2000 Jan,
In Malaysia terrorists held a meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The US
CIA informed the FBI that Khalid Al-Midhar had a US visa. Midhar was later one
of the Sep 11, 2001, terrorists.
(SFC, 6/4/02, p.A10)
-------------------------
13-3-2000
CBS began filming its "Survivor" show on the Malaysian
island of Pulau Tiga. Filming lasted to April 20 and the last survivor was to be
awarded a $1 million prize.
(SFC, 6/2/00, p.C15)
-------------------------
23-4-2000
Philippine gunmen abducted 20 people from a Malaysian resort
on Sipadan Island. Islamic insurgents took credit for the attack. They later
freed 2 hostages and demanded $2.4 million in ransom for 19 captives.
(SFC, 4/25/00, p.A10)(WSJ, 4/27/00, p.A1)(SFC, 7/15/00, p.A13)
-------------------------
29-4-2000
In Malaysia a court upheld the 1999 corruption conviction
against former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim.
(SFEC, 4/30/00, p.A17)
-------------------------
2000 Apr,
Steven Gan (35) founded Malaysiakini.com, an online newspaper.
(SFC, 4/18/00, p.A8)
-------------------------
6-7-2000
In Malaysia commandos ended a 4-day standoff and forced the
surrender of 27 militants of Al-Ma’unah (Brotherhood of Inner Power), led by
Amin Razali. 2 non-Muslim hostages were slain in the process. 19 cult members
were found guilty Dec 27, 2001.
(SFC, 7/7/00, p.D6)(SFEC, 8/13/00, p.B9)(SFC, 12/28/01, p.A4)
-------------------------
8-8-2000
Anwar Ibrahim, former deputy prime minister, was convicted of
sodomy and sentenced to 9 years in prison. Sukma Dermawan, Ibrahim’s codefendant
and adopted brother, was also found guilty.
(SFC, 8/8/00, p.A11)
-------------------------
8-8-2000
Some 29 members of the Al-Ma’unah Islamic sect were charged
with treason for the July looting of 2 army camps in Perak.
(SFEC, 8/13/00, p.B9)
-------------------------
22-8-2000
In Sarawak 15 people including 13 children were killed when
a tractor-trailer rig collided with a school van.
(SFC, 8/24/00, p.A13)
-------------------------
23-8-2000
The final winner of the "Survivor" TV contest set on Pulau
Tiga island was broadcast to as many as 40-50 million viewers. Richard Hatch
(39), a corporate trainer from Newport, R.I., won the $1 million grand prize. In
2006 Hatch was convicted on three counts related to tax evasion and was
sentenced to 51 months in Federal prison plus three years of supervised
probation.
(SFC, 8/23/00, p.A1)(SFC, 8/24/00, p.A1)(http://tinyurl.com/4sna5j)
-------------------------
2000 Aug,
78 4-man teams in the Eco-Challenge Sabah encountered flooded
rivers over a 2-week race in Malaysian Borneo. A number later found themselves
infected with leptospirosis.
(SFC, 9/15/00, p.A12)
-------------------------
10-9-2000
Abu Sayyaf rebels kidnapped 3 men from Pandanan Island off
Borneo and took them to Jolo island in the Philippines.
(WSJ, 9/12/00, p.A1)
-------------------------
5-11-2000
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, thousands of people protested the
rule of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
(SFC, 11/6/00, p.A15)
-------------------------
24-11-2000
It was reported that recent monsoon flooding killed 10
people in Malaysia and at least 5 people in Thailand. The death toll from
flooding in Thailand reached over 30, mostly children. At least 49 died from
mudslides in West Sumatra.
(SFC, 11/24/00, p.D8)(WSJ, 11/27/00, p.A1)
-------------------------
2000 Nov,
A Malaysian politician was assassinated. The militant group
Jemaah Islamiyah was believed to be involved.
(WSJ, 8/13/02, p.A14)
-------------------------
31-12-2000
15 parachutists planned to leap from the Petronas Towers
just before midnight and land in the new year.
(SFC, 12/31/00, p.B2)
-------------------------
11-3-2001
Ethnic violence between Malays and ethnic Indians continued
for a 4th day. Five people were killed in the last 4 days.
(SFC, 3/12/01, p.A15)
-------------------------
10-4-2001
Malaysia arrested at least 4 opposition leaders as the 2
year anniversary approached of jailed former Deputy Premier Anwar’s conviction.
(WSJ, 4/11/01, p.A1)
-------------------------
25-9-2001
The government accused Nik Adli Nik Abdul Aziz (34), an
Islamic school teacher, for plotting to overthrow the government. His father
served as the chief minister of Kelantan state. Nik Adli allegedly belonged to
the Kumpulan Mujahideen Malaysia militant group.
(WSJ, 9/26/01, p.A16)
-------------------------
21-11-2001
King Salahuddin Abdul Aziz died at age 75.
(SFC, 11/22/01, p.A29)
-------------------------
8-12-2001
Malaysian authorities said that would expand a policy of
caning illegal immigrants to include 1st-time offenders.
(SSFC, 12/9/01, p.A18)
-------------------------
2001
A Malaysia bank introduced a corporate bond that complied with
Islamic prohibitions on interest. The bonds were benchmarked to interest rates,
but technically based on profit sharing, leasing or trading By 2007 the global
Islamic bond market reached an estimated $50 billion in outstanding securities.
(WSJ, 4/4/07, p.A1)
-------------------------
2001
Tony Fernandez (b.1964), Malaysian entrepreneur, acquired AirAsia
and soon re-launched it as a low-cost domestic carrier with 2 B737 planes
purchased from a Malaysian conglomerate. Ryanair signed on with a 5% stake. By
2009 the company had 76 planes. By the end of 2004 the low cost airline planned
to have 30 planes.
(Econ, 3/13/04, p.63)(Econ, 2/7/09, p.35)(Econ, 3/21/09, p.72)(http://tinyurl.com/cxf3hz)
-------------------------
6-1-2002
It was reported that Malaysia authorities had arrested 13
suspected members of extremist groups since Dec 9 with possible links to the Sep
11 attacks.
(SSFC, 1/6/02, p.A8)
-------------------------
12-1-2002
Malaysia announced the arrests of 2 more suspected militants
tied to al Qaeda and linked to a cell in Singapore.
(SSFC, 1/13/02, p.A11)
-------------------------
2002 May,
Malaysia’s PM Mahathir Mohamed met with Pres. Bush in
Washington, DC. In 2006 it was revealed that lobbyist Jack Abramoff was paid
$1.2 million to organize the meeting. Mahathir later said that at the time he
had been persuaded by the Heritage Foundation to meet with Bush because the
conservative think tank believed he could help "influence (Bush) in some way
regarding US policies."
(AP, 2/21/06)
-------------------------
23-6-2002
In Malaysia Fadzil Noor, the leader of the main opposition,
Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS), died after failing to recover from emergency
heart surgery nearly two weeks ago.
(Reuters, 6/23/02)
-------------------------
25-6-2002
Malaysia's ruling party said on Tuesday Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad, one of Asia's longest-serving leaders, will hand power to his
deputy late next year in a move investors praised as an orderly transition.
(Reuters, 6/25/02)
-------------------------
2-7-2002
Malaysia said it had not reached any new agreements with
Singapore on the sale of water to the island state and other issues after two
days of talks.
(Reuters, 7/2/02)
-------------------------
31-7-2002
Thousands of illegal immigrants headed for Malaysia's ports
to meet a midnight deadline for them to leave the country or risk a caning.
(Reuters, 7/31/02)
-------------------------
2-8-2002
Australia and Malaysia signed a counter-terrorism pact which
pledged them to work together to fight suspected Islamic militants in the
region.
