What Kind Of Stories Did Malaysians Share The Most In 2016?
The top 16 SAYS viral stories of the year 2016.
By Nandini Balakrishnan — 23 Dec 2016, 08:50 PM
1. Believe it or not, the unbelievable price tags at the newly opened ISETAN The Japan Store got the attention of our readers the most!
Malaysians were both fascinated and curious about how scrub brushes and brooms can cost a whopping RM221 and RM530, respectively. (380,897 reads)
2. Fancy brooms and brushes were followed by a major debacle caused by Prime Minister Najib Razak's son, Norashman Najib.
Malaysians have a "special" place in their hearts for any news or issue concerning the country's "first family", and Norashman stoked the fire when news broke out that he had apparently asked a popular DJ to end his set early so that he could play at Zouk Singapore. (241,821 reads)
3. 2016 saw the ringgit falling, prices being hiked and the overall growth of the economy taking a backseat. With that in mind, many Malaysians were seen talking and toying with the idea of migrating to greener pastures.
Australia's Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) released a list of occupations that were widely shared. It said that people with these occupations would have a greater chance of migrating there, as 68% of Australia's permanent migration places are allocated for Skilled Migrants. (187,077 reads)
4. Heavy rain and floods are quite common in Malaysia, especially during the monsoon season but in an interesting and destructive turn of events, KL was hit with a massive hailstorm in early June.
It damaged a lot of vehicles and properties, including the Standard Chartered office building. The thunderstorm that came along with it, caused flash floods and miraculously, "snow" was spotted near Astro's office in Bukit Jalil! (186,729 reads)
5. Donald J. Trump has a way of making the world notice him - from sexist remarks to wanting to ban Muslims from America, the masses including Malaysians were keeping a close eye on the US Presidential Elections.
So, when Trump won and became the next President of the USA, people went crazy and our Trump's victory announcement story got shocked Malaysians sharing it extensively. (184,897 reads)
6. Towards the end of 2016, we saw a lot of sudden fuel and petrol hikes. It forced Malaysians to reflect and speak up against it on social media channels mainly.
In the midst of that, a young Malaysian lecturer's open letter to PM Najib Razak went viral as many said it perfectly described the sentiments of Malaysians about the price hikes.
(160,217 reads)
7. One of the hottest and most notorious topics of 2016 came in the form of the 1MDB scandal. The issue which is allegedly linked to high profile figures including PM Najib Razak, his stepson and several other businessmen, took the center stage in both Malaysian and world news.
Determined to put the culprits behind bars and debunk the mystery behind 1MDB, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit to seize dozens of properties worth more than USD13 billion that were bought with 1MDB funds. (135,166 reads)
Malaysian businessman Jho Low had allegedly bought a Bombardier jet in 2010 for about USD35.3 million by misappropriating funds from 1MDB.
Image via Bombardier8. We Malaysians know and love how beautiful Malaysia is - our exciting cities, calming beaches and great food has made us one of the leading travel spots in the world.
So, we couldn't help but to spread and share the joy when Ipoh was named as one of the top 10 cities in Lonely Planet's first-ever Best in Asia list. (129,326 reads)
9. Mohamad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi created history when he won Malaysia's first ever gold medal at the Paralympic Games held in Rio this year.
The victory was made even sweeter, when he made Malaysians tear up by realising the decades-long dream of hearing the national anthem, 'Negaraku' being played at the Paralympics. (122,657 reads)
10. Sejarah was a subject that very few liked back in school. While it covered most important bits of South East Asian history, it may have left out an important part - the origins of the languages spoken in Malaysian.
We decided to specifically look into Chinese dialects like Hokkien, Cantonese, and Hakka to name a few to help people better understand these dialects. (122,069 reads)
An illustration depicting the Chinese immigrants' arrival and tin miners in Malaya.
Image via Devology Wordpress11. When you think of school teachers in Malaysia, most of us would get flashes of strict, scary people. So, when the Internet discovered this beautiful, young Maths teacher, Oksana Neveselaya from Belarus, the Internet pretty much exploded with photos of her.
Just days after she was "discovered", Malaysians found out that she was holidaying here. So, we got excited and compiled some of her vacation photos in Malaysia! (114,496 reads)
P.S. It was later revealed that Oksana Neveselaya is not a Maths teacher, but is actually a 17-year-old school student. She rose to fame after a video of a girl who resembles her went viral.
12. Most local restaurants are usually known to be accommodating to parents with toddlers except for this one eatery in 1Utama, Oriental Cravings that made a mother's dining experience a total hell.
It all started when her 11-month-old baby accidentally broke a bowl and knocked over a utensil. The shopkeeper kicked up a fuss and told the mum that she will have to pay for the bowl her son broke. (113,504 reads)
13. Most people would agree that driving an auto car is a lot simpler than driving a manual one. Despite that, like any other vehicle, an auto car requires a certain amount of care and maintenance.
We curated a list of things that you should never do to your auto car to ensure that it runs at its best. (110,204 reads)
14. Asia's largest low-cost airline, AirAsia has always been Malaysia's pride and joy and a true trendsetter.
Keeping up with that, in November, they moved to their swanky new office near KLIA2 and it looks more like a fancy playground than an office! (107,808 reads)
15. School most often holds a bittersweet spot in our minds and hearts.
Regardless of that, the 11 years worth of memories and experiences will stay with us for the rest of our lives. We compiled 20 things that might bring a rush of memories if you went to a Chinese school here. (104,940 reads)
16. Last but certainly not the least, was the long-awaited opening of Japan's popular convenience store, FamilyMart in KL!
Malaysians' fascination with all things Japanese is a long-term love affair that blossomed when we did this piece to inform locals that FamilyMart is finally open at Wisma Lim Foo Yong in Jalan Raja Chulan. (99,946 reads)
