Things foreigners should know about the Malaysian culture (questions welcome)

[vunsin]

I remember reading a book called "Malaysian Flavours" by Lee Su Kim when I was still in Malaysia. It was a really interesting book about the way of life in Malaysia, a land of many races, each with its own culture and way of life. Some Malaysian traits are positively endearing, some quite amusing (especially to foreigners), and some really "one kind" (such as the driving habits :rolleyes:).

So Malaysians and foreigners, please share your experiences and observations about the uniqueness of the Malaysian culture here! I'll start...

How Malaysians accept compliments

When I first came to the U.S. more than 4 years ago, I just could not understand why people were so self-assured when accepting compliments. When being complimented, people simply answer with a simple "thank you" and a smile. But in Malaysia, the style is to deflate the compliment a little. There are basically three types of ways to respond to a compliment:

1) By softening the compliment

A: You're so clever-lah! Got so many distinctions in SPM!
B: No-lah... lucky only...

2) By countering the compliment mildly or vehemently disagreeing with the compliment

A: Wah... I like your hairstyle. Very nice!
B: No-lah... it's too curly. It doesn't suit me-lah.

3) By deflecting the compliment a little and providing background information

A: Wah... I like your dress. Very nice!
B: No-lah... it's already old. Bought it very cheap too at Petaling Street. Do you know they sell a lot of cheap things there?

[lil~jo]

Yes, and as you would notice in Vunsin's post,
There a lot of wahs and lahs.
It is a very well used expression for all Malaysians.
If you do not use them, the Malaysians can tell that, you haven't been back to Malaysia for a long time or you are a foreigner.
*^^*

[vunsin]

If you do not use them, the Malaysians can tell that, you haven't been back to Malaysia for a long time or you are a foreigner.
*^^*

That's what I'm afraid of since I haven't been home for more than 4 years. :sweat: For foreigners who try to fake the "lah" it won't be so easy because you can't just throw it in every first of third word. It's hard to explain and hard to be learned! :wink2: Only a Malaysian born and bred in Malaysia will know how to use the "lah" properly. :wink2:

Try adding "lah's" in all the right places to this sentence: "You know, I tell you how many times but you never listen." Malaysians will know how and where to! :wink2:

[lil~jo]

I bearly manage to put it in the right places...after 1 month of living there, I start to speak like a Malaysian....but yeah...I agree...It is hard work...
I tend to put in WAY too many lahs.

[panda_shine]

Oh, that is very interesting to know! (I was just browsing j-c.net and came across the Malaysian thread^^)

Question: You know how a lot of Canto speakers use 'la','ah','ma' and all those other sounds, is it similar to how Malaysians would use 'lah'?

[Sakura]

Oh, that is very interesting to know! (I was just browsing j-c.net and came across the Malaysian thread^^)

Question: You know how a lot of Canto speakers use 'la','ah','ma' and all those other sounds, is it similar to how Malaysians would use 'lah'?I don't know..:?

But..the reason why Malaysian speak adding lah, loh, leh, and the end..I think it's because of Bahasa Melayu? dunno..I got so used to it!

vunsin :" You know one lah.., I tell you how many times but you never listen one..."..

[kahel]

Filipinos are quite the same with how we accept compliments :wink2: (without the "lah"s though :D) Maybe since we're all very near geographically, we tend to have the same culture.

[cmy_185]

Oh, that is very interesting to know! (I was just browsing j-c.net and came across the Malaysian thread^^)

Question: You know how a lot of Canto speakers use 'la','ah','ma' and all those other sounds, is it similar to how Malaysians would use 'lah'?

i think it is similar... i'm chinese that's why i think so..i tend to incorporate chinese expressions into the english or malay i'm talking..hehe. but in Malay language we use a lot of lahs at the end of sentences too.

[lil~jo]

Yeah, the Malaysian Lahs are very similar to Chinese and practically all asian cultures I think *^^*
I feel its like a form of completion to a sentence...
just feel the sentence is so bare without it...^^"
=.=lll

[e`Sprit]

When you're speaking Cantonese, all the additional expressions are almost similar to how the Hongkies would add in their 'lah's as well. After all, it's the same language with the same kind of cultural expression.

But when it's English, there comes a different set of expressions, which included all other different languages existing in our country, such as Malay, Hokkien, the broken English (IMO, mostly butchered by the Chinese language); 'lah', 'loh', 'mah', 'ah', 'one', 'bah' (this is only used in Sabah, by the way, almost similar to 'lah'), etc.

vunsin,
I couldn't really put any 'lah' into the sentence. I'm assuming this is in a naggy tone. Here's my version.
"You know ah, I tell you how many times oledi (already) but you never listen one."

[ashley]

This is fun!
It's our very own Malaysian English tuition center. Anyway, this is my version.

Original sentence "You know, I tell you how many times but you never listen."

Ashley's Malaysian version You aaah, never listen one you know. Tell you so many times aah, you still like that one

Non-Malaysian readers - getting the goosebump yet? :)

[vunsin]

Hehe... everyone! :bleh: Don't stress yourself out trying too hard to "Malaysianize" that sentence. Actually there could be many versions of it because everyone expresses the same thing differently. As long as it sounds natural, there's no single correct answer to it. :wink2: But if it sounds unnatural, we'll know you're faking it! :wink2:

[bbsasa]

hahahaha ashley i like the way you use the sentence. something like what i would usually do or say. i usually add my sentences with 'ah' 'lah' 'ler', etc... thats what i like abt malaysia. the language also one of a kind! one more thing that a foreigner should know abt the malaysian culture - we are all a bunch of friendly people or so i seem to think :?