(Reuters, 8/2/02)
-------------------------
31-8-2002
Malaysia said it has agreed to temporarily halt deportation
of Filipino workers and their families amid public outrage over reports of their
mistreatment.
(Reuters, 8/31/02)
-------------------------
7-9-2002
Indonesian officials say 35 deportees from Malaysia have died
at sprawling makeshift camps in Borneo as they await the arrival of a navy
vessel bringing medical help.
(Reuters, 9/7/02)
-------------------------
4-11-2002
China signed a landmark agreement, “Declaration on the
Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,” with ASEAN (Brunei, Malaysia,
Philippines, Vietnam) on avoiding open conflict in the disputed South China Sea
Spratly Islands. Indonesia objected and Taiwan was barred from signing.
(Reuters, 11/4/02)(Econ, 5/22/04, p.40)(
www.aseansec.org/13163.htm)-------------------------
17-12-2002
Malaysia won control of two tiny palm-fringed islands when
the World Court ruled in its favor in a long-running dispute with Indonesia.
(Reuters, 12/17/02)
-------------------------
2002
Malaysia issued the world’s first sovereign sukuk, an Islamic bond.
(Econ, 1/5/13, p.60)
-------------------------
2002
Abdul Razak Baginda helped Malaysia negotiate the purchase of French
submarines.
(WSJ, 3/29/07, p.A13)
-------------------------
2002
Oil was found in 4,400 feet of water off the coast of Sabah state in
Borneo, Malaysia. The filed dubbed Kikeh was contested by Brunei.
(WSJ, 6/27/03, p.A11)
-------------------------
25-2-2003
In Malaysia a summit of 116 developing countries suspicious of
US military dominance united behind calls to give Baghdad more time to disarm.
(AP, 2/25/03)
-------------------------
20-5-2003
Malaysia launched its government sponsored BioValley complex
at a cost of $150 million. In 2005 the journal Nature reported it as a failed
project.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioValley_%28Malaysia%29)(Econ, 10/31/09,
p.78)
-------------------------
24-5-2003
Malaysia PM Mahathir Mohamad met with Brunei's 29th Sultan
Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah to address the issue of the Kikeh
oil find off Borneo.
(WSJ, 6/27/03, p.A11)(SSFC, 6/28/03, p.C6)
-------------------------
25-6-2003
The Malaysia Parliament passed a post secondary school
National Service Bill to encourage nation building by integrating participants
in a state-run summer camp.
(Econ, 10/23/04, p.44)
-------------------------
c4-8-2003
President Putin visited Malaysia to seal a $900 million sale of
Sukhoi fighter jets and tout Russia's liberal sale policies.
(WSJ, 8/5/03, p.A1)
-------------------------
10-8-2003
Pirates in the Strait of Malacca struck a small tanker near
the Port Klang, Kuala Lumpur. They looted the ship and took it into Indonesia
waters and sought $100,000 ransom for the top 3 officers.
(SFC, 8/15/03, p.A8)
-------------------------
29-9-2003
In Malaysia PM Mahathir Mohamad presided at the inauguration
of the Berjaya Times Square, a $460 million project that was derailed by the
1997-98 Asian financial crises.
(AP, 9/29/03)
-------------------------
5-10-2003
In Malaysian Borneo armed kidnappers riding in a speedboat
raided a remote resort, seizing six people before escaping.
(AP, 10/6/03)
-------------------------
11-10-2003
In Malaysia delegates from Islamic nations gathered in the
new administrative capital of Putrajaya with Iraq as a center piece of
discussion.
(SSFC, 10/11/03, p.A3)
-------------------------
16-10-2003
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told a summit of
Islamic leaders that "Jews rule the world by proxy" and the world's 1.3 billion
Muslims should unite, using nonviolent means for a "final victory."
(AP, 10/16/03)
-------------------------
20-10-2003
President Bush personally condemned the Malaysian prime
minister for his statement that Jews rule the world, pulling Mahathir Mohamad
aside at an international economic meeting to tell him the remarks were "wrong
and divisive."
(AP, 10/20/03)
-------------------------
31-10-2003
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became Malaysia's first new prime
minister in a generation, succeeding Mahathir Mohamad.
(AP, 10/31/03)
-------------------------
30-11-2003
In Malaysia 2 passenger buses collided on a windy road in
the Kuala Lipis district, killing at least 14 people.
(AP, 11/30/03)
-------------------------
7-1-2004
Najib Razak, a veteran politician, was named as Malaysia's
deputy PM.
(AP, 1/7/04)
-------------------------
13-1-2004
Thai and Malaysian military forces began joint land and air
patrols along their jungle border for the first time since the 1970s.
(AP, 1/14/04)
-------------------------
27-1-2004
In Malaysia an Iranian asylum seeker set himself on fire in
an apparent suicide attempt outside the Kuala Lumpur headquarters of the UN
refugee agency.
(AP, 1/27/04)
-------------------------
9-2-2004
In Malaysia anti-corruption officers arrested the former head
of scandal-plagued steel company Perwaja.
(AP, 2/9/04)
-------------------------
12-2-2004
Malaysia's land minister was arrested and charged for his
involvement a deal to sell millions of dollars worth of shares his government
agency owned in the second high-profile anti-corruption case this week amid a
government crackdown.
(AP, 2/12/04)
-------------------------
3-3-2004
Malaysia's new PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called a snap
national election that will pit the long-ruling secular coalition government
against a fundamentalist Islamic opposition.
(AP, 3/3/04)
-------------------------
21-3-2004
Elections were held in Malaysia. An Islamic leader implied
that those who backed government candidates would go to hell. Malaysia's secular
government won a sweeping victory in two Muslim-dominated states and looked
headed for a nationwide rout of the fundamentalist Islamic opposition.
(WSJ, 3/8/04, p.A1)(AP, 3/21/04)
-------------------------
22-3-2004
In Malaysia Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was sworn in as prime
minister, a day after scoring a landslide election victory that handed the
fundamentalist Islamic opposition its worst defeat in more than a decade. The
national Front Coalition won 199 out of 219 seats in parliament.
(AP, 3/22/04)(Econ, 11/17/07, p.53)
-------------------------
7-4-2004
In Malaysia 3 men armed with firebombs, machetes and an ax
attacked Myanmar's embassy, hacking one senior official and starting a fire that
destroyed the building.
(AP, 4/7/04)
-------------------------
28-5-2004
Malaysia issued a detention order for Buhary Syed Abu Tahir,
a Sri Lankan businessman, on charges that in 2002 he brought 7 Libyan
technicians to Malaysia to be trained to operate machines to produce centrifuge
parts for Libya’s nuclear weapons program. Tahir was a key associate of Abdul
Qadeer Khan, former head of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program.
(WSJ, 6/4/04, p.A10)
-------------------------
31-8-2004
The $4 million film “Princess of Mount Ledang,” directed by
Saw Teong Hin, opened on Malaysia’s 47th anniversary of independence.
(SFC, 8/26/04, p.E5)
-------------------------
2-9-2004
Anwar Ibrahim was set free after his sodomy conviction was
overturned by Malaysia's highest court. This was six years to the day after the
one-time heir apparent to the country's premiership plunged into a divisive
fight with his political mentor.
(AP, 9/2/04)
-------------------------
15-9-2004
Malaysia declared its entire northern Kelantan state a
quarantine zone to halt the spread of bird flu.
(AP, 9/15/04)
-------------------------
2004
Azman Mokhtar was appointed as head of Khazana, a Malaysian
government passive holding company, with a mission to overhaul some 40 partially
state-owned firms.
(Econ, 8/20/05, p.50)
-------------------------
1-1-2005
Malaysia was forecast for 4.7% annual GDP growth with a
population at 25.9 million and GDP per head at $4,750.
