Malaysia

Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy located in Southeast Asia. It consists of thirteen states and three federal territories and has a total landmass of 329,847 square kilometres (127,350 sq mi) separated by the South China Sea into two similarly sized regions, Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia (Malaysian Borneo).

It is one of 17 megadiverse countries on earth, with large numbers of endemic species.

Language

The official language of Malaysia is Malaysian, a standardised form of the Malay language. The terminology as per government policy is Bahasa Malaysia (literally "Malaysian language") but legislation continues to refer to the official language as Bahasa Melayu (literally "Malay language"). Historically English was the de facto administrative language, with Malay becoming predominant after the 1969 race riots.

English remains an active second language, with its use allowed for some official purposes under the National Language Act of 1967.

Kuliah Subi

Kuliah Subi is a wizarding school located somewhere in the Borneo Rainforest. It accepts and teaches students from anywhere in South East Asia. However a majority of their pupils are from Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore.

Governance

Due to the fact that South East Asian magical communities, as well as Kuliah Subi, pre-date colonisation, there is no Malaysian Ministry of Magic.

Instead, there is a regional ministry known as the Parisad or simply the Assembly. The Assembly functions as the governing board for the nations of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei. Their HQ is located on a warded island in the South China Sea and consists of several structures both onshore as well as on the sea.

There are also government branches in the respective nations with direct lines and transport to HQ. Each branch is led by a Minister who reports back and is held accountable to the Parisad.

The Assembly itself is led by these Ministers as well as three elder representatives from Kuliah Subi. They form the Sābha or the Council. Every three years there is a vote held among them to elect a Tokoh who will lead the Sabha.

For geographical reasons, the Parisad maintains close diplomatic ties with the regional ministries governing Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.

Magical Law Enforcement

The Malaysian equivalent of Aurors are called Pahlawan (Warriors). They are especially adept at facing off against Dark Magic, which was historically potent in South East Asia and continues to be a problem today.

Local Magic

Kuliah Subi teaches one of the more diverse array of magics in the world. Schooling at Subi is not mandatory, as some prefer to tutor their children in smaller community schools. However, most Malaysian wixes send their children to Subi.

Native magic spells are constructed in various tribal languages, such as Iban and Kadazan. The historical influx of peninsular wixes meant integrating Sanskrit and Arabic-based magics, while Malaysia’s history of colonisation led to further integration of Latin-based magics (as in much of Europe).

Subi also specialises in sea magics, and are additionally well known for producing some of the best magical botanists.

Some Malay and Indonesian wizarding families identify strongly with certain animals (Tiger, Crocodile, etc) and it is expected that they learn animagus as part of this identification.

Local Beings

Vampires. Beginning in the 19th century, a wronged woman vampire had taken it upon herself to turn other wronged women into vampires. This fed into the myth of Pontianak, the Malaysian vampire myth. There are significantly more women vampires in peninsular Malaysia.

Local Beasts

Dragons. In addition to being one of many homes to the Lion Dragon (also known as Chinese Fireball) Malaysia is home to smaller breeds of dragon. These breeds are protected from trade by the regional Ministry.

Wizarding History

Magical culture in Malaysia is highly defined by its history and complex relationship with colonial forces.

Pre-Islam

Prior to the 13th century, Malaysian wizarding society was fairly scattered throughout the peninsular. There was a certain amount of integration between magic and muggle society - it was accepted that magic existed, though in smaller villages magical folk may have been shunned or demonised.

The Buddhist-Hindu kingdoms had no official policy towards their magical communities but they retained the services of a group of wizards and witches who would become involved should an individual be abusing their powers. The wixes were also responsible for aspects of the kingdom, such as ensuring a good crop or creating lucky talismans for the ruling families.

Well-off wixes would send their children to East Malaysia to study at a large sprawling school in the Borneo rainforest. They were often sent as young as six or seven, returning whenever the school believed they were ready (usually fifteen to eighteen years old) to leave.

Those in the peninsular with less resources formed their own community schools, usually with a year class of under ten children in a province. Magic was practiced with mixed mediums but a majority of wixes would use staffs or wands, with select few going without any casting medium at all.

Muslim States

The coming of Islam to Malaysia meant the rise of Muslim states in the 14th century onwards. The Arabic alphabet became the standardised form of writing and there was a larger effort on the muggle end to organise communities.

