Malaysia is exploring plans to build the first Disney theme park in Southeast Asia, a government minister said on Tuesday. Effendi Norwawi, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of economic affairs, said the government is in talks with Disneyland operators to establish a theme park in the southern state of Johor, near Singapore.
High-seas pirate attacks have risen in the first three months of this year, and incidents are becoming more violent with the rate of hostage-taking doubling, an international watchdog said on Wednesday. The International Maritime Bureau recorded 61 piracy attacks worldwide in the first quarter of 2006, compared to 56 in the same period last year.
A rash of cases of Malaysian women being tricked into having sex with fraudulent "healers" has prompted a warning from authorities for women to beware of smooth-talking con men. In the latest case, a 41-year-old woman was tricked into having sex dozens of times with a medium who claimed to be the "Ninth Emperor of the Kingdom of God".
A 33-year-old Malaysian man who married a 104-year-old woman said it was "God’s will" that he tie the knot with someone old enough to be his great grandmother. "It may seem strange to those who don’t understand us but I have found peace since we got married two months ago," said Muhammad Noor Che Musa.
The editor of a new gay and lesbian travel guide to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia said on Thursday he hopes the book will foster more acceptance of homosexuality — which is outlawed in all three conservative South-East Asian nations.
Malaysian wildlife officials denied capturing a baby "Bigfoot" on Thursday, amid fevered speculation over the existence of the mythical creature in the nation’s southern jungles. The <i>Berita Harian</i> newspaper reported that a young Bigfoot was caught by a group of men thought to be from the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) near the southern town of Kota Tinggi two weeks ago.
A Malaysian executive was killed when his head was struck by a helicopter’s whirling rotor blades in the northern Penang state. Joseph Chan Sum Foo (45), general manager of a construction company, was struck on Thursday after he helped five school children onto the helicopter, which was used in an event to promote his company’s latest property development site.
Australia, Britain and New Zealand may play a role in securing the piracy-prone Malacca Strait but the sovereignty of bordering states would be safeguarded, Malaysia’s defence minister said on Monday. "They are interested in the situation in the Straits of Malacca," Najib Razak said after talks with the armed forces chiefs of Australia, Britain, New Zealand, and Singapore.
A former Malaysian snake farm worker may have set a new world record after kissing a poisonous snake 51 times in three minutes, a report said on Sunday. Shahimi Abdul Hamid’s feat in kissing the 4,6m-long king cobra weighing 10kg 51 times in three minutes and one second was a record waiting to be verified, the <i>Sunday Star</i> newspaper said.
An international piracy watchdog on Friday warned of fresh attacks off Somalia after heavily armed pirates fired on a United Nations food aid ship. ”About five pirates armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades tried to hijack the UN-chartered ship,” said Noel Choong, head of the Piracy Reporting Centre of the London-based International Maritime Bureau.
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/ 6 February 2006
Booming Asian economies led by China and India are expected to fuel demand for the world’s largest commercial aircraft, the A380, an Airbus official said on Monday. "From the start of the [A380] programme, the fastest growth rates for air traffic in terms of passenger and in freight traffic are seen in Asia," said Anthony Phillips.
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/ 31 January 2006
In her heyday she was the most glamorous ship on the seas, plying the transatlantic route and celebrated as the pride of France. But the SS Norway — launched in 1960 as the SS France — now cuts a forlorn figure as she sits off Malaysia’s coast with her name crudely painted over, quietly rusting and likely headed for the scrapyard.
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/ 24 January 2006
A 16-year-old who claims he was knocked off his motorbike by a road safety official in northern Malaysia has received a bicycle from the government — as a reminder that he should stick to pedal power until he gets a driving licence. Villagers allege that an officer hurled a chair at the young man, causing him to crash in a heap.
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/ 19 January 2006
Amri Abdullah, convicted and jailed for cheating, has paid his dues to society. Now he wants the Malaysian government to pay him his dues — -million for holding him an extra 217 days in jail because of an administrative error, a news report said on Thursday.
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/ 12 January 2006
A Malaysian snake charmer announced on Thursday that he will attempt to kiss a poisonous snake 50 times in 10 minutes in an attempt to break a current world record. Shahimi Abdul Hamid (33) said he plans to attempt the feat in March this year at the hill resort of Genting Highlands.
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/ 10 January 2006
Excitement is mounting in Malaysia over claims of ”Bigfoots” lurking in its southern jungles, with wildlife experts on the hunt for the mythical beast and a telephone hotline set up to report sightings. Bigfoot fever erupted last month when some fish-farm workers claimed to have spotted three of the beasts.
