Malaysian

Often in my previous posts,whenever I condemn or blame the wrongdoings of my beloved Malaysians,I will always address the title of their citizenship,MALAYSIAN. In a free country such as Malaysia,we live in a harmonic environment and surroundings. We are living in a peaceful country,if not in a peaceful world. At least,that's the idea.

However, it's such a sad thing when people often being offended when being addressed about their flaws,not because of the way they're being told,but because of the person who's responsible for telling them. This is where it all will start, the racism.

Here's a situation. I disagree that an old Chinese guy to throw rubbish on the floor of a restaurant. Now,it would be normal if I just tell him off that he should not do that. Unfortunately,that's not normal from Malaysians' point of view. They would say a Malay is trying to be a racist for addressing such issue to a Chinese guy,more over an old guy.

Take a second situation. There's an average Malay guy,throws his rubbish on the floor of the same restaurant. If I tell him off that he shouldn't do that,people won't judge. Definitely people would see a normal and acceptable measure from an ordinary guy trying to teach another ordinary guy how to behave and act like a civilized man. The irony is,both the Malay and the Chinese guy are Malaysians,being corrected by me,also a Malaysian for the matter of fact.

Why would such measure being translated differently by Malaysians? Why can't they see the scenario fairly? Isn't it weird how people tend to judge quickly if a man is racist or not just because of what they see and think? For a multiracial country with independence of more than half a century,what have we actually achieved as one nation? This question often stuck in my head unanswered.

Truth is,as long as racism lives in you,you can never blame other people if you don't feel as much as a Malaysian as they are. There are limits when it comes to confront and advising,we all have to admit that. Not to mention respect towards other races' cultures and beliefs. It's the essence of living harmoniously I would say,to show respect to other Malaysians no matter what their backgrounds are,no matter what skin color they have,no matter what religion they believe in.

I am a Malaysian,and I am proud of my country and the people,if not of their attitudes. For as long as I believe we could achieve unity as one big society,there are lots of effort to be put in order to prove to the world that we can live as a one big multiracial family.

I-City

A couple of weeks ago,I went to I-City with my two best friends. It was spontaneous,since all three of us haven't been there,one of the most visited place by couples in Kuala Lumpur/Selangor/Shah Alam. It is located at Seksyen 7 Shah Alam,40mins drive from our place,Bukit Antarabangsa.

Since it was Saturday night,we did expect the traffic to be a bitch that night. When we arrived,it was already crowded,full of people.Some brought their family members,some were just couples having their regular weekend date,some even from out of Malaysia.

However,few things did make us sad and kinda frustrated. First of all,the parking fee was too expensive. RM10 PER ENTRY simply did not make sense at all. And to consider paying such fee,you would expect the parking space to be well maintained,and under good condition. Yet sadly to say,the pictures explained everything that intended to write.

Secondly,the development of I-City itself is still under construction. We wondered why was it opened to public so quickly. Obviously,if to look at the place from one's perspective,it's kinda puzzling and confusing. With the incomplete drainage system,it is actually not safe to bring kids too,especially when we know they could easily fall during night time if not being monitored by their parents.

Despite all the frustrations,I personally think the idea of I-City isn't bad at all. Kinda an interesting place to hang out,with all the beautiful lights and fascinating colorful trees. To be positive,it still attracts people to come and have a good time with their loved ones. It's an alternative within the big city itself. 

-And yes,there are lots of improvement they need to come up with before the three of us will have the intention to visit the place again in future-

Between Development and Attitude to be Developed (Part 2)

It's been my habit to stay awake all night,be it weekday or weekend,whenever I'm in Malaysia,or at home to be exact. Most of the time,I'll hang out with my close friends if not spending my quality time with my mother watching Malay drama or English movies.

Often when I'm out,be it at mamak stall or at fancy restaurants,Burger King,McDonald's,or wherever possible to hang out after 12am,one thing that I'll never miss to do is to observe how the customers  behave,and how well they take care of the cleanliness of the respective place. But sadly to say,these were what I've found from few places I've visited lately. I snapped like thousands of photos,but I couldn't upload them all here. These are some that I would like to share with the readers.

The first two pictures made me wonder,how impossible it is to throw your thrash/rubbish into the dustbin provided,properly? I mean,it hurts watching the workers cleaning our mess,while we ourselves could help keep the place always clean,for people to come and eat.

The last picture was taken in a toilet at Craven Cafe Bukit Antarabangsa,place where I used to have a chat with my friends,if we're too lazy to drive far from our home. It can be considered as an exclusive place,since most of the customers are rich people,and some of our local artists used to hang out here as well. I guess there's no need to explain how I felt if you take a look at the picture. Surprisingly,there's a bin provided in the toilet,yet people using the restroom still have no common sense at all to throw the cigarette buds in the bin.

