Stories from Malaysia:

HIGH-FLYER 2009 - Nobody expected that much when a Malaysian entrepreneur took over a pair of old airplanes and millions in debt, launching Asia's first budget airline. But Tony Fernandes quickly brought it to profit and turned it into one of the world's best, expanded to long haul and opened a string of budget hotels. Now he has a basketball league and seems to have no limits to his low-cost game.

AIR ASIA FLYING HIGH - Called Asia's answer to Richard Branson, former Malaysian music executive Tony Fernandes took over a bankrupt carrier, launched Air Asia and watched it soar as the region's largest passenger carrier. Now, the cost-cutting king is eyeing new routes including long-haul service, but always keeping to the mantra: Now, everyone can fly.

PENANG REBOUND - Asia's first resort island of Penang fell on hard times in recent decades, as tourists flocked to new beaches with a bigger buzz, from Bali to Phuket. But this historic port is in the midst of a renaissance, trading on its rich heritage and spectacular cuisine to lure back a new generation of holidaymakers: Penang is on the rise.

JUNGLE JIM - White forts, twisted vines and a wild river cuts straight to the darkness of Sarawak, where a rogue British pirate carved out a musky kingdom in the jungles of Borneo. Tribal warfare and voodoo still fill the wild nights in the land ruled by the real-life Lord Jim.

                   Kuching by David Paul Morris; Penang by Ron Gluckman, Tony Fernandes courtesy of Air Asia