[JAY_LUVER]

This is an interesting thread! :happy:
I never knew that you needed to add "lahs' and "ahs" in your sentences.
hmm.. :hmm:

[bbsasa]

jay_luver: you don't need to but it's just the way most malaysians talk - unofficial language of ours - manglish!

[lil~jo]

You don't really need to add them into your sentences....just that, you'd be an insy weeny bit out of place if you didn't *^^*
m^^m

[Miss_gun]

This reminds me of something.

I read somewhere from one of Lat's book ..
Talking about Malaysian's english during that time..
I remembered he drew a little kid, talking over the phone saying " My number is..seven, jilo, jilo seven five.."

Hahahahaa..So funny! What he meant is " My number is Seven zero zero five..." :laughing:

Singapore has Singlish and we have Manglish...:D

[vunsin]

Hehe... some people just can't (or won't) pronounce words they way they should. Which reminds me of something somebody came up with during secondary school. It involved numbers as well so that's why I remember it. :wink2: If you say Five Five Six Nine Nine in the "Cantonese" way you'd end up with "Quick Quick Eat (Drink) Milk Milk." Get it? :happy:

[Miss_gun]

If you say Five Five Six Nine Nine in the "Cantonese" way you'd end up with "Quick Quick Eat (Drink) Milk Milk." Get it? :happy:Hahahahaa....you cracked me up!! vunsin!

It's so funny...:laughing: :D

[ashley]

*Blows whistle*

Time to get back on track. This topic is "Things foreigners should know about us". :)

Here are some..
- Well, when eating out, it's absolutely fine if you want to use your fingers instead of the cutlery. In fact, they stopped serving KFC with knife and fork. All they have are little plastic spoons for your whipped potato.

- You're not supposed to shake with your left hand . I remember in school, we girl guides were taught to shake with the left hand but it's considered rude to the Malays.

- When you're at a petrol station and you see a sign that says "Air", they may not necessarily be talking about the weighltess, odourless substance that you pump into your vehicle tyres.

"Air" is water in Bahasa Malaysia.

[vunsin]

- You're not supposed to shake with your left hand . I remember in school, we girl guides were taught to shake with the left hand but it's considered rude to the Malays.

Yes, actually there was a discussion in the "bathroom thread" a while back which I initiated. The reason you shouldn't extend your left hand to a Malay person is because Muslims (which I think all Malays are) are supposed to wash their privates after their bathroom business with their left hands. That's why their left hands are considered unclean. They're not supposed to eat with their left hands either.

And ashley, about the number thing, I think it IS part of the Malaysian culture that we could share with non-Malaysians. Who but us (especially the Chinese) could come up with so many fun stuffs from just simple numbers? :rolleyes: We just love to play with numbers. :wink2: And don't forget the obsession with numbers such as 168 or 98 for house numbers or license plate numbers. That IS part of our culture! :wink2:

[bbsasa]

ashley: now that you mention abt the 'air' thingy. i just remember something funny. had an australian who came down here for a holiday. so we went to penang just to bring him around. then he ask why a lot our roads have the same name and we all were like :? apparently he was refering to the road sign that says - jalan sehala which means of cos one way street. another funny thing that happen was when we stopped at a petrol station, he was like - 'wow your petrol stations sell 24 different kind of jam' - which by the way refers to 24 jam aka 24 hours.

[panda_shine]

we are all a bunch of friendly people or so i seem to think :?

yeah my friend (who's not malaysian..well neither am i^^) and I were just talking about this the other day because we joined Friendster and suddenly a whole bunch of people tried adding us to their list & messaging us and they were all from Malaysia.. We were a little freaked out but then we decided it could do no harm and came to the conclusion that they were just being friendly. :laughing:

[cmy_185]

^^ huh!
i only add my own circle of friends to friendster..hehe. friendster is not icq eh.

[lil~jo]

Sorry, if this offends anyone....
shhhh....but I heard....that Malay's clean their...behind with their left hand after going to the toilet.....so thats why its better that you don't shake their left hand....

[vunsin]

Yes, yes, Jenen. Scroll to the top of this page and that was exactly what I'd talked about in my post. :rolleyes: It's not just Malays, it's all Muslims. Go now, scroll up. :rolleyes:

[lil~jo]

OOps....sorry....hehe....so....Not just Malay's? oh dear....got to be real careful...now...
i love eating rotti chanai...and my cousin found out one day....after several years of buying from that place....that...the ring on his left hand....had this funny brown stuff round his ring....( sh*t )....yeah...
And he was flinging the rotti chanai in the air....catching it with his left and throwing it up again with the right.....I lost my appitite...and...you guessed it...I'm not too found of wating it anymore...unless I know the cook isn't a Malay...or now in this case...as Muslim!

[vunsin]

:hmm: Jenen... actually, I think a few years back, one mamak was reported to have done the same thing to his roti. It was in the newspaper! One customer was eating his roti happily when he smelt or noticed something in his roti. The mamak didn't wash his hands after doing #2 and proceeded to make a roti! :oops:

Btw, mamaks are Muslim Indians, so... :rolleyes:

But hey, this isn't something we want foreigners to know about Malaysia, right? :sweat:

[lil~jo]

Nope not at all.....
So....all I have to say to the foreigners are....
(you didn't read the last posts we have been writing okie?) hehe....
keep it...Shhhhh.....
Malaysia has great food!....(and I'm not saying it just to cover up what we have been talking about.)

[vunsin]

Okay, here's another "lesson" on the Malaysian usage of the English language. :wink2: We use colloquialisms so often that we assume they're part of the English language, but in fact, they're not and when we use them with native English speakers, we're bound to get strange looks.

"I'll send you to the mall."