I've been reminding myself and my friends,again and again,not to cause public places dirty and to keep in mind that people who's going to clean for us might curse us at our back for causing them trouble with all the mess. As Muslims,it is our responsible to take care of the cleanliness whenever and wherever we are. Such behavior from these pictures will led to bad impressions.

-Attitude matters. The Malaysians need to remember that-

Bad Impression

You tell me,what else can we do to stop Malaysians from doing this all over the city,and all over the country.

 

  

  

 -It is never too late to change,as long as we have the courage to erase bad impressions that other people have towards Malaysians-

Someone Important

Last year,on my way back home,I had the opportunity to snap a picture of a foreigner/tourist reading a book. The scenario was usual,nothing unusual. But,the book he was reading really caught my eyes.

He was reading 'The Malay Dilemma',a book written by our beloved ex-Prime Minister,Tun Mahathir Mohamad. I wasn't sure if he's a foreign student at a local university or something,but this picture explains everything that we need to know regarding our leader. Today,the whole world knows who Tun Mahathir Mohamad is.

-I went home that day,with pride as a Malaysian-

Road To Success

Often,if I have to drive or I need to drive,I always find myself asking this never-ending question:"Why can't the roads or highways that we're using every single day of our lives,being built better than what they have to offer today?"

Try to take a look at the picture below. This picture was taken from the back seat of my car,during night time just across the Wangsa Walk Mall. This is one of the reason why our cars will start to create noises from within whenever you drive on roads all around the country. Not only it isn't smooth,it also looks kinda bad and without quality.

If we are really looking forward to achieve the status of 1st world country by 2020,the least we should do is to fix this problem. And again,attitude's the one that we should change. It seems like it's no big deal,but it is not unnoticeable either. Visiting many countries in the past 5 years did help me a lot to see how serious they are in portraying their image and standard to outsiders. People observe,and they judge. This is something the government,JKR to be specific,should bear in mind.

-It might have been easier for us to not to give a damn,but ignorance kills. Trust me-

Read (Part 2)

In my previous post,I did share something about the importance of reading. Yes,I still and will always encourage people around me to start reading if they haven't start yet,and continue reading if they've started. But this time,I am going to share a picture not of unrelated topic,but from a different angle.

This picture was taken when I was having my lunch on the day I came back from Tioman Island. The girl,a student of a local school was waiting for her brother to send her to school (evening session). While waiting,she took what I believe the entertainment section of the day's newspaper to read. I am not against her will to read,no. On the contrary,I respect her for having the willingness to do that. What I disagree is,the reading material that she chose to read. 

Once,I used to play or have a Tagged.com account. I often made new friends (most of them were girls) while I was active during that time. I did notice however,on their profile,when it comes to "Books",they'll simply put "No",or "Tak minat",or "Tak suke bace",etc. This did bother me,and it still is bothering me until today. The Malays are very famous with having no interest to read at all. And even if they do read,the kind of books/magazines that they choose to read is not helping to improve their knowledge,at all.

It is time to change this attitude. Even the first sentence being taught to our Prophet Muhammad S.A.W was "BACALAH". We should,as Muslims,try our best to follow what has been taught and delivered. And as Malays,I suggest we do postmortem as why are we still behind in everything we do,compared to other races in our very own country.

Clean,for God Sake!

Here's a question:Who doesn't like cleanliness? To a healthy-minded person,definitely the answer would be nobody. I would say yes to cleanliness too,because that's our nature. We like something clean,neat,and tidy. Even in Islam,we are taught to take care of cleanliness all the time. Kebersihan itu sebahagian daripada iman. We stick to this teaching,no matter what.

Unfortunately (as usual),on the day me and my family returned back to KL from Tioman Island,we waited for our bus at Perhentian Bas Mersing. Half an hour before we board,I went to the public toilet with my cousin,and that was when I encountered such disturbing view.

Malaysians,regardless race and ethnicity,do not like to flush the toilet,as far as public toilets are concerned. No matter which R&R,shopping mall or bus station I visited,there will always that one toilet that's left without being flushed. From these pictures,you'll notice that not only the shits are there,the wall,the floor and even the mirror are dirty. And surprisingly,you have to pay $30 cents per entry. The next question would be:Do the workers even clean the toilets,or do they just accept the money without having to work at all?

This matter is really,really important,as it involves the hygiene of the people using public toilet. Mersing bus station is quite an important public place as most tourists from all over the world will stop here (if they travel by bus) to get to Tioman Island. Not only this reflect our image,it also might caouse outsiders to think twice before they enter any other public toilet in Malaysia.

Flaw

We went to Tioman last weekend,for a vacation of course. From KL,we took the Transnasional Bus. The tickets were bought from Mara Bus Station at Keramat,not too far from my house. On  the day we're supposed to depart, we reached TBS(Terminal Bersepadu Selatan) an hour before our boarding time. To kill time,we hanged out at one restaurant,chatting and watching TV at the same time.

