported into China from the United States, involving importing the fuel into Malaysia, mixing it with at least 40% ASEAN-produced fuel, and re-exporting it to China tariff-free under ACFTA rules.

With the institutionalisation of visa-free travel between ASEAN member states, intra-ASEAN travel has escalated. In 2010, 47% or 34 million out of 73 million tourists in ASEAN member-states were from other ASEAN countries. Cooperation in tourism was formalised in 1976, following the formation of the Sub-Committee on Tourism (SCOT) under the ASEAN Committee on Trade and Tourism. The 1st ASEAN Tourism Forum was held on 18-26 October 1981 in Kuala Lumpur. In 1986, ASEAN Promotional Chapters for Tourism (APCT) were established in Hong Kong, West Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia/New Zealand, Japan, and North America.

Tourism has been one of the key growth sectors in ASEAN and has proven resilient amid global economic challenges. The wide array of tourist attractions across the region drew 109 million tourists to ASEAN in 2015, up by 34% compared to 81 million tourists in 2011. As of 2012, tourism was estimated to account for 4.6% of ASEAN GDP-10.9% when taking into account all indirect contributions. It directly employed 9.3 million people, or 3.2% of total employment, and indirectly supported some 25 million jobs. In addition, the sector accounted for an estimated 8% of total capital investment in the region. In January 2012, ASEAN tourism ministers called for the development of a marketing strategy. The strategy represents the consensus of ASEAN National Tourism Organisations (NTOs) on marketing directions for ASEAN moving forward to 2015. In the 2013 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) report, Singapore placed 1st, Malaysia placed 8th, Thailand placed 9th, Indonesia placed 12th, Brunei placed 13th, Vietnam placed 16th, Philippines placed 17th, and Cambodia placed 20th as the top destinations of travellers in the Asia Pacific region.

1981 The ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) was established. It is a regional meeting of NGOs, Ministers, sellers, buyers and journalists to promote the ASEAN countries as a single one tourist destination. The annual event 2019 in Ha Long marks the 38th anniversary and involves all the tourism industry sectors of the 10 member states of ASEAN: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It was organized by TTG Events from Singapore.

Indonesian Press Conference AFT 2019

Royal Thai Embassy, Helsinki, flying its own national flag as well as ASEAN's flag

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte poses for a photo with the ASEAN foreign ministers during the 50th anniversary of the group's foundation on 8 August 2017.

ASEAN maintains a global network of alliances, dialogue partners and diplomatic missions, and is involved in numerous international affairs. The organisation maintains good relationships on an international scale, particularly towards Asia-Pacific nations, and upholds itself as a neutral party in politics. It holds ASEAN Summits, where heads of government of each member states meet to discuss and resolve regional issues, as well as to conduct other meetings with countries outside the bloc to promote external relations and deal with international affairs. The first summit was held in Bali in 1976. The third summit was in Manila in 1987, and during this meeting, it was decided that the leaders would meet every five years. The fourth meeting was held in Singapore in 1992 where the leaders decided to meet more frequently, every three years. In 2001, it was decided that the organisation will meet annually to address urgent issues affecting the region. In December 2008, the ASEAN Charter came into force and with it, the ASEAN Summit will be held twice a year. The formal summit meets for three days, and usually includes internal organisation meeting, a conference with foreign ministers of the ASEAN Regional Forum, an ASEAN Plus Three meeting and ASEAN-CER, a meeting of member states with Australia and New Zealand.

ASEAN is a major partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, developing cooperation model with the organisation in the field of security, economy, finance, tourism, culture, environmental protection, development and sustainability. Additionally, the grouping has been closely aligned with China, cooperating across numerous areas, including economy, security, education, culture, technology, agriculture, human resource, society, development, investment, energy, transport, public health, tourism, media, environment, and sustainability. It is also the linchpin in the foreign policy of Australia and New Zealand, with the three sides being integrated into an essential alliance.

ASEAN also participates in the East Asia Summit (EAS), a pan-Asian forum held annually by the leaders of eighteen countries in the East Asian region, with ASEAN in a leadership position. Initially, membership included all member states of ASEAN plus China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, and New Zealand, but was expanded to include the United States and Russia at the Sixth EAS in 2011. The first summit was held in Kuala Lumpur on 14 December 2005, and subsequent meetings have been held after the annual ASEAN Leaders' Meeting. The summit has discussed issues including trade, energy, and security and the summit has a role in regional community building.

Other meetings include the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting that focus mostly on specific topics, such as defence or the environment, and are attended by ministers. The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which met for the first time in 1994, fosters dialogue and consultation, and to promote confidence-building and preventive diplomacy in the region. As of July 2007, it consists of twenty-seven participants that include all ASEAN member states, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, the EU, India, Japan, North and South Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Russia, East Timor, the United States, and Sri Lanka. Taiwan has been excluded since the establishment of the ARF, and issues regarding the Taiwan Strait are neither discussed at ARF meetings nor stated in the ARF Chairman's Statements.

