Still Rude Malaysians

Based on my personal encounters, Malaysians are still rude in general, despite the many efforts to reinstate that we Malaysians are of the gentle and respectful, polite culture. Unfortunately, I beg to differ, as I believe it's the little things that people do make you realize that people are not so polite after all.

Let me cite a few personal encounters, and observations:

Scenario 1:
Me and kids trying to get out of the elevator in a shopping mall. When the doors opened, people outside came rushing in as if that was the last elevator to leave the planet. They didn't bother to see a mother with 3 little kids trying to get out from the unnerving crowd, despite the fact that I was trying to manage the stroller out of the way. How disrespectful!

Scenario 2:
Gentlemen-ness is lacking in our local men. There is no giving way to open doors for ladies or even mothers with kids. No wonder we women adore the Mat Sallehs as they are more polite and sensitive to women (in that manner lah).

Scenario 3:
A senior citizen with walking stick trying to board the bus. The waiting crowd just pushed him aside. When I was in Perth, Australia, the bus driver actually came down from the bus and assisted an old lady with a wheel-chair to board the bus! He actually folded the wheel-chair and got showed her a seat in front. How attentive!

Scenario 4:
Al-fresco dining - this is eating out in the open at stalls. Well, I was pregnant that time, and the boys next to our table was puffing and smoking cigarattes like nobody's business. No doubt that it was open dining, and you could actually smoke, but please la be sensitive to your surroundings. It was so different in Paris. Smokers will not light up their cigarettes if they see pregnant ladies or kids around them.

Scenario 5:
Spitting in public! Euuwww!! I was in my car, at the traffic lights. A lorry driver in front was spitting out like there was a basin or something on the road. Come on la... people are just waiting there, observing other people. Tak malu ke?

Scenario 6:
Was just in the LRT last Sunday, taking Amir for his first ride. We got three seats to share, Adam, Aina, Amir and me. A few stops away, a couple with 2 kids boarded, the little boy was screaming as he didn't want to stand wobbly-ly. Two young chaps were just beside me and Adam. Nobody moved. I told Adam to give his seat away, and Adam moved to sit with me and Aina. But the boys didn't move at all. Gosh...what ever happened to kids these days??

Scenario 7:
Another LRT incident, last week, coming back from JB. A bunch of youngsters were talking loudly. It was rush-hour, and people are cramming in there, and these people just laughed and shouted as if there were loud music in there, macam disco la kut?


So there goes the ever so polite Malaysians. Or are we just polite to tourists and foreigners? Why can't we be nice to people of our own kind, people of Malaysia?

Pet Commentary

A visit to Pet Safari last Sunday ended up with 3 hamsters and a habit-trail (the cage) which costed me a single room in a 4-star hotel for the entire package.

Well, somebody really really really begged for a pet, and after a series of promises like:

"Abang bagi makan hamster!"

"Abang promise to wash the cage!"

"Amir put air kat hamster!"

so we decided to put some responsibilities in the kids. Aina initially wanted a tortoise, but we figured we'll end up with too many habitats to take care of. So hamster it was.




We got 2 male hamsters and 1 female. Abang named his male hamster "Shark", Aina wanted a white hamster, so she named him "Racer" and Amir, simply named his girl "Tikus".

Unfortunately, Racer was the more dominant male, trying to outcast Shark, he bit and fought till Shark went bleeding all over and died on the second day. We learned our lesson, not to take two males at once.

By the third day it looks like its Papa who is doing the feeding and water-level checking all the time..

Monsoon Blues and School Holidays

Year end in Malaysia will always be equated with the monsoon. As far as I could remember, it rains almost everyday since the start of school holidays, which was about 2 weeks ago. My kids are restless now as we have no agenda for the long holidays. To top it all, Mama has got tonnes of work mounting up to January next year!

But as a mother, I always want to ensure that my kids are happy. So we need to have some compromise this time around. I told the kids that we can't go somewhere far and spend days away from home. So the plan is to make every weekend as fulfilling as possible.

This plan started Saturday last week, where I brought them to the Butterfly Park, had lunch at the Bird Park among the Hornbills and climbing (not literally) the KL Tower. The day ended beautifully with us watching the sunset behind the dark clouds in the horizon which I believe is somewhere near the Klang shorelines.

It rained halfway through the Butterfly Park. Adam got bored waiting for the rain to stop.

Kois being fed every day by visitors to the park. No wonder they are so fat!

Magnificent view of KL.

I'm pleasantly surprised my phone camera picture turns out nice and sharp.

Aina loves collecting ticket stubs.

Hornbills are friendly in the bird park.

So now the challenge is to produce a weekend initerary for the kids, and manage the weather too! And here I am blogging in the middle of a Saturday meeting at the office. My colleagues thought I'm very much indulged in my proposal preparation. He he...

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