Looks like there may be some interesting culinary exploration to be had in this country, but I’ve not had my ‘rose’ period yet.
Questions
Which Malaysian dish meaning ‘trader’s rice’ can be distinguished from nasi lemak because it contains fish curry? In some areas it is popular as a breakfast food.
NASI DAGANG
Known by the Arabic honorific Daru I-Iman meaning ‘abode of faith’, which sultanate in north-eastern Malaysia hosts a yacht race called the Monsoon Cup?
TERENGGANU
Which relatively isolated north-eastern state to the west of Terengganu is said to translate as the ‘land of lightning’? It is home to some of the most ancient archaeological discoveries in Malaysia and its dialect of Malay is unintelligible to some speakers of standard Malay.
KELANTAN
In ikat, the dye is applied to what long continuous length of interlocking fibres? This is done prior to the dyeing and weaving of the fabric.
YARN
Its Malay name containing a word that means ‘tower’, what is the Kuala Lumpur skyscraper called that has been built to resemble a bamboo shoot? It somewhat resembles Stark Tower and has had the “Avengers” logo projected on to it for promotional purposes.
MENARA TELEKOM / TELEKOM TOWER
Which Malaysian architecture firm designed the Menara Telekom? The named architect is considered ‘the father of Malaysian architecture in the second half of the twentieth century’.
HIJJAS KASTURI (ASSOCIATES)
The tallest building in Vietnam, which Ho Chi Minh city tower is similar to the Menara Telekom, naturally also generating some interest for its similarity to ‘Stark Tower’?
BITEXCO (FINANCIAL TOWER)
Also the name of a National Park and designated as a Ramsar wetland that has unspoiled mangrove forests, which cape in Johor is the southernmost point of continental Eurasia?
TANJUNG PIAI
Which sometimes controversial term can be used to describes Malays, the Orang Asli and other indigenous groups? It is listed as the most populous ethnic group of Malaysia, with nearly 70% of the population included.
BUMIPUTERA
Which Malaysian Prime Minister assumed the office in August 2021, having the shortest reign in that role to date after being succeeded by Anwar Ibrahim in 2022? He was the first leader of the opposition to take on the role.
ISMAIL SABRI (YAAKOB)
Consisting of three words of which the middle one is double-barrelled, what term is used for the king of Malaysia?
YANG DI-PERTUAN AGONG
Which Islamic forename is the person who became Yang di-Pertuan Agong in 2019 best known? I’ll choose to ignore the fact that his full regnal name is made up of 14 terms!
ABDULLAH
If you Googled this name you would probably be pointed to the king of another country, what is the regnal name and number of the person who preceded Abdullah as Yang di-Pertuan Agong?
MUHAMMAD V
Literally meaning ‘state council’, what is the upper house of Malaysia’s parliament called, consisting of 70 seats?
DEWAN NEGARA
Meaning ‘People’s assembly’, what is the 222-seat lower house of Malaysia’s parliament called?
DEWAN RAKYAT
What campaign decreed in 1275, was a military expeditionary force sent by Javanese king Kertanegara of Singhasari to conquer the Sumatran Melayu kingdom? One theory posits this as a possible origin for the name of Malaysia.
PAMALAYU
Heavily influential on Hindu culture, how many major puranas are there in the Puranic genre of literature, with in a nice piece of symmetry there also being the same number of minor puranas?
EIGHTEEN
Referring to its supposed rich wealth and containing a Greek word meaning ‘peninsula’, what was the two-word name used for the Malaya peninsula in Ptolemy’s “Geographica”?
GOLDEN CHERSONESE
Born 1752 in Gotha, which German is considered as a founder of zoology and anthropology as comparative, scientific disciplines? He was an important race theorist, dividing humans into five categories: Caucasian, Mongolian, Malayan, Ethiopian and American.
JOHANN FRIEDRICH BLUMENBACH
Which English ethnologist coined the term ‘Indu-nesian’, it later giving rise to the name of Indonesia? His works were later used by Alfred Russel Wallace in his theory of the Wallace Line.
GEORGE WINDSOR EARL
Politicians in which country had considered changing its name to Malaysia in 1962, before it became associated with the country known by that name today?
THE PHILIPPINES
Virtually the entire reign of which Malaysian Prime Minister was concurrent with handling the Covid crisis, including a Movement Control Order that ran from March 2020 to November 2021?
MUHYIDDIN YASSIN
Lying in the north-west, which fourth largest city of Malaysia is the capital of Perak state? Its tourism includes preservation of its colonial architecture.
IPOH
Named for a Malaysian village, which virus first broke out in Perak state near Ipoh, later making its way to Kerala? This bat-borne disease was part of the inspiration for the virus used in the film “Contagion”.
NIPAH
Bright and extremely pink, a rose syrup flavoured milk drink popular in Malay speaking countries shares its name with which large city from the region, though there isn’t a direct link between the two?
BANDUNG
Lying on the south of the Malay peninsula, which Sultanate that existed from 1400 to 1511 was a golden age for the region, seeing the development of Islam, with the Malay language and its Jawi script also coming to prominence? It fell to the Portuguese empire.