ASEAN also holds meetings with Europe during the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), an informal dialogue process initiated in 1996 with the intention of strengthening co-operation between the countries of Europe and Asia, especially members of the European Union and ASEAN in particular. ASEAN, represented by its secretariat, is one of the forty-five ASEM partners. It also appoints a representative to sit on the governing board of Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), a socio-cultural organisation associated with the meeting. Annual bilateral meetings between ASEAN and India, Russia and the United States are also held.

On 12 November 2022, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged ASEAN countries to abandon their neutrality and condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

With perceptions that there have been multiple incursions into the South China Sea by the PRC (China) and ROC (Taiwan), with land, islands and resources all having had previous overlapping claims between Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and various other countries, the PRC and ROC's claim into the region is seen as intrusive by many Southeast Asian countries as of 2022, potentially a reflection of the threat of Chinese expansionism into the region. This follows the infamous 11 dash line that was produced by the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan), followed by the infamous 9-dash line by the People's Republic of China (PRC). ASEAN sought for a more unified response against what it perceived to be Chinese penetration and hegemony into the region. There have been attempts to counterbalance this sway by attempting to align with other military alliances such as the nations in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD).

Both the PRC (China) and the ROC (Taiwan) have employed several strategies in an attempt to wrestle hold of South China Sea islands, such as the salami slicing strategy and cabbage tactics from the PRC. There has also been calls to end the ROC (Taiwan)'s illegal military actions in the South China Sea, especially on Taiping Island (Itu Aba), which is referred to the East Sea in Vietnamese. Additionally, China passed a law in January 2021 allowing its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels, causing greater concern amongst ASEAN states. It is considered that the Cham people, an Austronesian people indigenous to Central and South Vietnam, were the "ancient rulers of the South China Sea", having had conducted extensive trade and maritime routes throughout the Southeast Asian region.

There have been territorial disputes between ASEAN member states such as the Cambodian-Thai border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand, Cambodian-Vietnamese border dispute between Cambodia and Vietnam, and the North Borneo dispute between the Philippines and Malaysia,. The Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1978, backed by the Soviet Union, was not accepted by ASEAN. They rejected it as a violation of the principles of regional integration. ASEAN cooperated with US and Australia to oppose Vietnam's move and it sponsored a Cambodian resolution in the United Nations General Assembly. ASEAN played a major role starting in 1980 in the peace process, leading to the 1991 Paris Agreement.

In 1990, Malaysia proposed the creation of an East Asia Economic Caucus composed of the members of ASEAN, China, Japan, and South Korea. It intended to counterbalance the growing US influence in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and Asia as a whole. However, the proposal failed because of strong opposition from the US and Japan. Work for further integration continued, and the ASEAN Plus Three, consisting of ASEAN, China, Japan, and South Korea, was created in 1997.

ASEAN Plus Three is a forum that functions as a coordinator of co-operation between the ASEAN and the three East Asian nations of China, South Korea, and Japan. Government leaders, ministers, and senior officials from the ten members of the ASEAN and the three East Asian states consult on an increasing range of issues. The ASEAN Plus Three is the latest development of Southeast Asia-East Asia regional co-operation. In the past, proposals, such as South Korea's call for an Asian Common Market in 1970 and Japan's 1988 suggestion for an Asian Network, have been made to bring closer regional co-operation.

The first leaders' meetings were held in 1996, and 1997 to deal with Asia-Europe Meeting issues, and China and Japan each wanted regular summit meetings with ASEAN members afterwards. The group's significance and importance were strengthened by the Asian Financial Crisis. In response to the crisis, ASEAN closely cooperated with China, South Korea, and Japan. Since the implementation of the Joint Statement on East Asia Cooperation in 1999 at the Manila Summit, ASEAN Plus Three finance ministers have been holding periodic consultations. ASEAN Plus Three, in establishing the Chiang Mai Initiative, has been credited as forming the basis for financial stability in Asia, the lack of such stability having contributed to the Asian Financial Crisis.

Since the process began in 1997, ASEAN Plus Three has also focused on subjects other than finance such as the areas of food and energy security, financial co-operation, trade facilitation, disaster management, people-to-people contacts, narrowing the development gap, rural development, and poverty alleviation, human trafficking, labour movement, communicable diseases, environment and sustainable development, and transnational crime, including counter-terrorism. With the aim of further strengthening the nations' co-operation, East Asia Vision Group (EAVG) II was established at the 13th ASEAN Plus Three Summit on 29 October 2010 in Hanoi to stock-take, review, and identify the future direction of the co-operation.

ASEAN Plus Three was the first of attempts for further integration to improve existing ties of Southeast Asia with East Asian countries of China, Japan and South Korea. This was followed by the even larger East Asia Summit (EAS), which included ASEAN Plus Three as well as India, Australia, and New Zealand. This group acted as a prerequisite for the planned East Asia Community which was supposedly patterned after the European Community (now transformed into the European Union). The ASEAN Eminent Persons Group was created to study this policy's possible successes and failures.

