I was in Malaysia a couple of months ago. The country is a mixture of malay, indian, and Chinese ethnic groups. The Malays are the largest group, and most of them are Muslim, so there is respect for Muslim traditions but they are not enforced on everyone.

For example, in stores they sold beer (very expensive) but there were signs saying that Muslims were not to buy it. I don’t know if that is enforced in any way.

My Chinese sister-in-law, who is very biased towards China, will admit that Malaysia has the best food in Asia, because of the above-mentioned fusion of cultures. And I can confirm that the food is spectacular!

I took my wife (who has not traveled very much) to Malaysia because it is different enough from Canada to be exotic, but still has enough comforts and is developed enough not to be intimidating. She found it far too hot and humid, but other than that enjoyed it.