The Locals

Dear Usman,

Assalammualaikum. Generally, the locals in the rural states are more hospitable than in urban areas like Kuala Lumpur. But the same like any other countries, if you stop a person to ask for directions, it is polite to give excuse (you say excuse me, can you help?), that is a civilized nature of conduct.

Walking hand in hand or expressing fondness from a male with another male is considered strange (but not taboo). However, it is not practised openly (Only on certain occasions i.e. Death of a family member to express sad, a method to congratulate on one's joy or achievement) not as a suggestive way like walking in the mall in public.

When entering any house, it is polite to enter with your bare feet and not with your shoes similar to entering a mosque.

Greet a person with a sense of respect and it will surely be returned the same. Eat your food on the table or on the floor without your legs potruding forward which inclined towards rudeness and finish your food. Always start with something small when eating as a trial basis because the components/contents/ingredients are different (it may be spicier) or you will be forced to dislike it and leads to waste.

When you are offered anything, always accept (Halal) but in small amounts. You can always ask if the food is Halal at non-muslim restaurants because contrary to an Islamic country, where all the food origins are Halal, in Malaysia it is not the same.

Smile a lot, because over in KL.. they do the same even if one is under tremendous stress.

Here are good resources for you:
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resourc … aysia.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Malaysia

Dear members,

All the off-topic posts were moderated!
Can we now start again and concentrate on the topic ?

Thanks and regards
Armand

Armand, thank you for the moderation.

Thank you Fuaad for some useful tips.

Please also tell about the Malay language. Is it difficult like Chinese? If someone wants to learn very basics of Malay, just few words which could help in asking for directions etc, then how should he go about it?

Regards,
Usman

Usmaan, actually Malay is not difficult to learn as many of its words are borrowed from Hindi so being from Pakistan, you will not have a problem. The Malay language is basically made up of words borrowed from Hindi, sanskrit, english, latin etc. You fill find lots of similar words taken from hindi such as almari, kerusi, bumiputra etc. For good morning is 'selamat pagi', for thank you is 'terima kasih', please help 'boleh tolong'.For direction 'macam mana nak pergi (how to you go) ....

rksandhu, terima kasih

Hey Usman, welcome to Malaysia
i'm an urban KL-lite born and bred in KL and we are hospitable too. Just that most of the time we're so bussy with work and all.
Malay language is not difficult, all you need is a local friend to teach you the basics and just take it from there on a routine basis.

p/s: anything you wanna know about Malaysia or Malaysians do drop me line k.

Can I just add, that Malaysia is also very forgiving of others who are learning the language. Unlike many European countries who will just laugh or snear at your attempt, if you give speaking Malaysian a go people will help you along gently correcting your mistakes and helping you to learn more.

Well I work and mostly socialise with Malaysians and to be honest its usually very different along racial lines (Malay, Indian, Chinese) with Indians prob far easier to socialise with by western standards as Indians like pubs both married and unmarried. Young Chinese are far easier to socialise with than married older Chinese which is partly generational and partly cultural and the younger generation are far more western influenced. I lived in a Kampung for a while and like Malay culture but it is the hardest for most expats to get an insight to. The main rural/city divide is that Malay culture dominates rural Malaysia and Chinese culture is dominant in cities. I now live in a Chinese suburb and generally it's quite westernised. Or have I been Malaysianised too much as I have nasi lemak for breakfast and thing a croissant should have a sausage in it lol

Malaysianised. Is that a new word? Sounds infectious eh? I crave for Nasi Lemak, Im not a roti canai person though. I cant find anywhere in Dubai a Malaysian food restaurant..

My last comment in this thread, no matter what type of race the locals in Malaysia or KL in that order is, its 10X better than where I am at now --

At least the smiles are real.

P/S: I thought Kampung people in Malaysia are poor, wait till you see how 12 Indians can fit into a small room in Dubai Labour camps/flats.

i think i agree with fuaadlazaki........... though m on ma way to KL will feel live.... well we should prefer to be humanised

Jo and Jeremy, your posts encourage me even more. It is really helpful to lean that Locals are very forgiving of others who are learning the language.

Thanks,
Usman

Nemodot, thank you for explaining this on rural and urban level. You have talked about "Nasi Lemak"; I don't know what that is but it sound delicious

How would you define local food? Is it generally spicy, saltish or sweetish? And how would you compare it with food from other parts of the world (for example desi food)? 

Regards,
Usman