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/ 30 December 2005
A Malaysian man is claiming a new record after teaching non-stop for 88 hours, in a feat involving hundreds of students which left him with a sore back and high blood pressure, a report said on Friday. "My doctor actually advised me against doing this, but I was determined to show my love for teaching," A. Elanthevan told the <i>New Straits Times</i>.
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/ 14 December 2005
The pen probably isn’t mightier than the sword — and sometimes it runs out of ink as well. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi got a helping hand on Wednesday from an unlikely source, rival Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, when his pen didn’t work as the two leaders signed the inaugural declaration of the East Asia Summit.
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/ 13 December 2005
A Kuala Lumpur bank’s computer glitch resulted in an eight-year-old boy being summoned to settle a loan that he purportedly stood as a guarantor for, a report said on Tuesday. According to the bank located, Desmune How signed as guarantor four years ago for a car loan taken out by one Zakaria Hamdan.
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/ 31 October 2005
A Malaysian university on Monday defended its decision to compel non-Muslim women to wear headscarves at graduation ceremonies, after drawing criticism from student leaders and civil society groups. "IIU will stand by its decision. We will not change it," said International Islamic University Malaysia public relations director, Shamsul Azhar Mohamad Yusof.
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/ 19 October 2005
An idyllic wedding planned by two Brazilians on a Malaysian island ended in a violent brawl after a member of Malaysia’s royal family led a group of rowdy gate-crashers to the nuptials, police said on Tuesday. About 90 guests from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Europe, Japan and Singapore had gathered on Saturday for the wedding.
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/ 26 September 2005
Malaysia said on Monday it will build three plants to produce biodiesel from palm oil, as part of efforts to reduce its dependency on petroleum as oil prices continue to soar on the world market. "Palm biodiesel is set to become a viable alternative to petroleum diesel," Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui told an international palm oil congress in Kuala Lumpur.
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/ 23 September 2005
Demand for palm oil, which is widely used in processed foods, is driving the orang-utan towards extinction by speeding the destruction of their forest habitat, Friends of the Earth said on Friday. The campaigners said Asia’s only great ape could be wiped out within 12 years unless there was urgent intervention in the palm oil trade, which it said was also linked with human rights abuses.
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/ 21 September 2005
World champion Valentino Rossi says he is confident of capturing his seventh MotoGP world title in Malaysia this weekend, after crashing out of the Japanese Grand Prix last week. ”I am not feeling any more pressure than before and I will be riding to win at every round,” the 26-year-old Yamaha rider said in an e-mail.
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/ 20 September 2005
South-East Asian capitals are enjoying an influx of big-spending tourists from Arab states, who say they feel unwelcome in Europe and the United States as the world turns jittery after the London bombings. Weary of being treated with suspicion in the West, they say they prefer the region’s bustling cities and sun-kissed beaches.
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/ 14 September 2005
AirAsia, Southeast Asia’s pioneering low-cost carrier, said on Wednesday its recent sponsorship deal with Manchester United is already proving its worth in attracting business. "Its already paying off. The trend is there. We are now seeing customers from Europe who have changed their holiday plans to come to Malaysia instead," said Kamarudin Meranun, executive director with AirAsia.
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/ 13 September 2005
Nestled in the heart of Malaysia’s bustling capital, Kuala Lumpur, the Aquaria KLCC caused great excitement when it opened its doors in August to unveil five menacing sand tiger sharks from South Africa in an underwater walkway measuring 90m in length. The rare sharks and the giant turtle are without doubt the aquarium’s main attraction.
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/ 4 September 2005
A Malaysian prison is offering adventurous travellers the chance to experience the joys of prison life — right down to the food and lack of toilets. Johor Baru prison, Malaysia’s oldest, has been turned into a visitor’s centre and is offering an overnight package for 50 ringgit (about R81). But so far there haven’t been any takers.
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/ 1 September 2005
Malaysians rushed to pay up their traffic fines on Thursday after the police offered a 50% discount on 3,4-million unpaid summonses as part of efforts to clear a huge backlog. Police reported a good response to the discount, which started on Thursday and lasts until September 22.
The author of a book that helped trigger the 1998 sacking of former Malaysian deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim died on Monday of diabetes, the official Bernama news agency said. Khalid Jafri was the author of <i>50 Reasons Why Anwar Cannot Be PM</i>.
Anger over Indonesia’s inability to douse forest fires that have smothered parts of Malaysia with a dangerous haze mounted on Friday as the crisis worsened in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. The opposition Democratic Action Party held a protest at the Indonesian embassy in pollution-shrouded Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia’s west coast was plunged into twilight on Thursday as thick yellow clouds of smoke from Indonesian forest fires rolled in from the sea, engulfing ports and villages. The Malaysian government imposed a haze emergency in two towns, closing workplaces indefinitely and banning all burning activities.