(Econ, 1/8/05, p.91)
-------------------------
26-2-2005
Malaysia's PM Badawi told Proton to set its sights abroad as
he launched the national carmaker's 1.8 billion ringgit (474 million dollar) new
manufacturing plant.
(AP, 2/26/05)
-------------------------
4-4-2005
A minister said Malaysia plans to hire 169,000 foreign
workers to overcome an acute labor shortage after a crackdown on illegal
migrants.
(AP, 4/4/05)
-------------------------
25-5-2005
Japan and Malaysia agreed to key elements of a free-trade
pact, to be launched in December, covering automobiles and most other economic
sectors.
(WSJ, 5/26/05, p.A10)
-------------------------
24-6-2005
Malaysia's ruling UMNO party suspended cabinet minister Isa
Samad for six years for corruption.
(AP, 6/25/05)
-------------------------
29-6-2005
In Malaysia Hamisa Abu Hassan Saari (22) was arrested after
police found some drugs on a friend. A police officer secretly recorded her with
a cell phone as she was forced to strip and do squats, though she had no drugs.
The recording got on the Internet and led to a special commission that denounced
the police procedures and led to significant changes.
(SFC, 11/23/06, p.A34)
-------------------------
3-7-2005
Police in Malaysia raided the compound of Ayah Pin, born as
Ariffin Mohammad, in Terengganu state, and arrested 21 followers. Pin claimed
divinity as the earthly incarnation of what he called the Sky Kingdom. The
ruling UMNO party tracks “deviant sects” and refuses to endorse the idea that
Muslims should interpret and observe their faith as they see fit.
(Econ, 7/25/05, p.34)
-------------------------
4-7-2005
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, UN agencies met for a 3-day
conference on bird flu virus and said the disease remains as dangerous as ever
and nations must do more to prepare for a pandemic among humans.
(AP, 7/4/05)
-------------------------
18-7-2005
Malaysia launched its first bond fund on the stock exchange
as part of an Asian scheme to augment underdeveloped capital markets.
(AP, 7/18/05)
-------------------------
9-10-2005
It was reported that dengue fever was causing concerns in
Malaysia and Martinique. Malaysia reported 71 deaths so far this year from over
27,000 cases. Martinique reported almost 1,000 cases a week since mid-September.
(SSFC, 10/9/05, p.D2)
-------------------------
19-10-2005
Malaysia’s government unveiled a policy draft to eliminate
disparities in the treatment of local and foreign auto makers.
(WSJ, 10/20/05, p.A13)
-------------------------
21-10-2005
Indonesian police said they had arrested four people
allegedly involved in smuggling hundreds of pounds of explosive materials from
Malaysia into Indonesia.
(AP, 10/21/05)
-------------------------
19-11-2005
It was reported that the Nipah virus, naturally found in
bats, had moved to Malaysian pigs. It killed about 40% of the 265 people it had
infected.
(Econ, 11/19/05, p.85)
-------------------------
22-11-2005
Ministers from the 114 members of the Nonaligned Movement
ended a 2-day conference in Malaysia and agreed to launch an Internet-based news
network to counter what they called prejudiced reporting by Western media.
Bernama, Malaysia’s state news agency, will oversee the network.
(WSJ, 11/23/05, p.A14)
-------------------------
3-12-2005
Malaysia's state media said Southeast Asian lawmakers want
Myanmar expelled from the ASEAN regional grouping unless it frees democracy icon
Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners within a year.
(Reuters, 12/03/05)
-------------------------
10-12-2005
In Malaysia Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, which calls for
signatories not to interfere in each other's internal affairs. The treaty was
born within the 10-member ASEAN, which made signing the pact a condition for
entry into next week's inaugural East Asian summit.
(AP, 12/10/05)
-------------------------
14-12-2005
The 1st East Asia Summit was held successfully in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia.
(
www.aseansec.org/18104.htm)(Econ, 12/17/05, p.40)
-------------------------
2005
Malaysia opened its $1650 million Bio Valley project. By 2012 it was
known as the “Valley of the Bio Ghosts.”
(Econ, 1/21/12, SR p.14)
-------------------------
2005
Malaysia’s $5 billion Bakun Dam on the Balui River was expected to
be completed.
(SFC, 5/22/01, p.A10)
-------------------------
15-1-2006
In Malaysia a homemade bomb filled with nails and bullet
casings exploded outside a shopping mall on Penang island, killing one man and
injuring another.
(AP, 1/16/06)
-------------------------
17-1-2006
Subur Sugiarto, an alleged key aide to a Malaysian fugitive
blamed for a series of deadly terrorist attacks in Indonesia, was captured in
the central Javanese town of Boyolali en route to Jakarta. A local officer
alleged that Sugiarto was "a henchman" of Noordin Top, who is believed to be a
senior member of the al-Qaida-linked Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah
Islamiyah.
(AP, 1/19/06)
-------------------------
27-1-2006
Malaysian dissident politician Anwar Ibrahim sued former PM
Mahathir Mohamad for defamation after Mahathir refused to apologize for calling
him a homosexual.
(AP, 1/27/06)
-------------------------
3-2-2006
Malaysia's national carmaker Proton renewed its alliance with
Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp. with a technical pact that involves jointly
developing new vehicles.
(AP, 2/3/06)
-------------------------
9-2-2006
President Bush outlined details of an alleged plot to hijack
an airliner and fly it into a skyscraper in Los Angeles. The next day security
officials and terrorism experts in Southeast Asia said Malaysian engineer Zaini
Zakaria (38) was among three men al-Qaida was preparing to take part in an
attack on Los Angeles. Zaini has been detained without trial under the Internal
Security Act in Malaysia since he surrendered in December 2002.
(AP, 2/10/06)
-------------------------
24-2-2006
A prominent Malaysian newspaper avoided punishment for
publishing a cartoon about the Prophet Muhammad drawings controversy, offering
an apology that was accepted by the government.
(AP, 2/24/06)
-------------------------
28-2-2006
The Malaysian government sharply raised fuel prices to trim
a ballooning fuel-subsidy bill. Interest rates and inflation were expected to
rise as a result.
(WSJ, 3/1/06, p.A7)
-------------------------
5-3-2006
Malaysian PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi launched an information
offensive to counter public dismay after the government imposed the country's
biggest ever fuel price hikes.
(AFP, 3/5/06)
-------------------------
7-3-2006
Malaysia said it has lifted a ban on US beef imports in place
for more than two years, to make up for a shortage after it restricted access to
Australian and New Zealand beef.
(AFP, 3/7/06)
-------------------------
8-3-2006
Malaysia and the US announced that they have agreed to begin
negotiating a free trade deal to eliminate trade barriers between the two
nations.
(AP, 3/8/06)
-------------------------
27-3-2006
Malaysia’s government said it will end subsidies to flag
carrier Malaysia Airlines and let it operate only 19 domestic routes, in
competition with budget carrier AirAsia, under a major restructuring that will
shed thousands of jobs.
(AP, 3/27/06)
-------------------------
31-3-2006
Malaysia’s PM Abdullah Badawi introduced a new 5-year plan.
It hoped to slash the poverty rate from 5.7% to 2.8% by 2010.
(Econ, 4/8/06, p.42)
-------------------------
12-4-2006
Malaysia abandoned plans to build a controversial new bridge
to Singapore, saying that the city-state's demand for airspace access in return
for its agreement was unacceptable.
(AFP, 4/12/06)
-------------------------
26-4-2006
Malaysia’s central bank raised its main interest rate by a
quarter point to 3.5%.
