ABSTRACT
Introduction Malaysia’s maritime realm encompasses a total area of 614,159 square kilometers1 comprising areas of the Strait of Malacca, the South China Sea, the Sulu Sea and the Sulawesi (Celebes) Sea, as well as parts of the Straits of Singapore and the Gulf of Thailand.2 The extent of Malaysia’s maritime realm is shown on the two sheets of the Peta Baru (New Map) 1979.3 Malaysia’s sea area, which is almost twice the size of its land-mass, poses a spectrum of issues and challenges for maritime policy makers and managers in Malaysia. Each of the sea areas mentioned above presents different issues and challenges including traditional and non-traditional maritime security issues, as well as environmental and social issues. This chapter discusses and analyses Malaysia’s maritime challenges and opportunities by examining each of the seas and the issues that they pose to the country’s policy makers and managers, as well as the crosscutting issues that affect the governance of Malaysia’s maritime realm.
