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Saturday, August 28, 2004 |
| Once a Malaysian... Always a Malaysian...
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I came across a newspaper article written on what makes Malaysians unique… The ‘Merdeka Spirit’ is really flying around isn’t it? Well National Day is coming soon no doubt Malaysian is going around shouting how proud they are to be one… Anyway… interviews were carried out with some young Malaysians and some people who migrated to Malaysia (or KL) to work and to summarise it… Malaysians have big appetites… having to eat six meals a day (breakfast, brunch, lunch, high tea, dinner, supper) and food on our minds 24/7 especially notably mamak style food… nasi lemak, Maggi goring, kopi-o… and the ever so popular “teh tarik satu”… which comes along with uniquely mamak style of ordering food and asking for the bill… “Kopi-o ais (iced coffee)”, “limau ‘bing’ kurang manis (iced lime juice with less sugar)” and “kira boss (check please)”… Our speech is also a giveaway… using bad grammar like “Why you eat so many food?”… including suffixes like “lah”, “mah”, “loh” into every sentence possible… and speaking ‘rojak’ (in mixed languages)… “Kenapa you so lambat?”, “Why you so lanci?”, “I don’t want to layan you!”… Malaysian are also compulsive law-breakers… having to make u-turns where legal and illegal, talking on the phone (hand-held) when driving, double or triple parking… We are also glued to the TV whenever there’s a reality program going on… Akademi Fantasia, Malaysia Idol, American Idol, The Amazing Race, Survivor… Another solely Malaysian characteristic is our habit of being ‘kiamsiap’ (selfish)… we are always complaining about how expensive things are and bargaining with shopkeepers for lower prices… “Wah, damn expensive wei. Can die!”… preferring to park on the road where it is illegal than pay RM1 for legal and shaded parking… Then when we get a fine for the illegal parking… we plead and beg the officer to let us go… giving him a little ‘incentive’ to help the pleading along or tell him a sob story to reduce the fine… The one thing we cannot forgo… S-A-L-E… the word which causes traffic congestions on weekends and claustrophobic environment within the shopping department… BEWARE… Malaysians generally have bad road manners… horning for every little matter, shouting foul words and showing ‘hand-signals’ when the someone else horns us… and not wanting to give way to one another even to emergency vehicles… and also one very weird thing about Malaysians is that we are extremely superstitious… we can deny it all we want but we know what to do and what not to do to avoid ‘bad luck’… But there are also some very good things about Malaysia and Malaysians… Students are extremely hardworking… always striving to score the best… it may be considered ‘kiasu’ (scared to lose)… but I think it’s a good quality as long as you don’t have to sacrifice anything or anyone… Relatively well mannered and friendly most of the time… most Malaysians would lend a hand when it is called for and supportive of the government… always willing to give directions even when they don’t know the correct way… And where else go you get so many holidays and all the different races and religions celebrating together… sure we may sometimes have our differences and misunderstandings… but we always somehow manage to pull through… So… undeniably… Malaysians are distinct and unique… but should we be proud of that?! Not necessarily… However… I myself rather love Malaysia… I wish I wasn’t but I am typically Malaysian… Hahaha… Selamat Hari Merdeka… Cheers…
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| posted by
WanTse @ 8/28/2004 03:14:00 pm
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