5 Ringgit - Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kuala Lumpur

The 1989 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was only the second CHOGM held in Asia, and Malaysia's hosting of it carried pointed political weight — Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had spent much of the decade in open friction with the Commonwealth over British foreign policy, particularly sanctions against apartheid South Africa. That he hosted the summit at all reflected a pragmatic détente rather than any softening of his positions.

Copper-plated zinc was a deliberate cost-cutting choice for commemorative issues of this period, as Bank Negara moved away from the cupro-nickel used in earlier commemoratives.