Federal Territories of Malaysia explained

Federal Territories
Native Name:Malay: Wilayah Persekutuan
Flag Link:Flag of the Federal Territories
Subdivision Type:Federal territories
Subdivision Name:Kuala Lumpur
Labuan
Putrajaya
Area Total Km2:381.65
Population Total:2,265,100
Population As Of:Q4 2023
Population Density Km2:auto
Established Title:Designated
Established Date:Kuala Lumpur: 1 February 1974
Labuan: 16 April 1984
Putrajaya: 1 February 2001
Established Title1:Consolidated under the Ministry
Established Date1:27 March 2004
Mapsize:250px
Postal Code Type:National postal code
Postal Code:Kuala Lumpur
50xxx to 60xxx
68xxx (Ampang and Selayang)
Labuan
87xxx
Putrajaya
62xxx
Area Code:03a
087b
Leader Title:Head Director
Leader Name:Rosida Jaafar
Blank Name:Motto
Blank Info:Maju dan Sejahtera
'Progressive and Prosperous'
Blank1 Name:Anthem
Blank1 Info:Wilayah Persekutuan Maju dan Sejahtera
Blank2 Name:Administered by the
Blank2 Info:Federal Territories Department
Blank3 Name:License plate
Blank3 Info:Kuala Lumpur
W and V
Labuan
L
Putrajaya
PUTRAJAYA and F
Footnotes:a Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya
b Labuan

The Federal Territories (Malay: Wilayah Persekutuan; Jawi:) in Malaysia comprise three territories—Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya—governed directly by the Federal Government of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur is the national capital of Malaysia, Putrajaya is the administrative capital, and Labuan is an offshore international financial centre. Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya are enclaves in the state of Selangor. Labuan is an island off the coast of Sabah.

Administrations

The territories fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Federal Territories. Originally, the Federal Territory (FT) Ministry was established in 1979 and was in charge of planning and administration of Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley. In 1981, the FT Ministry was re-established under the Prime Minister's Department as the Planning Unit of Klang Valley. In 2004, the FT Ministry was again formed into a full-fledged ministry which focused on the development of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya. In 2022, under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's administration, the ministry was scrapped and its functions delegated to other ministries. Currently, the Federal Territories are administered by the Department of the Federal Territories (Jabatan Wilayah Persekutuan) under the Prime Minister's Department. [1]

History

The federal territories were originally part of two states-Selangor and Sabah. Both Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya were part of Selangor and Labuan was part of Sabah.[2]

Kuala Lumpur, the state capital of Selangor, became the national capital of the Federation of Malaya (and later Malaysia) in 1948. Since independence in 1957, the federal as well as the Selangor state ruling party had been the Alliance (later the Barisan Nasional). However, in the 1969 elections the Alliance, while retaining control of the federal government, lost its majority in Selangor to the opposition. The same election resulted in a major race riot in Kuala Lumpur.

It was realised that if Kuala Lumpur remained part of Selangor, clashes between the federal government and Selangor state government might arise when they are controlled by different parties. The solution was to separate Kuala Lumpur from the state and place it under direct federal rule. On 1 February 1974, the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Agreement was signed, and Kuala Lumpur became the first federal territory of Malaysia.

The cession of Kuala Lumpur had the effect of securing the Selangor state government for the Barisan Nasional until the 2008 general election. The separation of Kuala Lumpur meant that Kuala Lumpur voters lost representation in the Selangor State Legislative Assembly and could only vote for representation in the Parliament of Malaysia.

Labuan, an island off coast of mainland Sabah, was chosen by the federal government for development into an offshore financial centre. Labuan became the second federal territory in 16 April 1984.

Putrajaya is a planned city, designed to replace Kuala Lumpur as the seat of the federal government. Sultan Salahuddin of Selangor, who was serving as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at that time, was asked again to cede land to the federal government. Putrajaya became the third federal territory on 1 February 2001.

In recent years, efforts were made to forge a common identity for the three federal territories. A flag of the Federal Territories was introduced in 2006 to represent the federal territories as a whole.[3] During the 2006 Sukma Games in Kedah, Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya's teams merged into the unified Federal Territories team.

Symbols

See main article: article and Flag of the Federal Territories. Maju dan Sejahtera is the official anthem of the Federal Territories.

Apart from the flag of Federal Territories, each federal territory has its own flag.

Sports

Sport activities in all the three Federal Territories are governed and coordinated by the Federal Territory Sports Council (Malay: Majlis Sukan Wilayah Persekutuan, WIPERS), a federal statutory body.[4]

Holidays

See main article: article and Federal Territory Day. In addition to federal public holidays, all three Federal Territories celebrate Federal Territory Day. Labuan, with a significant Kadazan-Dusun community, celebrates Kaamatan with the neighbouring state of Sabah.

Federal Parliament seats

The Federal Territories representatives in the Federal Parliament (Dewan Rakyat) since the 15th general election are:

ParliamentSeat NameMember of ParliamentPartyArea
P114KepongLim Lip EngPakatan Harapan (DAP)Kuala Lumpur
P115BatuPrabakaran ParameswaranPakatan Harapan (PKR)
P116Wangsa MajuZahir HassanPakatan Harapan (PKR)
P117SegambutHannah Yeoh Tseow SuanPakatan Harapan (DAP)
P118SetiawangsaNik Nazmi Nik AhmadPakatan Harapan (PKR)
P119TitiwangsaJohari Abdul GhaniBarisan Nasional (UMNO)
P120Bukit BintangFong Kui LunPakatan Harapan (DAP)
P121Lembah PantaiAhmad Fahmi Mohamed FadzilPakatan Harapan (PKR)
P122SeputehTeresa Kok Suh SimPakatan Harapan (DAP)
P123CherasTan Kok WaiPakatan Harapan (DAP)
P124Bandar Tun RazakWan Azizah Wan IsmailPakatan Harapan (PKR)
P125PutrajayaMohd Radzi Md JidinPerikatan Nasional (PPBM)Putrajaya
P166LabuanSuhaili Abdul RahmanPerikatan Nasional (PPBM)Labuan

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2021-07-16. Kementerian Wilayah Persekutuan - Latar Belakang. 2021-09-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20210716155658/https://www.kwp.gov.my/index.php/info-korporat/sejarah. 16 July 2021.
  2. News: Kaur. Dashveenjit. 31 January 2019. The journey of Putrajaya — Malaysia's jewel capital city. The Malaysian Reserve. 12 December 2020.
  3. Web site: 24 May 2006 . Official flag for all three FTs unveiled . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210903230522/https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2006/05/24/official-flag-for-all-three-fts-unveiled . 3 September 2021 . 16 June 2024 . The Star . en.
  4. Web site: Majlis Sukan Wilayah Persekutuan.