The practice of Dark Magic was also on the rise in peninsular Malaysia, due to the lack of regulation or policy. This would eventually become such a black mark on wizarding history that modern day muggle Malaysians still believe in the existence and practice of it.

In the 15th century, the Sultans of the states formed stronger diplomatic relations with the tribes of east Malaysia. It became mandatory for all wizarding children of the kingdoms to be sent to the Bornean school after the age of nine, to avoid Dark Magic corruption.

The influx of peninsular Malaysian students meant the school itself had to standardise language. It is now officially known as Kuliah Subi (Subi Academy) or simply Subi, although it went by different names in the past due to the different languages prevalent in Borneo.

It was also at this point that the kingdoms enforced segregation between magic and non-magic society.

Early Colonisation

Before the English, there were the Portuguese. Much of their activity took place in Malacca, an important trade point. By the early 17th century, Portugal’s power was absorbed by a new colonial force: the Dutch East Indian Company. There was a lot of powerplay and battles involving Sultan states in this era; not simply against colonial forces but against one another.

There was no sense of shared nationhood amongst Malaysians at this point in time. Wizarding society migrated to east Malaysia to hide in the Borneo rainforest.

Due to segregation and the muggle taboo of black magic, these communities did not expect to be protected. Many feared their respective kingdoms would force them to use their powers to fight battles of which they had little stake in anyway. There was also the threat of Thai forces moving down into northern states.

Peninsular Malaysia was hot and in demand, and its magical communities either shrunk to avoid detection, or left. At this point in time, Malaysian wizarding society remained unregulated by the Statute of Secrecy.

Late Colonisation

It was only in the late 19th century that Britain became a larger colonial force in Malaysia. Their role in the peninsula was largely muggle-centric but their interest in Borneo was what alarmed wizarding society.

Up until the British, much of colonial rule in Borneo occurred between the Sultan of Brunei, the Portugese and the Dutch. None of the three had penetrated Inner Borneo - its ancient forests and magical creatures threatened to swallow up even the most equipped of the colonists, magic or muggle. The magical community made it difficult for invaders.

While the British were opening up mines and oil fields in both east and west Malaysia, its wizarding community continued shrinking into Borneo. Peninsular graduates of Subi had by now formed towns or returned to west Malaysia to form small magical communities integrated with unknowing muggles.

For a while, these graduates would participate in anti-colonial battles or riots. However, they would eventually be approached by British colonial wixes who discouraged them from intervening in muggle affairs. These wizards often believed or claimed they were working in the interest of the Statute of Secrecy.

If Malaysian wixes did not comply, they were typically captured or murdered. In the 1910s, after repeated refusals to non-intervention, a Malaysian witch was murdered and her decapitated head sent to Kuliah Subi as a warning.

It was from this point onwards that Malaysia’s wizarding community decided to present a united front to re-introduce themselves to the peninsula on a larger scale.

Independence

Part of British colonial rule in Malaysia was their inability to kill off the Malaysian royal families in the same way that they ended the bloodline of the Indian royal families. Malaysian Sultans ruled over states that were small, and they were still considered sacred as well as relevant in the daily lives of Malays.

The wizarding community of Subi began to marry into various royal families from 1915 onwards. The magical children of these marriages would go on to attend Subi, where they were trained to incite revolt when they returned to their muggle communities. Their status as royalty protected them from British wixes, although duels and casualties would still occur.

In addition to them, Subi also taught and trained wizarding children from the influx of Chinese and Indian immigrants brought to Malaysian shores.

Malaysia gained its independence in August 1957, having weather the World War II and a Japanese invasion. Much of muggle Malaysia would adopt British systems - things like homophobia, racism and sexism were exacerbated by the systems.

A wizarding Ministry was concurrently founded by Subi wixes.

Modern Day

Today, Malaysia’s wizarding community has integrated into muggle society much in the way of the west.

There are many magical streets, villages and towns. The highest concentration of wizarding folk is in Borneo but the peninsula has been catching up.

Wizarding east Malaysia is considered more traditionalist, whereas west Malaysia is known for its eagerness to use modern Muggle ideas to their benefit.

The regulation and persecution of Dark Magic is extremely severe in Malaysia, due to its history and still-prevalent reputation amongst muggles.

At Absit Omen

Arcturus Hollingbury and Lydia Hollingbury relocated to Malaysia in 2010 for several months to perform potions and herbology research.

The Hogwarts 2010 trip includes visiting Malaysia.