The group became ASEAN Plus Six with Australia, New Zealand, and India, and stands as the linchpin of Asia Pacific's economic, political, security, socio-cultural architecture, as well as the global economy. Codification of the relations between these countries has seen progress through the development of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a free-trade agreement involving the 15 countries of ASEAN Plus Six (excluding India). RCEP would, in part, allow the members to protect local sectors and give more time to comply with the aim for developed country members.

The economies in this region that have not joined the RCEP are: Hong Kong, India, Macau, North Korea and Taiwan.

Hong Kong is actively seeking to join. Hong Kong itself has signed free trade agreements with ASEAN, New Zealand, Mainland China, and Australia. Mainland China welcomes Hong Kong's participation. According to the 2018 policy address of the Special Chief Executive, the Special Chief Executive She will start negotiations with RCEP member states after the signing of RCEP. As Asia's financial center and Asia's trading hub, Hong Kong can provide member countries with high-quality financial services.

As a free trade port, Macau's tax rate itself is very low. Macau's economy does not depend on import and export trade. Tourism and gaming are the main economic industries in Macau. The Macau government did not state whether to join RCEP. Macau still has room for openness in the service industry.

Taiwan has been excluded from participating with the organization owing to China's influence on the Asia Pacific through its economic and diplomatic influence. Because Taiwan itself has a New Southbound Policy, the inability to join the RCEP is expected to have little impact on Taiwan. At the same time, Taiwan is also considering whether to cancel ECFA to counter China.

Haze over Borneo, 2006

At the turn of the 21st century, ASEAN began to discuss environmental agreements. These included the signing of the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in 2002 as an attempt to control haze pollution in Southeast Asia, arguably the region's most high-profile environmental issue. Unfortunately, this was unsuccessful due to the outbreaks of haze in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2013, and 2015. As of 2015, thirteen years after signing the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, the situation with respect to the long term issue of Southeast Asian haze had not changed for 50% of the ASEAN member states, and still remained as a crisis every two years during summer and fall.

Video: ASEAN explained in 5 minutes

Trash dumping from foreign countries (such as Japan and Canada) to ASEAN has yet to be discussed and resolved. Important issues include deforestation (with Indonesia recorded the largest loss of forest in the region, more than other member states combined in the 2001-2013 period), plastic waste dumping (5 member states were among the top 10 out of 192 countries based on 2010 data, with Indonesia ranked as second worst polluter), threatened mammal species (Indonesia ranked the worst in the region with 184 species under threat), threatened fish species (Indonesia ranked the worst in the region), threatened (higher) plant species (Malaysia ranked the worst in the region).

ASEAN's aggregate economy is one of the fastest growing in the world. It is expected to grow by 4.6% in 2019, and 4.8% in 2020, but at the cost of the release about 1.5 billion tonnes of CO ₂ to the atmosphere every year. That makes ASEAN a greater source of greenhouse gas emissions than Japan (1.3 billion tonnes per year) or Germany (796 million tonnes per year). It is the only region in the world where coal is expected to increase its share of the energy mix. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), "Since 2000 [ASEAN's] overall energy demand has grown by more than 80% and the lion's share of this growth has been met by a doubling in fossil fuel use,... Oil is the largest element in the regional energy mix and coal, largely for power generation, has been the fastest growing." ASEAN has been criticized for not doing enough to mitigate climate change although it is the world's most vulnerable region in terms of climate impact.

ASEAN has many opportunities for renewable energy. With solar and wind power plus off river pumped hydro storage, ASEAN electricity industry could achieve very high penetration (78%-97%) of domestic solar and wind energy resources at a competitive levelised costs of electricity range from 55 to 115 U.S. dollars per megawatt-hour based on 2020 technology costs. Vietnam's experience in solar and wind power development provides relevant implications for the other ASEAN countries.

To enhance the region's status in education, ASEAN education ministers have agreed four priorities for education at all levels, promoting ASEAN awareness among ASEAN citizens, particularly youth, strengthening ASEAN identity through education, building ASEAN human resources in the field of education strengthening the ASEAN University Network. At the 11th ASEAN Summit in December 2005, leaders set new direction for regional education collaboration when they welcomed the decision of the ASEAN education ministers to convene meetings on a regular basis. The annual ASEAN Education Ministers Meeting oversees co-operation efforts on education at the ministerial level. With regard to implementation, programs, and activities are carried out by the ASEAN Senior Officials on Education (SOM-ED). SOM-ED also manages co-operation on higher education through the ASEAN University Network (AUN). It is a consortium of Southeast Asian tertiary institutions of which 30 currently belong as participating universities. Founded in November 1995 by 11 universities, the AUN was established to: promote co-operation among ASEAN scholars, academics, and scientists, develop academic and professional human resources, promote information dissemination among the ASEAN academic community, enhance awareness of a regional identity and the sense of "ASEAN-ness" among member states.

The Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network (SEED-Net) Project was established as an autonomous sub-network of AUN in April 2001. It is aimed at promoting human resource development in engineering. The network consists of 26 member institutions selected by higher education ministries of each ASEAN member state, and 11 supporting Japanese universities selected by the Japanese government. This network is mainly supported by the Japanese government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and partially supported by the ASEAN Foundation. SEED-Net activities are implemented by the SEED-Net secretariat with the support of the JICA Project for SEED-Net now based at Chulalongkorn University.

