10 facts about Malaysia

Here are some unique facts about Malaysia!

1. The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, which is the Malaysian capital, were the world’s tallest buildings until 2004. Standing 451.9 meters high with 88 stories, the structures remain as the world’s tallest twin buildings.

2. What may be the world’s richest unrecovered treasure trove from a sunken ship rests somewhere on the sea floor in Malaysia’s Strait of Malacca. The Portuguese ship Flora de la mar was returning home loaded with what was then the largest treasure collected by the Portuguese navy when it sank in December 1511. Today, modern-day pirates are known to patrol the Malaysian strait.

3. Did you know that Singapore was once a part of Malaysia? On 9th August 1965, Singapore got separated from Malaysia and became a sovereign state. All this happened due to economic and political disputes between both countries. Even racial riots took place in 1964 that defined the separation between Singapore and Malaysia.

4. Malaysia follows a unique rotating monarchy system, according to which nine ethnic Malay state rulers take turns to become the king for a term of five years.

5. Malaysia has 65,877 kilometres of highway roads in all, which is 1.5 times the circumference of the Earth.

6. Malaysian law permits caning as a form of punishment. The maximum number of strokes which can be ordered is 24; and women and boys under the age of 10 or men over 50 years of age cannot be caned, except when charged with rape.

7. The famous shoe designer Jimmy Choo was born in Penang in Malaysia and this also happens to be one of the lesser-known facts about Malaysia. A favourite of Princess Diana, he was also awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2003 by Queen Elizabeth II.

8. Did you know that Malaysians require a visa in order to travel in their own country? Since the states of Sabah and Sarawak have their own immigration laws, even Malaysians need a passport when travelling between East and Peninsular Malaysia.

9. Malay brides wear their wedding rings on the fourth finger of their right hand, and this ring is placed on this finger by a senior female relative of the groom, instead of being placed by the groom himself.

10. Traditionally, pregnant Malay women are not supposed to tie or kill anything, since it might cause the birth of a baby who is deformed or has birthmarks. They should also refrain from seeing anything ugly or scary during their pregnancy.

So that was all for Malaysia. Do let us know how did you find these facts in the comments section below!

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