To a foreigner, it sounds as if someone will put you in a box, seal it, put postage on it, and drop the box off at the nearest post office. :laughing:
To Malaysians, it means a person will give you a ride.

"Follow my car to my house."

Literally, to foreigners, this would mean to trail behind my car, on foot, all the way to my house. :laughing:
To Malaysian, it also means someone will give you a ride.

"On the fan, please."

To foreigners, it might sound like a request for you to climb onto the fan. :laughing:
To Malaysians, it means to switch on the fan.

Can anyone else think of more? :rolleyes:

[Miss_gun]

I used to say Open the TV lah!!, actually it means on the TV.
My tuition teacher took a few months to correct my wrong usage..

[Donny]

hey... i does that so often, em... i mean... i does that everyday! thought i'm havin sec4 english next yr, but my local english is stil singlish style. but i don't do that in my english essay of cause! hihi... my mum always scold me for sayin such a lousy english.

[bbsasa]

vunsin: the mamak story you heard... has been going around for the longest time. another one was they put pads inside the curry to make it more 'tasty' or so i heard. there are a few versions going on... okay most definitely not a good thing that foreigners should know abt malaysia. one thing though malaysia has a lot good food around. my friends who come back frm aussie land every year would just go around eating during their time spent here.

[lil~jo]

Hehe,....there is open the light....
open the curtains ( draw the curtains )
Yes, there can be a lot of misunderstanding....
*^^*

[vunsin]

I used to say Open the TV lah!!, actually it means on the TV.

Err... actually "on the TV" is wrong as well... :sweat: There has to be a verb there, and "on" can't function as a verb. Unless your "on the TV" is a request for someone to CLIMB on top of the TV. :rolleyes: Either "switch on the TV" or "turn on the TV" would be grammatically correct. :wink2:

Jenen: Haha... "open the lights" as in take the lights apart? :angel:

[Donny]

what about "open house"? hihi... if someone wanna hav a open house, should i help him open up his house, take away his roof, open al his window and doors? hihi... m`sia english mar~ same as Singlish. but... of cause its wrong. that's why my mum always scold me.

on the tv,on the pc, on the lights, haha... all this will make the AngMo go hin-hin on his head.

[vunsin]

Aiyah... Donny, "open house" is different. In this context, "open" isn't a verb, but an adjective. Gwai-los use this phrase too. There's nothing wrong with it. Haha... :rolleyes:

[Donny]

yah~ i'm jsut jokin~ hihi~ why m`sian's english is so terrible. lots of my friends hav terrible english, well... they are terrible themselves. hihi... i used to play sms with a friend, and her english is so "vegetable"! luckily i still can undertand what she is talkin about.

open-adj. still sound like a "opened house"! haha... though, its not wrong??? i thought its m`sia english. its a proper english?

[vunsin]

"Open" is an adjective meaning "not closed, locked, or blocked" according to the Oxford dictionary. "Opened" on the other hand is the past tense and past participle of the verb "open" but it could also be used as an adjective (with different meanings). However, most of the time you should use "open" as the adjective. Most people are confused by this because there are other verbs that could be changed into adjectives by adding the "-ed" to them. At times it could be confusing like when you want to say "We are open for business on Sunday" and mistakenly used "opened" instead. It is still grammatical but maybe illogical. If you use "opened" it could sound like somebody has slashed you open of something.

About the "opened" as an adjective, I'm too lazy to explain. :bleh: Check here (http://www.hyperdic.net/dic/o/opened.shtml#a01609272).

[cmy_185]

^^ Vunsin you can write in to the Star's English collumn. :laughing:

i've always been too lazy to know what are the nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives,gerunds. etc etc etc.
:blush:

[vunsin]

Aw... Mei Yee, how could I survive as a graduate student if I can't even get my language right? :rolleyes: Actually I've always been interested in languages. It's really fun to learn new languages. :wink2:

Hey, come on, people, what else should foreigners know about Malaysia? How about some good things? :wink2:

[Donny]

haha... i learn english since i was little. i know how to speak well and write well, and i do know what a noun, a verb, an adj., is, but... gerund, pronouns, arh~ lazy to know them! hihi... as long as i can pass my test with high scores, who cares?

[vunsin]

Donny, if you can't write a decent essay how can you expect to pass the test with high scores? :rolleyes:

Anyhow, I asked you what else did you want foreigners to know about Malaysians, and that was your answer? :rolleyes:

So is this what you wanted foreigners to know about Malaysia? Haha... We don't care about our grammar. :rolleyes:

[Donny]

Vunsin^che^che, well, i don't meant that i don't care bout my skill in english. what i meant was that i don't care what those funky stuff are:"jerunds, pronouns(i do know what they are, but i hate to classify them, they make me confuse of which is which)". i do write decent essays, and gd in it too. in fact, i'm among the top student who scores in english. haha...

well, foreigners, (i'm sure they know, but i still wanna refresh their minds), bring with you tissues or toilet papers whenever you are in m`sia, cause the toilet doesn't hav it!!!

2nd, bring with you a jacket with a hood, or an umbrella, cause you'l never know when the clowd is overloaded here in m`sia.

3rd, watch out those cheaters in Petaling Street. they tend to "dig" your money since you don't know that place well.

p/s: beware!

[lil~jo]

Donny: not all people dig....
but anyways...good to be cautious....
Yes, about the toilets, most of them are squat toilets for the muslims....so, be prepared*^^*

[vunsin]

I think they don't just "dig" foreigner's money. The KL Petaling St. people "dig" non-KL people's money too! Haha... But I think for foreigners it's even worse.