SULTANATE OF MALACCA
The first inhabitants on the Malay peninsula are thought to be which people, with populations now described as this including the Andamanese, Maniq of southern Thailand and Aeta of Luzon?
NEGRITOS
According to the “Kedah Annals” which kingdom thought to have been situated in the northern part of the Malay peninsula was founded by Merong Mahawangsa, with modern films on it including “The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines”?
LANGKASUKA
The famous thalassocratic Majapahit empire had gained control of most of the Malay peninsula by the end of the 13th century from which other empire, that is thought to have lasted over 600 years from the 7th century and was based on Sumatra?
SRIVIJAYA
Founding a stronghold on the mouth of the Bertam river in 1402, Parameswara was the first Sultan of Malacca and the fifth and final Raja of which kingdom, thought to have existed from 1299 to 1398 based on an account in the “Malay Annals”?
SINGAPURA
The Dutch captured Malacca, Ceylon and the Moluccas during which long conflict that began in 1602 and finished in 1663, being sometimes thought of as an extension to the already long Eighty Years’ War?
DUTCH-PORTUGUESE WAR
The Sultan of Kedah leased which island to the British East India Company in 1786, allowing them to establish a presence in the area which was later followed by taking control of Singapore and Malacca? It was temporarily renamed Prince of Wales Island and its capital is George Town, after King George III.
PENANG
The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 had important implications for the future of the region as it delineated the parts owned by Britain, which would go on to become Malaysia, and those owned by the Netherlands, which would go on to be Indonesia. Which future British Prime Minister signed the treaty, who died after 119 days in the top job, the shortest for any Prime Minister prior to Liz Truss?
GEORGE CANNING
Intended as a second Singapore, which island off the north-western shore of Borneo was acquired by the British from the Sultan of Brunei in 1846? Nowadays it is an offshore financial centre with its capital at Victoria.
LABUAN
Named for the longest river on the Malay peninsula, what is the largest state on the Malaysian mainland, being superseded in size by Sarawak and Sabah?
PAHANG
In a very confusing ‘black mamba hitting you in the face’ moment of geography, which Malaysian state has its state capital at Shah Alam, royal capital at Klang and largest city at Kajang, all while surrounding the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya?
SELANGOR
Which Malaysian state shares its name with an ancient skeleton that provides a link on the path that ‘homo sapiens’ took from mainland Asia to the Australian continent?
PERAK (Perak man)
Having a two-word name, which western Malaysian state is unique in that its ruler is elected, with all other states having a hereditary system in place?
NEGERI SEMBILAN
By what two-word name was Sabah known from when it became a British Protectorate in 1882 until the Japanese occupation in 1942?
NORTH BORNEO
Also known as the Anti-British National Liberation War, what word follows ‘Malayan’ in the name of a guerrilla war that took place from 1948 to 1960, with prominent figures including Chin Peng soldier Lee Meng, who was sentenced to death following her capture in 1952, though this extremity was reduced?
EMERGENCY
In what year did the Indonesia-Malaysian Confrontation end after three and a half years, with Indonesian president Sukarno being removed the following year in the aftermath?
1966
What place gives its name to a communist insurgency that ran from 1962 to 1990, forming part of the fallout from the formation of Malaysia and part of the wider communist insurgency in Malaysia?
SARAWAK
Ongoing since 1962, the cross border attacks in Sabah have been perpetrated by which pirates from the Philippine island of Mindanao?
MORO
The 13 May incident in 1969 saw widespread rioting and looting in Kuala Lumpur in the aftermath of the general election. It resulted in the resignation of which first Prime Minister of Malaysia?
TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN
Serving until his death in 1976 and not to be confused with an Ivorian footballer whose career went downhill after making five appearances for Manchester City in the early 2010s, which second Prime Minister of Malaysia introduced the controversial New Economic Policy, trying to increase the share of the economy held by the bumiputera?
ABDUL RAZAK
Having a cumulative total of 24 years in the role, who has been Malaysia’s longest serving Prime Minister, hqving an extensive period in office from 1981 to 2003 and a short spell from 2018 to 2020? His time in charge saw the building of the Petronas Towers and saw the country move away from an agricultural based economy.
MAHATHIR MOHAMAD
A reference to its purpose of transforming Malaysia into the information and knowledge age, what does the MSC stand for in a Special Economic Zone situated in Selangor? Intel and Oracle have both been awarded MSC status, which confers benefits such as income tax exemptions.
MULTIMEDIA SUPER CORRIDOR
Consisting of a number and three letters, which scandal implicated Prime Minister Najib Razak, who had channeled funds into his personal bank account? Others monies diverted from this wealth scheme were used to help fund “The Wolf of Wall Street”.
1MDB
Meaning ‘Alliance of Hope’, which party formed in 2015 as a replacement for the Pakatan Rakyat saw its chairman Anwar Ibrahim become Malaysian Prime Minister in 2020? This election was the first to result in a hung parliament in Malaysia’s history.
PAKATAN HARAPAN
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