ASEAN also has a scholarship program offered by Singapore to the 9 other member states for secondary school, junior college, and university education. It covers accommodation, food, medical benefits and accident insurance, school fees, and examination fees. Its recipients, who perform well on the GCE Advanced Level Examination, may apply for ASEAN undergraduate scholarships, which are tailored specifically to undergraduate institutions in Singapore and other ASEAN member countries.

'Australia for ASEAN' scholarships are also offered by the Australian Government to the 'next generation of leaders' from ASEAN member states. By undertaking a Master's degree, recipients are to develop the skills and knowledge to drive change, help build links with Australia, and also participate in the Indo-Pacific Emerging Leaders Program to help develop the ASEAN Outlook for the Indo-Pacific. Each ASEAN member state is able to receive ten 'Australia for ASEAN' scholarships.

The organization hosts cultural activities in an attempt to further integrate the region. These include sports and educational activities as well as writing awards. Examples of these include the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, ASEAN Heritage Parks and the ASEAN Outstanding Scientist and Technologist Award. In addition, the ASEAN region has been recognized as one of the world's most diverse regions ethnically, religiously and linguistically.

The ASEAN Media Portal[324] was launched 16 November 2007. The portal aims to provide a one-stop site that contains documentaries, games, music videos, and multimedia clips on the culture, arts, and heritage of the ASEAN countries to showcase ASEAN culture and the capabilities of its media industry.

The ASEAN NewsMaker Project, an initiative launched in 2009, trains students and teachers to produce informational video clips about their countries. The project was initiated by Singapore. Students trained in NewsMaker software, video production, together with developing narrative storytelling skills. Dr Soeung Rathchavy, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community noted that: "Raising ASEAN awareness amongst the youth is part and parcel of our efforts to build the ASEAN Community by 2015. Using ICT and the media, our youths in the region will get to know ASEAN better, deepening their understanding and appreciation of the cultures, social traditions and values in ASEAN."[325]

The ASEAN Digital Broadcasting Meeting, is an annual forum for ASEAN members to set digital television (DTV) standards and policies, and to discuss progress in the implementation of the blueprint from analogue to digital TV broadcasting by 2020. During the 11th ASEAN Digital Broadcasting Meeting[326] members updated the status on DTV implementation and agreed to inform ASEAN members on the Guidelines for ASEAN Digital Switchover.[327] An issue was raised around the availability and affordability of set-top boxes (STB), thus ASEAN members were asked to make policies to determine funding for STBs, methods of allocation, subsidies and rebates, and other methods for the allocation of STBs. It was also agreed in the meeting to form a task force to develop STB specifications for DVB-T2 to ensure efficiency.

The ASEAN Post was launched on 8 August 2017 to commemorate ASEAN's 50th Anniversary. It is an independent regional digital media company that is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was founded by former investment banker Rohan Ramakrishnan.

The flags of the ASEAN member states in Jakarta, Indonesia

Music plays a significant role in ASEAN affairs, as evidenced by the new music composed for, and to be performed at, the 34th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok in June 2019.

Since ASEAN's founding, a number of songs have been written for the regional alliance:

The main sporting event of ASEAN is the Southeast Asian Games, a biennial meet of athletes from the ten member-states. A non-member state Timor Leste (also known as East Timor) is now participating the SEA Games.

Critics have charged ASEAN with weakly promoting human rights and democracy, particularly in junta-led Myanmar. Some scholars think that non-interference has hindered ASEAN efforts to handle the Myanmar issue, human rights abuse, and haze pollution in the area. Despite global outrage at the military crack-down on unarmed protesters in Yangon, ASEAN has refused to suspend Myanmar as a member and also rejects proposals for economic sanctions. This has caused concern as the European Union has refused to conduct free trade negotiations at a regional level for these political reasons. During a UN vote against the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya, most member states voted to either abstain or against the condemnation. Only the Muslim-majority countries Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei voted to condemn the cleansing of Rohingya. Some international observers view ASEAN as a "talk shop", stating that the organisation is: "big on words, but small on action". "ASEAN policies have proven to be mostly rhetoric, rather than actual implementation", according to Pokpong Lawansiri, a Bangkok-based independent analyst of ASEAN. "It has been noted that less than 50% of ASEAN agreements are actually implemented, while ASEAN holds more than six hundred meetings annually".

The head of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, Tim Huxley, cites the diverse political systems present in the grouping, including many young states, as a barrier to far-reaching co-operation beyond economics. He also asserts that, without an external threat to rally against after the Cold War ended, ASEAN has less successfully restrained its members and resolved such border disputes as those between Myanmar and Thailand or Indonesia and Malaysia. During the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu, several activist groups staged anti-globalisation protests, arguing that the agenda of economic integration would negatively affect industries in the Philippines and would deprive thousands of Filipinos of their jobs.