[Donny]

yah~ a bag bout Rm20, they can kill you by Rm150!

i'v seen that! the handphone pouch, from Rm2 to Rm20@ wo~

[pop]

bbasa wrote:
another funny thing that happen was when we stopped at a petrol station, he was like - 'wow your petrol stations sell 24 different kind of jam'

:laughing: that is the best joke in this thread!!
anywayz why are we tellin the bad cultures?
we have good food, good places to visit and most importantly,we are united
we celebrate festive seasons together
can we find a muslim celebrating christmas with the christians when in the past there has been a battle between these people? hardly but that is what malaysia is all about...harmonious and peaceful as can be

felt lucky to be born after the pursue for independence...i have grown up surrounded by many different races and different cultures...
when i was a child, before i grew up and could appreciate the peace, i thought people like indians and chinese and malays are meant to study together...
when i studied our history then only i realized that what we acheive today is really a feat by its own

the 'manglish' is one example of many cultures blended together to make our special 'malaysian culture'...this includes 'singlish' too which are exactly the same :)
cantonese+malay+english are the components of 'manglish' :excited:
although malaysia is multi-cultured, i'm proud to say we have acheived a uni-culture together to be named as the 'malaysian culture' and not the 'chinese culture' or the 'malay culture' :D :happy:

[bbsasa]

pop: i agree!!!!! we have one of the most interesting culture probably because we are made out of so many colorful races. yes ppl always think that the grass in greener on the other side and i am no exceptional but i am glad to be born a malaysian. when i see war and so much going on out there, it makes me appreciate where i am more than ever. the food in malaysia is just excellent and variety, the culture - diversity and places in malaysia is just truly beautiful - the beaches, the mountain ...

[e`Sprit]

Oh come on. Cantonese aren't the only Chinese here. There are also Hokkiens, Hakkas, Teochews and a whole lot more. And Mandarin as the generally-used Chinese language in Malaysia. How can you proclaimed Manglish to be composed of Cantonese, Malay and English, ignoring all the other Chinese dialects? According to my personal observation, Manglish has been influenced more by Hokkien rather than Cantonese. And not forgetting Mandarin. Cantonese is just a recent revolution from the influence of media and such. Haha. Cheers!

On another note, I agree, Malaysia has a very distinct unity that is rare in other countries.

[pop]

Oh come on. Cantonese aren't the only Chinese here. There are also Hokkiens, Hakkas, Teochews and a whole lot more. And Mandarin as the generally-used Chinese language in Malaysia. How can you proclaimed Manglish to be composed of Cantonese, Malay and English, ignoring all the other Chinese dialects? According to my personal observation, Manglish has been influenced more by Hokkien rather than Cantonese. And not forgetting Mandarin. Cantonese is just a recent revolution from the influence of media and such. Haha. Cheers!

haha whatever! :happy:

[bbsasa]

e`Sprit: let's safely say manglish is the combo of the two languages - Malay and Chinese (Canto, Mando, Hokkien, Hakka, Teochews, and whatsoever else :laughing: in other words - ROJAK :laughing:

[cmy_185]

Oh come on. Cantonese aren't the only Chinese here. There are also Hokkiens, Hakkas, Teochews and a whole lot more. And Mandarin as the generally-used Chinese language in Malaysia. How can you proclaimed Manglish to be composed of Cantonese, Malay and English, ignoring all the other Chinese dialects? According to my personal observation, Manglish has been influenced more by Hokkien rather than Cantonese. And not forgetting Mandarin. Cantonese is just a recent revolution from the influence of media and such. Haha. Cheers!

haha whatever! :happy:

seriously, WHATEVER! it was just a innocent view of his.
as a cantonese, i'd think my manglish was more influenced by the dialect i'm familiar with. :sleeping:

[lil~jo]

Oh come on. Cantonese aren't the only Chinese here. There are also Hokkiens, Hakkas, Teochews and a whole lot more. And Mandarin as the generally-used Chinese language in Malaysia. How can you proclaimed Manglish to be composed of Cantonese, Malay and English, ignoring all the other Chinese dialects? According to my personal observation, Manglish has been influenced more by Hokkien rather than Cantonese. And not forgetting Mandarin. Cantonese is just a recent revolution from the influence of media and such. Haha. Cheers!

.
Well, I guess you are correct *^^*
Malaysia....has so many cultures....and so....Malayglish....is made up from all the different dilects....
Hehe.....people from China...wonder..how can Malaysian speak so many dilects......hehe....
My own family can speak, malay, English (ofcourse)..., Manderin, cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien and Foo Chow

[vunsin]

haha whatever! :happy:

pop: Do you have something more meaningful to say besides "haha whatever!" and including somebody's post? :? You've been here for quite a while so I'm sure you know the forum rules (http://www.jay-chou.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=692). You've posted a one-liner and broken rule #1. Quoting a whole chunk of somebody else's post does not make that part of YOUR comment. :dry: I'd have deleted your post if nobody else had already posted after you. :shifty:

If you disagree with e`Sprit's point of view, please give your reasons and elaborate more. Same thing if you agree. If you simply DON'T CARE (as your one-liner implies), please, save us some bandwidth (you quoted somebody's LONG post too) and the trouble of scrolling past your meaningless post: JUST DON'T POST ANYTHING.

In case you've forgotten what rule #1 is:

1. Don’t post crap.
If you don’t have anything worth saying, don’t say it.
Constant one liners (example: haha that’s funny, cool) will cause you to be banned.
We will delete any POINTLESS or STUPID one liners we come across.