(WSJ, 4/27/06, p.A8)
-------------------------
25-5-2006
PM John Howard increased Australia’s contingent to
Timor-Leste to some 1,300 troops. 500 Malaysians and troops from New Zealand and
Portugal were also deployed.
(Econ, 6/3/06, p.15)
-------------------------
31-5-2006
Malaysia’s PM Abdullah Badawi announced a national 5-year
plan. An elderly woman and three children were feared dead following a landslide
in Kuala Lumpur that destroyed 43 homes.
(AFP, 5/31/06)(Econ, 6/17/06, p.50)
-------------------------
14-7-2006
Malaysia's government declassified documents on negotiations
with Singapore over an aborted bridge in a bid to counter criticism from defiant
ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad.
(AFP, 7/14/06)
-------------------------
24-7-2006
A Malaysian princess was stabbed to death by her son as she
tried to stop him from attacking her husband (74). The son (21) later died of an
apparent drug overdose. Tengku Puteri Kamariah, whose brother is Sultan Ahmad
Shah, ruler of the eastern state of Pahang, died at her home in Pekan town,
Pahang.
(AP, 7/25/06)
-------------------------
3-8-2006
In Malaysia the Islamic world's largest organization of
countries demanded on that the UN implement an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon
and investigate what it called flagrant human rights violations by Israel.
(AP, 8/3/06)
-------------------------
14-8-2006
Malaysia said it would issue a "big fat no" to any nation or
group that asked it to dismantle a system of positive discrimination for its
majority ethnic Malays as part of trade talks.
(AFP, 8/14/06)
-------------------------
25-8-2006
Japanese officials said Kazusaku Tezuka, the president of
precision instrument maker Mitutoyo Corp., was arrested along with four other
Mitutoyo executives and employees for the alleged export to Malaysia of
equipment that can be used in making nuclear weapons.
(AP, 8/25/06)
-------------------------
11-10-2006
Indonesia apologized to Singapore and Malaysia for the
choking haze over both countries and agreed to convene a meeting of regional
environment ministers to tackle the problem. This was the worst smog since 1997
and 1998, when tens of thousands of people were hospitalized.
(AP, 10/11/06)(Econ, 10/14/06, p.47)
-------------------------
19-10-2006
In Malaysia Altantuya Shaariibuu (28), a Mongolian model,
was kidnapped outside the house of Abdul Razak Baginda (46), who heads the
Malaysian Strategic Research Center think-tank. Shaariibuu was allegedly
extorting Baginda following an affair that had begun in 2004. She was killed and
her remains blown up with military-grade C-4 explosives and later found in an
isolated area south of the capital Kuala Lumpur. In Nov. Malaysian PM Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi vowed there would be no cover-up over her murder. Abdul Razak
allegedly abetted two policemen, Azilah Hadri (30) and Sirul Azhar Umar (35), to
commit the murder. In 2008 a court acquitted Razak of charges of abetting the
murder of Shaariibuu. In 2009 a Malaysian court sentenced two policemen to death
on charges of murdering Shaariibuu. An Appeals Court acquitted the men in 2013.
On Jan 13, 2015, a Federal Court unanimously ruled that the Appeals Court was
wrong in reversing the findings of the trial court.
(AFP, 11/9/06)(AFP, 11/16/06)(WSJ, 3/29/07, p.A1)(WSJ, 11/1/08, p.A8)(AP,
4/9/09)(AP, 1/13/15)
-------------------------
3-11-2006
Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin (44), a sultan in northeastern
Malaysia, was elected the country's next constitutional monarch under a unique
system where traditional state rulers take turns on the throne for five years.
Mizan, whose state has significant offshore oil and gas resources, will assume
the throne on Dec. 13 as Malaysia's 13th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the Malay title
of the monarch.
(AP, 11/3/06)
-------------------------
14-11-2006
The ninth Chief of Defense Forces' conference opened in
Malaysia. It brought together officials from 23 nations including the United
States, France, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.
(AP, 11/14/06)
-------------------------
28-11-2006
Malaysia's PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said ties between
Muslims and Christians are under "extreme stress" and the growing divide between
the faiths is threatening international stability.
(AP, 11/28/06)
-------------------------
12-12-2006
Malaysia's twelfth king, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin (63),
stepped down from his post after a five-year reign to make way for the next
monarch in a send-off steeped in color and tradition.
(AP, 12/12/06)
-------------------------
13-12-2006
Malaysia's unique revolving monarchy was passed to Sultan
Mizan Zainal Abidin (44), the youthful sultan of oil-rich Terengganu state.
Mizan was a keen rider who has represented his country at international
equestrian events.
(AFP, 12/13/06)
-------------------------
18-12-2006
Venezuela's ruling party took the first step Monday toward
creating a single pro-government party, a move opponents criticized as a push to
consolidate more power in the hands of President Hugo Chavez after his landslide
re-election. Chavez met with Malaysia's PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to discuss
expanding trade and deepening ties.
(AP, 12/18/06)
--------------------------------------------------
20-12-2006
Officials said flooding caused by heavy monsoon rains has
forced more than 20,000 people to flee their homes in the southern Malaysian
state of Johor.
(AP, 12/20/06)
-------------------------
23-12-2006
Officials in Malaysia said 7 people had died and more than
90,000 displaced during the last week as the country recorded heavy rainfall.
(AP, 12/23/06)
-------------------------
24-12-2006
Officials said at least 94 people were killed and dozens
left missing by floods in Indonesia and Malaysia. Looting broke out in areas of
Malaysia abandoned because of rising waters.
(AP, 12/24/06)
-------------------------
2006
Malaysia’s Home Ministry banned the book "March 8," written by
Malaysian author K. Arumugam, which recounts clashes between ethnic Malay
Muslims and ethnic Indians. The strife killed six people on the outskirts of
Kuala Lumpur in 2001. In 2010 The Kuala Lumpur High Court upheld the ban saying
its publication could upset ethnic sensitivities already strained by recent
attacks on places of worship.
(AP, 2/12/10)
-------------------------
2006
Malaysia’s northern state of Terengganu counted 5 leatherback turtle
nests, as compared to some 6-10 thousand 50 years earlier and 800 in 1984. Local
eating of the turtle eggs and ocean fishing were said to account for the drop.
In 2007 experts considered cloning to raise the turtle count.
(Econ, 7/21/07, p.43)
-------------------------
2006
In Malaysia the murder rate this year increased 22%.
(Econ, 3/24/07, p.47)
-------------------------
24-1-2007
A study released about the trade in Malaysia found that
catches of some grouper species and the endangered Napoleon wrasse fell by as
much as 99% between 1995 to 2003, a period coinciding with soaring economic
growth in countries where the exotic fish are a delicacy.
(AP, 1/24/07)
-------------------------
2-2-2007
Malaysia said it is ready to halt free trade talks with the
United States after a US lawmaker called for a suspension in protest over an
energy deal with Iran signed in January.
(AFP, 2/2/07)
-------------------------
21-2-2007
Human Rights Watch condemned Malaysia's plan to introduce
tough laws that curb the movements of migrant employees and allow employers "to
lock up workers."
(AP, 2/21/07)
-------------------------
22-2-2007
A court ordered Malaysia's government to pay a 69-year-old
British man $857,000 for seizing his passport and preventing him from leaving
the country in Dec, 1981.
(AP, 2/23/07)
-------------------------
26-2-2007
Malaysia's securities watchdog said it has frozen two local
bank accounts, shut down two Web sites and questioned several people suspected
to be involved in a global Internet investment scam. In March 3 men were
indicted by the US for securities fraud. The indictment named Jaisankar
Marimuthu (32) of India, Thirugnanam Ramanathan (34), an Indian residing in
Malaysia, and Chockalingam Ramanathan (33) of Chennai, India. The 1st two were
arrested in Hong Kong, while the 3rd remained at large.
