• History of Parliament of Malaysia
• Structure of Parliament of Malaysia
• Parliament Building

Malaysia practices Parliamentary Democracy with Constitutional Monarchy and His Majesty The King as the Paramount Ruler. The Federal Constitution was legislated with the setting up of conditions for this system to exist. One of the characteristic of Parliament Democracy is the separation of powers into three parts which are the Legislative, the Judiciary and the Executive.

Malaysia is also a country that practices a system of Democracy based on the Federation system. In accordance to this the states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca, Johore, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Sarawak and Sabah have agreed to the concept of forming Malaysia 

Each state involved has surrendered part of its power such as financial, defense, education, foreign affairs and others, as stated in the Malaysian Constitution, which is administered by the Central Government. There are matters that are under the power of the state and each state administers the power over those matters.

As a country with a Constitutional Monarchy, it is therefore allocated by the Constitution the institutions of His Majesty The King as the Paramount Ruler, the hereditary rulers of the nine states and the Council of Malay Rulers. His Majesty The King has the power to safeguard the customs and traditions of the Malay people and the administration of the Islamic religion in each state. His Majesty The King is the Head of the Islamic religion for the states of Penang, Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territories.

His Majesty The King is the Highest Commander of the Armed Forces.  His Majesty The King carries out his duties under the Constitution under the advice of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. Meanwhile, the hereditary rulers are Head of State of his own state and carry out their duties under the advice of their Menteri Besar.

The Structure of the Malaysian Parliament

The Malaysian Parliament is divided into three components:-
1.     His Majesty The King, the Paramount Ruler
2.     Senate
3.     House of Representatives

History of the Parliament Building

In December 1959, an area near the Kuala Lumpur Lake Gardens was chosen as the site on which to build the Parliament Building Complex, a building that symbolizes the democratic principles that are practiced. These principles are the rights and responsibilities of the citizens to rule their own country, the freedom of each citizen to voice his or her own opinions, the freedom to practice his or her own religion, equal rights before the law and the right to own properties.

Thus in September 1962, a hill about 61 metres above the sea level was leveled to build this glorious building. The RM18 million-complex was envisioned by Tuanku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, Malaysia's first Prime Minister.

The placement of the building's foundation stone was done by the third Paramount Ruler, His Majesty The King, the Malay Federation, Tuanku Syed Putra Al-Haj Ibni Al-Marhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail D.S.M, S.M.N. DK (BRUNEI) on 31 August 1962, which marked the beginning of the construction of the building. On 21 November 1963, His Highness was again given the honour to officiate the opening of the building.

The complex consists of two main structures:-
a.     The Main Building (three storey)
b.     The Tower (17 storey)

The Main Building (three storey)

This three-storey building is also called as the Main Building. The building houses the Senate and the House of Representatives.

On the first floor there is a cafetaria and coffee houses to be used by members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as by the officers, reporters and guests.

The designs of the Senate and the House of Representatives, are the same, with the former being slightly smaller in size. Nevertheless, the Senate has its own speciality - stained glass windows with traditional Islamic blue and red patterns.

On the ground floor lies the royal resting room, a round prayer room that accommodates 100 devotees, and a main dining hall for 500 - the same size as the Senate above it.

On the second floor there are two separate wings. On the left wing there are two large committee rooms. Each room can accommodate 30 people. Apart from the two large rooms, there are four smaller rooms that can accommodate 12 people. There are also offices and rest areas for the government officials as well as for the Association of Commonwealth Parliaments.

On the right wing, there are offices for the ministries.

The middle area of the second floor is dominated by the roof of the House of Representatives. It has been made into Taman Sari, which is an area for members of the Parliament to take a rest in between proceedings.

The Tower

The 17-storey building is located adjacent to the main building. It is connected to the main building by a bridge in which lie the offices of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, the Opposition, chief administrator and staffs of Parliament.

On the second floor of the tower, there is a sitting area facing a field on which a march past is conducted during any official parliamentary ceremonial event. On the 17th floor, there is an open area with a view of the beautiful surroundings of the Parliament building. It is on this tower that non-official events are held.

The Uniqueness of the Parliament Building

The entire Parliament Building is covered by heat and light-absorbing glass. The amount of sunlight entering the building is controlled by enveloping the building with carved ornamental patterns or 'kerawang' made from local concrete which had been installed piece by piece. The beehive-shaped 'kerawang' adds to the splendour of this building.

Altogether, more than a million bricks, 2200 tons of steel, 54,000 tons of concrete, 200,000 bags of cement and 300 tons of glass were used to construct the Parliament complex.

Next to the area of the Parliament complex is an open area in which lies a Taman Rusa of Deer Park that houses dozens of Tootal deer. This species of deer is indeed rare in Asia. The deer are free to roam in the park bordering the Parliament complex