Sweden and Malaysia have close fiscal ties (an investment protection treaty), business ties ( through the Malaysian –Swedish business association) and military ties (Swedish and Malaysian navies co-operate). Also Swedes reside in Malaysia and vice versa.

Malaysians love anything Swedish – IKEA (we have one of the biggest IKEA store in Asia), ABBA (who would not forget Dancing Queen?), VOLVO (oh yeah! Volvo has been a household name, the police squad even used VOLVO cars for highway patrols), trees for Christmas (we got 'em straight from Sweden when Malaysia Airlines had a direct service from KUL to ARL). As fas as I remember, Sweden has been connected to Malaysia in every facet of life – in economy, the arts and culture. And the meatballs? IKEA in KL has the best Swedish meatballs in town!

Both countries are dependent on natural resources for their economy. Malaysia has for example oil and gas and forest industry. Sweden has also a forest industry, minerals that generates a lot of income to the wellfare system.

I visit Malaysia almost every month on business. It is really a beautiful country a heaven for foodies and a great place to shop. The people are extremely friendly passive peace loving people. It is a great tourist destination, so many things to see and do and the best thing is other tourist spots are just a couple of hours flight from here

they are both muslim countries.

We are from Paris in Stockholm at the moment getting ready to go out for an Indonesian rijstafel. Triangular connection?

In former times Sweden had an outspoken prime minister Olof Palme, who spoke for the small countries against the big powers in both east and west. The same could be said about Malysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohammed. Both countries have in the last 50 years had a peaceful development, even if the political antagonism is stronger in Malaysia . Sweden is a pioneer in common use of technical innovations. The same can be said about Malaysia.

Malaysia got a Sultan, and Sweden got a King!

If only Malaysian politics would be more like Swedish politics, Malaysia really needs to clamp down on corruption in the government and police force. The news papers should also not be so biased, they are controlled by the main government, the news paper can not say anything bad about the main government but they are allowed to say what ever they want about the opposition. And the government is slightly racist to Chinese, Indians and minority groups (Orang Asli) and the way they treat immigrants is absoulty horrible because they have no rights, so the police just beat them up. Oh well hopefully Malaysia will improve. : )

cleanliness !

Sweden is a conservative Christian country in the north of Europe while Malaysia is a muslim country in Asia.Nothing in common, apart from Ikea, Volvo or Saab, nothing else

I'm happily married to a Swedish man. He loves everything about Malaysia and I love everything about Sweden. Our kids love both the countries and have absolutely no problem to adjust both the cultures, food and traditions. They wish they can have dual citizenship.

Both countries have white people living there.

Both got pretty big oil economies. Both have secretly practiced racism for decades in the 20th century, with doctors actively reducing a population group, while favoring another. They are both elongated countries with long coast lines.

When it comes to Internet users as a percent of population:

In the Western World, Sweden ranks highest
In the Islamic World, Malaysia ranks highest

I believe this is a significant connection – that suggests the early adoption mentality of both countries.

How could I forget! Sweden and Malaysia both use the same alphabet for writing, and both have pretty fluent english speakers. I saw it when I was in Kuala Lumpur couple of times.

Lutefisk?? Oops.. nope, that's Norwegian.

Sweden and Malaysia both loves peace, values tolerance, treasures mother nature, has long been stable since their respective independence, has a constituational monarchy (although Msia has 9 !) with a parliamentary democracy that continues to adopt a non-aligned foreign policy which leans more towards the west. But I think the most important aspect is this..... I love my country-Malaysia as much as Swedish is proud of theirs

Both Sweden and Malaysia rank high in producing radical Islamist.

"Sweden is a conservative Christian country"

No it really isn't. Sweden is very secular and I wouldn't call it conservative.

I am a Malaysian singer and I performed in Goteburg last month!

Malaysia should treat its' own people, especially the natives of Sabah and Sarawak as equals. Natives who were Chritians were marginalized, treated as second or third class citizens and were never offered a high profile position in the government.

This "connection" is about as forced as you can get. "THey have IKEA...who doesn't..." Might as well say the both have Homo sapiens population land...or they both have dirt....or they both molecules....So far I have not read any unique connections whatsoever, and having spent a fair amount of time in both nations, I can see no realy connections that might not be a business deal or a commercial market. Both are fascinating countries with rich heritages and nature. Malaysia is raping and destroying its nature a heck of a lot faster than Sweden, and Malaysians have a much more bigoted and violent recent history than does Sweden. Malaysia is much more racially diverse and divided than Sweden. And Malaysia is hotter...Malaysian girls are a lot prettier (when not hidden by their men inside those awful burkas...)

Golfer Ben Leong (Malaysia) and Golfer Peter Hanson (SWE) both missed the cut at the April 2010 Ballantine's Championship at the Pinx GC, Jeju Island, South Korea

Malaysia is made of some islands. Sweden has some islands too (Stockholm at least is ON some. Plus the Archipelago, and Gotland).
Malaysia is about 100,000 sq. kilometers smaller than Sweden. It has about 3 times the population of Sweden.
The connection is a little skewed.

Johan is both a Swedish and a Malay name

Malaysian men love Swedish blondes and Swedish men love the black hair sun-tanned Malaysian girls.
Sweden has one king. Malaysia has close to a dozen sultans.
Swedes can go naked in public. In Malaysia you may get whipped for that.
Sweden has freedom. Malaysia has a dictatorship.
Sweden has religious freedom. In Malaysia, you can't even build new churches anymore.
Ok Malaysia has one thing up..it's got more variety of food than Sweden.
Yeah, you are really comparing apples and oranges here.

In Malaysia, the Chinese are destroying the country. The create illegal mines, destroying forest for timbers, establishing Communist Party, overfishing and running brothels in the street.

I need to reply to this uneducated comment,

Teddy Robin September 3rd, 2010 7:04 pm ET
Malaysia got a Sultan, and Sweden got a King!

Malaysia has a King, and sultans are for every state.

Swedish – Malaysia connection is not that interesting.
You should have French - Malaysia -Mongolian connection, now that is something...

Nothing is in common. Sweden goverment is least corrupted, whereas Malaysia goverment is immensly corrupted. Sweden majority population is Christian whereas majority population in Malaysia is Musilm.

Malaysia is not a Muslim country, please be caution for what you have spoken here.

Malaysia is a nice country but governed with double standard people. But if you talk about cleanliness, Malaysia is just rated as 2/10.

I am a Malaysian and my wife is a Swedish?

The speed limit metaphorically of course (literally though they both have the same speed limit – 110kmph on the highways) is their welfare system – Sweden is high on welfare with the state covering most needs of the populace while Malaysia's welfare-like proclivity for the majority bumiputras puts quite a bit of speed limit on their otherwise healthy economies.

As a sweed i like Malaysian Girls, I am tired of all blondies...

But I do believe that a Malaysian man would like to try a "blondie..."

So what do we have in common? Girls of course....

swedish goverment had nothing do with religion but malaysian goverment had everything to do with religion ,one thing is for sure when religion plays big part in a goverment the countries advance are limited.......to compare with sweden or other western countries,first malaysia should have religious free goverment..

Virtually nothing in common of any importance. Sweeden is a country with hot women and Malaysia is a restrictive country thats just hot. Sweden is a counrty with complete freedoms and Mayalsia is a restrictive country that is dirty and corrupt from top to bottom. Malaysia, outside of a night in KL is also one of the most boring countries on the planet. I can't comment on Sweden on that one. Food? malaysia food comes with a healthy does of flys. In Sweden there are probably very few flys. One country everyone has blonde hair and blue eyes and in the other they don't.

To Coke.

