Malaysia is introducing new visa rules for Indian and Bangladeshi tourists in an effort to curb illegal immigration, The New Straits Times reported Friday.

Visitors from the two countries will have to obtain a two-week pass and a return ticket before they can enter Malaysia, the report said, quoting Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar.

"The social visit pass replaces the visas-on-arrival (VOA), which was discontinued in April," Syed Hamid said, adding the social visit pass must be obtained in advance from the tourists' home country.

LANGKAWI: Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia should look into providing direct international flights or transit flights via Langkawi, said Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.

“The airport, which is an international airport, is not getting international flights, other than from Singapore," she said, adding that the ministry would write to MAS and AirAsia to provide direct international flight services to Langkawi.

She said Langkawi needed more direct international flights to attract more tourists.

With everything from fairground rides to cultural festivals, Malaysia’s City of Entertainment, Genting Highlands, certainly strives to live up to its reputation – and earlier this month, the star attraction was Vietnam.

The Charming Viet Nam Week, held and sponsored by Resorts World Bhd and Viet Nam Airlines, was aimed to boost tourism between the two countries.

Hundreds of guests headed to the resort’s Times Square where displays of Vietnamese culture took centre stage. The glitzy performances ranged from traditional drum shows, mua non (conical hat dancing), a display of ao dai (traditional dress) to martial arts and water puppetry.

KUALA LUMPUR - AirAsia X will start a new direct service to Perth, Western Australia from Kuala Lumpur on Nov 2, this year, said its director Datuk Tony Fernandes Thursday.

He said the average fare to Perth, including other cost like fuel surcharge will be just under RM400.

For those opting for the business class seats, the return fare is about RM2,000, he said at the launching of the carrier's destination to Perth here.

The long haul, low cost carrier will offer six return flights per week between Perth and Kuala Lumpur, and is already planning to increase the flights to daily return flights by March 2009.

Kuala Lumpur lures visitors with affordable opulence amid natural beauty

What's it like to live in a far-off place most of us see only on a vacation? Foreign Correspondence is an interview with someone who lives in a spot you may want to visit.

Richard Good, 23, is an attorney with a consulting firm in Charlotte. He lived in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, for a decade. He left in 2006.

Q. Kuala Lumpur conjures very different images. It is the site of Petronas Towers - the tallest twin buildings in the world; it is also in the center of the Malay Peninsula, which is covered with jungle.

PORT DICKSON -- PD Marine Services Sdn Bhd, an express ferry services provider, will start a new service from Port Dickson (PD) to Bagan Siapi-Api in Rokan Hilir province, Sumatra from May 15.

"The new service will use the 'Acob Express 1' ferry which has the capacity to accommodate 220 passengers. The journey will take about four hours," managing director, Datuk Yaacob Hussin, told Bernama here Friday.

PD Marine offers express ferry service from PD to Dumai, Indonesia since September 2005.

The service, Suka Express, leaves PD at 10am every day and can accommodate 134 passengers. The journey takes two hours.