Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region I
Office of the Curriculum and Learning Management Division

SYMBOLS/EMBLEMS, SECRETARIAT AND

CONVERGENCE
CONTENT / KEY CONCEPTS AND MESSAGES:
ASEAN Symbols/Emblems, Secretariat and Convergence

TOPIC:
Archipelagic Countries of ASEAN; Malaysia and Singapore
Summary
Maritime Southeast Asia is sometimes also referred to as Island Southeast
Asia, Insular Southeast Asia or Oceanic Southeast Asia. The 16th-century term
"East Indies" and the later 19th-century term "Malay Archipelago" are also used
to refer to Maritime Southeast Asia.

1. Bangkok is the capital city of Malaysia. True or False

2. “Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu” in a Malay phrase means _________________.
3. What is the name of the 88-storey building in Malaysia held the top record for the
tallest building in the world at a staggering height of 1,483 feet?
4. Enumerate the meaning of the five (5) stars in the State Crest of Singapore.
5. A statue located in Singapore that stands tall at 8.6 metres and weighs 70 tonnes
and pouting water from its mouth. What do we call this statue?

MALAYSIA
Malaysia, country of Southeast Asia, lying just north of the Equator, that is
composed of two noncontiguous regions: Peninsular Malaysia (Semenanjung
Malaysia), also called West Malaysia (Malaysia Barat), which is on the Malay

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Peninsula, and East Malaysia (Malaysia Timur), which is on the island of Borneo.
The Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, lies in the western part of the peninsula,
about 25 miles (40 km) from the coast; the administrative center, Putrajaya, is
located about 16 miles (25 km) south of the capital.

● Type of Government: Bicameral Legislative System

● Head of State : His Majesty Seri Paduka Baginda The Yang Di-Pertuan
Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah Ibni Almarhum
Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah
● Head of Government : The Honorable Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob
● National Anthem: Negaraku (My Country)
● Capital : Kuala Lumpur
● Language(s) : Bahasa Melayu
● Currency : Ringgit
● National Animal: Malayan Tiger
● National Flower: Bunga Raya (Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis)
● Popular Delicacy: Nasi Lemak

The flag of Malaysia, also known as the Stripes of Glory (Malay: Jalur

Gemilang), is composed of a field of 14 alternating red and white stripes along
the fly and a blue canton bearing a crescent and a 14-point star known as
the Bintang Persekutuan (Federal Star). The 14 stripes, of equal width, represent the
equal status in the federation of the 13 member states and the federal territories,
while the 14 points of the star represent the unity between these
entities. The crescent represents Islam, the country's state religion; the blue canton

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symbolises the unity of the Malaysian people; the yellow of the star and crescent is
the royal colour of the Malay rulers.

The motto of the arms, located below the shield,

consists of a banner with the phrase
"Unity is Strength" (Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu)

The coat of arms consists of a shield guarded by

two rampant tigers as supporters. The shield is topped by a crest consisting of a
yellow crescent with a 14-pointed "federal star", and includes a motto, on a banner,
at the bottom.

Crest or helm
The yellow color of the crest, a crescent and a 14-pointed federal star,
symbolizes the country's monarchy. The crescent also represents Islam as the
official religion while the federal star represents the thirteen states and the Federal
Territories of Malaysia.
Originally, the fourteen-pointed star represented the original fourteen states
of Malaysia, which included Singapore. It was not changed when Singapore left the
Federation in 1965, but it has generally been accepted that the 14th point
represents the Federal Territories.

Escutcheon

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 The escutcheon, represented by a shield, is primarily intended to serve as a
representation of states unified under the Malaysian federation, and is subdivided
into ten divisions.
The upper portion or chief of the shield contains five krises on a red
background, representing the five former Unfederated Malay
States, Johore, Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah and Perlis. The remainder of the
shield, which in the coat of arms of Malaya was divided in
three per pale (longitudinally) between the former Federated Malay
States, Penang and Malacca, is now divided into four sections:

● In the dexter (left from the observer's point of view) section is the Pinang
palm along with the Penang Bridge representing Penang
● In the upper middle of the shield, below the row of krises, are the colors of
the Federated Malay States (red, black, white and yellow) arranged from left to
right. The permutations of the colors red, black, white and yellow make up the
colors of these states' flags. Red, black and yellow are for Negeri Sembilan; black
and white for Pahang; black, white and yellow for Perak; and red and yellow
for Selangor.
● In the lower middle of the shield, there are three sections formerly
representing the new (in 1963) states of Sabah, Singapore and Sarawak. Since
1965, Singapore's section has been replaced by a depiction of the national
flower, the hibiscus.
● In the sinister (right from the observer's point of view) section is
the "Malacca" tree representing the state of Malacca.