I'm a Malaysian woman. I do not wear the burka even though I am muslim and my husband does not keep me hidden. In this country we can choose what we want to wear. Yes we have our issues dealing with rotten politics, corruption, racism, etc. But so does many other countries. I don't know where you are from, or if you are Malaysian, but if you talk to the ppl, you'll know that at the heart of it, we do get along.

I think what Sweden and Malaysia have in common, other then the obvious, is a growing talent pool in the design industry. Of course Sweden is quite ahead, but Malaysia's interior, furniture, etc, are not far behind. We've also got a huge 'green' awareness going on as we speak and Sweden does to.

I think we would like to be more like the Swedes... open & frankness and very honest. We could use with their input on education systems as their children are highly educated and very independent from the word go. Malaysia has too many radical blocks whereas the Swedes are all for freedom of speeches and etc.

I do not see any similarities at all.

Actually, there many Sultans in Malaysia. Sultans are rulers of states. In states without traditional rulers like the sultans, there are heads of state. In some states, their sultans are called different names, like Raja or other appellations, which invariably means 'King'.

The Supreme Ruler of Malaysia is the King or Agong, which means the Great. The King of Malaysia is selected by the sultans of the states comprising Malaysia. Once selected, the sultan will serve as the King for a total of five years.

I like IKEA, particularly its furniture and its restaurant.

Sorry, a correction is required. See the change in parentheses.

The Supreme Ruler of Malaysia is the King or Agong, which means the Great. The King of Malaysia is selected "among the sultans" by the sultans of the states comprising Malaysia. Once selected, the sultan will serve as the King for a total of five years.

For your information, malaysia has around 10 Sultans. Each state there is a Sultan. malaysia has 9 states if i am not mistaken.

Don't be fooled by images of buxom blondes and free sex in Sweden! Visit us and you will see that we are quickly transforming to a Muslim nation as immigrants from the Middle East flock here to take advantage of our Social Security system. As a result our crime rate is now increasing.

Our taxes are the highest in the world and we then add on the highest retail taxes on those other high taxes! Private schools are frowned upon and If you want to homeschool your own children then that is illegal! We will then take your children away from you regardless of your cultural background as our leaders have decided that they know what is best for our children, not you! This is a new law that was past a few months ago.

There is a lot of negative information about Sweden that the rest of the world never sees or hear about. You only see our products and blondes and in my opinion there are much more beautiful blonde women in other countries.

I am swedish and I was very recently in Kuala Lumpur. I really liked KL but I think one of the reasons I liked it is because it was very diffrent from what I was used to (even after 3 month of travelling, 2 of them in south east asia). But I guess there is things the countries have in common if you look.
They are both multicutural, they are both modern, both have extrodianary nature and both are peaceful.
But what I feel is that all things that are similar are similar in very different ways.
Malaysia is multicultural because their population has very different heritage (malay, chinese, indian, western). Sweden is multicultural becuase of large numbers of immigrants especially from somalia, turkey, iran, iraq, former jugoslavian countries (often now second or third generation) and chile (same as the jugslavian countries). But in both cases I think it has brought a lot of good to the countries and made them into more interesting places.
This is all written only based on my own observations so if my facts are wrong I am sorry. But some mistakes have been written above aswell. Sweden does not have oil, that is Norway and Sweden is not a conservative christian country, christian yes but very, very secular. I would say that a very high percentage of the population is atheists.

Dear brad,

Malaysian women generally do not wear burkas and if they do, it's not because they are "hidden" in the burkas by their men but instead, do so by choice. If I may point out, a majority of them are very much independent and highly educated in their own right.

Appreciate it if you could get your facts right prior to posting condescending remarks.

Thanks.

Sweden and Malaysia are connected when the Swedish bank, SEB, has an outsource office running here in Kuala Lumpur. My boyfriend leads a team of programmers and travels to Sweden once or twice a year. From his photographs, I've had the opportunity to see the country in a closer view, while hearing about the extreme cold, such a contrast from the scorching sun in Malaysia!

A couple of months ago the Swedish flag was burnt on several places around Malaysia amid demonstrations and protests against a Swedish artist who had depicted the profet Muhammad. Malaysia has throughout the past century been a moderate muslim country, but extremists are gaining ground at a rapid pace.

Unfortunately, as this radicalization ensues, shared values between our liberal country of Sweden and Malaysia will become fewer and fewer.

The moderate muslims must be encouraged and supported, not just in Malaysia but around the entire globe. The moderate muslims are the extremist muslims worst enemy, far more feared and loathed than any western nation or organization, be that the United States, the UK, the SEALs or the CIA.

The moderate muslims are the key to defeating the extremists. That is why, dear Americans, it is of such enourmous importance that you honour your Consititution and allow for the moderate Sufis to build their mosque on lower Manhattan.

Sincerely,

David, Sweden

As an expat living in Sweden for 8 years and having visited Asia often, I don't see many similarities between the two countries.

Sweden = cold, dark, expensive, everything that is fun is state-controlled or very expensive,, standard and centralized procedures for everything meaning the individual hardly has to think for him/herself, extortionate taxes, emotions are hidden, people keep a distance from others resulting in a poor social interaction scene ...unless people are horifically drunk or if they want/need something from you. There are, of course, exceptions to this but unfortunately, this sums up the majority of the people.

Swedish is also a language that is pretty much useless outside of Sweden but the good thing is that everyone speaks good English. The food can be bland, service often non-existent, everyone follows rules and queues. Healthcare is not free despite the rumors ... you pay around EUR 20 to see a doctor if you are lucky enough to get an appointment – last time I had to wait 5 days to get a doctor's appointment, the other otion was to go to a clinic and sit waiting for up to 4 hours; dentists are also not free. You can only call to book an appointment between certain hours and if I was dying I wouldn't feel well looked after here as nobody seems to care or want to help you. It's all about keeping a safe distance.When I go to other countries I am always overwhelmed by how nice and helpful people are, especially when you are sick.

On the positive side, it is clean and well organized, everything runs pretty much efficiently. I don't have experience with schools but the Swedes all say that Sweden is the best country in the world to bring up kids ... I have heard expats disagree with this ... the good thing is that kindergarten is basically free, university also and you get 1.5 years off work for maternity/paternity leave ... so yes, the system is good if you are a person who believes that something that is free/cheap is automatically good. For me, other things are more important like learning foreign languages, travel, that the child has a personality and opinion of his/her own and develops as an individual).

Generally, it is a very safe country to be, telecom and internet connections are good and relatively cheap, cities are small and clean with plenty of water and parks. As an English speaking person it is an easy place to visit and live but that X factor, that buzz in the air, that energy that other European countries have is just missing. Probably a combination of a harsh climate, large country with few people, high prices and anti-social behavior. From what I have seen in Asia, the Asian countries have a great climate, wonderful food, hospitable people, strong culture and heritage ..and Malaysia is also quite safe.

So, not sure where the similarities lie!

Malaysia had a lot of common comparably with Sweden, but not anymore, especially on corruptions and the manipulation of the arbitrary systems and how easily those with power just get away easily with wrong doings and utterence. those who say its a beautiful country are the ones who come here once in a blue moon and gets that artificial tourism treatment. try living here and you will know how inconsiderate still homo erectus stage they are in, especially the one who claims they are the son of soil. The much better educated malays are shying away from the corrupt "rulers".

Besides doing the usual stuff that all homo sapiens do, Malaysia and Sweden has nothing in common worth mentioning.

What a strange game to play.

To clear up some misunderstandings: Sweden is not Christian, conservative or an oil economy. It ranks second in secularity worldwide (only Estonia tops it), it's a feminist social democracy (although the current government is center-right, but that's still far to the left of the US Dems) and it's Norway that has got that oil.

Sweden couldn't fairly be racist either, although it has it's minority of thuggish xenophobes, like most places (Denmark is worse).