[pop]

yikes! :oops:
sorry vunsin...i just wanna show that i'm not in a mood for an arguement and i make peace with her by putting the :happy: expression :)

[e`Sprit]

pop,
LOL. Didn't mean to pick up an argument with you. You did realize I added the word "Cheers" at the end right?

vunsin,
I think what pop did was very much an unavoidable situation because if he had ignored my post without commenting anything, that would have been a much more humiliating consequence. Forgive him. Sometimes a one-liner does 'speak' louder than a whole paragraph. :wink2:

bbsasa says it all. But forgot English?

Jenen,
People from China are actually shocked to find out that most Malaysian Chinese are able to speak more than one dialects? LOL. Guess another point to add to the list: Malaysians (especially Chinese) are usually able to carry a conversation in more than one Chinese dialects, sometimes to the point of jumbling several dialects in one sentence! This should probably go into the Guinness Book of World Records.

[lil~jo]

e`spirit: Thats right.
And because I haven't learnt each of the languages my parents can speak properly.....I jumble them all up by mistake...
You see, some words I can say in one dilect, and when it comes to something I can't say, I switch to the other dilect in which I can say the word and then switch back *^^*

Thats probably why, my friends also find it so confusing talking to me, cause I immediatly assume that they can understand my added bits and pieces....

[vunsin]

pop and e`Sprit: I did not want to be mean or difficult or anything. All I meant was that pop could've written MORE than just those two words.

vunsin,
I think what pop did was very much an unavoidable situation.... Sometimes a one-liner does 'speak' louder than a whole paragraph. :wink2:
I didn't make the rule for the one-liner. I'm just enforcing the rules. So, telling me that is like telling the police officer that it's unavoidable for you to go above the speed limit because you're REALLY late for work. :rolleyes: Although the officer might not give you a ticket for it, he/she would STILL have to give you a stern warning.
Furthermore, coming to this forum and trying to go by your own rules is like going into somebody's house demanding that the people who live there change their ways just because you think that YOU would benefit from those changes. :rolleyes:

[bbsasa]

e'Sprit: whooopsss i was so gung-ho on the chinese dialects part that i forgot the main language that made up manglish - english :laughing:

[vunsin]

whooopsss i was so gung-ho on the chinese dialects part that i forgot the main language that made up manglish - english :laughing:

Goodness... :rolleyes: You forgot English? :rolleyes: No wonder foreigners don't understand our "English" anymore because it's essentially no longer English. :rolleyes:

[beach gurl]

Hi Hi, may this Indonesian foreigner barge in .?. Got few questions related to Malay cultures :

- what to bring/ not to bring if I'm invited by a Malay (chinese) for weddings. In Indonesia these days, it's common to give money, but not in white envelopes (it's for funeral ceremony visit), or if it's business related - send flower arrangements. Do you congratulate the couples once (arrival) or twice (arrival and departure)

- if you attend funerals > do you give money, send flower arrangements ?

[vunsin]

beach gurl: I'm not sure what you mean by "Malay (Chinese)" because Malay is Malay and Chinese is Chinese. Malay is a race and Malaysian is a nationality. Do you mean Chinese Malaysian, or do you mean the person is biracial (half Malay, half Chinese)? Could you please clarify? Thanks. :sweat:

[ashley]

Well, I think she's trying to imply Malaysian Chinese.

But in any case beachgurl, you're right about the white envelopes. The safest is to give a wedding card with $$ inside. There are these cards sold in shops - with a little envelope attached inside the card, like a pocket. And you may wish them well before and after, no problem.

As for funeral, we give money in the form of 'donation', as well as send wreaths/flowers but it has to be solemn colours (white or pale yellow).

[vunsin]

Err... it should be Chinese Malaysian and not Malaysian Chinese because Chinese is the adjective and in English the adjective goes before the noun... :sweat: They just can't change MCA or MIC's name because those names have been established a long time ago, but they did brought up the issue a few years back.

[ashley]

Oh, I remember reading about this in the newspapers - they made quite a big hoo-ha. But as usual, the debate died down and guess I'm still using the wrong term now.

Anyway, manglish is simply "rojak". It has all the essence of Malaysian spoken languages.

[k-ren]

here's something else besides talking about the languages in malaysia.

here in malaysia we do not have volcanos,tornados,tsunami,earthquake,famine,and so far our thunderstorms haven't destroyed homes yet..we have never encountered with aliens here(yet)but we do suffer from flood or draught once in a while and what else..can anybody help me out here?

eventhough we have chinese here..malays..indians..baba n nyonya..melanau..kadazan..iban..kelabit..kayan kenyah and more..we are able to live around each other without being racist..of course they are a few but not as serious as in other countries(for example in the u.s.a the hatred between the white people and the black people is serious until innocent lives were involved)
therefore i'm thankful for being a malaysian..

[cmy_185]

i've always used the term Malaysian Chinese.even though it's wrong, i think we should be malaysian first and foremost, then only categorizing our race... sort of to promote unity among the ppl.

[beach gurl]

Ashley, thanks for the answer. And vunsin, what I mean is Malaysian Chinese.

To me "Malay" has 2 meanings :
-Malay race or orang Melayu
-as "slang" means the locals.
Once I asked the office drivers on who (from the office, regardless Chinese or true blooded Indonesian) attended the regional meeting dinner : "Melayu-nya siapa yang ikut ?"
One of the Indonesian Chinese secretary was quite shocked, she thought I throw "racist" questions. Rrrr , I haven't use that slang again since then !.

[vunsin]

i've always used the term Malaysian Chinese.even though it's wrong, i think we should be malaysian first and foremost, then only categorizing our race... sort of to promote unity among the ppl.