(AP, 2/26/07)(WSJ, 3/13/07, p.B5)
-------------------------
27-2-2007
A report said Malaysian environmental and residents' groups
are joining forces to buy swathes of forest in a desperate bid to save them from
developers.
(AFP, 2/27/07)
-------------------------
15-3-2007
The European Commission and the UN Development Program said
Malaysia should empower its forest-dependent indigenous people to alleviate
poverty and safeguard their environment.
(AP, 3/15/07)
-------------------------
22-3-2007
Malaysia and Thailand agreed to map out a series of
socio-economic measures to end rising sectarian tensions and violence in the
kingdom's insurgency-wracked south.
(AFP, 3/22/07)
-------------------------
27-3-2007
The US offered a $5 million reward for information leading
to the capture of a US-trained Malaysian engineer accused of involvement in a
series of deadly bombings in the Philippines.
(AP, 3/27/07)
-------------------------
31-3-2007
A report said Malaysia's top anti-corruption official, who
is facing a police investigation into graft allegations against him, will not
have his contract renewed.
(AP, 3/31/07)
-------------------------
7-4-2007
Malaysian ministers issued fresh attacks on bloggers,
threatening to take away their rights and accusing them of trying to overthrow
the government, according to reports.
(AFP, 4/7/07)
-------------------------
13-4-2007
In Malaysia the Negeri Sembilan state government closed down
a museum exhibition on ghosts, ghouls and supernatural beings after Islamic
clerics claimed it was detrimental to Muslims' faith.
(AP, 4/14/07)
-------------------------
26-4-2007
Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia's 13th king, formally
ascended the throne, pledging to reign wisely and safeguard the sanctity of
Islam in a ceremony marked by traditional Malay rites and imperial pageantry.
Malaysia's system allows each of its hereditary state rulers to take turns
reigning as the country's constitutional monarch for five years each.
(AP, 4/26/07)
-------------------------
1-5-2007
It was reported that Malaysian doctors have declared neckties
a health hazard and called on the heath ministry to stop insisting that
physicians wear them.
(Reuters, 5/1/07)
-------------------------
10-5-2007
The armed forces of Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to step up
cooperation to boost security along shared borders after successful patrols in
the Malacca Strait.
(AFP, 5/10/07)
-------------------------
14-5-2007
Malaysia’s PM Badawi hosted Singapore’s Premier Lee Hsein
Lloong for a 2-day talk on economic cooperation.
(WSJ, 5/14/07, p.A8)
-------------------------
30-5-2007
Malaysia's top civil court rejected a woman's appeal to be
recognized as a Christian, in a landmark case that tested the limits of
religious freedom in this moderate Islamic country. A three-judge Federal Court
panel ruled by a 2-1 majority that only the Islamic Shariah Court has the power
to allow her to remove the word "Islam" from the religion category on her
government identity card. Judge Richard Malanjum, the only non-Muslim on the
panel, sided with Lina Joy, saying it was "unreasonable" to ask her to turn to
the Shariah Court because she could face criminal prosecution there.
(AP, 5/30/07)
-------------------------
6-6-2007
In Malaysia Nyambang Entuhan (37) shot and killed five people
during a wedding reception on remote Borneo island. In 2010 he was sentenced to
death as well as to 22 years in prison for wounding nine others and illegal
firearm possession.
(AP, 5/8/10)(http://tinyurl.com/22qhgzv)
-------------------------
12-6-2007
A senior official said security cameras are monitoring
government workers in northeastern Malaysia to keep them from slacking off or
vanishing for extended tea breaks.
(AP, 6/12/07)
-------------------------
17-7-2007
Najib Razak, Malaysia’s deputy prime minister, said Malaysia
is an Islamic state and not a secular one, while carefully assuring members of
minority faiths that their rights will be protected. More than 60% of Malaysia's
27 million people are Muslim Malays and Islam is the official religion under the
country's constitution. But while the constitution defines the ethnic majority
Malays as Muslims it also guarantees freedom of religion.
(AFP, 7/17/07)
-------------------------
13-8-2007
In Malaysia 20 people died after an express bus overturned
on the main highway, tearing off the vehicle's roof and flinging seats into the
air in what officials said was the country's worst traffic disaster. The toll
rose to 22 after 2 injured people died later.
(AP, 8/13/07)(AP, 8/20/07)
-------------------------
13-8-2007
Armed pirates attacked a Malaysian barge in the Malacca
Strait and kidnapped 2 Indonesian crew, in the first high sea abduction in the
busy waterway in more than 2 years.
(AP, 8/14/07)
-------------------------
8-9-2007
A late night riot broke out in Malaysia’s northeastern state
of Terengganu after a group of opposition parties, including the main Islamist
party, held an illegal rally. Malaysian police fired live rounds to quell the
riot wounding two men.
(Reuters, 9/9/07)
-------------------------
10-10-2007
A Russian rocket blasted off from Kazakhstan's Baikonur
launch pad, carrying 3 astronauts to the international space station. Sheikh
Muszaphar Shukor, an orthopedic surgeon and university lecturer from Kuala
Lumpur, left Earth alongside Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and American
astronaut Peggy Whitson. Shukor was selected from among 11,000 Malaysian
candidates to fly aboard the ISS in a deal his government arranged with Russia
as part of a $1 billion purchase of Russian fighter jets. Whitson will be the
first woman to command the outpost.
(Reuters, 9/20/07)(AP, 10/10/07)(SFC, 10/11/07, p.A8)
-------------------------
23-10-2007
Lim Goh Tong (b.1918), Chinese businessman, died in Kuala
Lumpur. The casino king of Malaysia had made a fortune in gambling casinos and a
cruise fleet. His family fortune was estimated at $4.2 billion.
(AP, 10/23/07)(WSJ, 10/27/07, p.A6)
-------------------------
6-11-2007
Singapore presented its case regarding sovereignty of three
disputed islands in the Pacific Ocean at the International Court of Justice
(ICJ) at The Hague, a claim disputed by Malaysia.
(AFP, 11/6/07)
-------------------------
10-11-2007
Malaysian police unleashed tear gas and water cannons on
protesters as tens of thousands, wearing canary-yellow shirts, defied a
government ban and rallied in Kuala Lumpur to call for clean and fair elections
in the biggest anti-government street protests in nearly a decade. Some 245
people were detained.
(AP, 11/10/07)(AP, 11/11/07)(Econ, 11/17/07, p.53)
-------------------------
11-11-2007
Proton, Malaysia’s national car maker, said it planned to
team up with companies in Iran and Turkey to produce "Islamic cars" for the
global market.
(http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/12/news/international/bc.mi.malaysia.islamicc.ap/)
-------------------------
25-11-2007
In Malaysia some 10-20 thousand ethnic Indians clashed with
police at a rally in downtown Kuala Lumpur to demand economic equality.
(AP, 11/27/07)(AP, 12/16/07)
-------------------------
5-12-2007
A Tibetan woman said that she pulled out of a beauty pageant
in Malaysia after organizers, reacting to pressure from Beijing, told her
halfway through the event that she could only participate if she added "China"
to her "Miss Tibet" title.
(AP, 12/6/07)
-------------------------
13-12-2007
Malaysia said it has arrested five leaders of ethnic Indian
rights group Hindraf under controversial security laws that allow for detention
without trial.
(AFP, 12/13/07)
-------------------------
16-12-2007
Malaysia’s Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi intervened to head
off rising anger among the Southeast Asian country's ethnic Indian population
after a rare public rally on Nov 25 led to violent clashes with police.
