Size... matters?

Take a look at this map of Malaysia which I stumbled upon at the Kuala Terengganu airport.

Notice anything weird about it?







Maybe this is not such a good example.



Try this next one, which was published on the front page of a national English daily.

Notice anything yet? No?

Okay, now try this little billboard. Look for the Malaysian map on it.

Here's a close-up:

Get my point yet?

Such misrepresentations - Sabah and Sarawak being made to look smaller than Peninsular Malaysia - are everywhere.

Would you believe there are even some people who think distorted maps like these represent reality?

A friend of mine from Pahang once claimed her state was bigger than Sabah.

This was until I pointed out to her that Sabah is the second largest state in Malaysia, with the largest being Sarawak, and that Pahang is only the largest state in the peninsula.

While we're at it, let's have a little geographical facts about Malaysia:

According to VirtualMalaysia, Malaysia has a total area of 329, 847 sq km.

I can't find the total area of Peninsular Malaysia or East Malaysia anywhere on the site so let's do some math using some information from Wikipedia.

Wikipedia says Sarawak has a total area of 124, 450 sq km while Sabah has a total area of 76, 115 sq km.

So that means East Malaysia as a whole covers a total area of 200, 565 sq km.

That leaves Peninsular Malaysia with 129, 282 sq km.

Now compare the sizes of Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia... quite close no?

Then how is it that some idiots can still screw it up when they draw the maps?

If you wanna enlarge the peninsula for some reason, then put a bloody disclaimer there to say that the map is EXAGGERATED!

Otherwise, it's MISLEADING!

And sometimes it's not just the maps...

Ever hear commercials that go: "We have branches nationwide" and when you check, they only have branches in the peninsula?

Or the ones that go, "Available throughout Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak."

Does that mean Sabah and Sarawak are not included when they say "throughout Malaysia?"

Granted, the only people who realise these things (and get offended by them) are the East Malaysians.

The reason is probably this: Our part of the country is being belittled literally.

And you wanna know the saddest part about all this?

These "crimes" are not just committed by private companies. The Government is equally guilty.

Just look at these maps on Tourism Malaysia's website.

In its Map Resources page, this is what the map of Malaysia looks like.

And then, they have a "detailed map" of Malaysia that looks like this.


You even find something similar in the Prime Minister's Office's website under "States of Malaysia."

Is the East side of the country that much of a threat to the West that it has to have its size reduced to accommodate the West?

Is it not bad enough that Sabah and Sarawak are referred to as the "less developed states" in VirtualMalaysia?

Until these mistakes are corrected, I think there can never be any true equality in this country of ours.

And we haven't even touched on the racial topic yet.