What were Malaysians searching for in 2017? We looked into Google trends for the answers
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2017 is coming to an end, and to recap it, let’s see what was going through the mind of Malaysians in the past year. Using Google Trends, we try to figure just what on earth were you guys thinking.
What is this Google Trends? How do you know what Malaysians are thinking? Are you a hacker? Can you help me fix my wifi? Damn slow lah
Google Trends is a tool that allows you to see what what people are searching online. You can see what’s popular in different countries, check the time frame of the searches, as well as related keywords.
Every end of the year, Google will release the results for what’s trending worldwide in that year, but also for each country. At the site, they made a video about what the world was searching for.
But Cilisos don’t have Google’s limitless money, so we made you an article instead about what was trending in Malaysia, according to Google’s list for Malaysia.
1. We had money on our minds
The top trending word for 2017 was, believe it or not, BR1M. In fact, at its peak, the search for BR1M was 4 times higher than 2017’s second highest trending term, the TV drama Hero Seorang Cinderella.
BR1M in 2017
To check if this number was consistent or a one off, we expanded the timeline for the keyword to 2016.
BR1M in 2016
Turns out, the numbers have been consistent since then. But what exactly were we searching for when we keyed in BR1M?
Ignoring the general related searches for BR1M 2017 and 2018, people have been searching for ‘kemaskini’ dan ‘status’. Which means people have been searching if their BR1M application accepted or not. We won’t make any comments on the pros and cons of BR1M, but it’s clear that Malaysians are anxious whether they will receive the handout. Over 6 million applications were approved this year, which is about 20 percent (!!!) of our population.
As for where they came from, the top 5 searches were from Sabah, Sarawak, Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah. This shouldn’t be too surprising, as 4 of the states have the lowest income per capita in Malaysia, while Sabah has one of the highest cost of living in Malaysia. This is based on the writer’s personal experience, and it has also been written about in Sabah’s local paper, Daily Express.
So, uh…thanks Najib?
This writer’s being ironic here guys pls
2. We had money on our minds: Part 2
We were also worried where our money was going. The top 3 searches in news were respectively ‘JJPTR’, ‘Petrol Price Malaysia’ and ‘Budget 2018’. We already know enough about Budget 2018 so let’s revisit the other two.
JJPTR (JJ Poor To Rich) is Johnson Lee’s forex scheme that was “hacked” and lost nearly RM1.7 billion in investors money. Not surprisingly, most of the searches were from Penang. They were probably thinking of how to get their money back, with the top related query being “jjptr login”. Either that, or they figured it’s not that hard to hack him.
Johnson Lee, founder of JJPTR
Johnson Lee did vow to reimburse his investors with an undetermined amount paid out to his investors with disabilities… but he kinda sounds like a regular movie villain when he refused to answer more questions about this at a press conference in May.
“As I’m sure you know, I am too busy with other matters,” he said before he was ushered away into a Mercedes Benz. — The Star, 11 May 2017
…that was probably then airlifted by a helicopter, then carried to his secret lair on top of Mordor.
Artist’s impression of Johnson Lee’s getaway
And as for petrol prices… Well, Malaysians were trying to keep tabs on the fluctuating oil prices this year, with the peak search for 2017 TRIPLE that of the highest in 2016. The price of petrol was changed from subsidised to a managed float system in 2014. During that time, petrol prices went as low as RM1.60 per litre of RON95 in March 2016, to a high of RM2.38 in November 2017.
Malaysians were adequately informed, either through Google or word of mouth, or WhatsApp chain messages from that friend in all caps broken english with ‘PLEASE SHARE 2 YOUR FRIENDS’ at the end of the message.
With the power of knowledge, it wasn’t uncommon to see scenes like the image below, where hundreds of Malaysians jammed up in petrol stations, trying to fill up before the price change is enforced at midnight.
Image from Reuters
By the way, do you guys smell an opportunity? What about someone make an app that can check petrol price in real time, maybe it’s crowdfunded information, like Waze. Then, partner with Lazada cause petrol so mahal people want to stay at home, but Malaysians cannot stop shopping. So you bring the stuff to them.
This is like, double value guys. Come on someone, get on this.
