This book, a project of the Malaysia Study Programme in ISEAS, is a sequel to my earlier book on The Population of Peninsular Malaysia published in 1988. The book was based on materials derived from the early population censuses and other related sources pertaining to the eleven states in West Malaysia. It was not possible for me to include Sabah and Sarawak at that time because of the paucity of comparable data for these two states in East Malaysia. The situation improved significantly following the formation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963 when a wide range of pan-Malaysia statistics began to be made available from the four Population Censuses conducted in 1970, 1980, 1991 and 2000 and from other sources dealing with births and deaths, marriages and divorces, labour force, etc. The emergence of favourable conditions have allowed me to complete in 2006 an entirely different book covering the whole country, and hence The Population of Malaysia as the new title.

The second edition of the book has been substantially revised and expanded to take advantage of the new data that can now be obtained from the latest Population Census conducted in 2010 as well as from other relevant sources since the original version was published. One of the major changes introduced was the splitting of the original chapter on Fertility and Mortality into two separate chapters, each subject being discussed in greater detail as more information is at our disposal. The last chapter on Future Population Trends has also been revamped to include the results of the latest official population projections. The chapter on External Migration, a topic that has a lasting impact on the population dynamics of the multi-ethnic country, has been enlarged to include more materials. Finally, a Foreword written by Craig Calhoun has now been included. I hope readers of the new edition of the book will find it more useful and illuminating.

I would like to acknowledge the assistance of numerous institutions and individuals for helping me to access the research materials. My thanks go to the University of Malaya Library, the National University of Singapore Library, ISEAS Library and the London School of Economics Library where I visited during my frequent trips to London.