Just so you'd know, I wasn't talking about a sense of belonging and/or unity. It's purely about the English grammar and its usage. :wink2: I guess you might want to call your usage Manglish along with all the other Malaysianized forms of the English language. :wink2:

[pop]

e`Sprit wrote:
Guess another point to add to the list: Malaysians (especially Chinese) are usually able to carry a conversation in more than one Chinese dialects, sometimes to the point of jumbling several dialects in one sentence! This should probably go into the Guinness Book of World Records.

:D that could happen i only somebody submit an entry... :excited:
so far malaysia has broken only a few world records
yah i remembered i read in the papers that one of our malaysian DJ's are attemping to... 'spin records'? for the longest time
he needs to beat a record set by an american who spins for more than 3 days! okay this is going off-topic...uhm..malaysians are record-breakers! :laughing:

cmy: great way of thinking! :yeah:

k-ren: good point...i totally forgotten to state that fact but what do you mean by encountering aliens?? :glug: :laughing:
...and landslides too, k-ren! don't forget the recent one over the highway! :oops:

[vunsin]

uhm..malaysians are record-breakers! :laughing:

That means we're kiasu. :shifty: Anybody cares to explain kiasuism? I'll give one example (actually two): KL Tower and Petronas Twin Towers. :rolleyes:

[bbsasa]

pop: yupyup the DJ's name is Maverick Teh and he did broke the official record but he collapsed at around the 79th hour.

vunsin: yupyup i agree with you! Malaysians are always refering to Singaporeans as kiasu but in fact they are also the same.

[Donny]

haha~ oi, we'r also m`sians ma~ how can you say that? we'r only tryin to be the best, (but we'r not!)

[pop]

haha donny i agree with you :)
if it is not for those buildings maybe malaysia won't be as recognized as today... :oops:

[e`Sprit]

Or should we say, if not for Dr. Mahathir's visions, Malaysia won't be as recognized as she is today. I don't think what Malaysia has is really kiasuism, it's more like self-confidence. We have confidence but not in the cocky way. Kiasu will be confidence with a sense of arrogance and cockiness which is negative. Malaysians mostly have confidence in the humble sense, or so I believe. :happy:

[ashley]

I don't mind building tallest buildings and longest bridges - I hate it when they attempt the other silly records.

Longest sandwic.
Biggest moon-cake.

:glug: you get the message.

Longest aerobics session is coming up next. I think they're trying to do it for 24 hours.

[pop]

haha ride on e`Sprit! :happy:

ashley: i know! the most recent one is the tallest christmas tree in the nation! haha they're making the value of the word 'record' decrease gradually... :laughing:

[bbsasa]

well i agree with e`Sprit that things like the tallest tower shows a sense of self confidences but like what ash mention it those stupid attempts to do something that makes it seem like malaysians are being a self hopocrite, saying our neighbouring country kiasu but yet we are the same.

[nicolec]

I agree with ashley! Malaysians are always trying to create, um, I would say.. funny records :D like the longest sitting Santa Claus, the biggest Malaysian flag made from tin cans, the highest water fountain and the largest cement tree! Kiasuism. I find it in some of Malaysians, but it also depends on how an individual view kiasuism.

[e`Sprit]

Oh, but gladly those records they are trying to break are just the national ones. Some of these really do sound funny though. They are really putting down the value of record-breaking. Now record-breaking is such a trivial issue whereby you can break any records anytime you want.

But try to view this in a more positive way. I think there's an advantage for having a Malaysian Book of Records (I hope the title is correct) as it keeps the people with a sense of confidence, patriotism, nationalism and not to mention, in the process of breaking those records, a lot of hard work, determination, perseverance and unity is needed. I'm sure these are the qualities the government tries to instill in those record-breakers as well and in Malaysians generally. So these record-breaking stuff is not really just for trivial purposes only.

[vunsin]

Okay... it's been a while since anyone posted here.

One thing that really irks me is that people keep asking me if I speak Malaysian. :dry: Duh... There's no language called Malaysian. :dry: Nowadays my answer to them would be in the form of a question: Do you speak American? Most people get it, some don't.

Another thing that irks me is that people think that Malaysians=Malays. So when I say I'm Chinese, they get all confused. Even when I tell them that Malay is a race and there are also Chinese, Indians, etc. in Malaysia, they'd still ask me, "Are you Malay?" They think Malaysian is a race. Duh... It's a nationality. When I try to make things easier (or so I think) by saying I'm Chinese Malaysian, people think I'm biracial. :dry:

So all of you who're non-Malaysians, please get your facts right!

[ashley]

Vuns... have you heard of the Chinese community in US/Canada refering to Malaysia as Malay?

I had a friend visiting with her sister and they kept talking about our country and calling it Malay. I mean, I understand that it's supposed to be a short-form but unfortunately, its a different context altogether!

[vunsin]

Yes, that totally pisses me off! That's very wrong! And they're feeding people the wrong information. :dry: Hongkies call us Ma Lai too. :shifty: It really pisses me off. It's not that I don't respect the Malays or anything, but that's just WRONG. In fact, it's like we don't respect the real Malays. Like, they're nothing. We're robbing them of their name, their heritage.

[evenstar_sc]

Some of these ppl do not seem to bother to learn about other countries or races, I think it comes from the mindset that their country and their community are the best and they don't need to learn much about other countries except the most minimal info which is oftentimes wrong anyway. I mean a friend actually encountered somebody online whe still thought Malaysians live in trees!
It's ignorance and arrogance on their part and unless we can change their mindset, they'll continue using those terms.

I haven't finished readin this thread till now so I'd like reply to some of the older posts. I agree with e`Sprit decreasing the value of record breaking at the same time it's one of the most convenient and effective ways to promote unity among Malaysians. Because breaking records are what everybody understands. I think having a Malaysian book of records is a very good idea and the fact that we can laugh about it proves that we aren't always so serious and we can make fun of ourselves.

