Graphics and Words by Caitlin Chuah
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Many students are opting to stay in Malaysia to further their studies rather than going abroad. This is due to the ever-increasing quality of teaching, academic institutions and standards of living here in Malaysia. Hence, to encourage this trend, here are 20 fun facts about Malaysia that will instil in you a newfound interest in our country!
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1. Our national currency, the Ringgit, means 'jagged' in Malay; it refers to the serrated edges of the Spanish silver dollars that were used in the 16th and 17th centuries.
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2. Before our country was named Malaysia, or even Malaya, it was called Aurea Chersonesus, which means ¡°peninsula of gold¡±; the name was given by a Greco-Roman geographer named Ptolemy.
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3. The Sarawak Cave Chamber is the largest cave chamber in the world; it¡¯s so vast that it can fit 40 Boeing 747s without the planes overlapping their wings.
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4. Perak Man, found in 1991, is the oldest (11,000 years old) and only complete human skeleton to have been found in Southeast Asia.
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5. The Petronas Twin Towers used to be the tallest building in the world until 2004; it is still currently the tallest twin towers in the world.
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6. The Malaysian flag was designed by Mohamad Hamzah, a 29-year-old architect who won the flag designing contest in 1963.
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7. The English word ketchup is believed to have been derived from the Hokkien word' ke-tsiap', which refers to a fermented sauce; the sauce was brought to Malacca by Chinese traders, where Europeans first stumbled across it.
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8. The biggest roundabout in the world is located in Putrajaya, with a total diameter of 3.5km.
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9. Malaysia is the only country in the world to possess territory on the mainland of Southeast Asia as well as on the islands that stretch between Asia and Oceania.
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10. Borneo is the third-largest island in the whole world, after Greenland and New Guinea.
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11. Malaysia has 65,877 kilometres of highway roads altogether; longer than the circumference of the Earth (40,075 kilometres).
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12. The Malayan Tiger is native to Malaysia; unfortunately, the species is now critically endangered, with less than 350 Malayan Tigers existing on the entire planet.
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13. The richest unrecovered treasure from a sunken ship lies on the seafloor in the Strait of Malacca. In December 1511, a Portuguese ship was returning home carrying the largest treasure that the Portuguese navy had collected when the ship sank. Today, the area is patrolled by modern-day pirates.
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14. Established in AD 1136 on the Malay Peninsula, the Sultanate of Kedah is one of the oldest sultanates in the world.
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15. Malaysia is home to one of the tallest tropical trees of the world, the Tualang, which has a base diameter of over 10 feet and grows up to 262 feet in height.
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16. Malaysia is the third-largest natural rubber producer in the world and the world's largest supplier of rubber gloves.
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17. The Iban community calls a newborn baby 'ulat', which means a worm, till the baby is named. According to tradition, the baby must be named after a deceased relative. When a few names have been shortlisted, rice balls representing each name are prepared and the first rice ball that the fighting cock pecks at decides the name.
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18. 17-year-old Kok Shoo Yin was the first-ever Malaysia citizen certificate holder when he got his official documentation on 14th November 1957.
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19. The Bintagor Trees, which can only be found in Sarawak, are believed to have qualities that can possibly cure AIDS.
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20. Malaysia's Kinabalu National Park is home to the Rafflesia arnoldii, the largest flower in the world; it is also known as the ¡°corpse flower¡± due to its strong odour that is similar to a rotting corpse.
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If you are interested in furthering your studies, feel free to contact us. Our services include: education and career counselling, assistance in college/university applications, student visa application, arranging accommodation and more!