REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KUALA LUMPUR, The Malaysian government has decided not to usher the arrival of the New Year for the second time in 10 years due to the devastating floods, especially in the East Coast.

The first time Malaysia did not usher the new year was during the arrival of 2005 since Dec 26, 2004 saw a monstrous tsunami claim more than 200,000 casualties in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Events lined in Putrajaya, Dataran Merdeka and states like Melaka, Penang, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan were cancelled as a mark of respect for the people who are suffering from the massive floods in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Perak, Selangor, Perlis, Kedah and Johor.

The year 2014 has also been full of airline tragedies for Malaysia, especially the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 and flight MH17.

The latest incident was the AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501 tragedy in the Java SEA.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak is now in Kelantan to visit flood victims and view the damages caused by the worst floods in 40 years.

Instead of fireworks which normally mark the arrival of the new year, mosques, temples and other places of worship organised prayers for the well being of the flood victims and the families of those who perished in airline tragedies.

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