Malaysia

Malaysia’s popular residency programme for wealthy foreigners, known as Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H), has been facing delays and uncertainty amid policy changes and the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting the applicants and the property market. The MM2H programme, launched in 2002, allows foreigners who meet certain criteria to obtain a 10-year renewable visa and enjoy various benefits, such as buying property, …

Malaysia has announced that it will not allow any ships flying the Israeli flag to enter or use its ports, in a show of solidarity with the Palestinians amid the ongoing war in Gaza. The decision was made by the Malaysian Cabinet on Wednesday, following a proposal by the Transport Ministry. The ministry said that the ban was a response …

A 14-year-old Rohingya girl sits on the concrete floor of her bedroom, where she says her 35-year-old husband rapes her nearly every night. She is one of the scores of underage Rohingya girls who have been forced into abusive marriages with older men in Malaysia, after fleeing violence and starvation in Myanmar and Bangladesh. The girl, identified by her first …

Meta and TikTok said on Wednesday they had seen a sharp increase in requests from the Malaysian government to remove content, as the country faces growing criticism over its crackdown on free speech and dissent. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said it received 1,029 requests from the Malaysian authorities to restrict or remove content in the first half …

Pendatang, which means “outsider” or “foreigner” in Malay, is a dystopian thriller that plays on Malaysia’s ethnic tensions. It is the country’s first entirely crowdfunded film that aims to share one of many perspectives on the possible impact and danger of racial politics on the lives of ordinary people. The film is set in a future Malaysia where the different …

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced a cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday, adding new ministers and deputy ministers to his administration. The reshuffle, which was widely anticipated, came after a year of leading the unity government that was formed following the 2022 general election. Anwar said the reshuffle was aimed at enhancing the performance and delivery of the government, as well …

A Malaysian bank has issued a sell recommendation for Starbucks shares, citing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the rising cost of living on consumer spending. Bank Rakyat Malaysia (BRM) said in a note on Friday that it expects Starbucks to face lower demand and margins in the second half of 2023, as consumers cut back on discretionary spending …

Malaysia’s anti-corruption agency has launched a probe into the lawyers who represented the government and Goldman Sachs in a settlement deal over the 1MDB scandal. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) raided the offices of two law firms, Rosli Dahlan Sarvana Partnership (RDS Partnership) and Chetan Jetwani & Company, last week and seized documents related to the negotiations. The MACC said …

Malaysia is set to offer visa-free entry to Chinese tourists starting from next month, in a bid to boost its tourism industry that has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced the policy during his recent visit to China, saying that it would benefit both countries and strengthen their bilateral ties. However, some Malaysian tour …

In a bizarre twist of fate, a 27-year-old Malaysian woman, Norazlina Awang, found herself at the center of an unexpected windfall when a whopping US$86.6 million (RM360 million) landed in her bank account due to a banking hiccup. Unfolding in Kuala Lumpur, Norazlina, employed as a clerk at a local car dealership, stumbled upon this colossal sum on February 1, …