The hotel I was at is really nice. Don’t they take of things like bed bugs?
I’m old school, I draw a distinction there 
It may be discriminatory, but are the people even of a different race?
Yes I think it’s pretty clear they are different races, Malay being the indigenous Malay tribe, Chinese being han Chinese immigrants from China.
Yes Han Chinese are a mix of local races in China themselves but certainly very distinct from Malay.
Same goes for the Indians.
You can’t really become one of these groups, you have to be born one.
Immigrants are still Malaysian, doesn’t apply to them.
Immigrants are ruled out of many jobs and businesses and membership of many clubs in Malaysia, so pretty sure it applies to them too!
It’s not possible to become Bumuptura (people of the land) if you are an immigrant.
Some Muslim immigrants have tried but I don’t think they got anywhere…
Not sure if this is correct. The indigenous tribes of the Malay peninsula are not actually Malays.
Well I believed they are indigenous but were conquered by the Arabs and converted to Islam, open to correction.
Now they certainly are, legally, ‘the people of the land’ and have a special status.
Apartheid basically !
It’s just not what the article is talking about.
They can also hide in books from the library.
We’ve decided to look into transfering to another country. Everyday it’s more bs. Nothing here comes easy. Everything they do seem to be counter intuitive.
I’m sorry, the average Malay is on another level of incompetence and stack that by laziness it’s unbareable to interact with them. The Chinese are the only people that gets things done, but Malays call they greedy. No it’s just that they work harder and actually try to do better than mediocre.
Going to the imax was ridiculous. Because it’s part of the mall, the whole mall is closed by sections. The only way to get to the imax is going literally walking up parking lots to a creepy back room service elevator. No signs or anything. And you’re met with this
For whatever reason, some moron decided to close the drive way to the drop off at the mall on a Friday night to do some maintance.
Buying the tv from the mall. Using the service large elevator in the back. You’re met by a tiny door that I barely fit across…typical Malaysian design. What’s the point of the large service elevators when nothing can fit through the door.
When you were complaining about the food, I mean describing it, it sounded exactly as Taiwanese street food. Just saying.
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wasn’t your main intention to move to malaysia to study there?
i can feel what you’re going through. probably not in the same degree, because taiwan looks like THE first world country compared to it.
i just want to say something in general. many people, who come from a relatively rich country, think they can afford more or gain quality of living by moving to a poorer country. at first that might be true, the food is cheap, transportation is cheap etc. but in the long-run you’ll see that’s actually not the case. you actually spend a lot more to keep your standard of living you’ve been used to for ex:potable water, imported goods, reliable services etc. at least for me that was the case.
to come back to your education. you had your reasons to choose that school. i’d say give it another few weeks and if it doesn’t work out, go to australia or the us or wherever that is halfway western. the education might be much more expensive but your quality of life will improve likewise.
edited: not to say that western degrees are more valuable
I’m guessing they are doing courses accredited by western universities.
He’s culture shocking right now, if it’s only two or three years just dig in and get it done.
Malaysia and SEA is a cool place to spend a few years.
Andrew - the vast majority of the problems you will (or already have) run into are from the Malaysian Chinese. You are just not used to the Malaysian version of backwards ass thinking. It is the same here in Taiwan - just a different version.
The movie theater in the mall by my house in Malaysia is set up EXACTLY the same way. I think it has to do with movies running after the mall closes. So the only way to exit is to the parking lot or the back elevators. And of course - no signs (locals all know it already). The vast majority of the malls are Chinese owned and operated.
Bed bugs. They don’t come in on your body. They are transferred from a suitcase or whatnot that was on the floor of an infected place. Did you actually see one? I found the mystery bites my kids had were actually flea bites. We had them in the US. We don’t have pets but a large yard and garden. Kids would get a bite or two when in the yard. They also got bit to hell in Taiwan - probably from an animal source as there is near zero grass or vegetation around.
You have a bit of cultural “fatigue” - which is normal. But is compounded by an unlucky housing choice and being in JB.
Now down in JB there has been in influx of mainlanders. Let’s just say ‘some’ of them have less than perfect behavior skills and attitudes. The Malaysians, even the Chinese, may just assume you are another one of ‘them.’ In general, Malaysians have a good outlook on Taiwan. But unless you have it tattooed on your forehead…
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Yes indeed. He’s no longer there… he and his family moved to France recently.
When he moved to Malaysia several years ago, at first he was disappointed, but after a while he grew to love it.
Johor Bahru? There’s excellent Western food just across the bridge in Singapore.
My take on Malaysia and racism is this.
There has always been some migration into Malaysia. The Arabs came and brought Islam. Some Muslim Indians came, too (they are considered Bumis now). And of course the Chinese have always been leaving (escaping) China. Some were sea fairing traders but most came whenever life wasn’t livable in China.
