RACIALLY motivated scuffles and political demonstrations in Malaysia in recent weeks are the latest of the many difficulties facing its prime minister, Najib Razak. Formed in 1963 from a confection of sultanates previously under British rule, Malaysia sits at the heart of South-East Asia, split into two parts either side of the South China Sea. A peninsula bordering Thailand is home to most of its people; the states of Sabah and Sarawak, meanwhile, perch on the north coast of the island of Borneo.
GDP per person of around $11,000 ($25,000 at purchasing-power parity) makes Malaysians the third-richest in their region, behind only the small countries of Singapore and Brunei. A little over half of them are ethnic-Malay Muslims; they—along with assorted other indigenes—make up the two-thirds of citizens whom the Malaysian government classes as bumiputra, or "sons of the soil". The next largest ethnic group are Chinese Malaysians, who account for about a quarter of its citizens, followed by ethnic-Indians (about 7%). This multiculturalism makes Malaysia a zingy and colourful place. On the whole society is harmonious and, at least in the cities, well integrated, with English used as a common tongue.