With Merdeka 2014 coming up, we can’t help but get a little nostalgic about things. Malaysia is such a wonderful city to live in, despite its flaws, it’s still a place that I proudly call home. Sure, Malaysian drivers are absolutely insane and drive my head in every time I commute back and to from work but where else in the world can you get roti canai at 4 in the morning? Nowhere!
So, to kick off Malaysia’s independence day, here is my list of what we all love about Malaysia and the people of this country:
We point with our thumb – Foreigners find it strange that we do this, but it’s not because we are dense but it’s because pointing with your index finger is considered to be rude.
We are inquisitive – It doesn’t matter if you’re Chinese, Indian or Malay, if you’re a Malaysian, you’re gonna be inquisitive and ask questions. Other people might think we are nosy, but Malaysians get it.
We’re always concerned about eating – Eating is just part of the Malaysian culture, and can you blame us? We have such a wide variety of cuisines! If you have never asked someone, “Dah makan?” which translates as “Have you eaten?” then you’re not a Malaysian. Although it doesn’t necessarily have to be in Bahasa Malaysia.
We have a dictionary worth of slangs – For a foreigner it might be had to understand why we pretty much end sentences with ‘lah’, ‘lor’ or ‘ar’ all the time. But with such a wide variety of cultural background, it’s only natural that we speak this way.
We’re food snobs- In a good way though! We may love fancy restaurants with great food, but if the food is crap, we’re more than happy to go our favourite mamak stall. We love them and we certainly know what good food tastes like.
We love discounts – We’re not cheapskates, okay? We just love a good bargain!
Everyone is related – We feel comfortable calling someone who is not our sister ‘kak’ and a lady who is in fact not our relative, ‘Aunty’. We’re just one big family really.