Then the British came and brought together the various Kingdoms of the Malay area into a colony. At the time most Malays were just living a subsistence life off of the land. Life didn’t require much - grab some fish from the sea and pick some fruit. Maybe grow a little rice. There was no need to save up food for winter or famine as Malaysia’s weather is perfect. Housing was made from the natural jungle. Life was good.
The British came and found the Malays not so willing to change their lifestyle for the British cause. So the British brought in Chinese and Indians. Of course, they didn’t being in a cross section of China or India. They brought in people with specific skills or backgrounds.
The Chinese they brought in were either hard ass laborers (coolies) or traders. They left the lazy peasants in China. The Chinese were coming from a place where survival was hard. It was cold so food had to be stored for winter. Peasants didn’t own any land. There were revolutions regularly. The weak died off and the tough ones remained.
The British had already colonized India so they brought in Indians that already knew the British system (laws, etc). At the time, the majority of India were uneducated people living off of the land just like the Malay peasants.
So the Chinese and Indians that are in Malaysia are from a different class / background / ability / genetics, etc. And that has stayed with them generation after generation. Many Indians are lawyers and accountants in Malaysia. And a lot of the top Malays actually have an Indian heritage. Some muslim Indian immigrants married Malays and ended up with Bumi status.
The Chinese quickly grabbed all of the wealth in Malaysia as they were the skilled merchants. They owned everything the British did not. To this day, the Chinese dominate business in Malaysia. I have very wealthy Chinese friends - the kinds that own millions of acres of land - and it came from their great, great grandfather who was a merchant who immigrated to Malaysia with their gold and business acumen. And each generation had built on it (or sucked the fat tit). Pretty much the same story for each family.
In 1957, when Malaysia became independent from the UK, the situation was not so good. The Malays were the majority. But the Chinese owned everything. And the Indians were squeezed in between.
And to make things worse, the races did not mix. The Malays ruled that if you marry a Malay you had to convert to Islam. The Chinese in general have frowned on marrying anyone not Chinese (actually anyone not from your clan). The Indians for the most part were OK with marrying other races but had no one to mix with.
Also, this tribalism spilled over into business and politics. Chinese would only hire Chinese. Malays only Malays. You essentially had three large groups of people sharing the same land.
And the rules the British brought in often harmed the Malays way of life. Simple things like land titles and ownership often resulted in Malays losing out.
So the educated, upper class Malays put into law rules that favored Malays. In 1957, most Malays were uneducated and living a subsistence life as described. Over time the Malays got access to education and jobs. They mostly ended up in government jobs as businesses were Chinese owned (and hire Chinese). The entrepreneurial Malays ended up starting businesses connected to the government. And the government favored Malays.
At first this worked out pretty well. But like everything, corruption of original intent set in.
Instead of the resources helping out average Malays it mostly ended up in the hands of well connected Malay businessmen. This was also exacerbated by Malaysia being ruled by one party (up until early this year).
But I doubt Malaysia will change that much - even under the new government. It is hard to change people and the Chinese and Malays are too set in their ways.
Even where I live in Malaysia - where 50% are Chinese and 14% are Indian with the rest Malays - I can count on one hand the number of mixed marriages amongst Malaysians I know. Malaysia isn’t a melting pot - it is three of them.
But of all the countries in Asia, I find Malaysia the most comfortable because it is multicultural. Although I am not Malaysian, I don’t feel like an alien as I do in Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
Now Singapore - which was part of Malaysia initially - has done better at integrating the races. They even had policies to distribute people through the housing scheme they have so housing wasn’t defined by race. The government, although dominated by Chinese, is certainly open to any race. Singapore stayed a lot closer to its British roots than Malaysia did.
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I actually don’t feel much racism by Malaysians I’m daily life. It’s just some of the ridiculous laws that makes race a big deal. Like you said, you must convert if you marry a Muslim. Things like that.
And I do feel young Malaysians are trying to embrace each other much more.
We are looking at options after this year of school ends. We are giving it one year but in the meantime we will look for other options if we really don’t want to be here.
Joined a American flag football team and played a bit today. I feel a lot better being able to play sports and stuff. In Taiwan I played baseball every weekend in a league.
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I’ve had diarrhea everyday since I got here. I know it sounds funny but It’s pretty serious. Everyone here doesn’t take it serious and tell me not eat spicy food and cook. Both don’t help; and I eat extremely spicy food all the time. I already had to go to the hospital once for dehydration and lack of electrolytes. I keep getting cramps and my muscle function is giving me troubles. Feeling weak and malnutrition giving me some health problems. I honestly don’t know what’s wrong. China wasn’t even like this. And I pride myself for having an iron stomach.
And for whatever reason, people here keep insisting I look Japanese…I’ve never once heard this in my life.
It doesn’t sound funny at all. People die from it all the time. You need to find a good doctor and get it taken care of quick.
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That’s what I said! They keep giving me Imodium and electrolytes power drinks to mix with water. Telling me to not eat spicy food and oily food.