Arrangement in Federalism The federalism of Malaysia is a symmetrical because of the diverse historical path of its constituent states.

The states of Malaya except Sabah and Sarawak had dominate the federation but the states of Sabah and Sarawak were given more autonomy upon the establishment of Malaysia. 1) Division of Power The Federal Constitution consists the legislative power in three distinctive lists; the Federal List in List I of Nine Schedule, the State List in List II and the Concurrent List in List III. These allows either the Federal or State government to legislate. The Federal List include foreign relations, defence, internal security, administration of justice, citizenship, federal government machinery, finance, trade, shipping, fisheries, communication, transport, education, health, labor and publications. For the power of state, it covers about Islamic matters, land, agriculture, local government and state government machinery. Therefore, the legislation on matters like social welfare, scholarship, animal husbandry, town planning, fire measures and housing are listed in the Concurrent List and it can be exercised by either the federal or state government.

Despite the formal division of legislative power, the state laws may be left in rather subordinate nature for a few reasons. First, since the federal law shall prevail in the event of inconsistency between the federal and state laws according to Article 75of Federal Constitution, it means that the federal government has the power to overrule the state about laws on matters in the Concurrent List. Second, the Constitution further allows the Federal Parliament to legislate on statements in the name of ensuring uniformity of law and policy according to Article 76(4) of Federal Constitution. Third, the powerful mechanisms like National Land Council in Article 91 and National Council for Local Governments in Article 95A attended by federal and state are used to formulate common policies, hence eliminating the room for inter-state variation.

2) The Malaysia Special Safeguards and Guarantees of Sabah and Sarawak Special arrangements were made for Sabah and Sarawak to ally their fear of internal colonization by their new compatriot. The main features of the safeguard, better known as the Twenty Points: Islams status as the official religion is not applicable to Sarawak and Sabah. Immigration control was vested in the state governments of Sarawak and Sabah. Borneanization of the civil service and English could be used as the official language of both the states.

No amendments or modification of any specific safeguards granted under the Twenty Points can be made by the federal government without the agreement of the Sabah and Sarawak state government. There would be no right to secede from the Federation. In term of finance, Sabah and Sarawak are also given special source of revenues and grant.

These safeguards which form the basis for Sabah and Sarawaks participation in Malaysia and the state of their implementation have also become the bone of contention in federal-state relations in later years.

The Impact of Centralized Federalism in Malaysia

The history of federalism in Malaysia is as the same as other countries that exercised federalism; is a contest of power and autonomy. In the Malaysian case, it is clear that the contest is unequal given the centralization of power by the federal government in Putrajaya. The centre controls access to development funds, security and the armed forces and has the constitutional power to impose direct rule through a declaration of a state of emergency.

The physical divide between the West and East Malaysia complicates the matter further. The centre sees itself as the only arbitrator capable of looking at nation-wide interests compared to parochial interests exposed in the state capitals. The federal leadership also argued that the uneven development among the states and issues like security required the federal government to impose a certain degree of unpalatable decisions over the states for the good of the nation.