I still call myself Chinese Malaysian, am pretty kiasu(only because I think kiasu means being afraid to lose because of own insecurities not because of arrogance), I definitely agree with pop that manglish is a very big part of our Malaysian culture, it is one of the things that makes us so unique. Even though sometimes I feel I'd like to leave the country, I am happy that I was born in Malaysia. It's a good place to grow up in.

[mein]

haha..it was real funny when i heard my friend, an African American replied, "Ok- LAR!!!"...and my lecturer was puzzled!!!..she was confused y he would speak in manglish...haha...then she ask him where he learnt from he pointed me out...

[vunsin]

Mein, please refrain from using the N word. It's a derogatory term to people of African descent. You may refer them to Blacks of African Americans (or a different nationality), but please do not use the N word. Thanks. :)

[Alias]

Another thing that a lot of foreginers dont know is the dynamics of the country.

When I tell others that there are a lot of different races in Malaysia they will just assume that its similar to other countries i.e. a lot of "newcomers" that just recently migrated/moved to Malaysia :wacko:

They dont know that what we meant Malaysia is made up with different races that have been living and breed in Malaysia for GENERATIONS... I like to think of ourselves as the Malaysia RACE.... Malaysian.

Even though we are "chinese", "indian", "malay".... but we cant relate ourselves to China.. Chinese.... or to India...Indian....... we are MALAYSIAN.

Hehehe. Just something that I think we should clarify to foreigners :-)

[yan_er]

kinda funny when i read this thread....the topic are funny...immediately reminding what my lecturer told me (he is a foreigner)...
he said malaysian motorbikers have options to go even that is a red color ...hahaha...
he said he almost being hit by motorcyclists twice....;-)

[vunsin]

he said malaysian motorbikers have options to go even that is a red color
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by that. :?

Anyhow, it's been a while since anyone posted in here. Come on, people! :rolleyes:

[Lai Cheng Hung]

If u guys wanna go KL fro holiday, u all better learn Canton coz they all speak Canton very well...
coz i m from KL...
Actually it is quite easy to learn-->juz watch more HK series...
That is how all my JB frenz learn Canton...
Here is some simple one...
lei hou-->hello
zhou shan-->good morning
zhou tao-->good night
ngm goi-->thankx

[vunsin]

Actually, the KL Cantonese is a little... different, and I wasn't used to it when I first went to KL for further studies. My grandparents are from Hong Kong and my hometown (Sandakan, Sabah) was nicknamed "Little Hong Kong" (not sure exactly how long ago), because there were many Chinese immigrants from HK. So anyhow, the Cantonese that we speak is almost the same as what's spoken in HK. I guess the KL Cantonese is more Malaysianized.

[yan_er]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by that. :?

Anyhow, it's been a while since anyone posted in here. Come on, people! :rolleyes:


sorry...maybe im not make it clear...
it simply means that when the traffic light is red...we should stop right??but the motorcyclist here just have the option to go...some of them will not stop but will still go....so my lecturer kena few times already...hehehe

[E-Ping]

Ok, i dont think i had posted in this thread before, so i'm just gonna share some stories here.It has actually been mentioned before, that is about foreigners, dont know that in Malaysia, there are many different races. Ok, so, my friend told me that, 2 days ago, she was boarding a bus and happened to sit beside an African American.So this African American guy started a conversation with my friend by asking her ' Are you a Malay?'. My friend said no, and told him she was a chinese. And the guy thought she was from China! :oops: Well, it was my friend's mistake as well, coz she should have told him that she was Malaysian born chinese, instead of just chinese.But i guess, even if she had told him that, the guy probably wouldnt understand.

And then, here is another story which shocked me the most. :wacko: Once, a friend of mine went online and chatted on yahoo messenger.She went to this chat room and then had a private conversation with a foreigner.So the guy asked my friend where she from, and she told him she was from Malaysia.And then the guy continued by asking her how did she manage to online in Malaysia and that he never knew Malaysia was so modern enough to have internet access. :crazy: He then continued by mentioning that he knew people in Malaysia were still living on tree houses! :crazy: When my friend told me this, i totally gone speechless.Just whoever gave the guy the idea that we're still living on tree houses?!Didnt he know that the culture of living on tree houses has not been practiced since many many years ago. :worry:
Even big star like Sean Connery still thinks we're so left behind, coz he was calling us 'barbarians' and bla bla etc. :-x I think he should just come to this thread and learn a thing or two about Malaysia..AND Malaysians.

vunsin jie--> I heard that the Hongkies had a different way of saying 'straws' in Cantonese.In Malaysia, 'straw' in Cantonese is pronounced as 'sui chou' . But the Hongkies do not pronounce 'straw' as how Malaysians pronounce it.They call it as something else.I've heard it before, but had forgotten.

yan er--> Er..i think that's the last thing foreigners would want to know :sweat:It just makes Malaysia seems like a country with no traffic rules and that we're all are keen on breaking the rules! :sweat: But, what I really have to say is that, speeding when the traffic light turns red does not just happen here in Malaysia.I believe in other countries, they experience this as well. :rolleyes:

EDIT: Oh i didnt realise Evenstar has already mentioned about the tree house thingy, haha. Now I am wondering if her friend and my friend actually chatted with the same person . :shifty:

[vunsin]

E-ping: Sui Chou means... er... literally... water grass! :laughing: It's called Yum Tong (drinking tube) in HK Cantonese. :laughing:

Oh... both the incidents you've mentioned have actually happened to me. I've been asked if Malaysians live on trees. And most people have no idea what the heck I'm talking about when I tell I'm Chinese AND Malaysian. Some people think that means I'm mixed. :rolleyes: In the end, I just have to ask them why it's possible to have Chinese Americans but not Chinese Malaysians. Then, they get it. Somewhat. :rolleyes: And of course, people think I speak Malaysian. I just give them a similar example - I ask them if they speak American! :rolleyes: The smart ones get it right away, but the dumber ones are like --> :? :? :?