Both countries have good people and bad ones...same for every country in the world. Since the topic is connection, I hope my point can be made across as simply as this: The time for religious differences to be put aside has come. Its now the time for good people to unite regardless of religion...after all isn't that what all Religions teach – be Good and Go to Heaven regardless of the concept of heaven one may have in his or her mind!!!

Is that sufficient to connect all countries you had in mind of comparing?

I am a Asian student in Sweden .When I was traveling to Kiruna the most northern city in Sweden in winter 2008 ,most of the tourist are not Swedish there . The guide told us because Swedish think Kiruna is further than Malaysia . They always take trip in Malaysia instead of Kiruna or other cities in Sweden. The tourism is the connection between Malaysia and Sweden ,which brings Malaysia massage and even wife to Sweden and in turn,Swedish tourist and husband to Malaysia . Obviously there is cultural exchange along that.

I think what malasya can offer sweden is the construction of new buildings, since now in malmo, they are making the latest railroad metro, that will connect the city of malmö with copenhagen, and the development of new sky buildings, like a small newyork, type of development.....Im from malmö.......

Who are we trying to kid here. I don't see any similarities at all between Sweden and Malaysia.

Sweden is a developed nation with one of the highest standards of living in the world and the people are really happy being Swedish.

Malaysia is a developing nation that is trying its best to be happy with patriotic local shows on National Geographics and the History Channel.

That's about all to say ...

I experienced both Sweden and Malaysia on a people level and in relatively close circles. I found Malays to be warm and open, and welcoming of someone who was of a different culture and background. My experience with Swedes was different in that I was asked to hide my background because family and friends of my bf would not approve...In Malaysia almost everyone spoke English. In Sweden, people spoke Swedish over my head...My impression was "Sweden is for Swedes" whereas in Malaysia everyone was more welcoming...

The Swedishs and the Malaysians communicate in believing that IKEA is a Swedish company. It is the same for many other people on the planet.
Alas, it is a Dutch company and doing very well indeed.

Connection....don't think so
Malaysia is famous for all the wrong things, like a corrupt government, below average education system, policies that benefit certain groups.....well if I start the list never ends.
At least Sweden is a first world country with equal treatment to all.
Think CNN picked the wrong choice of countries.

I was very fortunate to visit both countries this year to savor their respective sights and sounds. Malaysia and Sweden have great railway systems and roads, their airports are efficient and can be accessed via express trains that go straight to the city centers, and the English language is spoken well by the Malaysians and Swedes.

Both are peaceful countries.

Malaysia is a great place to visit so cheep and peaceful!

both countries have zero crime rate!

Sweden is home to the Pirate Party, who violate intellectual property at will. Malaysia is home to markets selling counterfeit and copyright infringing goods.

Sweden and Malaysia are both post-Christian societies. Christianity effectively left Malaysia when the British left. It also left Sweden in all but the most nominal form with increases in education and the emergence of humanist ideals.

Both Sweden and Malaysia's currencies are relatively highly valued in their respective regions. As a result, both countries' citizens routinely travel to places like Thailand and Indonesia on holiday.

Both countries have a national automaker whose best days are behind it. Saab and Proton.

Both countries have a capitali city (Stockholm, Kuala Lumpur) and a 'gateway to the rest of the world' city (Malmo, Johor Bahru).

@Iskandar Lutfisk is swedish =)
@Reggie its norway that got the oil :p
@Mike "Sweden is a conservative Christian country" haha where did you get that info from? sweden is the opposite with around 3% active christians where only the 80+ goes to church. and we are as far away from conservative as you can get.

Both are peaceful countries.

Cleanliness and neatness, flogging and/or caning of misbehaving foreigniers. Or is that Singapore?

Connection is that in both countries you will find a species called homosapiens and they breed

Sweden and Malaysia Countries that have been Oppressed because of Corrupted, Greedy Governments. For this reason people from these countries not knowing what to do "LOST" have turned the wrong way by turning to Black Magic, Fortune Tellers, Idols,Tormenting and selling and killing Innocent children, therefore their punishment has been even more severe. GOD has given them many signs for the people to look for Him for His Mercy as Our Holy Mother is ready to Comfort her children. These two countries are in common because of the fact they have turned the wrong way for Help of a Corrupted Government. Look for God.

After having been in both countries and as a Norwegian, I have to say that both countries have the tollerance for all different people and their beleif, which in today's world is excellent !!!!!

Visited Goteborg, Jonkoping & Stockholm 2 years back and can say that Sweden has many, many... 7-Eleven's, just like Malaysia – One, and sometimes even two, in every street!

Besides that, based on my limited time there, I observed too that Sweden is dominated by a white Caucasian majority. She presently too has a small but growing minority (perhaps former/current refugees from war-torn nations?) and readily accept these migrants, and any other persons as equals. Malaysia is denominated by the ethnic Malays, with a huge smattering of minorities (Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans, and the rest) that the government denies discriminating against – a statement most members of minorities do NOT concur with at present.

Everything in Sweden is expensive because of the very high standard of living in Scandinavian countries; Everything in Malaysia is expensive because of high cost of living. Swedes can relatively afford it with a relatively high minimum wage structure in place, while Malaysia's minimum wage is non-existent and many in the lower income groups earn less than MYR1,000 a month (USD1 = MYR3.15)

Both countries enjoy a good game of badminton, and play on the world stage.....

easy, Johan is a common name in both countries. Johan in Sweden is basically John whereas Johan in Malaysia means 'winner'

This is a hard one, to connect Malysia and Sweden. I think Thailand has a lot more similarities to Sweden.

connecting malaysia to sweden would be similar to connecting terrorism with buddhism..there is no connection and shouldn't be one...

I found the following:

1. If you strip the vowel letters for Malaysia and Sweden you will end up with 4 letters in both:

SWEDEN = SWDN (4 Letters after stripping vowels)
MALAYSIA = MLYS (4 Letters after stripping vowels)

2. Both countries have Blue and Yellow colors in their flags.

3. Both countries apply Abrahamic religions (Christianity and Islam).

4. I love both countries.

There is no likes between two country's Malaysian Govt is authoritarian dictatorship that treat minority as third class citizens. They proponents of radical islam. Dont get lost in the nice facade the govt portray look inside beyond the tourism Malaysia.

both of them are categorized as a country..

Monarcy, Sweden and Malaysia are monarchies

As a Malaysian living in Stockholm, I would say the one obvious and common thing between these two countries is, the unreliability of the train system. Stockholm's pendeltåg and KL's tram, different countries, same crap! Always late, breakdown all the time and fees increase every year but service still sucks!

Both countries, aside from their embassies in Washington DC, also have consulates in New York. As of 2009, both countries enjoyed a current account balance of aroun $30 billion and had imports worth around $120 billion. Publically-owned TV broadcaster in both states hve two national channels. Definitely clutching at straws.

Malaysia's population is quite exactly three times that of Sweden's 9.4 million, although Sweden still produces well over twice as much value of goods and services. Maybe because...

- Sweden is dark and cold much of the year.

- Malaysia is a climatic paradise.

Some history:

- The Swedish flag has been used for at least 500 years (but it's cross design originates from the third crusade in the late 12th century, and its color combination has been used since at least the 13th century).

- The Malaysian flag has been used since 1957 (but...[?]).

- Swedish for "Sweden" is "Sverige", stemming from "Svea Rike", "Sviariki" in viking age Swedish/Icelandic (at that time same language, in English called "Old Norse"), in 7th century Anglo-Saxian epos Beowulf spelled "Swēorice" (although the story takes place in 5th century Sweden and Denmark).

- "Malay" in Malaysia stems from the Melayu Kingdom, founded in the 7th century, later (14th century etc.) mentioned many times in Chinese history as "Ma-La-Yu" in various spellings.

