A brief history: The ancestors of the people that now inhabit the Malaysian peninsula first migrated to the area between 2500 and 1500 B.C. The people living in the coastal regions had early contacts with Chinese and Indians and Hinduism was introduced by seafaring traders from India which blended with the local animist beliefs. It was later converted to Islam as Muslims conquered India and spread the religion of Islam to Malaysia. In the 1800s British and Dutch interest grew in this region and Britain formally established protectorates in Malaysia. A growing nationalist movement prompted the British to establish semiautonomous federation of Malaya in 1948 following the Japanese occupation of Malaysia during World War II. As the Communist guerillas began a war of national liberation against the British, a state of emergency was declared to quell the insurgency which lasted till 1960. On September 16, 1963 the independent state of Malaysia came into existence as a federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah), and Sarawak. Since 1966 (after Singapore withdrew from the federation in 1965) the 11 states of former Malaya have been known as West Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak as East Malaysia.

Geography and Climate: Malaysia is on the Malaya peninsula in Southeast Asia. It also includes Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo to the east. The total area of Malaysia is about 329,750 square kilometers. Most of the country is covered by forest with a mountain range running the length of the peninsula. Malaysia has a tropical climate without extremely high temperatures. Days are very warm and nights are fairly cool. The main rainy seasons in the East (Sabah and Sarawak) runs between November and February while August is the wettest period on the West. Kuala Lumpur is the capital city of Malaysia and average daytime temperatures in KL are around 27 degree Celsius throughout the year.

Population/Languages/Ethnicity/Religion: The population of Malaysia is about 24,821,286. The languages spoken are Bahasa Melayu, English, Chinese dialects (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Punjabi, Thai, and several indigenous languages including Iban, Kadazan in East Malaysia. The official language of Malaysia is Bahasa Melayu. Malaysia is a multi-racial society. The ethnicity comprises of Malay (50.4%), Chinese (23.7%), Indigenous (11%), Indian (7.1%) and others (7.8%). The religions in Malaysia are Muslim, Buddhist, Daoist, Hindu, Christian, Sikh; and Shamanism in East Malaysia.

Education: Education in Malaysia can be obtained from government-sponsored schools, private schools, or through home schooling. The education in Malaysia is highly centralized by the government. The literacy rate of Malaysia is about 89%. From December 2004, the Malaysian government has opened a new corridor for International students when it decided to allow the international students to work part time for up to 20 hours per week. This could be very beneficial to Nepalese students as they would be able to support some part of their studies financially. Gaining higher education in Malaysia in much cheaper compared to other western countries. Most of the Malaysian institutes provide 2+1 degree programs eventually availing the students a credit transfer to UK, USA, or Australia to the final year.

Living: Living in Malaysia is relatively cheaper compared to the Western countries. The living expenses including accommodation, food, and transportation is generally estimated to be Malaysian Ringgit 500 per month but it can vary according to the requirements and choices of an individual.

Employment: The international students can work up to 20 hours per week on part time basis. It was introduced by the Malaysian government in December 2004 to ease the financial burden of international students and make their life simpler.