The Timorese Malaysians or Florenese Malaysians consists of people of full or partial
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part. The Indonesian part, also ...
ese descent who were born in or immigrated to
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
. Timorese in Malaysia consist mainly of Timorese formerly resident in Indonesian
West Timor
West Timor ( id, Timor Barat) is an area covering the western part of the island of Timor, except for the district of Oecussi-Ambeno (an East Timorese exclave). Administratively, West Timor is part of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. The ...
as well as recent migrants from
East Timor
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-west ...
. Most of the Timorese arrived following the
occupation of East Timor by
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. Most of these Timorese reside in the state of
Sabah
Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...
especially on the east coast area of
Tawau Division
Tawau Division ( ms, Bahagian Tawau) is one of the five administrative sub-divisions of Sabah, Malaysia. It occupies a total of 14,905 square kilometres or 20% of Sabah's territory. The main towns include the capital of Tawau, Lahad Datu, Kunak ...
with some of them
intermarried with the local peoples.
Relations between the state of Sabah and East Timor
Since the independence of East Timor from Indonesia, the first President of East Timor
Xanana Gusmão
José Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão (; born 20 June 1946) is an East Timorese politician. A former rebel, he was the third President of the independent East Timor, serving from 2002 to 2007. He then became its fourth prime minister, serving from ...
has paid a visit to the state of Sabah on a working visit and to see the Timorese communities there.
See also
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East Timor–Malaysia relations
References
Further reading
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{{East Timorese diaspora
Timorese
East Timorese diaspora
East Timor–Malaysia relations
Immigration to Malaysia