Notes:
1. This is a very slightly modified version of a LinkedIn post I wrote in January 2026. The original post can be found here. 
2. On the topic of misleading statistics and a lack of understanding of how data was derived, check out these two links that explain it more clearly than I can: https://www.exponentialview.co/p/how-95-escaped-into-the-world and https://unpublishablepapers.substack.com/p/school-is-way-worse-for-kids-than

A fun Malaysian fact to end 2025: A grand total of 14 (yes 14!) Malaysian students studied in Singapore in 2023.

OK, this fun fact was clickbait, but it is “accurate”. Read on to find out why.

A recently released report from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) flew under the radar as it was the year end holiday season. I was looking through DOSM’s reports for fun, as one naturally does. Here are 3 facts that you probably didn’t know (see PDF for details):

1. The #1 medically certified cause of death of non-citizens in Malaysia is “intentional self-harm” (i.e., suicide).

Immediately, the 14.4% figure looks alarming. However, we should remember that the vast majority of non-citizens are presumably in Malaysia temporarily for work. So they should skew towards working age, which aligns with data showing that 80% of non-citizens are in the 15-64 years age group. I dug deeper into intentional self-harm rates for Malaysian citizens (so you don’t have to). Among Malaysians aged 15-40, intentional self-harm is the 4th highest cause of death (5.2%). So while we should be deeply concerned that suicide is the top cause of death among non-citizens, it tracks with the finding that suicide is among the leading causes of death for working-age Malaysians too. Are these figures are higher/lower than other countries? I shall leave that to the experts.

2. In 2024, 12,779 Malaysian citizens sought asylum overseas (versus 303 for Singapore and 18,198 for Indonesia). The top 2 destinations for Malaysians were Australia (78%) and South Korea (14%).

The data source is the UNHCR. The figure for Malaysia felt high so I did a quick comparison with our neighbours. There were roughly 3.7 Malaysian asylum seekers per 10,000 population compared with 0.5 for Singapore and 0.6 for Indonesia. So Malaysia is 6 to 7 times (please don’t, IYKYK) higher than our neighbours. Also, understandably Australia is the number one destination. But why is Korea in second place? Any migration/human rights experts care to shed some light on this topic?

3. Only 14 Malaysians studied in Singapore in 2023.

Every other day, I hear some outrageous “fact” or “quote”. As a natural skeptic, I always question where did these facts/quotes come from and how do they know if they’re true. So where did DOSM get this number from? There is a legit reason – DOSM’s source/definition is based on information from students registered with Malaysian embassies and education offices abroad. So, there are thousands of Malaysians studying in Singapore. They’re just not captured in the statistics. Interestingly, the Singapore Government tracks this better and have stated that Malaysians are their largest group of international students. The lesson here is to always interrogate the data and question what people tell you. Yes, even your mother. My mother, typical of her generation, often forwards social media mis/disinformation.

Bonus: Solve this puzzle – why is USA written as “USA (including Georgia)”?