Things That Happened In Malaysia 10 Years Ago

If we were to make an educated guess, you were probably ten years younger than you are now ten years ago. Yes, impressive, we know. Did you also know that Dark Knight, Iron Man and Quantum of Solace were released back in 2008? Also, Mariah Carey wanted us to touch her body, Spotify was launched and Barack Obama became the first African-American to be elected President of the United States. But what happened here in Malaysia? That’s what this list is about lah, read on.

THE SECOND GEN SAGA WAS LAUNCHED

The second generation of “the people’s car” was released in January 2008 with 3 different variants and it was also known as the Saga BLM. In less than 2 weeks, over 23,000 bookings were received and it soon replaced the old Iswara as the model for local taxis.

PAVILION OFFICIALLY OPENS

The best mall to look at things you wish you could buy.

Strategically located in KL’s Golden Triangle, the sorta ‘atas’ mall known as Pavilion KL was officially launched by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in February 2008. It was actually built on the site of the oldest school in Kuala Lumpur (Bukit Bintang Girls' School) which was then moved to Cheras after its demolition.

ARMED ROBBERS GET AWAY WITH RM3.5 MIL

The bullet hole at KLIA's Departure Hall

In just a span of three minutes, six armed robbers shot and wounded six people and walked away with RM3.5 million in cash at KLIA. It all happened while two money changers were walking to Gate 8 of the airport escorted by two security guards when the robbers made their move.

PENANG AND MALACCA GET ADDED TO UNESCO'S WORLD HERITAGE LIST

Two places with unarguably the best food in Malaysia were finally added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List after four years of bidding for the position. Needless to say, both towns started seeing a huge spike of tourists after.

LEE CHONG WEI BAGS A SILVER MEDAL

For the first time since the 1996 Summer Olympics, Malaysia bagged a medal for the Olympic Games thanks for our champ Lee Chong Wei who won a silver medal on August 17. The winner of course was China’s Lin Dan who considered the match as “the best of his entire career and his whole life.”

SHAH RUKH KHAN BECOMES A DATUK

Bollywood heartthrob Shah Rukh Khan received the Darjah Mulia Seri Melaka (DMSM) award which carries the “Datuk” title from the Malacca state governer, Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob. This was met with mixed reactions as some felt Shah Rukh Khan probably doesn't even know how satay celup or chicken rice balls tastes like (read: unfamiliar with Malacca) and that there were more deserving local artistes for the title.

CONSTRUCTION FOR PENANG'S SECOND BRIDGE BEGAN

AKA the Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge

Construction work for the longest bridge in South East Asia was expected to begin in early 2008 but was then delayed “due to land acquisition and design issues, in addition to the rising costs of building materials.” On November 2008, construction was finally launched by the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) for the RM4.5 billion bridge. The bridge officially opened in 2014.

OF MOVIES AND CONCERTS

In entertainment related news, Jay Chou performed for the fourth time in Malaysia, Incubus and John Legend performed at the Sunburst KL International Music Festival and Malaysia’s first drift film, ‘Evolusi KL Drift’ was released. Syamsul Yusof’s directorial debut had a budget of almost RM2 million and starred Fasha Sanda, Farid Kamil and Aaron Aziz among others.