(AP, 12/16/07)
-------------------------
24-12-2007
Malaysia's government unveiled a major initiative to protect
Hindu temples, hoping to pacify ethnic Indians who complain that hundreds of
their places of worship have been demolished in this Muslim-majority country.
(AP, 12/24/07)
-------------------------
26-12-2007
Iran and Malaysia signed a $16 billion agreement to develop
two Iranian gas fields, in a deal described as the largest energy contract in
Iran.
(AP, 12/26/07)
-------------------------
2007
Malaysia’s Prince Naquiyuddin Jaafar founded the EntoGenex biotech
company. It took a pre-existing protein called the Trypsin Modulating Oostatic
Factor (TMOF) and by 2012 developed it into what he called a fatal "diet pill"
for mosquitoes. The firm combined the TMOF with bacillus thuringiensis
israelensis (Bti) bacteria, which eats holes in the guts of larvae but is
non-toxic to people. He hoped it could potentially become a weapon in the even
larger fight against malaria, which kills an estimated 650,000 people per year.
(AFP, 6/6/12)
-------------------------
2007
The population of Malaysia numbered about 27 million people.
(Econ, 6/2/07, p.42)
-------------------------
5-1-2008
Malaysia’s New Straits Times said Malaysian police have
arrested a beauty parlor owner and a farmer suspected of distributing a sex
video showing a former Health Minister Chua Soi Lek committing adultery. Soi Lek
resigned Jan 2 after admitting he was the man in the video.
(AP, 1/5/08)
-------------------------
23-1-2008
In Malaysia tens of thousands of ethnic Indian Malaysians
gathered at the Batu Caves temple outside Kuala Lumpur to celebrate Thaipusam,
one of Hinduism’s biggest festivals. In past years over a million have turned
out. The reduced turnout was due to a boycott called by the Hindu rights Action
Force (Hindraf), despite PM Badawi’s promise to make Thaipusam a public holiday
in the capital.
(Econ, 1/26/08, p.42)
-------------------------
26-1-2008
Malaysian police detained 53 activists in a crackdown on a
planned opposition-led protest over inflation ahead of national elections
expected within weeks.
(AP, 1/26/08)
-------------------------
13-2-2008
Malaysia’s government dissolved Parliament, opening the way
for elections.
(WSJ, 2/14/08, p.A1)
-------------------------
8-3-2008
Malaysia's ruling coalition was dealt a shock rebuke in
elections that looked set to deliver the key state of Penang to the opposition
as well as a slice of its majority in parliament. The National Front won only
140 seats, or 63 percent of the constituencies, losing its two-thirds majority
for the first time since 1969 and slumping from its 2004 landslide victory when
it won 91 percent of the seats. An alliance of three opposition parties also
secured control of 5 of Malaysia’s 13 state administrations. The Democratic
Action party won the Penang legislative assembly, becoming the first opposition
party to win in Penang in over 40 years.
(AFP, 3/8/08)(AP, 3/9/08)(WSJ, 3/10/08, p.A3)(Econ, 8/13/11, p.40)
-------------------------
10-3-2008
In Malaysia PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was sworn in for a new
5-year term despite calls for his resignation. Malaysian stocks fell over 10%
and triggered for the first time a limit-down rule established after the
1997-1998 Asian financial crises.
(WSJ, 3/11/08, p.C7)
-------------------------
11-3-2008
Top leaders Malaysia's opposition-ruled states will no
longer follow a longtime affirmative action program that benefits the majority
Malays, in the wake of an election upheaval that clipped the ruling coalition's
powers.
(AP, 3/11/08)
-------------------------
31-3-2008
Malaysia's Islamic opposition party delivered a protest note
to the Netherlands' embassy over the release of an anti-Islam movie by a
maverick Dutch lawmaker, while hard-line Muslims in neighboring Indonesia
demanded the death of the filmmaker.
(AP, 3/31/08)
-------------------------
2008 Mar,
Malaysian police arrested 2 Mexican brothers at a secluded meth
factory along with a Singaporean and a Malaysian. Police seized more than 60
pounds (nearly 30 kg) of methamphetamine worth $15 million.
(AP, 4/25/11)
-------------------------
2008 Mar,
The population of Malaysia numbered about 28 million people.
About 3.9 million had dial-up internet subscriptions and 1.2 million had
broadband.
(Econ, 3/15/08, p.52)
-------------------------
16-4-2008
The Malaysian government shut down the Tamil-language Makkal
Osai, or People's Voice, a newspaper catering to ethnic minority Indians. The
next day the daily's news editor slammed the move as punishment for its critical
coverage of social and political issues.
(AP, 4/17/08)
-------------------------
21-4-2008
Malaysia's leg of the Olympic torch relay passed off
largely without incident with a heavy police presence netting just five
protesters and thousands of well-wishers braving torrential rain.
(AP, 4/21/08)
-------------------------
8-5-2008
A Malaysian Islamic court allowed a Chinese convert to
renounce Islam in a rare decision for this conservative Muslim-led nation. Siti
Fatimah, or Tan Ean Huang (38), said she had never practiced Islamic teachings
since she converted in 1998 and only did so to enable her to marry Iranian
Ferdoun Ashanian.
(AFP, 5/8/08)
-------------------------
23-5-2008
The International Court of Justice awarded Singapore
sovereignty over a disputed island at the eastern entrance of the Singapore
Straits. The ICJ ruled in favor of Singapore in the 28-year dispute with
Malaysia over a tiny but strategic uninhabited island the size of half a
football field. The court, however, gave Malaysia ownership of a smaller
uninhabited outcropping. Sovereignty over a third disputed cluster of rocks was
left to be determined later between the countries when they sort our their
territorial waters.
(AP, 5/23/08)
-------------------------
3-6-2008
A Cabinet minister said Malaysia will remove price controls
on gasoline and diesel, allowing stations to sell fuel at world market prices in
an attempt to reduce the government's ballooning subsidy bill.
(AP, 6/3/08)
-------------------------
5-6-2008
Malaysia's government faced street demonstrations and public
outrage over its decision to hike petrol prices 41 percent overnight, in a bid
to curb its massive subsidies bill.
(AP, 6/5/08)
-------------------------
18-6-2008
A party in Malaysia's 14-party ruling coalition called for a
vote of no confidence against the prime minister, in a serious blow to the
embattled government.
(AFP, 6/18/08)
-------------------------
28-6-2008
In Malaysia a male volunteer, working for the political
campaign of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, lodged a police report accusing him
of sexual assault.
(Econ, 7/5/08, p.51)
-------------------------
29-6-2008
Malaysia's de facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim took
refuge at the Turkish embassy due to fears he could be assassinated after fresh
accusations of sodomy.
(AP, 6/29/08)
-------------------------
1-7-2008
Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim vowed to seize
power from a "corrupt" government at a rally of some 15,000 supporters as he
fights back against new sodomy accusations.
(AFP, 7/2/08)
-------------------------
8-7-2008
At Developing Eight summit of Islamic nations, meeting in
Kuala Lumpur, the leaders of Indonesia and Malaysia called for boosting world
food production and finding a permanent solution to skyrocketing oil prices,
saying the twin problems have become "grave threats" to the world economy.
(AP, 7/8/08)
-------------------------
14-7-2008
Malaysian police locked down Parliament with roadblocks and
massive security to prevent opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and his supporters
from attending a key debate.
(AP, 7/14/08)
-------------------------
15-7-2008
Malaysian police issued an arrest warrant for opposition
leader Anwar Ibrahim in connection with a sodomy accusation by a male former
aide.
(AP, 7/15/08)
-------------------------
16-7-2008
Malaysian police arrested opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on
suspicion that he sodomized a male aide, pre-empting his voluntary appearance at
the police headquarters to answer the allegation. He was interrogated for more
than eight hours and made to sleep on a "cold cement" floor in a holding cell
before being released the next day.