Both countries have prime ministers at the edges of the intelligence spectrum ... Fredrik at the brainy end, and Najib at the opposite, ignorant end, the really far end.

Conservative Christian? LOL
I really have to make a correction here. Well, curtainly not. I dont know anyone going to church except for weddings and I dont think many born 60's til now knows the bible (what it is yes, but not the parts and meanings) . Maybee one or two retired old people, and many churches are totally empty in sundays. Most swedish people born 1940 and after dont care about religion at all. We do have immigrants living Islamic. But thats very few % if you look at the whole population . Similarity with Malaysia: We are both very polite, not wanting to "lose face" not ours or others. We both take influences from other cultures and countries. You can find many swedish tourists in Malaysia. Otherwise I see no similarity.
/Swedish girl – born 1970's

Nothing in common, there are first class citizens and second class citizens. Discrimination against ethnic minorities is government policy. They call it affirmative action, in businesses, education etc etc. Eg, if a Malay were to buy a house, it does not matter if he is a millionaire, he gets a 5% discount. The minorities pay the most taxes. In education an ethnic minority who scores, say 8 A's does not get to go to Public University, a mediocre Malay chap with 5 A's get to do get in. Even the former PM , Mahathir a well known racist, says meritocracy is racism, in his own convoluted logic. Forced conversions of minors to Islam is common in Malaysia. Snatching of dead bodies of people of other religious faith and burying them as a Muslims too is common. The list is long. It is best Sweden opens it's eyes.

I lived in Malaysia for a while...I remember (quite a few years ago) going over to "The Pub" restaurant at the Shangri-La hotel in KL, the Swedish embassy hosted a Swedish dinner gala. Food was fantastic. There's a lot more to Swedish food than mini meatballs.

I have spent some winter months in Stockholm. I rather leave common connection between two countries to others to comment. Malaysia hot temperature will easily melt Swedish ice. Malaysian warm people will easily welcome Swedish tourist. Malaysian hot tempered people will easily be cooled by calm and compose Swedish. Malaysian emotionally charged politician should learn a lot from Swedish politician on how to keep re-invent new economic and education model. Scandinavian right wing politician should research more Islam inside Malaysian moderate muslim people. There are many things both countries can do to understand each other better. Sweden and Malaysia can start this and can be such a perfect model for good understanding between West and East. Hopefully others would follow.

This is stupid.
First, Sweden is not the heavyweighter in scandinavia. Norway has a bigger economy(richest country on the planet), wins more olympic medals, one of the biggest energy exporters of the world and the lowest unemployment rate in the west. Norway is the new Sweden. Only if it wasnt for those damned socialists in the Norwegian government Norway could be even grander in the whole of Europe. And theres no similaraties to Asia in excess of whats expected in a golbalized world.

Sweden and Malaysia both are home to vast populations of mole men. These subterranean creatures rarely breach the surface so very few are knowledgeable of their existence, but they're there, mining away beneath many a foot.

Both nations are similar in their typical character type of being very calm and peaciful even if their lands have quite different climate conditions that are belived to affect on inhabitants' temper. Also, they are similar in their understanding of tolarence concerning other races.

sweden and malaysia are both countries

Peace for you...

Swedes do not love their country i am from sweden and have lived here all my life.

We do not raise our flag for the love of our country we do it because every one else does it and ONLY on holidays or you are probable an racist

Also we NEVER sing out nationalantom other then in hockey and football matches

And if you indeed like the rest of the world proclaim your love for your country you are going to be ladled a nazipig that hates every one that is not blond and blueeyed.

The fact that our government acutely freezes other parties out from the "rikstaden" is profo that Sweden is not a country that should rank anywhere even close to Malaysia and that we have probboly higer ratio of the population that are Islamic that any other European country says it all.

One of the many moments that Sweden and Malaysia shared together was during 1975.

There was a hostage crisis in Malaysia during that time, whereby, The Japanese Red Army (JRA), had taken around 50 hostages at the the Consulate of the United States, and coincidentally, it was next to where the Embassy of Sweden was situated at that time. The JRA threatened to kill the hostages if associates of JRA Japan were not released and handed over. Among the hostages was Swedish
Chargé d’Affaires Mr. Fredrik Bergenstråhle.

Tan Sri Osman S. Cassim was part of the negotiating team stationed in American International Assurance (AIA) building at that time and aside from the conditions of releasing the hostages, Osman offered to turn himself into the kidnappers as well. Prior to that, five prisoners were released by the Japanese government, and flown to Kuala Lumpur. Although, the hostages in Kuala Lumpur were released, in order to ensure a safe journey to Tripoli, Libya, the JRA took two Malaysians and two Japanese officials together with them on the plane as leverage, and one of the Malayisan was Osman. The other was Dato’ Ramli Omar. They were release upon arrival in Tripoli.

In the year 2009, Tan Sri Osman S. Cassim was awarded the Royal Order of the Polar Star by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in recognition of Osman’s service to Sweden during the JRA hostage crisis.

Both Countries are not same, maybe they have a connection in business and commercials.this countries are opposite it's other in their cultures and Geographical location. they connected only as a human.

Hello! My younger sister is a Malaysian and she is married to a swede. My brother in law is a high ranking Executive in Shell, the oil & gas company.
My sister and brother in law have 2 very lovely children. A 4 year old boy and a 2 and a half year old girl. My little niece is also a child model in Malaysia. But that is not what makes them unique.

My brother in law as a swede introduced us to a world of rich culture and we have had many opportunities to experience it and he on the other hand, together with his mother experience first hand the Malaysian culture. He eats with his hands when my mom cooks traditional Malaysian Indian food.

Also the fact that we are followers of the Baha'i faith, the union of races goes beyond food and fun. The ability to share cross culture family values is truly amazing. We have a family full of mix marriages. My sister and her family are a wonderful example to showcase the successful Malaysian Swedish ties because it is something that ordinary people can relate to.

You can't talk about Malaysia unless you talk about Air Asia X. Air Asia X is a low-cost airline owned and operated by up and coming CEO Tony Fernandes. Air Asia X and it's parent company has alot of momentum in the airline industry currently. They have grown significantly year over year. Unfortunately, they are at odds with the countries own airline. Malaysia owns a controlling interest in another airline and often make decisions that are often adverse to the privately owned and operated Air Asia X. Tony Fernandes the CEO also have other ventures in the hotel, music, and racing industry. To compare or connect Malasyia to Sweden, you would only have to look at SAS which is a Swedish owned low-cost airline. SAS has less growth year over year than Malaysia, but has been able to draw some additional revenues from routinely consolidating markets in Europe. SAS recently made headlines for arranging a gay marriage in flight. In Malaysia, homo-sexuality is against the law.

I see a lot of man married to Malaiysians ladys. I have talked with some of those laydies and many miss their country and feel their husbands too cold( they don't comunicate, or take care of their feelings) for what they were used back in their culture in Malaysia. They of course feel they have better opportunities(economic) to have a better life here in Sweden and also to help their families that are still in their country. The new generation probably is more adjust and have a better relationship having that crossover marriage, but not all the older couples feel in a fair relationship.
Here in sweden don't like to follow a christian life stile, but are VERY open to all the new age, spiritual alternatives they can find to feel spiritual balaced and they find a lot of that in the Malaiysian culture.
Maybe one culture is depending on somethigs that can find in the other culture. (better economical life, better new age spiritual life, scaping of the cold swedish weather, looking for more warm friendly people) This is just my humble oppinion of what I have seen in some cases.

the main similarity is that both countries exports wood for example I have this table from malaysia it's so strong it cost only 2000.