3. We’d rather torrent than watch the official, free streaming site
For local series, at least. 3 of the top 10 trending searches this year are for the Malay dramas Hero Seorang Cinderella, Titian Cinta and Suamiku Paling Sweet. But interestingly, the top related query for each is Kepala Bergetar, a torrent/streaming site, that tries to skirt legality by calling itself an ‘informational blog’ on local TV shows.
Neh this one lor
All the series are available on Gempak, Astro’s free TV show streaming service, but it didn’t appear at all in any of the top searches. Why is that? Why would we prefer torrent sites over the official providers service? Why go haram when there’s the halal option?
3 of the top 5 locations searching for the shows are from Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah. So maybe could it be due to the internet connection? Looking at this report, broadband penetration in Malaysia is still quite spotty. High speed broadband is centred mostly in the Klang Valley, and a few major cities in Malaysia.
Look for the orange dots, and HSBB (High Speed Broadband)
And as mentioned in point 1, even if broadband was available, the price might not be that viable for the average income level. So that could be one of the reasons.
Then this writer tried to test it himself…
I tried using the Gempak website to stream one of the series. The website was laggy, and I found that the stream tended to stutter/buffer. Worse, there was an ad every 5 minutes (thank god for Adblock).
On the haram site Kepala Bergetar, it was easy enough to find the episodes I wanted, and the streaming and download links. The streaming links were all blocked by the copyright holders, but it was easy enough to find out how to stream it by following the torrent links. And even if I wanted to download it, it was at a manageable 170ish MB per episode.
Plus, it streamed better on that site compared to the official site, and I’m on high speed broadband, so no internet issues for me. 😀
Verdict? Yo Astro Gempak, we think people wanna watch your shows, but the quality/bandwidth/endless ads makes people go to illegal sites instead. Maybe you guys should see why it’s such an attractive option, and recapture that market back instead of just blocking all other options. Pirates will always find a way. Make the haram, halal again. <3
Halalkanlah yang haram
4. We were really interested in the Sea Games (?)
SEA Games was the third highest trending search term. Probably not that surprising, as Malaysia’s always been a big fan of sporting events. EURO 2016 was the top searched term in Malaysia in 2016.
The areas that had the highest search term was Selangor and KL, where the venues were held, and Putrajay…
Hmmm.
Hmmmmmm.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
*Googles population of Putrajaya.*
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Nearly 20 times less in population, but near equal number of searches. Interesting. Could it be because of the flag flare up during the games? Not only did we put up the wrong flags for Indonesia, we even put up the wrong flag for a Malaysian athlete!
Could there be a couple of interns frantically searching everyday on the fiasco, to make sure no more problems come up? Are they compiling all the news on it to make a wall of shame to punish the misdoer(s)? Will daddy Khairy Jamaluddin choke them?
We don’t know the truth, y’all, but this is the dankest timeline and this writer’s sticking to this story.
5. You can’t hide your report card from mommy and daddy anymore
SAPS NKRA (Sistem Analisis Peperiksaan Sekolah and National Key Result Areas) was the fifth highest trending search in 2017. It’s consistent with 2016, where SAPS Ibu Bapa was the 4th highest search term. SAPS is an online system that allows schools in Malaysia to store and analyse exam results.
As expected, the site design is… err… nostalgic
Parents can now check their exam results online except for UPSR, PT3 and SPM. Which means us creative children of the past years can’t forge our report cards anymore, or have it ‘accidentally’ lost. This shows that despite the ups and downs of the year, and the stressors of 2017, our parents are still interested in keeping up with our formative education.
No jokes here guys, move along.
But. BUT. I foresee a very smart child finding a way around it.
Will history repeat itself next year?
Freaking Despacito. Screengrab from Google
All in all, 2016 and 2017 were pretty consistent in terms of interest, with sporting events, BR1M and tv shows dominating our interest.
What can we look forward to trend in 2018? Judging by our interest in sporting events, some of the top searches most likely will be the World Cup 2018, the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games.
But the strongest contender is definitely General Elections 2018. After getting endlessly teased about it this year, the elections will definitely happen this year by August latest. Between Neymar and Najib, these 2 will most likely fight for the top of the search pile in 2018.
Photo from AP, taken from asiancorrespondent.com
What do you think will be the top search for 2018?
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