Culture syiok

Some things I notice about Malaysia since coming back for hols...

1. People here talk funny. Not Malaysian kind of funny, but funny in the sense of they've got a 'chaplang' accent of American-ish drawl plus British accent plus a bit of Auzzie twang. And more often than not, these are people who's been born in raised locally, and have not spent a significant amount of time abroad, if at all. I cannot tahan one of the local deejays... I think Serena is her name but i may be wrong (heard in the taxi)... difficult to understand, talk too fast and with a weird accent thats sounds more like she too lazy to pronounce and enunciate her words than it does like a proper accent.

2. Things here are DAMN expensive. I don't know how people can survive here. I don't know how I survived here before either. Or maybe I've been on a budget for too long. Spending a week's rent on a bag in UK is living quite comfortably. But I see people spending a month's rent on a bag here without batting an eyelid. They must be earning a substantial amount of money, or have no savings at all. Crazy.

In UK I earn say, minimum wage is £5 an hour. But that can buy me:

Dorothy Perkins jeans on sale = £5

or

McDonalds Happy Meal = £1.99
Starbucks Mocha Frappuchino =£2.10
and have change left over

or

2-3 days worth of groceries, depending on what I buy from Asda/Tesco
ie:
broccoli 39p per lbs
2 beef steaks £2.99
one pack carrots 68p
one pack potatoes 99p
melon 68p

or one brand new book from a bookshop
or about 3 used books at £1.50 each that looks quite new from a charity shop.

In short, £5 (one hour's min wage) can buy A LOT.

Malaysia, minimum wage is RM3.50 an hour, which can buy:

One plate char koay teow
(cannot even buy drinks!)

I'm not sure what else it can buy. Selipar jepun also RM10! wahhh.. *shudders*

I'm damn poor here in Malaysia la... though I have £££ at hand, but when I look at the prices, I just shake my head and walk away because I think, it's not worth that kind of money. I think I can feel my nostrils getting narrower overnight... haha turning into a miserly old woman liao.

I think when I go back to UK I must get more work so that at least I have something to fall back on when I come back to work.

ALSO.

I noticed TOO many people carrying Vuitton and Gucci bags in Mid Valley and One Utama. More than usual I guess. The only other place I've ever seen this kind of phenomena is in Hong Kong.

It makes me wonder why people want to tayang diri like that considering my next point...

3. Crime rates. My sister was telling me about the TAR college boy who got stabed when he got mugged. And the snatch theft victim who became paralysed after an accident. And of a mother and baby who were also victims of a snatch thief. Its scary. That people are willing to rob, kill and maim for money.

The thing is, fingers immediately point to all the pendatang pendatang and buruh asing when its usually more often than not, drug addicts who are to blame. If they are capable of hurting the people closest and dearest to them, what chance to strangers have to appeal to their nonexistant 'humanity' and compassion?

Aneeway... on a lighter note...

I also found that men here are extremely well dressed. Some more quite lengchai. Not lengschai also dress so smart until u think they're quite eng tau and yau yeng. There're nothing I like more than well dressed, good looking metrosexuals to cuci mata on.

Malaysian girls damn chun also. All sau sau leng leng pak pak (slim, pretty and fair). Especially SLIM. How can they can live in a food paradise and not gain weight, is beyond me. I've gained a good 3kgs since coming back, and its only been a little over a week.

Excuse my use of colloquailism and chinese words that some may not understand. But i beh tahan the accents people put on here and am in a severe need to purge it from my system.

Last, but not least, I really miss the Malaysia I left behind...