Lahad Datu incident most searched-for in 2013

• Lahad Datu standoff, smartphone rebate and GE13 results were the country’s trending searches • Paul Walker’s tragic death in a car crash makes the late actor the most-searched person on 2013 • Local search terms accounted for more than half of all trending lists

The Lahad Datu standoff which began in February between armed militants and security forces in eastern Sabah had Malaysians gripped and searching for news and updates on Google.com.my during the four-month saga.

Smartphone rebates through industry regulator SKMM, announced as part of the National Budget 2014 took second place. This was followed by the results of the closely-contested 13th Malaysian General Elections which took place in May. The rest of the trending searches were rounded off by three hit Malay drama series.

Fast & Furious actor, Paul Walker’s death on Nov. 30th generated plenty of interest, enough to offset searches for 12-year-old Indonesian street busker Tegar, who’s hit song “Aku yang dulu bukan yang sekarang” became a national phenomenon.

In third place on the trending people list was national footballer Nor Sharul Idlan Talaha’s wife’s verbal scuffle with a security guard which was captured on video.

Zeffri Yusof, Head of Communications and Public Affairs for Google Malaysia said, “Google is the first place Malaysians turn to for information or to discover new things and people; the year-end Zeitgeist is a cultural barometer that gives us a real snapshot of the big events and trends in Malaysia for 2013.”