Introduction

Malaysia practises Parliamentary Democracy with Constitutional Monarchy and His Royal Highness is the Paramount Ruler. The Federal Constitution was legislated with the setting up of conditions for this system to exist. One of the conditions of Parliamentary Democracy is the division of the administrative power into three parts, which are Legislative, Judiciary, and Administrative or Executive.

Malaysia is also a country that practises a system of Democracy based on the Federation system. In accordance to this, Perlis, Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Sarawak and Sabah have agreed to the concept of the formation of the country of 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 Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, the Paramount Ruler, the hereditary rulers of the nine states and the Council of Malay Rulers. His Royal Highness has the power to safeguard the customs and traditions of the Malay people and the Administration of the Islamic Religion in each state. Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di-Pertuan Agong is the Head of the Islamic Religion for the states of Pulau Pinang, Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territories.

Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di-Pertuan Agong is also the Paramount Ruler of the country and His Royal Highness is the Highest Commander of the Armed Forces. His Royal Highness carries out his duties under the Constitution under the advice of the Prime Minister and the cabinet ministers. Meanwhile, the hereditary rulers are Head of State of his own state and carry out their duties under the advice of their own Minister or Menteri Besar or Chief Minister.

The Structure of the Malaysian Parliament

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 practised. 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 practise his or her own religion, equal rights before the law and the right to own properties.

Thus in September 1962, a hill 61 metre above the sea level was flattened to build this glorious building. The RM18 million-complex was the idea of Yang Teramat Mulia 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, Duli Yang Teramat Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, 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 Main Building (three storey)

This three-storey building is also called the Main Building. The building houses two national assembly halls that are the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara.

On the first floor is a canteen next to a room for journalists and a banquet room to be used by members of the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara, as well as by the officers, reporters and guests.

The designs of the Dewan Negara and Dewan Rakyat are the same, with the former being slightly smaller in size. Nevertheless, the Dewan Negara 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 Dewan Negara above it.

On the second floor are two separate wings. On the left wing 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 two dining halls. One is for members of Parliament and the other for guests and government officials. A kitchen area separates these two rooms. The kitchen can cater up to 1000 people at a time.

The middle area of the second floor is dominated by the roof of the Dewan Rakyat. 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 ministers and members of Parliament, and these are well equipped with a range of facilities such as tables and chairs and loud speakers while a proceeding is in progress.

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 16th 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, 2000 tons of steel, 54,000 tons of concrete, 200,000 bags of cement and 3000 tons of glass were used to construct the Parliament complex.

The water distribution system the pool and fountain is another special feature of the Parliament Building in that water flows through two connected systems. It starts at the roof area and continues throughout the whole complex. The water is dyed blue to ward off moss and mud.

Apart from these special features, the Parliament complex is also beautified by various plants and animals. Rare species of trees, such as berlian, mata kuching, berangan, nam-nam, selarat and tamar, were specially imported from Saudi Arabia to be planted in the surrounding area of the building.

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