Once we've done with our lepak,when we're about to board,a problem arose. The tickets that we bought should be exchanged with TBS readable tickets at the counter. Well,that's something. I didn't know this. It's not too troublesome,no. But the fact that you have to wait for your turn even when you already have the valid tickets for boarding,well that's really pissing me off.

Despite its modern and welcoming look,still there are flaws with the system being implemented by the TBS. I really hope that people will be informed regarding exchange of tickets if you do not purchase them at TBS itself.

Hyundai and Proton Test Drive

Just last week,I followed my parents to the Hyundai and Proton showrooms,to test drive and have a closer look at two latest car that's been launched just this year; Hyundai Elantra and Proton Preve. Our intention was (and still is) to buy the Elantra model, but to make it fair,we visited Proton showroom as well,since they had just promoted Preve on television.

"Drive it to believe it",that's the motto of this newly launched our first locally produced GLOBAL CAR. Personally,I feel kinda proud with Malaysia. It's design,interior and exterior,features,etc. are so beyond expectation. I am not gonna explain what are the features that Preve has to offer. My point is simple-we have become a country that can be proud with our product,our car to be specific. Not only it is marketable and attractive, the price is also affordable.

Hyundai Elantra on the other hand,is elegant and has a very sophisticated look as we laid our eyes from outside the showroom. How it differs from Preve,that depends one's perspective. But to be honest,Proton is no longer lack of something to offer when it comes to compete with other car makers.

Despite my interest towards buying Elantra,I do hope that Proton will produce their prototype of Proton Lekir as fast as they could. Oh and by the way,this Preve is actually Proton Tuah,the prototype that they came out with few years back:)

Years,Yet Still Unsolved

Do you still remember how our Geography teachers used to tell us regarding land slides,highland developments,and other matters related to highland?Well I do,cause me and my family live at Bukit Antarabangsa.Obviously,from the name itself,it is a highland,though not as high as Genting or Cameron.

This time it is not about some kind of drainage system in KL or Hulu Kelang,but this is about the true color behind highland development just in front of my house.

Obviously,due to a lot of newly built housing areas such as Ukay Perdana,Serenia Garden,Riana Ukay,etc.,the land structure of Bukit Antarabangsa,Taman Mulia to be specific has been unstable since then,thus causing land slides every 3 years or so. It is dangerous for those who are living here,yet the developers seem like having a brain damage,not being able to use their common sense at all.

-It has been years,yet this matter is still unsolved. All this while,I wondered why.I don't anymore-

Shit Happens

I am a kind of person who always like to go out at night meeting friends,sometimes even driving all alone from home to anywhere just to relax my mind. One fine night,it was after midnight. I still clearly remember that night. I was from kedai mamak after hanging out with a friend of mine. Usually I will take the Ukay Perdana road,as it is brighter than the main entrance to B.A.

On my way,suddenly a lot of cars stopped on the road. I saw some police cars,and a Bomba's truck parking on the other side of the road. Of course,when such view in the middle of the night is right before your eyes,one word comes to mind:ACCIDENT.

I made a U-turn not too far from the incident,and stopped by to take a closer look. To know exactly what happened (well,this is a Malaysian's attitude when accident happens,and I am one hell of a typical Malaysian). The accident was very,very bad. I was wondering at that time how did the driver survived. Yet despite the condition of the car and the work policemen and firemen were involved with,still people around me were able to chit chat as if there's nothing happened that night.

So,moral of the story,drive carefully. Think of your loved ones:)

The Way They're Connected

I was in Singapore last weekend with my best cousin and my parents. A short trip actually,since we checked-in only a day and a night there before we went to Pasir Gudang to visit my other cousin. We stayed at Geylang,a place where most of the citizens are Malays.

From there,we took the public transportation MRT to reach Orchard Road,a place where all the big shopping malls are located. During the transit,I did notice the differences between their MRT system and our LRT system. One of them is be it MRT or LRT,the size of the coach,interior design and the speed;it's the same.

Secondly,they do have barriers between the station and the train itself,as to increase safety so that there will be no unwanted incidents to take place. Inside of the coach,they do have the route map as we have in our LRT,but what we don't have is they even provide the light indicator which door will open for the next stop.

From our short visit there,I must say that I am impressed with how disciplined Singaporeans are in order to keep up the good work they've shown to people visiting their lawful country. I am not saying that our system isn't good at all,but we can do more to improve what we already have. But of course,the fines there might cause you to consider migrating to Malaysia:)

Drainage System Part 1

Once,I was on my way to park my car not too far from Alpha Angle Jusco Wangsa Maju,when suddenly this view caught my attention. What saddens me more,it’s been forever since I could remember they built the Jusco. How is it possible that nobody cares to fix the problem?And the problem is very clear;the development was poor. So does the management of the area by Majlis Perbandaran. Not only that,sooner or later this kind of drainage system that we have all over our country will cause more and more landslides,collapse of buildings,etc.