Corruption remains a widespread issue, as "tea money" remains an important requirement to grease business transactions and to receive public services. Following the release of the Corruption Perceptions Index 2015 by Berlin-based graft watchdog Transparency International on 27 January, its Asia Pacific director, Srirak Plipat, noted that: "if there was one common challenge to unite the Asia-Pacific region, it would be corruption", noting that: "from campaign pledges to media coverage to civil society forums, corruption dominates the discussion. Yet despite all this talk, there's little sign of action."

The group's integration plan has raised concerns, in particular, the 2015 deadline. Business and economy experts who attended the Lippo-UPH Dialogue in Naypyidaw cited unresolved issues relating to aviation, agriculture, and human resources. Some panelists, among them, Kishore Mahbubani, warned against high expectations at the onset. He stated: "Please do not expect a big bang event in 2015 where everything is going to happen overnight when the ASEAN Economic Community comes into being. We've made progress in some areas and unfortunately regressed in some areas."

Some panelists enumerated other matters to be dealt with for a successful launch. Among them were the communications issues involving the 600 million citizens living in the region, increasing understanding in business, current visa arrangements, demand for specific skills, banking connections, and economic differences. Former Philippine National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) Secretary General Romulo A. Virola, said in 2012 that the Philippines seems unready to benefit from the integration due to its "wobbly" economic performance compared to other member states. According to Virola, the Philippines continues to lag behind in terms of employment rate, tourism, life expectancy, and cellular subscriptions. Nestor Tan, head of BDO Unibank Inc., said that while some businesses see the Asian Economic Blueprint (AEC) as an opportunity, the integration would be more of a threat to local firms. Tan added that protecting the Philippines' agricultural and financial services sectors, as well as the labour sector, would be necessary for the implementation of AEC by 2015. Standard & Poor's also believed that banks in the Philippines are not yet prepared for the tougher competition that would result from the integration. In one of its latest publications, S&P said banks in the country, although profitable and stable, operate on a much smaller scale than their counterparts in the region.

The US Chamber of Commerce has highlighted widespread concern that the much-anticipated AEC could not be launched by the 2015 deadline. In January 2014, former ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo C. Severino, wrote: "while ASEAN should not be condemned for its members' failure to make good on their commitments, any failure to deliver will likely lead to a loss of credibility and could mean that member states fall further behind in the global competition for export markets and foreign direct investment (FDI)". This is not the first time that AEC faces a probable delay. In 2012, the commencement of the AEC was postponed to 31 December 2015 from the original plan of 1 January. Despite Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan's firm reassurance that "[t]here will be no more delays and that all ten ASEAN countries will participate", even the most fervent proponents of AEC worried that AEC would not be delivered on time as December 2015 neared.

An article published by Vietnam News echoed some of the challenges and opportunities that Vietnam faces in preparation for the AEC. The article said that the deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Tran Thanh Hai, was concerned about local enterprises' lack of knowledge of the AEC. It was said that 80% of local enterprises surveyed acknowledged that they have little information about the interests and challenges available for them in the ASEAN market. The article also noted that the general secretary of the Vietnam Steel Association, Chu Duc Khai, said that most of the local steel making enterprises lack information about doing business in the ASEAN market; they have not had a chance to study it, and have only exported small amounts of steel to ASEAN countries. Another challenge is the need to compete with other countries in the ASEAN market to export raw products since the country had mainly exported raw products. The Asian Development Bank also has doubts about Cambodia's ability to meet the AEC deadline. The leading economist of ADB, Jayant Menon, said that Cambodia needs to speed up its customs reform and to press ahead with automating processes to reduce trade costs and minimise the opportunities for corruption and be ready for the implementation of its National Single Window by 2015.

Piracy in the strait of Malacca and in the Sulu and Celebes Sea is one of the main non-traditional security threats for the region, it has challenged the capacity of its members to ensure coordination of effective policy actions to reduce this phenomenon. As highlighted by the ReCAAP report of 2020: "The increase of incidents (in Asia) during January-June 2020 occurred in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, South China Sea and Singapore Strait." The increment of incidents during 2020, have raised alerts in the region as the phenomenon of piracy could be fostered by the social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, in their Fourteenth Asean Ministerial Meeting On Transnational Crime the ministers agreed that ASEAN should embrace a greater commitment to strengthen the measures in combating transnational crime in the context of the pandemic. Despite this statement, ASEAN has not updated their plans for combating piracy, although member states created and enforced the Maritime Security Plan of Action 2018-2020, to address the national legal enforcement capacities and creating a common protocol of action to counter piracy allowing the region to cooperate for ensuring the security of the Pacific Ocean, new discussions and agendas for new measures has not been enforced yet.