[ho_yt]

Hi guys, I just want to ask a question about Malaysia, does any Malaysians know of any special festivals/events that attracts foreigners every year? I'm doing a project now about Malaysia's attractions, so I hope I can get some help here...

[E-Ping]

vunsin jie--> Yum Tong?Lol, sounds like 'drinking soup' to me. :laughing:

Yanting-->Oh you are doing a project on Malaysia's attractions? :excited: Hmm..talking about festivals/events that attract foreigners, i think maybe you could search something on the Thaipusam festival which is celebrated by the Malaysian Indians here.During Thaipusam, i always see foreigners with webcam in their hands recording down the whole event. :laughing:

http://tourmalaysia.tripod.com/thaipusam.htm

I found this website, which may be useful to you. :happy:

Other than Thaipusam, there is this festival called Gawai Dayak which is celebrated by the native races in Sarawak.

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Studios/1952/gawai.htm --> Click on this link for more info on the festival

[vunsin]

Maybe I should've spelled it as "Yum Tung" instead. :rolleyes:

Anyhow... I saw the question posted the other day, but I didn't have the answers, so I just kept quiet. :sweat:

[ho_yt]

Thanks for your help E-ping , but I was thinking if I can use the Malaysia Mega Sale as a event that will attracts many tourists, what do you think?

Vunsin, its ok if you do not know the answer, I'm not very sure the answer as well...

[vunsin]

Well... do you know I'm Malaysian? :sweat: I just haven't been home in six years... :whistle:

[ho_yt]

Oh really :excited: , I didn't know about that, so I think you really miss your home very much is it Vunsin? :rolleyes:

[E-Ping]

Yanting--> Mega Sales?Lol.. :laughing: You love shopping, eh?How many events/festivals are you going to do for your project?Only one or more than one?About the mega sales, cant really give much opinion on that, coz i dont so shopping that often,haha.

[vunsin]

Hey, what's going on? Why do I see strange posts in here? This isn't the Lepak thread. :sweat: Please go to the Lepak thread for socializing. Non-Malaysians are welcomed too. Thanks! :tongue:

[ho_yt]

Opps sorry Vunsin

E-ping , thanks for your opinion, I'm only doing on one event/festival, so maybe I will choose Thaipusam as the event.

[vunsin]

Hehe... I wasn't just targetting you. I always have to go around and remind people to stay on topic. :sweat:

[keNNeth V2.0]

Umm do none Malaysians come here? I may be wrong, but with the thread being titled Malaysians, don't you think it would like ward off foreigners? Sporeans stay at the Snpore thread, indians to india, Indonesians to indonesia..And if only Malaysians are here...umm the whole purpose of this foreigners guide might jz go to waste..haha i might be wrong of course..which by now I think I am..lol

[krystal_thoo]

Why all foreigners or celebrities come to Malaysia and saying Malaysian fans very passion ?
Is that true ? lol I feel that its just our normal expression ! Screaming and yelling because of meeting own idol :roll:

[milkified]

If they really are interested in Malaysia, I'm sure they'll go around searching for Malaysia-related threads to get some information before they travel. :happy:

[wanie_jay]

Why all foreigners or celebrities come to Malaysia and saying Malaysian fans very passion ?
Is that true ? lol I feel that its just our normal expression ! Screaming and yelling because of meeting own idol :roll:

yea, yea...
jay said that too...
i guess they just want to be polite....
how can u come a foreign country and said that the people is bad...
it's manners....

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[Capri_girlz]

ermm...that's right....
before their come to malaysia their must need information about
malaysia right...

[andantino]

almost celeb will say Malaysia is full of passion fans.
maybe because of the wheather? lol

but actaully in every place, they will almost say the same thing.

[Yue Anne]

viv : you know why? because I always smile at them when they see me. :rolleyes: .. LOL LOL...that is why they think we malaysians are friendly..WOHOHOH...wait till they shop at petaling street... :whistle:

[andantino]

yue anne : cheh ;p ;p petaling street dangerous le. few days ago the police uncles went there can arrested alot of them. *_* i scared if Jay goes there, he'll be upset seeing his pirated albums everywhere. Y_Y

[vunsin]

I thought this thread was supposed to promote Malaysia, not scare people away. :rolleyes: How about sharing some nice stories about Malaysia? :rolleyes:

[kamceng]

haha, vunsin is right. we'll scare people away....

anyhow, i think the best thing in malaysia is THE FOOD!!!!!!
i mean, the food is so delicious and tasty, though the malaysian food eventually causes malaysians to become fat....
just imagine the nasi lemak, nasi goreng, satay kajang, nasi dagang, roti canai, laksa penang, teh tarik, keropok lekor and the list goes on and on.....

have you guys ever heard of 'budu'? as i'm a kelantanese, budu is kinda like a compulsary things in my meal. some of my friends in pahang or kuala lumpur never even eat budu..... anyhow, i can understand why....

[vunsin]

:laughing: Somebody sounds so excited. :angel: Let's not talk too much about food here though, since there's already a thread on food: Where to makan and yum-cha (http://jay-chou.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2781), as well as a recipe thread: Recipes for anything and everything Malaysian (http://jay-chou.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2948). How about sharing some recipes in the second thread? *hint* *hint*