i know not all countries are perfect, but it irks me that although we have first class infrastructure, we are laden with a third class mentality. when we see a foreigner, especially those westerners, i notice that they tend to be treated quite nicely, hence letters from tourists saying that we are such a helpful and friendly culture.

As a Malaysian i beg to differ. the survey did by reader's digest is right. we are one of the rudest people in the world.

how many of you say thanks to the person holding the elevator door for you?
how many of you would give up your seats in the train or the bus to an elderly person or a pregnant lady?
how many of you actually bother to line up properly and not push when boarding public transportation? tell me how many????
would you try to vacate a table at an eating centre as soon as possible if there are a lot of people waiting?
would you take your own time with getting your car out of the parking lot when you know there is someone waiting to park at that spot?
how many of you would hold the door open for the person who will enter after you??
how many of you actually stop your car at zebra crossings for people to cross?
how many of you stop you cars on the zebra crossing when the light changes?

not many. let me be honest.. from my observation, from having to study in the city centre of Malaysia i.e. Kuala Lumpur, i have noticed the inconsiderate natures of the Malaysians. it is a saddening state really, that Malaysians lack manners. and, oh do we really lack.

i take the LRT to college at least 4-5 times a week... when there is a pregnant lady or an elderly person... i noticed that the men.. mind you, young men, would not bother to give up their seat. 8 out of 10 times, it's the women that gives her seat up. usually those that give up their seats are those who are in about their 20s i suppose. there was many a time where i gave up my seat as well.. though sometimes, as i'm day dreaming, i was slow to realise, but when i do, i willingly give up my seat... unless i really don't feel well, as is sometimes the case for me, in crowded areas....

in college itself. when i hold the elevator door open for people out of let's say the 15 or so people in there, only one or two will say thanks. and even this is rare. it only happens 2-3 times out of 10.. the percentage is so low. it's always the same people who say thanks.. the others don't bother.. in fact, even the one nearest to the buttons,won't bother to hold the door, but just walks out ahead.... manners, manners..... they all lack it.

just yesterday at the LRT station, as i was touching my card to the sensor, this Malay lady behind me inserted her train card into my machine. obviously i can't pass through then. what did she say? "oops" and just pushed past me... totally and absurdly rude!! she could have at least said excuse me!!

don't parents teach manners to their children?? mine did... i wonder what is the percentage of parents that bother to ensure that their child has manners? it looks like it's very low.. out of the 300-400 people of my class, let me tell you how many have showed manners so far...

only about 10-20.. giving it the benefit of the doubt.. we make that 20.. 20 out of let's say 350 students [it's a discount here] that means we only have about 5.7% round it up to 6% of people who are polite in the class...

i also noticed that girls in my class tend to be ruder than the boys, they don't bother about holding the door or saying thanks if you hold the door for them. heck even an appreciative smile is welcomed. the elder men in the class, i.e mature students... only 1-2 of them are polite... the rest are plain rude, pushing past you etc.

the ones that are usually polite, are those who seem to be in their early twenties. imagine if my class was the population of Kuala Lumpur.. that would mean of the estimated 1.6 million [in 2006, we could have more now] population in the city, only 6% are polite enough, to give up their seats to people that need it. that's very saddening this means of the 1.6 million people only 96 000 Malaysians in Kuala Lumpur are polite... if it's compared to the state of Selangor, we have about 3.75 million people.. that would give us 225, 000 of polite people in Selangor....... not a very encouraging figure, although it is all speculation just based on the percentage of my class.....

still it irritates the hell out of us. just look at our drivers who think that they own the whole Malaysian road. impatient people, who can't even wait 2 minutes for the traffic light to turn green. cutting lanes without putting on their signals, accelerating when the car in front puts on the signals to change lanes. blocking pedestrians from crossing by stopping their cars and buses on the zebra crossing.

pushing people while boarding public transportation. what is even worse is: THOSE F**KING PERVERTS WHO TAKE ADVANTAGE of the congested situation to sexually harass people. among the people with no manners they are the worse, as they see females as nothing but sexual objects. the lowest of low, they don't even qualify to be categorised as living beings.

the LRT for example, even though there is a box indicating where passengers should line up. unless there is an officer around, like hell they care, these inconsiderate Malaysians. brainless as they are!! if passengers can't get off the train, what makes you think you can get on? even when i was in the London underground, people weren't that bad, they allowed you to get off first before getting on!!

mentality. a friend told me, while waiting for this person to vacate his parking lot, he was sitting in his car eating an ice cream! if you are going to eat an ice cream, then do it somewhere else, not in the parking lot, misleading people into thinking that you are going to vacate now, instead of when you are done.

eating at crowded places, we get those inconsiderate people, who take their own time to eat... fine, the benefit of the doubt is yours, maybe you just eat slow. but when there are people standing behind you, waiting for you to vacate, then please don't sit down there and chat. and the same goes to the people who are waiting, unless the person hogging the table, is doing exactly that, hogging, please don't give them death stares, just patiently and nicely wait for them to finish eating.

there are so many to mention that i would get an endless list..

but it really makes me wonder... what is wrong with the Malaysian mentality????? i noticed the ones that do seem to be somewhat polite, are especially those who have been overseas. that's not to say that everyone who has studied overseas came back polite or that you need to go overseas to learn your manners... only some of those who went overseas picked up the good habits from the westerners, mind you. there are still plenty that are rude... well maybe not as rude.. but still.....

what should we do to improve our manners?

i would say start at home... but then again, if you have rude parents.. i don't imagine the kids being polite.... schools can only teach so much.....

i really despise people like that, no respect and no manners. although we are all not perfect in learning manners and respect, at least don't press the horn on your car when i'm leading a blind man across the road. it's not my fault that the pedestrian signal only gives the blind man 20 seconds to cross the road..

it doesn't help that people are coming the other way blocking our path, plus not to mention some idiotic drivers who stop their cars on the zebra crossing!!

-Oracl3-