s groups (Hamayotsu 2002, pp. 354-355). Islam has proven to be compatible in the case of Malaysia despite rather than because of the fact that Islam was made the official religion of the country in an effort to constitutionally safeguard the hegemonic power enjoyed by the Muslim Malays. This essay will consider the impediments that have existed to successful nation building in Malaysia and examine the ways in which the regime has sought to overcome them - exploring in particular the Mahathir administration in Malaysia and its New Economic Policy (NEP), the Malay-centric Bumiputeraism, and the transformation to a more multi-ethnic and global approach paralleled by government commitment to Islamisation. Historically, Malaysia represents a case of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious state artificially cobbled together from a group of Sultanates and protectorates experiencing the challenges of nation-building after a prolonged period of colo0nial domination (De Blij & Muller 2003, p. 301).
As briefly described by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) 2011, p. 1), Malaysia's history has been that of a group of unrelated territorial entities, a colony and newly independent nation:
"During the late 18th and 19th centuries, Great Britain established colonies and protectorates in the area of current Malaysia; these were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. In 1948, the British-ruled territories on the Malay Peninsula formed the Federation of Malaya, which became independent in 1957. Malaysia was formed in 1963 when the former British colonies of Singapore and the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on the northern coast of Borneo joined the Federation. The first several years of the country's history were marred by a Communist insurgency, Indonesian confrontation with Malaysia, Philippine claims to Sabah, and Singapore's secession from the Federation in 1965."
In Malaysia, the "British developed a complicate...