Foreign relations of Malaysia letters of exchange by Abdullah and the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei at Istana Nurul Iman. As of 2010, the two countries are working towards resolving disputes over their maritime boundaries. According to a source, the areas around Ko Kra and Ko Losin in present-day Thailand are once disputed with Malaysia. The Federation of Malaya became an independent native elective monarchy within the Commonwealth on 31 August 1957 with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as head of state. Malaya united with North Borneo (now Sabah), Sarawak, and Singapore to form Malaysia in 1963. Singapore was expelled from Malaysia in 1965, and
Caning in Malaysia retained as a form of legal penalty after the Federation of Malaya declared independence from Britain in 1957. It is largely a legacy of British colonial rule and has nothing to do with "Islamic justice" even though the majority of the Malaysian population are Muslims. Sections 286–291 of the Criminal Procedure Code lay down the procedures governing caning, which is referred to as "whipping" in the Code in accordance with traditional British legislative terminology. The procedures include the following: Boys aged between 10 and 18 may be sentenced to a maximum of ten strokes with a light rattan cane. The