Malaysians give cash to help government

Malaysians gave $2 million to help their country with its debt. Malaysia has a new government for the first time since 1957. It promised to fix problems left by the old government, especially the huge national debt. The old government lost a lot of money. The government used a new way of raising money – crowdfunding. It made a special page on the Internet to raise money. People can give money to the page using their credit card.

The $2 million is very small. It is just a drop in the ocean because the country's debt is $251 billion. Malaysia's finance minister said it was important for people to help. He said: "The people voluntarily want to share their earnings." The idea came from a woman who said she was, "very much in love with and proud" of her country. She started to raise money, and that very quickly attracted interest from other people. They also wanted to help.