i don't think its a Malaysian thing, its worldwide that people nowadays read much less than say 10 years ago.
I'd agree with someone mentioning the Internet being one of the reasons. Internet, media, social-media, advertising etc. have all made us have shorter attention spans. As we get faster and more accessible things online, we live in a world where 'instant' is what is expected.
we get instant news, we open multiple tabs in browsers and jump from one to another, if a text is more than a few paragraphs, we get bored and jump to another.
Reading is a slow-placed activity that stimulates our brain and as people's attention span get less, they are less eager to read. i too admit i suffer from internet and social media addiction, but trying to limit myself and read more.