(AP, 7/16/08)(AP, 7/17/08)
-------------------------
19-8-2008
Armed pirates seized the MT Bunga Melati Dua, a Malaysian
palm oil tanker with 39 crew, off the coast of Somalia, the fourth hijacking in
a month.
(AP, 8/20/08)
-------------------------
26-8-2008
Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim won a "landslide"
victory in a by-election to return him to parliament, and said he was on track
to oust a weakened government. The Malays National Organization (UMNO) and its
allies had ruled since independence in 1957.
(AFP, 8/26/08)(Econ, 8/30/08, p.39)
-------------------------
29-8-2008
Pirates, believed to be Somali, hijacked the Malaysian MT
Bunga Melati 5 tanker and its 41 crew members off Yemen's coast in the Gulf of
Aden. It was the second tanker owned by MISC Berhard to be hijacked in the gulf
in the last 10 days.
(AP, 8/30/08)
-------------------------
5-9-2008
Malaysia said it is dispatching three navy vessels to the
Gulf of Aden to protect its merchant ships following a sharp surge in pirate
attacks off the coast of Somalia.
(AP, 9/5/08)
-------------------------
10-9-2008
Ahmad Ismail, a member of Malaysia's ruling party, was
suspended for three years for "stoking racial tensions" with incendiary comments
about ethnic Chinese that shook the governing coalition.
(AFP, 9/10/08)
-------------------------
29-9-2008
Somali Islamist insurgents attacked government forces and
African Union peacekeepers overnight in Mogadishu. At least four people were
killed in the clashes. Somalia pirates released Malaysia’s palm oil tanker, MT
Bunga Melati 2, two days after its first vessel was released.
(AP, 9/30/08)(AFP, 9/29/08)
-------------------------
8-10-2008
Malaysia’s PM Badawi said he will step down in March and hand
over power to his deputy in order to prevent a split in the UMNO party.
(WSJ, 10/9/08, p.A13)
-------------------------
15-10-2008
A Malaysian court ordered Tuanku Jaafar Tuanku Abdul Rahman
(86), the country's former king (1994-1999), to settle a $1 million debt to a
bank in a landmark verdict that ended a centuries-old tradition shielding the
country's royal sultans from legal prosecution.
(AP, 10/15/08)
-------------------------
16-10-2008
An influential council of Malaysia's state rulers warned
people not to question the supremacy of Islam or the special privileges enjoyed
by the country's ethnic Malay majority.
(AP, 10/17/08)
-------------------------
16-10-2008
Authorities in Malaysia and Singapore said they will
guarantee all foreign currency and local currency bank deposits.
(WSJ, 10/17/08, p.A5)
-------------------------
1-11-2008
Malaysia defended its recognition of Kosovo as an independent
state, a move that caused Serbia to expel the Southeast Asian nation's
ambassador.
(AP, 11/1/08)
-------------------------
10-11-2008
Malaysia's Scomi Engineering said its consortium with an
Indian company has won a 1.85 billion ringgit ($523 million) state contract to
build the first monorail in India.
(AP, 11/10/08)
-------------------------
22-11-2008
Malaysia's top Islamic body ruled against Muslims practicing
yoga, saying it has elements of other religions that could corrupt Muslims. On
Nov 25 Malaysia's leader assured Muslims they can perform yoga if they do not
chant religious mantras, an apparent effort to assuage public anger over an
Islamic body's ban of the ancient Indian exercise.
(AP, 11/22/08)(AP, 11/26/08)
-------------------------
22-11-2008
In Guatemala the head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Malaysia was among three people killed in a boat accident on Lake Atitlan.
(AP, 11/24/08)
-------------------------
24-11-2008
Malaysia released suspected terrorist Yazid Sufaat, an
alleged biological weapons expert who was also linked to the September 11
attacks in the United States.
(AFP, 12/10/08)
-------------------------
7-12-2008
In southern Malaysia a bus skidded off a highway, smashed
into a tree and plunged into a ditch, killing nine people and injuring 19
others.
(AP, 12/7/08)
-------------------------
11-12-2008
Malaysia's government drew flak after admitting it spent
1.68 million dollars a year on PM Badawi’s sprawling residence in the
administrative capital Putrajaya.
(AFP, 12/11/08)
-------------------------
11-12-2008
Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to heighten intelligence
cooperation to anticipate rising cross-border crime due to the impact of the
global economic crisis.
(AP, 12/11/08)
-------------------------
27-12-2008
In Malaysia Tuanku Ja'afar Tuanku Abdul Rahman (86), a royal
state ruler, died. He became Malaysia's king for five years (1994-1999) under
the country's unique monarchal system.
(AP, 12/28/08)
-------------------------
28-12-2008
Malaysia reported that it is zooming in on forests with a
satellite in order to fight illegal logging, which its government says is
harming the major timber exporting country.
(AFP, 12/28/08)
-------------------------
2008
Singapore sentenced Yong Vui Kong (19) of Malaysia to hang for
smuggling 47 grams (1.65 ounces) of heroin into Singapore. His third and final
appeal was rejected on April 4, 2012.
(AFP, 4/4/12)
=======================
1-1-2009
Somali pirates seized the Blue Star, an Egyptian cargo ship,
and its 28 crewmembers. A Malaysian military helicopter saved an Indian tanker
from being hijacked in the new year's first attacks by pirates in the dangerous
Gulf of Aden. A crew of the French warship "PM L'Her" dispatch boat intercepted
two speedboats carrying 8 Somali pirates as they were preparing to board a
Panamanian cargo ship. The Blue Star and its crew of 28 were freed on March 5
after a ransom was dropped from a plane.
(AP, 1/1/09)(AP, 1/2/09)(AP, 3/5/09)
-------------------------
7-1-2009
Wildlife activists said the box turtle is disappearing across
Malaysia because of increased illegal hunting for its meat and use in
traditional Chinese medicine.
(AP, 1/7/09)
-------------------------
17-1-2009
Malaysia's opposition snatched a parliamentary seat from the
beleaguered coalition government, in a by-election seen as a test of the
nation's political mood.
(AFP, 1/17/09)
-------------------------
15-2-2009
Authorities in Malaysia arrested 26 unmarried Muslim couples
in hotel rooms during Operation Valentine, aimed at curbing illegal premarital
sex in this conservative country.
(AP, 2/16/09)
-------------------------
19-2-2009
About 12 pirates armed with guns attacked the tug and barge
in the Malacca Strait and kidnapped two crew members as the vessel was en route
to Singapore.
(AP, 2/20/09)
-------------------------
1-3-2009
Officials said the Malaysian government will issue a new
decree restoring a ban on Christian publications using the word "Allah" to refer
to God.
(AP, 3/1/09)
-------------------------
10-3-2009
Malaysia’s government unveiled a 60 billion ringgit ($16.26
billion) economic stimulus plan amounting to 9% of GDP.
(WSJ, 3/11/09, p.A16)
-------------------------
17-3-2009
In Malaysia a battle for senior leadership posts in the
ruling party was hit with a bombshell as 15 members including several top
figures were found guilty in an anti-corruption probe.
(AFP, 3/17/09)
-------------------------
30-3-2009
Malaysia's national car maker Proton and Detroit Electric, a
Dutch-based company, signed a $555 million deal to make zero emission electric
cars that they said would be more powerful that any existing model.
(AP, 3/30/09)
-------------------------
1-4-2009
In Malaysia Mas Selamat Kastari, an Islamic militant
suspected of plotting a Sept. 11-style air attack, was arrested in Johor state,
more than a year after his dramatic escape from a high-security jail in
Singapore. He was arrested by Malaysian authorities with the cooperation of
Singaporean and Indonesian intelligence agencies.
