How many tourists did Malaysia really get in 2013?

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2013 was another bumper year for international visitors to Malaysia, at least according to the official statistics. In truth, both the total number of tourists – 25.72 million – and their total spend – RM65.44 billion – are massively inflated.

Malaysia has supposedly experienced a huge tourist boom since 1998, when just 5.56 million international visitors came to the country. That’s a near quadrupling in the space of just 15 years! During the same period, total tourist spend has risen by a scarcely believable 660 per cent, from just RM8.6 billion. Continue reading How many tourists did Malaysia really get in 2013?

Malaysia’s unsustainable palm oil industry

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The news that Malaysia is about to pull out of the most respected international certification scheme for sustainable palm oil should come as no surprise. After all, the country has a long history of signing up to global agreements which it has absolutely no intention of honouring, such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and CITES (the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). Continue reading Malaysia’s unsustainable palm oil industry