Malaysia, environment and arms

Few reports on Malaysia are carried in the Western media and rarely does the country make the headline news. Those who have visited will agree that Malaysia is a marvelous place, offering much of the best in environment and plenty of unexpected amenities. Not many ?closer looks? are attempted, information about non-economic issuers surface sporadically, if at all. Yet the regional importance of Malaysia goes well beyond its economic performance once the special social and political conditions are examined in more detail and after the environmental implications of unchecked, natural resource driven economic growth are taken into account. Without doubt Malaysia has the potential to be a leader well beyond its economic muscle, but its certainly impressive gains are in danger slipping away as the leadership is forsaking the chance to set an example of sustainable development for the region and well beyond. The political conditions are not conducive to sound environmental management practices and indeed political change is called for.

In order to understand Malaysia, its politics, culture and environment one needs to cast a broader and study the political situation in further detail. The political domain holds many of the clues and answers to resolving current environmental problems and pressures. Several Further good sources for studying politics in Malaysia can be suggested: - Democracy in Malaysia- Discourses and Practices, NIAS Democracy in Asia series, no. 5, Published in 2002 by Curzon Press in association with the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 304 pages ISBN 0700711600 - STRATEGIC ANALYSIS MALAYSIA (SAM), a unit of Malaysiakini.com, is an independent online daily in Malaysia. SAM is set up to provide people who are interested in understanding the Malaysian makeup, with complete and intelligible content for decision-making purposes. SAM provides a weekly political report, but is available but only online on a paid subscription basis. http://www.analysismalaysia.com