Accordingly, this plan reinforces the necessity to secure the seas due to the importance of this region geographical and economically, its strategic position as the main link between the Indian and the Pacific Ocean and the region serving as the main passage that connects middle east economies and India with China, Japan, South Korea and Australia. This plan is mainly focused in three priorities:

1. Shared Awareness and exchange of best practices.

2. Confidence building measures based on international and regional legal frameworks, arrangements and cooperation.

3. Capacity building and enhancing cooperation of maritime law enforcement agencies in the region.

Nonetheless, the institutional framework and decision-making procedures in ASEAN make difficult to reach agreements on piracy. ASEAN has struggled to deliver a coordinated response to solve this problem in the region mainly by two reasons: the first one, could be related to the focalized nature of the problem in subregions rather than the whole region. Consequently, this focalization generates that the discussions in the main forums (The ASEAN maritime forum (AMF) and Maritime Security Expert Working Group (MSEWG)) have not resulted in actual measures that tackle piracy and involve all member states as major consensus should be reached to enforce them. One example of this, is the possibility discussed by the 10 ASEAN member states to create a joint ASEAN navy in 2015 to carry on operations in one of the piracy hotspots in the region, the strait of Malacca, this proposal ended up being enforced by bilateral/sub-regional efforts rather than in the ASEAN framework (see ReCAAP for further information). The second one, consensus on non-traditional security issues has been difficult to reach due to contradictory interest between member states, particularly in joint operations between navies and the reach of these joint operations. These issues are generated mainly by unresolved territorial disputes, specially in the maritime domain, at some extent they pose a challenge to ASEAN members in their capacity to cooperate in regards to the maritime security approach.

Consequently, a greater multilateral cooperation has been pushed by the members to solve the piracy challenges on economy, trading and security. Members of the ASEAN, have addressed the necessity for the regional organization to make some concessions and rearrangements to respond to the challenges that non-traditional security (specifically piracy) issues posse to the security of the ASEAN members. Despite the efforts and plans made by the ASEAN, this organization is expected to overcome the image of being regarded solely as a forum to discuss security issues. Two possible solutions has been proposed by some member states for this purpose: 1. Promoting relationships with other major actors regionally to overcome the short-time challenges and 2. Rearrange the institutional framework to "avoid contention and seek cooperation to maximize the aggregate ability in order to benefit from making the sea fulfil its economic, security and other goals".

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0.726 ASEAN, an abbreviation for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 sovereign states in Southeast Asia. Together, its member states represent a population of over 600 million over a land area of 4.5 million km 2 (1.7 million sq mi).

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Nasi Dagang:

Nasi dagang is another fantastically tasty dish, consisting of rice steamed in coconut milk, fish curry and extra ingredients such as fried shaved coconut, solok lada, hard-boiled eggs and vegetable pickles.

BKT:consists of fatty pork ribs simmered in a broth of herbs and spices (including star anise, cinnamon, cloves, dong guai, fennel seeds and garlic) for as long as possible , i.e. days if possible. However, additional ingredients may include offal, varieties of mushroom, choy sum (vegetables), and pieces tofu puffs.

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"Eating (and loving) Malaysian food should be a prerequisite for anyone proclaiming to be a gastronome. The holy amalgamations of Malaysian flavors are strengthened, not only by fierce spices, but by a group of people that are intensely passionate about their cuisine. This is a guest post from a gourmet Malaysian herself, Mei of the Cumi & Ciki duo. Their food and travel blog is an inspiring smorgasbord of best Malaysian food eye candy and travel adventures!"
We Malaysians are a lucky lot. Here in our multiracial community, we have exposure to all sorts of cuisine. Chinese, Indian, Malay.. you name it, we have it. Some of these ethnic cooking styles might be more bland or less spicy than others, but I have to say that all are equally interesting in their own way. Here are 10 of my own personal favourites, but if I had my way it, would be 20 !

One of the great south Indian cuisines we have the privilege of eating on a daily basis should we chose is, of course, Chettinad cuisine. Chettinad cuisine is the cuisine of the Chettinad region of Tamil Nadu state in South India. If you love rice, you will definitely love the Banana Leaf Rice.

In banana leaf rice, white rice is served on a banana leaf with an assortment of vegetables, curried meat or fish, pickles, and the super addictive papadum ( look like giant, round, flat crisps). Most of the time, however, only the gravy of the curry will be served and no meat is served as it is meant to be a traditional Indian vegetarian dish but since I am no vegetarian, I love mine with mutton redang and dry chicken curry!

This meal can get really sloppy since it is traditionally eaten with the hand, but most of us have this down to a fine art!

No Malaysian food lunch spread is complete without the Nasi Dagang.

Nasi dagang is another fantastically tasty dish, consisting of rice steamed in coconut milk, fish curry and extra ingredients such as fried shaved coconut, solok lada, hard-boiled eggs and vegetable pickles.

It is a well-known breakfast food in the states on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, such as Terengganu and Kelantan. The most famous Nasi dagang of Terengganu comes from a place called Kampung Ladang, an area within the Kuala Terengganu district. I have not tried the one from Kampung Ladang but my colleague who covers the East Coast says it's truly the best.

The name literally translates as "meat bone tea", and, at its simplest, consists of fatty pork ribs simmered in a broth of herbs and spices (including star anise, cinnamon, cloves, dong guai, fennel seeds and garlic) for as long as possible , i.e. days if possible. However, additional ingredients may include offal, varieties of mushroom, choy sum (vegetables), and pieces tofu puffs.

