What do Malaysians search for the most when they’re on the internet? Food, political news, music? Well, it looks like academia mattered the most this year, as ‘SAPS’ (the Ministry of Education’s School Examination Analysis System) was Malaysia’s number one top trending search of 2012. ‘Gangnam Style’ by South Korean star Psy came in second place, and Proton Preve, 9GAG and shopping site Zalora made up this year’s top five most trending search items.
Read more below to find out who or what conquered the search engines in various categories from celebrities to travel!
What is…?
This year, Malaysians wanted to know more about YouTube’s most viewed video, Gangnam Style. Apart from this earworm, the online piracy issue (SOPA), You Only Live Once (YOLO), Lynas, Instagram and love also top the ‘What Is’ searches.
People
Death of singer Whitney Houston in February affected a lot of our countrymen, which made her the most searched for person online, ahead of Asian American basketball player Jeremy Lin. Other top people searches include songstress Shila Amzah after winning the Asian Wave talent show in Shanghai, and also Izwan Pilus who passed away of a blood infection in January.
Travel destinations
Malaysians must really love theme parks, because the newly opened Legoland Malaysia in Johor is this year’s most searched for travel destination. Other popular holiday spots are Sunway Lagoon, Langkawi, Cameron Highlands, Malacca and Universal Studios Singapore.
Globally, the search trends of over 50 countries are:
1. Whitney Houston
2. Gangnam Style
3. Hurricane Sandy
4. iPad 3
5. Diablo 3
6. Kate Middleton
7. Olympics 2012
8. Amanda Todd
9. Michael Clarke Duncan
10. BBB12
