With mamak stalls buzzing past midnight, group chats that never go quiet and bosses who have apparently never heard of the phrase "after working hours", the odds are stacked against a good night's rest. Verdict:FALSEMalaysia is not South-East Asia's sleep deprivation champion – it is more of a very enthusiastic runner-up. University students were no better, with a study published in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health finding that 58.1% of Malaysian undergraduates were sleep-deprived. Healthcare workers fared worst of all, with a study published in PLOS One finding that more than three-quarters of medical officers surveyed at a tertiary hospital in Malaysia were sleep-deprived. So while Malaysia is technically not South-East Asia's most sleep-deprived nation, it is very much in the conversation.

Source: The Star March 18, 2026 12:05 UTC