We personally have the highest regard for BKT at 'Restaurant Yik See Ho'. This place is situated in the vicinity of the Pudu Wet Market and is a hot favourite amongst KL-lites. Some may beg to differ or have their own favourites but for now, we bring all our friends here. Where else can you see the butchers hacking away at the pig carcass (corner alleyway), in preparation for tomorrows rations, from where you sit and eat along the 5 foot way. Grim? Gross? Well, this is BKT, Pudu style!

Fried Hokkien mee (Chinese style- fried yellow noodles) has a cult following in Kuala Lumpur. It is a dish of thick yellow noodles braised in thick dark soy sauce with pork, squid, fish-cake and cabbage as the main ingredients and cubes of crispy fried pork lard as garnishing (that would be the square cubes that you see on top of the noodle).

Some might say that the pork lard is the main ingredient.

This dish is eaten before a huge night out, after a huge night out, for dinner, for supper .. heck , at all hours of the day really. If you have not eaten Hokkien Mee, you have not visited Malaysia, proper!

Next up is the Sang Har Kwey Teow (flat noodles). This is fresh river prawns cooked Cantonese style in a thick eggy broth and finished off with either flat or egg noodles. The orange roe in the head of the prawn just seeps and infuses into the eggy liquid sauce of the noodles and makes the taste phenomenal. The amazing way that the tautness of the prawn flesh blends into the springiness of the flat noodles is like these two components were just made for each other.

After the Sang Har Mee, we will definitely drag you to eat, the Sentul Satay. Close analogues would be the Yakitori from Japan, the Shish Kebab from Turkey, the Sosatie from South Africa.. oh, and my most recent discovery was the Chuan from China!

Meats on sticks over a BBQ - basic yet effective. Tapping into that childhood 'fun' way of eating your food. For satay, the " must have " ingredient which gives the dish its characteristic yellow colour derived from tumeric. Serve it up with a spicy peanut sauce dip, or peanut gravy, slivers of onions and cucumbers, and ketupat (rice cakes).. and you have a balanced meal of carbo, protein, fats, and vegetables but tastes delightfully sinful.. not unlike junk food!

If you are a rice lover, this is another amazing local dish that you cannot miss.

Nasi Kandar is a popular northern Malaysian food, which originates from Penang. It is a meal of steamed rice which can be plain or mildly flavored, and served with a variety of curries and side dishes.The rice is accompanied by side dishes such as fried chicken, gizzards, curried mutton, cubed beef, fish roe, fried prawns or fried squid. The vegetable dish would usually be brinjal (aubergine), okra/bendi (lady fingers) or bitter gourd.

A mixture of curry sauces is poured on the rice. Always ask for the sauces to be mixed , i.e. fish + chicken + dhal .. let it soak through your rice and just die from the awesome aroma and taste. This is called nasi 'banjir' (flooded rice) and imparts a multifaceted taste to the rice. Many eat the sauced soaked rice with their bare fingers and the aroma actually stays with you long after you have washed your hands. This is part of the appeal of eating Nasi Kandar!

Charsiew (BBQ Pork) is another great dish.. Charsiew literally means ' burn with a fork' where long gorgeous fatty strips of seasoned boneless pork are skewered with long forks and placed in a covered oven or over a fire. The meat, typically a shoulder cut is seasoned with a mixture of honey, five-spice powder, fermented tofu , dark soy sauce and possibly hoisin sauce. The melting sugar plus the seasoning will turn the exterior layer of the meat dark red, not dissimilar to American barbecues. A sugar coat is sometimes used in the place of honey to give char siu its characteristic shiny glaze. Here in KL, you can get amazing charsiew with a texture so soft and succulent in the centre, sweet and caramalized on the outside, it would make a grown man weep!

Lung Seng Tanjung Tualang, Perak (North Malaysia) - everybody needs to make this 'holy' pilgrimage to the mecca of Fresh River Prawns and all things crustacean at least once in their life-time. As a matter of fact, KL city folk don't mind the 2 hour drive to Tanjung Tualang in Perak just to satisfy their yearning for delicious freshwater prawns. They don't come fresher than this (swimming outside in tanks) and the cooks actually drop them into ice water for five minutes to stun them before they prepare them for cooking. This retains the springy texture and flavour in the meat. Butter River Prawns.. Mouth-watering!

Nasi Lemak is a must! The name itself " rice in cream" is derived from the cooking process where regular white rice is literally soaked in coconut cream and then steamed to give a gorgeous, aroma of coconut-perfumed white rice that is then wrapped in banana leaf or served on a plate and eaten with the other side dishes mentioned above. Sometimes a knotted pandan leaf, or ginger or a stalk of lemongrass is thrown it to make the rice all the more fragrant.

The Malaysian nasi lemak consists of a hot spicy sauce (sambal), hard boiled egg, cucumber slices, small dried anchovies (ikan bilis) and roasted peanuts at its core and to this you may add sambal cuttlefish, fried chicken, cockle, stir fried water convolvulus (kangkong), pickled vegetables (achar) or beef rendang (beef stewed in coconut milk and spices).