The one very early early link Malaysia had with Sweden is its naval ties. RMN purchased several SPICA fast patrol boats from a swedish shipyard Karlskrona way back in the 1970s and a big number of RMN officers and their families stayed in Sweden for years training and overseeing the fabrication and construction of these vessels. These families live amongst the swedes and were able to immerse and share a common bond with the local community.

Interesting to see comments about Sweden from people who obviously have no knowledge of the country! Sweden has complete separation fo church and state. Sweden and Japan are the most secular countires in the world. Previously, however, the official religion in Sweden was Lutheran. Now all faiths receive funding based on their membership.

Much of Sweden is densley forested and mostly commercially harvested. The lumber and pulp industry is very strong. Sweden's export industry is unusually large and diversified with very many more well known brands than other countries of similar population (roughly 9 M).

Well over 50% of the population live in the southern third of the country. About 85% of the population live in urband areas incl. small villages. The rural areas, mostly in the northern half of the country and inland, are very sparsely populated with <5 persons per sq km.

The archipelago on the east coast of Sweden is one of, if not the, largest in the world. It stretches from Stockholm, through Åland to mainland Finland.

"they are both muslim countries."

Please do some reading before posting

well! i l`m living in Sweden for the last 22 years now.
i was in Malaysia 7 years ago, it really is fantastic country
fantastic nature and culture.
the main thing this two country`s have in common i think it`s :they are very hard working people.But in different ways.

Sweden....sounds....SWEET.

Malaysia....sounds... MALAISE!

NO similarities at all.....it's like oil and water.

Although we swedes lack in melanin due to our genetic ancestry, we strive to make life as pleasant for us as possible. The colder climate in these regions make it suitable for us to live in.
Please come and visit Sweden whenever you get the chance we have plenty of snow in the winter and beautiful archepelago in the summer.

Both had their first man in space in 2007. Malaysias first astronaut Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor in space and Swedens first astronaut in space Christer Fuglesang.

I am a French citizen, born and raised in Malaysia 49 years ago, where my father was a rubber and palm oil tree planter.
I lived there until 1979.
Afterwards I went to a businee school in France which had an exchange program with Handelshögskolan (B School in Stockholm) where I did my finishing year. Studied, worked and spent some vacation time there.
I partake in the notion that on the political side, Malaysia has a huge amount to learn from Sweden in terms of tolerance and equality for its citizens, otherwise both countries could be described as extremely modern and technology driven

Sweden used to be a very religious country, at least by scandinavian standards. Swedes would take the ferry to Denmark, to drink, earning them a bad reputation among Danes as up to no good drunks, with low alcohol tolerance. Isn’t Malaysia a somewhat religous country?

I am a Malaysian and as journalist, I do travel often. But among the destination I enjoy the most, was during my time in Kalmar, Sweden were I did my studies on environmental journalism at FoJo (fellowship). My time there was wonderful meeting the brains at Fojo, the government, the public and of coz the counter-part – the journalist. Beside the wonderful pact of international product of swed – ie volvo, Ikea etc is the people and the country as a hold, must say the wonderful environmental research and the cleanness something that we Malaysian's can earn from them. As for my buddies there, you could learn from us Malaysian where multiracial, multi ethic with various cultural back ground living ini peace side by side.

When I logged on to CNN today and saw this article, I was truly astounded (in a good way). This is mostly because of the fact that I am half Malaysian and half Swedish, a mix that is probably quite rare. I may not have any connections beside myself for the two countries (I don't know too much about finance, law or policies in either, being 14) but I just think this experiment is so cool and I look forward to reading more posted answers and learn a thing or two about my countries.

Wow...such interesting connections given..from the weather to furniture..but Malaysia and Sweden are as different as durians (our local top fruit.. I dislike it though..absolutely awful) and Swedish meatballs. What can i say..I love Sweden cos it gave us ABBA and IKEA and Malaysia for the diverse cultures and food, so we are connected by music, food and a furniture company. Oh and freedom of speech...Malaysia doesn't have it and Sweden does.

Claire Thambu
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia

both have 2 vowels in their name. . .

malaysia and sweeden never interested in war.they both peace loving contry.

Both countries geographic mass is based on penisula with sea on three sides.

Well, sweden is not _that_ cold...
Had long periods of 30-35°C this summer...
(85-95°F)

Both countries are clean and organized. Although Swedes come off as a bit more reserved initially, both of the countries' people are generally very friendly and peace-loving.

Both countries are tolerant and accepting to different religions (as it should be everywhere), although it's unfortunate that there's some conflict in Malaysia due to ethnicity.

No any relationship, every thing in malaysia is small, but in sweeden normal in size and beautifull, malaysia is 2nd class world, but sweeden is Europian country.

Most people in Malaysia and Sweden speak English, so they can communicate. But otherwise they are complementing each other rather than being similar. Cold vs. Tropical heat, Iron ore vs. Oil, Pine trees vs. Palm trees etc.
In short a merger would add lots of features to both Countries, but the commuting would be a bit of a problem...

I agree with Mauro
Both Sweden and Malaysia rank high in producing radical Islamist,...

I have recently returned home from 6 months in Denmark, where I met several really nice Swedish people who are now good friends of mine. I also have several malaysian friends back at home (New Zealand). Both countries are filled with kind, caring and beautiful people! In the good people contained within these countries, you can find the connection! (and through me! 2 degrees of seperation)

Marcus... Its not ONE country in Scandinavia thats muslim ... that would be awful .. -.- how can u even say something bad like that ?!?!?! :O

Swedish are the friendliest European.... Malaysian are the friendliest Asians..(at least they used to be) Hehe...Jesus loves 'em all!

As someone who has spent time in both countires, I disagree with Coke, Swedish women must be up there as some of the most beautiful in the world, Malaysian women are no match.
As for similarities, well both are constitutional monarchies, relatively sparsely populated, heavily forested.
But the differences are more striking. Sweden was a monocultural country that is now wants to be multicultural. Malaysia is a multicultural country that wants to be monocultural. Sweden encourages its people to learn English, and even uses English language textbooks in its universities. Malaysia ignores the use of English and pretends that Malay is sufficient in the modern world.

Traffic jammmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You should check out the heavy metal scenes of the two countries.

(I'm a swede) I second what Andreas says: Sweden is one of the most secular nations in the world and not at all conservative. It is a very liberal and progressive country.

One of the biggest connection between Sweden and Malaysia of the Gen Y group has to be video gaming. Battlefield Series by DICE has been one of the best community based shooters in the World. Malaysia has several clans that enjoy this Swedish created game. This virtual connection is very strong within the youths in Malaysia.

Well, come election time in the past (Mahatir's reign), they love to oppress their neighbor, Singapore.

As far as I know, and I won't say I know a lot about our neighbor, they really have very little in common.

Bunch of metal-heads in Malaysia listen to melodic death metal and one of their favorite melodic death metal is Arch Enemy.Bunch of metal-heads in Malaysia have collection full album for this band. And what makes Malaysia connect to Sweden is, Arch Enemy hometown is in Halmstad,Sweden !!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_Enemy

Cleanliness? I have not been to sweden, but if your rivers are full of plastic garbage bags, countryside strewn with litter and illegal dumps and local beauty spots improved with concrete mushrooms and broken toilets....then yes we do at least have that issue in common.

Both Sweden and Malaysia are a safe haven for thousands of refugees from Burma, Iraq and Afghanistan. The UNHCR in Malaysia has registered over 81,000 Burmese, as well as hundreds of Iraqis and Afghans. Those with refugee status are entitled to resettlement in a third country. Sweden can be proud that it accepts the highest number of refugees in Europe – via the quota scheme. It has in recent years accepted Burmese, Iraqis and Afghans.

Here's a connection. The Malaysian tourism video that is sometimes or was sometimes aired on CNN the (Malaysia truly asia song) is the same song that a Swedish company uses for its commercials...