(AP, 5/8/09)
-------------------------
2-4-2009
Malaysia's PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (69), in office for 5½
lackluster years, resigned to make way for Deputy PM Najib Razak, who must now
fix an economy close to recession, heal the country's deep racial divisions and
revive a moribund ruling party.
(AP, 4/2/09)
-------------------------
3-4-2009
Malaysian PM Najib Razak, in his first act after talking
office, freed 13 people being held under a law that allows indefinite detention
and lifted a ban on two opposition newspapers.
(AP, 4/3/09)
-------------------------
12-4-2009
Malaysian police rushed to a robbery scene only to find the
suspects were fellow officers. 3 men of a special elite police unit were
allegedly caught robbing five men at a house. One of the officers was armed with
a pistol.
(AP, 4/14/09)
-------------------------
23-4-2009
The editor of a Malaysian anti-government news Web site,
charged with sedition, went into hiding, prompting a court to order his arrest.
Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin, who runs the popular Malaysia Today Web site, failed
to appear for a court hearing on a sedition charge stemming from an article he
wrote that allegedly implied the prime minister was involved in the murder of a
Mongolian woman.
(AP, 4/23/09)
-------------------------
24-4-2009
Malaysia's PM Najib Razak vowed to investigate a scathing
report by US lawmakers saying thousands of Myanmar refugees were handed over to
human traffickers and ended up working in Thai brothels.
(AP, 4/24/09)
-------------------------
6-5-2009
Malaysian officials said 2 political activists have been
arrested ahead of a parliamentary showdown between the government and the
opposition over control of northern Perak state.
(AFP, 5/6/09)
-------------------------
7-5-2009
Animal welfare activists said more than 300 stray dogs,
dumped on isolated islands in Malaysia’s Selangor state, turned to cannibalism
after weeks of starvation.
(AP, 5/7/09)
-------------------------
8-5-2009
Malaysia said it will free 13 people detained under internal
security laws, including three ethnic Indian activists, members of the banned
ethnic Indian rights group Hindraf, held without trial since organizing
anti-government protests in 2007.
(AFP, 5/8/09)
-------------------------
15-5-2009
In Indonesia 6 Asia-Pacific countries, meeting at the World
Oceans Conference, agreed on a management plan to protect one of the world's
largest networks of coral reefs, promising to reduce pollution, eliminate
overfishing and improve the livelihoods of impoverished coastal communities. The
Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security covered an
area defined as the Coral Triangle, which spans Indonesia, the Philippines,
Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and East Timor.
(AP, 5/15/09)
-------------------------
18-5-2009
Somalia's war-torn government appealed for international
help to set up a coast guard, saying it would guarantee that sea piracy near its
shores is wiped out once it has such an agency. In Malaysia representatives of
the government, attending an international conference on piracy, ruled out
allowing foreign forces on Somali soil to destroy pirate bases.
(AP, 5/18/09)
-------------------------
27-5-2009
Malaysian police rescued three men shackled to the wall of a
filthy room for two months by illegal moneylenders after failing to repay their
debts.
(AP, 5/28/09)
-------------------------
16-6-2009
In Malaysia Teoh BEng Hock, a young aide to a state
councilor, fell from a window where Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)
officials had been questioning him. The MACC had been created earlier this year
from the ashes of another agency.
(Econ, 9/5/09, p.48)
-------------------------
16-6-2009
The US added six African countries to a blacklist of
countries trafficking in people, and put US trading partner Malaysia back on the
list. Chad, Eritrea, Niger, Mauritania, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe were added to
the list in the annual report. Removed from the list were Qatar, Oman, Algeria,
and Moldova.
(AFP, 6/16/09)
-------------------------
2009 Jun,
In Malaysia Hau Yuan Tyng (44), a single mother of two, pleaded
innocent to charges of assaulting Siti Hajar Sadli, her Indonesian maid, in one
case allegedly using hot water; in another, a hammer; and in a third, a pair of
scissors. In 2010 a court sentenced Tyng to eight years in prison for the abuse,
but allowed her to remain free on bail pending an appeal.
(AP, 5/20/10)
-------------------------
8-7-2009
Malaysian education officials announced that they will
abandon the use of English to teach math and science, bowing to protesters who
demanded more use of the national Malay language.
(SFC, 7/9/09, p.A2)
-------------------------
20-7-2009
In Malaysia Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno (32), a Muslim woman,
was sentenced to six lashes and a fine of 5,000 ringgit ($1,400) for having a
beer in a nightclub in Dec 2007. She would become the first woman in Malaysia to
be given the punishment under Islamic law. Her caning was delayed on Aug 24
because of the holy month of Ramadan. On Mar 30, 2010, the state's sultan spared
her the caning and instead ordered her to do 3 weeks of community service.
(AP, 7/21/09)(AP, 8/19/09)(AP, 8/24/09)(AP, 4/1/10)
-------------------------
1-8-2009
Police broke up Malaysia's biggest street protest in nearly
two years, firing tear gas and chemical-laced water at thousands of opposition
supporters demanding an end to a law that allows detention without trial.
(AP, 8/1/09)
-------------------------
1-9-2009
Malaysian police arrested Alain Robert (47), a French climber
nicknamed "Spiderman," after he scaled the iconic 88-story Petronas Twin Towers.
(AP, 9/1/09)
-------------------------
9-9-2009
A Malaysian government report said indigenous tribal girls
have been sexually abused by loggers in remote jungles on Borneo island, in the
first official verification of rape accusations involving timber companies.
(AP, 9/9/09)
-------------------------
11-9-2009
Malaysian authorities seized a consignment of 10,000 copies
of the Bible sent from Jakarta to Kuching in Sarawak state, because the
Indonesian-language books contained the word "Allah," a translation that has
been banned in this Muslim-majority country. Another 5,100 Bibles, also imported
from Indonesia, were reportedly seized in March. Church officials said Allah is
not exclusive to Islam but is an Arabic word that predates Islam.
(AP, 10/29/09)
-------------------------
28-9-2009
In Malaysia news reports said a judge has upheld a court
verdict to cane a Muslim woman for drinking beer, re-igniting a controversy over
Islamic justice in this moderate Muslim-majority country. The chief Shariah
judge of Pahang state ruled that a Shariah High Court's verdict against Kartika
Sari Dewi Shukarno (32) was correct and should stay.
(AP, 9/28/09)
-------------------------
18-11-2009
Islamic authorities in Malaysia charged a popular Muslim
scholar with delivering an illegal lecture in what critics considered an attempt
by conservative clerics to silence a leading moderate preacher. Asri Zainul
Abidin (38) has cultivated strong support among young people in the
Muslim-majority country for criticizing what he called overzealous efforts by
Islamic officials to clamp down on immoral behavior.
(AP, 11/18/09)
-------------------------
17-12-2009
Malaysian marine police rescued 62 pangolins. 2 days later
Malaysian wildlife authorities said they rescued 130 pangolins and arrested two
men attempting to smuggle the protected species. They were expected to be
illegally exported to China, Japan and Hong Kong, where animal's meat is
considered a delicacy with medicinal qualities.
(AFP, 12/20/09)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangolin)
-------------------------
31-12-2009
A Malaysian court ruled that a Catholic weekly, the Herald,
had a constitutional right to use the word Allah to refer to God, striking down
a government ban as illegal. On Jan 6, the High Court suspended its ruling
following an appeal by the government and with the consent of the Catholic
church.
(AP, 12/31/09)(Econ, 1/16/10, p.44)
-------------------------
الرئيسية 
التسجيل 
دخول 
الخميس مارس 05, 2015 12:43 am