Sinful and bad for the heart but incredibly delicious.. If you eat this once in a while, it's not so bad!
About the Guest Writer
Mei is an avid traveler, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, who enjoys writing about her travel and gastronomic experiences. In her words: "It all started out a couple of years back as a means to journal our travels and related photos. However, because we enjoy eating so much (as do other Malaysians) this blog soon took on the form of a food blog: Cumi & Ciki is a Malaysian food and travel blog. The name is derived from a popular educational television puppet show for Malaysian children in the 70s and 80s. This is the tale of the two traveling, eating, thrill-seeking monkeys from Kuala Lumpur. Food and culture go hand in hand. We feel that in life, we need to enjoy what we do, have passion; cultivate a sense of curiosity about the world.

We hope that this is conveyed through our travel and food blog Cumi & Ciki blog.

Alternatively check out our adventure blog www.whoaadventures.com

Follow Mei on Twitter.

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The 10 Most Delicious Malaysian Foods: Have You Tried Them?

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"Eating (and loving) Malaysian food should be a prerequisite for anyone proclaiming to be a gastronome. The holy amalgamations of Malaysian flavors are strengthened, not only by fierce spices, but by a group of people that are intensely passionate about their cuisine.

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1.
Kuala Lumpur

A capital city of Malaysia also as the hub to discover Asia in general, Rain-forest and garden city, thunder storm city, a city with great food.

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The Malaysian Formula 1 Grand Prix is one of the country's most famous events. (Photo: Paul Gilham/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images )

Tourism to Malaysia, which stretches across the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia and the northern portion of Borneo, has increased rapidly and steadily in recent years. The country estimated 24.6 million arrivals in 2010, compared with only 5.5 million in 1998, according to Tourism Malaysia. Increasingly, tourists are taking note of Malaysia's longstanding famous features, including diverse wildlife, endless beaches and growing cities, as well as its newest claim to fame, one of the few outposts for Formula One racing fans in Asia.

Major Cities

Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, is one of the country's key gateway cities and includes one of Malaysia's most famous manmade structures, the Petronas Twin Towers. These 1,483-foot skyscrapers at one time were the world's tallest buildings and remain the tallest twin skyscraper in the world. Other famous attractions in Kuala Lumpur include the Central Market, Hindu shrine at limestone Batu Caves, and the historic Jamek Mosque. Georgetown on the island of Penang is another major tourism center, home to the Jade Emperor's Temple, the majestic mansions of Penang Hill and the viper-guarded Chor Soo Kong Temple. Malacca City also holds sites of interest for tourists, in particular the architecture left behind by European colonists.

Wildlife

Outside of its major cities, Malaysia is covered by lush rainforests, mangrove forests and offshore coral reefs, making it one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, according to the World Wildlife Fund. These include several endangered species of elephants, rhinoceroses, tigers, turtles and orangutans. Visitors wanting to catch a glimpse of these creatures, along with a wide variety of birds and plants, can explore the rainforest at Taman Negara National Park (taman-negara.com), a massive preserve in central Malaysia. If you're particularly interested in orangutans, check out the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary in the Borneo portion of Malaysia, where several dozen rescued orangutans roam freely. Mount Kinabalu, also in Borneo, is teeming with nature and, despite being the tallest mountain in the region, is a relatively easy climb even for novice climbers.

Beaches

Unsurprisingly for a country situated entirely on a peninsula and islands, Malaysia has thousands of miles of beaches for relaxation and recreation. Most of its western coastline is swamp and mangrove, not sandy beaches, but the tiny offshore islands contains some of the country's most visited beaches. In particular, the Langkawi archipelago off northwestern Malaysia has pristine beaches with white sand and clear blue water, and Frommer's has named its Four Seasons (fourseasons.com) resort home to Malaysia's "most stunning" beach. Other beaches, such as Kampung Juara on Tioman Island, are more primitive, dotted with tiny huts lacking most modern-day conveniences. Most of Malaysia's eastern coast is a sandy beach and offers numerous resorts, particularly Cherating in Pahang.

Racing

In 1999, Malaysia launched the Formula One Malaysia Grand Prix in Sepang, near Kuala Lumpur International Airport. At that time, it was the first Formula One event in Southeast Asia and the only one in Asia outside of Japan. In subsequent years the event, which occurs in early spring, has become one of the country's major international tourism draws. The track is challenging for drivers, featuring 15 harrowing turns and straightaways allowing for speeds of almost 200 mph, not to mention Malaysia's unpredictable rains that can make track conditions even more dangerous. The track can accommodate up to 130,000 spectators and is surrounded by numerous hotels to lodge race fans.

About the Author

Michael Baker has worked as a full-time journalist since 2002 and currently serves as editor for several travel-industry trade publications in New York. He previously was a business reporter for "The Press of Atlantic City" in New Jersey and "The [Brazoria County] Facts" in Freeport, Texas. Baker holds a Master of Science in journalism from Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn.

Photo Credits

Paul Gilham/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images

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Tourism to Malaysia, which stretches across the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia and the northern portion of Borneo, has increased rapidly and steadily in recent years. The country estimated 24.6 million arrivals in 2010, compared with only 5.5 million in 1998, according to Tourism Malaysia. Increasingly, tourists ...