This is really very easy...

..they both got Chinatown...

There's Chinatown in Sweden, Chinatown in Malaysia, Chinatown in Saudi Arabia, Chinatown even in Iraq...

So does that mean, Chinatown transcends cultural and religious barriers...

Think about it...

Gives them a chance to indulge in stereotypical racial fantasies of blond Swedish women and children while not showing darker-skinned Malaysian faces.

Swedish meatballs has nothing to do with Sweden – it's an American thing.
They are more like meatballs served in Italy.

Believe it or not, Volvo is extremely popular in Malaysia.
In Kuala lumpur, Volvo sales representative offices are even landmarks. And there are few "Volvo" roadsigns on a par with district and city names.

The Malaysian national icon is a tiger. Tiger is the name of a disgraced golfer once married to a Swedish model,. Elin.

Malaysians love IKEA!

Malaysia is mostly Islamic and so will Sweden also be in a couple of years (if the Swedes dosen't do anything about it).

/Swedish

I'm living in Sweden for last 5 years and was in Malaysia for some days. I couldn't find any similarities between a secular/free Sweden and a Islamic country Malaysia. Except three things, both the countries have numerous islands, similar natural resources and monarchies, other than these three nothing is common.

hej från Kuala Lumpur!

Both our countries are in a peninsula. Both our countries are in seafaring regions. Sweden is in Scandanavia and Malaysia is in Nusantara or Malay Archipelago. (Stockholm Sweden's capital is also in an archipelago). Their historical seafarers were the Vikings and Orang Laut respectively. Both Vikings and Orang Laut were known to live in Long Houses.

Jumpa lagi! Hoppas att vi ses sen!

Archipelago:

Malaysia (specifically Sarawak) is part of the Malay Archipelago. This is the largest archipelago in the world based on total area.

Sweden has the Stockholm Archipelago, which fans out into the Baltic and is often considered to be an extension of the Archipelago Sea. This is the largest archipelago in the world based on total number of islands.

@Joon You have gotta to be kidding me, please save us your ignorant meatball comments. Meatball variants are present in a lot of different cultures across the world. The IKEA version is as close as national food can come for sweden and is on the table for every national holiday and a regional classic for lunch in many of the restaurants as well (IKEA being one of them). "An american thing" huh... Seriously, get educated!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meatball

Detonation runs as a common theme. Alfred Nobel, the Swedish Industrialist invented Dynamite. The proceeds of this invention helped Nobel to establish the noble Nobel foundation which awards prizes each year to some of the greatest inventers and discoverers in the world. In Malaysia, detonation is sometimes used to get rid of evidence. A Mongolian model was killed and her body ignobly detonated in a remote location. This killing is purported to be related to defence purchases, high level corruption, illicit sex and blackmail.
Detonation of illegal fireworks is also a much loved practise in Malaysia during festive seasons.

Both countries are very mountainous and are peninsulars. Sweden and Malaysia are both constitutional monarchies. Sweden with a king, Malaysia with a Sultan. Both of these countries were occupied by non-natives in their histories and occupied other countries aswell. Both of these countries also rely on their forests for a small amount of their income. Both Countries also have a good schooling system, as both countries have diffferent types of schools for different types of people.

Just to clarify... Sweden does have an islamic population, but it is only about 5% of the population, so Sweden does not produce radical islamics. Malaysia does also have a christian and catholic population aswell

Both are nice places to visit with relatively nice people.

Sweden does not have a Chinatown. I see so many incorrect statements here about Sweden, I wonder why people bother posting at all.

English is not the first language of both nations =)

Despite that we still have similarities in regards to food & way of life, yet holding on to different preferrences in culture & lifestyle. It's dialetical.

Ultimate connection: the pasture is greener on the other side =D

Uh... just to clear a few things up: there is no Chinatown in Sweden, Swedish meatballs are Swedish (köttbullar), Sweden is not considered a conservative Christian country, and Sweden does not have a big oil economy (Norway does).

Carry on!

@Henrik, Sweden's ecomomy (GDP 2009) is significantly larger than Norway's, according to both IMF, The World Bank, and CIA Fact Book. Norway's population is 5 million and Sweden's is 9.5 million. Sweden is significantly larger geographically, has more Fortune 500 companies, is a more diversified economy, and has a much larger cultural influence on the world (while still small of course). We love you, and you are richer, but who are you kidding?

Both countries have parliamentary democracies and constitutional monarchies though with slight variations on the Malaysian side

The World Pentecostal Conference with 1500+ participants was held recently in Stockholm, Sweden. Malaysian and Swedish delegates were present together with people from a total of 74 different nations. A Malaysian Pastor will head up the World Pentecostal committee for the next 3 years, after which the World Pentecostal Conference will be held in Malaysia that year.

Both countries love the crap out of fish.

very funny connections. some are very revealing

I am staying in a state borneo (sabah) of malaysia, I don't know much about culture of sweden.But what i ever knows, swedish massage therapy are very populer in malaysia.But i feel its not enough for us to practice without the real knowledge about it. How nice, if between this two country can exchange the knowledge about this traditional complementary medicine.

As a practitionar of indigenous traditional therapy in which we name it 'BORNEO TRADITIONAL THERAPY' or 'KADAZANDUSUN THERAPY' i love practising as a therapies that because its real natural therapy without using any dangerous equiptment,alchohol and drug.We get the herbs from the forest as a common used for most of our health prevention and protection.

How in the heck has Kevin Bacon not been mentioned? The Malaysian government banned a Toyota ad featuring Brad Pitt because it was deemed an insult to Asians. Brad Pit was in "Sleepers" with Kevin Bacon. Kevin Bacon was in "Mystic Rivers" with Tim Robbins. Tim Robbins was in" Bull Durham" with Kevin Costner. Kevin Costner was in "Silverado" with John Cleese. In the first episode of Monty Python's "Fliegender Zirkus," there was a sketch with a cardboard cutout of Swedish actress, Anita Ekberg.

They are...?

@Oskar, Norways total GDP passed Sweden in the spring of 2010. Even with half the population. I agree that Sweden has a larger cultural footprint but this is hard to measure, and debatable. When it comes to diversified economy I can tend to agree, depends on how you look at it. Norwegians ownes over one percent of the worlds total public equity capital in 40 000 companies world wide, and that is by definition diversification. And what on earth does the geographical size got to do with it? We love our neighbour too, but I still stand by my first comment.

Sweden – an oil economy...? You must mean Norway.

Both have in place many green iniciatives to prepare for the future, and both have modern (Malaysia in the begining stages still) public transportation systems

Is this "Global Connections" yet another ploy by the Elite to push the "Eugenics" and the whole One World Government thing onto people? Maybe something along the lines of the EU, UN and soon to be NAU....

Hmmm? A lot of people are watching.

im a malaysian lived in USA and Jordan, never been to Sweden but, would like to visit Sweden. The connection is IKEA, we Malaysian love IKEAs furnitures and the meatballs. The woods uesd to produce the furniture are fr. Sweden and the rainforest. Their design are simple, unique and affordable. I love IKEAs..

its IKEAs of course and its meatballs it is delicious. Both are a penisula and have monarchy.

Like every other place on this planet, the countries are populated with people who strive to provide the best they can for their children and wish for a better standard of health, education, success and happiness. I hope someday in the very near future this will be a realization around the world.

In Sweden, drivers stop when they see the pedestrian 10m away but in Malaysia, drivers don't hesitate to run you down. Both countries love Hollywood movies and Lady Gaga.

both countries have immagrants flocking to them.

both countires have many different religons

Both Malaysian & Swede start their day with a cup of Latte at Starbucks, watching news at CNN on an iPad. They use Microsoft's software to do works in the office. They then go to lunch at Macdonald. Occasionally they go to 7-11 for an ice-cream. "Globalization" connects the 2 countries.

nothing much to compare,sweeden is a democratic country where else malaysia is just only name but in real life, other races are being marginalised!

