ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the structure and design of Malaysia's federalism, which has been described as 'highly centralized'. It elaborates on major aspects of federal–state relations during 1957–2007. The chapter highlights the controversies and the ferment that have occurred in federal–state relations since 2008; however, a formal restructuring of federal–state ties will probably require a change of government at the centre first. Malaysia's federalism is not derived from the demographic distribution of ethnic groups, for the major ethnic groups are distributed unevenly all over the peninsula. If anything, the Chinese and Indians tend to reside more in urban areas while the Malays predominate in rural areas. Hence the 1957 Federal Constitution is decidedly top-heavy. This is evident in Part VI of the Constitution, which discusses federal–state relations. Another area concerns the privatisation of utilities and the regulatory function that the federal government has assumed from the state and sometimes local authorities.
