Midnight pranksters fan flames of frustration for Malaysia’s fire services

AdvertisementMalaysiaAsiaSoutheast AsiaMidnight pranksters fan flames of frustration for Malaysia’s fire services

Last year, the department recorded 255 prank calls, costing time and draining both resources and litres of diesel

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The StarPublished: 12:18pm, 26 Apr 2026It’s midnight. A call was made to Malaysia’s Fire and Rescue Department about a forest fire in Tanjung Bungah, Penang.

Firefighters rushed to the scene only to discover there was no such blaze.

the department gets a prank call every other day. Many of these calls are usually made about an hour before or after midnight.

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Its exasperated director general Nor Hisham Mohammad is now calling for a multiprong approach to deal with the problem.

“There should be stricter enforcement, use of technological enhancement, more public education and also operational improvements,” Nor Hisham said.

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He said the department wasted much time, manpower and unnecessary burning of fuel in attending to such calls, which had been increasing about 30 per cent in the past few years.

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