Hej,I am an Indian living in Stockholm [ Sweden] for the last two years and I enjoy living in this wonderful country!If Malaysia is truly Asia I guess Sweden has become globally and metaphorically part of Asia now because of the huge immigration from Asia to Sweden in the recent years!The people from middle east Iraq,Iran,Turkey have been flocking to the country in huge numbers making it kind of Asian' and creating the connection with Malaysia.I believe the traditional swedish tolerance should be a little more sceptical because there should be a limit to immigration laws.My husband is a researcher here and we will be re locating in India at the end of this year but I would love to see Sweden with the Swedes and not with the islamic population only!The Swedes are lovely people and I guess their hospitality is being exploited by such huge influx of immigration,people who bring their whole families to feed on social bidrag of the swedish social system by earning nothing and giving nothing back to the host country except venom and violence!I can hardly single out a Swede on the streets nowadays,the population has become mixed!If the Swedes do nothing about it ,soon Sweden will turn into US.God bless the Swedes and the lovely country of Sweden,I believe its my second homeland!

Worldwide Corruption Perceptions ranking of countries (2009), published bvy Transparency International.

1. New Zealand
2. Denmark
3. Singapore
4. Sweden

...

56. Malaysia

in msia, ikea is considered 'high end' where the middle class and above buys; in sweden, ikea is considered 'lower end' where ppl w less money (i.e. college students) get their stuff....

Well Malaysia and Sweden has common interast in pharmacueticles , while swenden is good in pharmacuetics made with natural harbs eg the wildly known Swedish bitters , Malaysia has the same links in pharmacueticles made with harbs.

Both Sweden and Malaysia have a strong tradition in Mining and Pewter. The Royal Selangor is the “pride and joy” of Malaysia with beautiful pewter objects (some even by Scandinavian designers) made locally and by hand. Svenskt Tenn is the Swedish equivalent! Both companies have a strong brand name and act as “ambassadors” for their countries – through the same old tradition.

reply to dswami : it sound that u are UNGREATFUL malaysian who likes to complain a lot but does not realize that how lucky to be a malaysian....

Responding to 'Malaysian' comment: go get your free Bumi air-ticket to Sweden from UMNO, study the political culture there, then come back with your clear hearten comments .................... but then again ..............

I had an excellent time living in Bangsar, KL. I brought furniture from IKEA and drove a Volvo with a great air conditioning unit, a necessity when you’re living in equatorial country.

I had an excellent time living in Bangsar, KL. I brought furniture from IKEA and drove a Volvo with a great air conditioning unit, a necessity when you’re living in an equatorial country.

Malaysia and Sweden have in place a bilateral agreement concerning the mutual protection of investments signed at Kuala Lumpur on 3 March 1979. There is an agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden and the Government of Malaysia for Air Services between and beyond their respective territories, signed at Kuala Lumpur on 19 October 1967. The countries also have in place a bilateral agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.

Diplomatic relations were established in 1958. Sweden has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Stockholm. In 2009, 90 Swedish companies have offices in Malaysia and about 450 Swedish citizens live in Malaysia.
Malaysia is one of Sweden’s largest trade partners in South East Asia. In 2006, Swedish exports to Malaysia were approximately 1.6 billion MYR and the imports from Malaysia approximately 0.7 billion MYR. Swedish exports to Malaysia consist of telecommunication equipment, motor vehicles, chemical products, power generating machinery and equipment, machines, paper, as well as iron ore and steel. Swedish imports from Malaysia electronics and electrical components, machinery and apparatus, textiles, palm oil and raw rubber.
Volvo operates a wholly owned subsidiary in Malaysia that manufactures trucks.
The musical “Mama Mia” from the Swedish Band ABBA is quite famous in Malaysia and is performed regularly.
Another connection is that both countries are led by “Royal Families”.

There is a lot in common with the two countries, for example both share very good diplomatic relations as shown by the fact that Sweden has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Stockholm. Furthermore there are 90 Swedish companies are present in Malaysia and about 450 Swedish citizens living in Malaysia, showing links between the two. I have spent time in Malaysia and a lot of people drive Volvo’s including the police and former Malaysian sportsman of the year Josiah Ng. Another famous Malaysian Mon Redee Sut Txi competed in the Stockholm Olympics in 1912.

Dr.Mahathir, the former Prime minister was nominated for a Nobel Prize, which were established by Alfred Noble the Swedish chemist. The two countries are also connected in the world of film, with Mamma Mia being one of the top grossing films of 2008, not only this but Rocky 4, one of the top grossing sport’s films ever in Malaysia star’s the Swede Dolph Lundgren. In the world of sport there are fewer connections although Johan Edfers the Swedish golfer finished tied for 7th in the Malaysian open this year

Having spent close to 2 years in Uppsala with the opportunity to have many Swedish friends, have to admit that it is hard to find similarity between the countries. Though the racial diversity is a pretty obvious similarity between Sweden and Malaysia. In spite of all the racial tension that is happening back home, one interesting point is that many of us Malaysians have friends of different races back home and abroad (one of my best buddy in Berlin now is half Malaysian Indian), which is also the case when I am in Sweden, with friends from different roots – Turkish, Hungarian, Serbian..

Having spent a couple of years living in Malaysia i found it to be the WORST place in the world literally its full of lazy people no offence but Sweden has my vote they are fair and not corrupt and very diversified in terms of ethnicity. In summary, THERE IS NOTHING IN COMMON!!!!

I disagree. My parents left Malaysia bc of how unfair they felt the Malay government was to Chinese people. Making such harsh remarks without evidence is quite atrocious.

At first sight you would think that Sweden ale Malaysia have nothing in common. Both countries are from totally different part of the Earth. Sweden is very developed country. On the other hand I thought that Malaysia is more of an underdeveloped country. For my surprise it was totally different. First thing that surprised me was how good Malaysia is with their healthcare. Malaysia is almost as good as Sweden. Another very similar statistic is the HIV rate. Both have them really low. This rate is closely liked with their good healthcare. But statistics aren’t the only similarity or connection between Malaysia and Sweden. The biggest one I see in the government type of both countries. They both have constitutional monarchy. The heads of both countries are kings. Accept in case of Malaysia the king has nine consultants. These are the nine heritors from the states of Malaysia. Also trade market connects these two countries. Sweden imports to Malaysia furniture through IKEA Company. Another connection between these countries is their car market. Sweden imports Volvos and Saabs to Malaysia. And it works the other way around. Malaysia sends Protons to Sweden.

Connections between these two countries are not obvious, the Malaysians love to use IKEA, and Volvo has a strong customer base in Malaysia including the police force. Malaysians are a relatively large consumer of Christmas trees from Sweden, which is one of the natural resources that Sweden depends on. Malaysia also depends on natural resources in the form of oil and gas, and some forests of its own. Both countries are of democratic government but also have a monarch (Both male monarchs at the moment)
Both countries are also very fond of technology with Sweden having the highest internet usage percentage in the western world and Malaysia the highest in the Islamic world.

There are a variety of links between the countries Sweden and Malaysia. Both countries are dependant on natural resources; Malaysia for example has oil, gas and a forest industry. While Sweden also has a forest industries whilst also creating a large sum of money form minerals supporting their welfare system. Another connection between these two countries is that aside form their embassies in Washington DC they also have consulates in New York. During the year of 2009 both countries had a current account balance of roughly $30 billion and had imports worth about $120 billion. In their respective regions both Sweden and Malaysia’s currencies are relatively high. A result of this is that the populations of both countries holiday in places like Thailand and Indonesia. The Swedish bank SEB has an outsource office running in Kuala Lumpur. Sweden and Malaysia were both post-Christian societies however they have both become predominant Muslim countries. Similarly to Britain both countries have a constitutional monarchy. Overall, the connections between Sweden and Malaysia occur in most aspect of life such as art, culture, religion and politics.