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 Petronas Towers

When it was built in 1998, the 88-storey Petronas Towers held the top
record for the tallest building in the world at a staggering height of 1,483 feet!
Although the record was eventually overtaken in 2006 by Taipei 101 at 1,671 feet, it
is still worthy to note that the record was held as two entire structures, while most
other records stood as one. As such, the Petronas Towers still stands today as the
tallest twin towers in the world.
The Petronas Towers reportedly took a total of 6 years and USD 1.6 billion
to construct. The structure consists of 899,000 sq ft of stainless steel extrusions.
Since this would naturally attract a lot of heat, 590,000 square feet of laminated
glass was installed in order to reflect the harmful UV rays and reduce the heat.
Cleaning every single glass panel – the equivalent of 10 football fields – would take
almost two months.
Then-Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir pushed for the design of the twin
skyscrapers to not only set a record for the tallest building, but also to resonate a
Malaysian identity. Therefore, the shape of its design was designed to be based on
the five pillars of the Islamic religion. When viewed from the top of this towering
structure, the cross-section of the towers reflects the eight-pointed star symbol of
Islamic culture.

Republic of Singapore

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 Singapore, city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula,
about 85 miles (137 kilometers) north of the Equator. It consists of the
diamond-shaped Singapore Island and some 60 small islets; the main island
occupies all but about 18 square miles of this combined area. The main island is
separated from Peninsular Malaysia to the north by Johor Strait, a narrow channel
crossed by a road and rail causeway that is more than half a mile long. The
southern limits of the state run through Singapore Strait, where outliers of the
Riau-Lingga Archipelago—which forms a part of Indonesia—extend to within 10
miles of the main island.

● Type of Government: Parliamentary Republic

● Head of State : President Halimah Yacob
● Head of Government : Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
● National Anthem: Majulah Singapura (Onward Singapore)
● Capital : Singapore City
● National Language(s) : Malay
● Currency : S$ (Singapore Dollar)
● National Animal: Lion
● National Flower:

The Flag of Singapore was adopted in 1959, the year Singapore became

self-governing within the British Empire. It remained the national flag upon the
country's independence from Malaysia on 9 August 1965. The design is a horizontal

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bicolour of red above white, overlaid in the canton (upper-left quadrant) by a
white crescent moon facing a pentagon of five small white five-pointed stars. The
elements of the flag denote a young nation on the ascendant, universal brotherhood
and equality, and national ideals.

State Crest of Singapore

The State Crest of Singapore is formed by a shield emblazoned with a white

crescent moon and five white stars against a red background.
Red is used to symbolize universal brotherhood and the equality of man, while
white signifies pervading and everlasting purity and virtue. he five stars represent
the national ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality.T This motif is
also found on the National Flag.
Supporting the shield are a lion on the left and a tiger on the right. A banner
below the shield is inscribed with the Republic of Singapore's motto, 'Majulah
Singapura' (meaning 'Onward Singapore' in Malay). The lion embodies Singapore
itself while the tiger represents Singapore's historical ties with Malaysia.

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 Merlion Park
The Merlion's body symbolizes Singapore's humble beginnings as a fishing
village when it was called Temasek, which comes from the same root as the
word tasek ('lake' in Malay).
Its head represents Singapore’s original name, Singapura, or ‘lion city’ in
Malay.
Spouting water from its mouth, the Merlion statue stands tall at 8.6 metres
and weighs 70 tonnes.
This icon is a must-see for tourists visiting Singapore, similar to other significant
landmarks around the world.
Built by local craftsman Lim Nang Seng, it was unveiled on 15 September
1972 by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew at the mouth of the Singapore River, to
welcome all visitors to Singapore.
With the completion of Esplanade Bridge in 1997, the statue could no
longer be viewed clearly from the waterfront.
In 2002, the Merlion was relocated 120 meters away from the original
position to where it stands in Merlion Park today, in front of Fullerton Hotel and
overlooking Marina Bay.
The park also houses a smaller Merlion statue. Known as the ‘Merlion cub’,
it stands at two meters tall and weighs three tonnes.
The original sculpture and its cub are the most well-known among the
seven approved Merlion statues in Singapore.

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Answer Key

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REFERENCES:
https://asean.org/about-asean/member-states

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/592/?fbclid=IwAR1aubJoX5Lhmx5T9ouKystdZcyI
Yq8LHjQxaPF-wpE4dyLhxBw4ZD2LpUs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_Southeast_Asia

https://kualalumpur.concordehotelsresorts.com/8-dizzying-facts-about-petronas-t
owers-you-probably-didnt-know
https://www.nhb.gov.sg/what-we-do/our-work/community-engagement/educatio
n/resources/national-symbols/national-coat-of-arms
https://www.visitsingapore.com/en_ph/see-do-singapore/recreation-leisure/viewp
oints/merlion-park/

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PREPARED BY:
SCHOOLS DIVISION OFFICE- San Fernando City (LU) TEAM

BERNARDO T. ROMBAWA
EPS- Araling Panlipunan
LANNY D. MANGAGGUEY
Teacher, La Union National High School
RAFFY G. MACALINO
Teacher, San Fernando South Central Integrated School

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