I do hope that one day,those who are experts in this field will find a better solution to solve this dilemma that we're facing today. It's terrifying to admit there's the same view I've been looking at just a walking distance from my house,and I am watching it every single day (of course,if I'm on leave). But we all know deep inside our heart,this problem will take years to be solved,because this is Malaysia.

Read

I was on my way back from Central Market few days back with my friends. We were talking and laughing as usual in the LRT,and all of a sudden my friend asked me to check these two girls who were sitting in between our coach and the other. They were in school uniforms,of course,since the day was weekday. Interesting,they weren't sitting on the seats provided,but on the floor,reading!

I was shocked,yet somehow managed to snap a picture of them while they're discussing something. Just before they walked out of the train,I saw the title of the book one of the girl was holding. It was a PMR exercise book.

This is something Malaysians in general should do. Read. No matter where we are,as long as we have free time,we should widen our knowledge by reading lots and lots of articles,books,or whatever that is knowledgeable. I was and still proud of the girls. Young,yet they've shown something worth sharing for. An attitude that could improve ourselves.

The Great Architecture

I was asked to report to Akademi Laut Malaysia,ALAM or Malaysian Maritime Academy the last 2 weeks to attend a course. Since my parents weren't available on that weekend to send me there,I had no other choice but to go there by bus. So we went to the Terminal Bersepadu Selatan or TBS. It was the first time for me personally,but not the first time I heard about it. TBS really caught my attention. Unlike the other bus stations I've ever been,this one is really big,and has the modern-looking architecture. I was very fascinated,and excited as well,not to mention my reaction when we entered the building.

To think about what we've achieved in the past 10 years,it is really an achievement just by looking at TBS from the highway across. It represents not only how determined we are in living up our goals,but also how determined we are to be at the same level with other developed countries,and of course to fulfill Vision 2020,an idea implemented by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1993.

They Should Respect Our Religion

I often have my breakfast with my parents at Restoran Alam Berkat if I am to work at NSTP Bangsar,or on weekdays when I need to use the car,I will usually follow them to work and drive back home.

 I never have issues with other races and other people,personally. And that's because we live in a peaceful country,our beloved Malaysia. This fact should be respected,no matter what it takes. However,few weeks back,I did notice something unusual at the stall we used to stop by. None of the workers,nor the owner are Muslims,yet they don't feel guilty to display the verses/surah from the Holy Quran inside their restaurant. This does bother me a lot,as if their misuse of it is legally accepted by the customers,the Muslims in particular.

I mean no disrespect to others,but when it comes to Holy Quran,I am pretty sure that one must not misuse just to attract customers who are Muslims. I do admit however I was shocked at first,but this is not the first time I encountered such case.

To Be Grateful

I was in Bandung on the 25th-29th April with my family. We were on a vacation there. A lot did we shop,till we drop,as expected earlier. As that was my first visit,both Bandung and Jakarta,I was impressed by the way the people welcome tourists. They were very polite and helpful indeed. However,socioeconomically,sadly to say,they are still behind us,even though we share the same mother tongue. I even tried to avoid bypassing little girls carrying their little sister at night begging for money as I couldn't accept the fact how poor and hard their lives are in this modern day.

Other people from other country might see Malaysia as a developing country,but to compare what we have today with those people in Indonesia,we are far more better. Yet,still there are some of the Malaysians keep on complaining how hard it is to survive on their own land. Grateful is something we've been taught before,easy to say,but very hard to practice.

Between Development and Attitude to be Developed

I could never ever deny how proud I am to be a Malaysian. Even though we are still not as developed as other countries,we never stop developing. But as always,questions arise. How can we ever imagine to accelerate further if we could not afford to develop our attitudes?Lets take a look at the pictures uploaded down here.

Carrefour Wangsa Maju,a place often visited to shop and to hang around is a very good example to clearly show how the Malaysians work. God knows how long will it take for the management to fix the leak at the mall. It might be a small matter to others,but this kind of attitude is much more crucial to be developed,rather than telling off the whole world how developed we are.

The Way We Connected

As I could ever recall,the very first time I took the LRT was in 1999,the early year of the system being introduced to the public. Our stop was KLCC station,as the twin tower itself was newly built. I had always admire this modern railway system,though it is not as great as the bullet train of Japan. Few years back,the government even upgraded the system by adding 4 coaches LRT instead of only 2 coaches back then.

Even though I am a regular passenger of this public transport,I could not deny the fact that you are not as safe as you think when you are in the LRT. Personally,I've been robbed on my way to KLCC station by a foreigner just few days back. How? It's up to you to find the answer:)