Sweden and Malaysia have close financial ties, business ties and military ties.
Sweden sells a lot of different goods and products to Malaysia such as cars (Volvo, Saab), furniture (IKEA) and others.
In its turn Malaysia exports cars called “Proton”. And, of course, we should not forget about one of the biggest petroleum companies “PETRONAS”, which exports oil and petrol not only to Sweden, but also all over the world.
These two countries also have almost similar political systems because they both have kings and called constitutional monarchies. The armies of these countries are rather strong and powerful (Swedish and Malaysian navies co-operate)
Also they provide very developed health care and education.
Malaysia and Sweden are very interesting countries from the side of culture, because Malaysia is a great tourist destination as well as Sweden, so there are a lot of places to see.

Is it that they both love death metal... Arch Enemy?
There are death metal fans in every county!

Okay i must say this one was a "blunder". The previous connetions (Nigeria & Brazil) was much more realistic as they have a lot more in common.

I understand why Cindy's comment (Malaysian married to Swedish) was quickly picked as famous quote to soothe readers disappointment. Anyway, i hope there is more interesting ones to come.

You can try Madagasca & New Zealand. Both are sadly away from other people

Fishing village Of the VIKINGS???

If I could ever think of one, maybe: Both countries are racists.

Malaysia had a strong and quiet foothold from a post colonial era with european and even american influence in the form of education and government structure etc. An envy to many of the regional countries. This is still evident from the 'products' of this potentially great nation. People of excellence who now reside in countries who offer them frontiers in their respective fields/practice. These existing 'infrastructures' have now being modified for the good and the bad. Sweden might have been a possible partial image of what Malaysia could become if social, political obstacles were dealt with accordingly. However one must keep in mind that Malaysia is only 53 years of age, give and take a little under 100 years of tumultuous formation. Having said all that the foothold/slingshot/ advantage Malaysia had is now slowly receding and we need to look to further developed nations like Sweden for the 'helping hand' up the slope of development.

yes malaysia is very country fast to made a technology

Some people say that Sweden is not a Christian country, and it's true that it is a very secular country, however being a Swedish expat for a number of years I have gained some perspective of Swedish religiosity. It is true that most people in Sweden do not attend church on a regular basis BUT:
- Swedish culture and law system are based on Christian principles

- Sweden is a unique in the western world having a coalition government including a Christian party consisting of mainly evangelical christians, not nominal christians as most other Eur. countries.

-One of the few countries in Europe which have a couple of Evangelical Christian newspapers, although with a small political influence.

-Many Swedes still go to church for weddings, funerals and at Christmas.

Personnally, I believe that more Swedes believe in the Christian God than they would like to admit.

Sorry, forgot to add my suggestion to similarities. Both have a car industry, Volvo and Saab in Sweden, Proton in Malaysia. I think they also have another car brand...don't remember what it is.

malaysia is beautiful .... I love malaysia..:D

it was very embarrassing when the editor ask the connection but some stupid malaysians kept talking about the differences. and the worst they were demeaning or degrading their own country.i do wonder they are truly malaysian or not.

i love sweeden like i love my country.
i planned to visit there sometime.

those who felt fairly untreated, you are complaining in a wrong thread dude!LOL

@ashraf: It's nonsensical for Malaysia to provide special privileges for the major race ("Bumiputeras"), while all other racial minorities are suppressed. Of course, it's natural for a Malay such as yourself to respond as you did, but that's the flaw in your response. Are the agitated 'others' truly Malaysian? No, we're not.

A brief anecdote: As I sat school exams, everyone had to fill in forms about our personal details (gender, religion, race). We had to shade our responses; when asked about your religion, you shaded either "muslim" or "other". And what's with the racist MPs, yelling: "This is MALAYsia. If you don't like it, you can get out"?

According to World Port Source both UAE and Panama are active competitive exporters and importers with the US. Negotiations for a free trade Agreement with both countries and Panama Canal expansion that began in 2007 promises the import/export capacity to double, especially with Panama.

Panama's commodities to the world in 2007 including bananas, clothing, coffee, shrimp and sugar. Topping the list of customers for Panamanian exports in 2006 were the United States (39.8% of total exports), Spain (8.1%), Netherlands (6.7%), Sweden (5.6%) and Costa Rica (4.5%). Per CIA The World Fact Book imports/exports include capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods, chemicals

Major customers for the UAE’s US$156.6 billion worth of exports in 2007 include Japan (25.8% of total exports), South Korea (9.6%), Thailand (5.9%) and India (4.5%). Oil accounts for about 45% of UAE export shipments to the rest of the world. Other leading UAE export commodities include natural gas, dried fish and dates.

UAE imports last year were valued at $101.6 billion. Leading importers into the UAE are the United States (11.5% of total imports), China (11%), India (9.8%), Germany (6.2%), Japan (5.8%), the United Kingdom (5.5%) France (4.1%) and Italy (4%). Principal UAE imports are machinery and transportation equipment, chemicals and food.

Per CIA World Fact Book: Exports: crude oil 45%, natural gas, reexports, dried fish, dates Imports: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food

Both countries have been long standing IMF members.

Except that both their people are extremely nice , there are no similarities between them.

As an undergraduate Malaysian student, I hope to further my studies in high-technology country just like Sweden.

I visited both countries this year (just got back from Sweden last week) I can say that both countries are very future-oriented. Sweden is known the world over for its progressive views- i.e. number of women in parliament, protection of minorities etc. Malaysia also has committed as a "national mission" to become a first-world nation by 2020. KL is a shining example of a modern, techology focused city.

Both nations are tolerant towards people from all cultures. In Malaysia- the patchwork of differing faiths and ethnic backgrounds is what makes the country so interesting. Sweden has large communities of immigrants, attracted to Sweden by high standards of living and tolerance, and is highly protective of the rights for all to worship and live as they choose.

Just based on my own personal observations. I would encourage everyone to visit both- they are wonderful!

Diplomatic relations between Sweden and Malaysia were established in 1958. Sweden has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Stockholm. As of 2009, 90 Swedish companies are present in Malaysia and about 450 Swedish citizens live in Malaysia.

Malaysia and Sweden have in place a bilateral agreement concerning the mutual protection of investments signed at Kuala Lumpur on 3 March 1979. There is an agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden and the Government of Malaysia for Air Services between and beyond their respective territories, signed at Kuala Lumpur on 19 October 1967. The countries also have in place a bilateral agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.

Malaysia is one of Sweden's largest trade partners in South East Asia. In 2006, Swedish exports to Malaysia totaled approximately 1.6 billion MYR and the imports from Malaysia approximately 0.7 billion MYR. Swedish exports to Malaysia consist of telecommunication equipment, motor vehicles, chemical products, power generating machinery and equipment, machines, paper, as well as iron ore and steel. Swedish imports from Malaysia electronics and electrical components, machinery and apparatus, textiles, palm oil and raw rubber.
Volvo operates a wholly owned subsidiary in Malaysia that manufactures trucks

Both Sweden and Malaysia are populated by Homo Sapiens Sapiens, a primate species with remarkably little genetic variation compared to many other primates despite a perceived difference in appearance. Swedish blood, tissues and organs can be transfused and transplanted in Malaysians and vice versa just as well as they can be in their own countries. The fallacy is to focus on the differences, when we are all just so similar in this big blue marble. Peace!!!

interesting blog. quite informative. i like it......