This article are posted in the Thai forums and I just wanted some Malaysian opinion on such article which tend to appear frequently beyond our shores..........



By Jeffrey Studebaker

After I left Japan for every reason a man could have for leaving somewhere, I hied myself off to Kuala Lumpur for a month. I wanted to pursue some opportunities there related to my old job and just returning to America seemed too much like defeat. I was most definitely defeated, but I didn't want to go home smelling like it.

I had no idea what KL would be like. I took a flight just a week after I had decided to go, so I barely had time to pick up a copy of the Lonely Planet Malaysia guide and skim it. As you may or may not know, Malaysia is a primarily Islamic country, though the 30% Chinese population prevents the government from implementing the codes of Islamic law. No way could you outlaw pork in KL. Though while I was there I read a story about how the Religious Police busted in on a couple and booked them for adultery. They spent a night in jail before a lawyer showed up with the papers to prove they'd been married for years. And I'm thinking, "Wait. Religious Police?" Those are two words that shouldn't be touching. They really shouldn't even be together on the same page.


People don't seem to smile much there. Not at a big White guy anyway. Even a dorky one. And once you get out of Chinatown the women start covering their heads.

I stayed in Chinatown. At The Chinatown. It's not as cheap as other Southeast Asian countries but it was cheaper than Tokyo, which suited me. I had spent all my money and then some sending my stuff back to America. From the plane I could see low hills covered with vegetation, but I never got out of the city. As per usual, I commenced filling all my free time with long walks. Every sidewalk was halfway under the overhanging 2nd story of a building and once it started raining I found out why. When it rained, it poured buckets and soaked everything. Dashing to the next overhang across the street was like going for a swim. The rain was warm so, being from Seattle, it was kind of a special experience.

The streets of Chinatown were filled with vendors all day and up until around midnight. Every day when I left the hotel, the same guy would try to sell me bootlegged DVD's and every day I told him I didn't have a DVD player. After a while I think it got to be kind of a joke, though he never cracked a grin

This was before George Bush's colonization of Iraq, but we were already messing around in Afghanistan. I kept my eyes open for anyone who wanted to strike a tiny blow against America by offing a dorky tourist, but it never happened.

Many people asked where I was from and I always told them the truth. Except for once. I had hailed a cab and loaded in my big hurking suitcase. After we had already started, he wanted to charge me extra for the suitcase, like it was putting a strain on his engine or something. I wouldn't have him changing the price after we were already moving and I was a little pissed that he thought he could do it just because I was a tourist. We started haranguing each other and spent the next 15 minutes fuming and fussing over a few Ringhit. For me it was the principle of the thing and maybe I was in a bad mood. Eventually I won out and we rode on in a dark silence. There was another 20 minutes to that cab ride so I apologized for the fight and asked if he was from KL and did he have kids. He relaxed a bit and started asking me questions back. When he came around to asking me where I was from, I told him Seattle. He said, "Oh, is that in Canada?" I looked around at the piles of Islamic paraphernalia on his dashboard and at all the dark nowhere outside and said, "Yeah. It's in Canada." I had to come up with a few factoids about Canada after that. If you decide to masquerade as a Canadian during your vacation to the Middle East, I recommend you learn the population and area in square kilometers. The major industries are making cheese and drinking beer, of course. Just watch the Canadian historical documentary, 'Strange Brew' a couple of times and you should be OK.

Apartments in Malaysia were kind of cool. And big. Because of the weather, everyone had windows which never closed and the floors were all made of stone or tile. When entering a house you kick off your shoes and socks and if you live there you lounge around in t-shirt and shorts. The places stay cool even if they don't have air conditioning. It's a very modern country and one of the strongest economies in Asia. Everyone I visited seemed to have a computer and a huge entertainment system. And geckos on their walls.

Even though the economy is in a slump right now it seemed like construction was going on everywhere. But there were also half finished buildings lying abandoned all over the place. And when I took the brand new monorail that connects the airport to the capital, I had a whole car to myself.
usually ate in Chinatown and my very nice friend showed me a very nice place that was part antique store and part Malaysian Chinese restaurant. You sat among stacks of beautiful old colonial antiques and ate really great spicy food and if anything caught your fancy you could buy it. Down to the table and plates you ate off. I heard one tourist guy ask the waitress if that included her. She laughed and laughed. Without smiling or making any noise.

One night I decided to see how the people really entertained themselves in Chinatown and instead of going to cafes or the little bars with bands that were bigger than the audience, I went to a karaoke bar. Waitresses in short skirts served drinks and expected the patrons to return the favor by buying them one. The night I went all the waitresses were busy with a group of very well-dressed young Chinese men so I drank happily by myself and watched people from the bar. The karaoke was loud and everyone seemed to really get into singing big, weepy love songs. At one point I noticed a man smoking from a small silver pipe with a very small bowl. Then I saw him pass it to the girl beside him. And she passed it around. It was interesting to watch people smoking opium openly in a bar. Especially in a country where the flight attendants cheerfully warn you as your plane lands that the penalty for smuggling dope is death.

People who say that Bangkok is dirty have never seen Kuala Lumpur. For all it's modernity and the strength of it's economy, it's a shockingly gross place to walk after a rain. That squishing noise is not mud. It's mushy mushy garbage. The rats are huge and very brave. Vendors of food and whatever else just throw their garbage on the ground to create a big smelly ecosystem right there. By the end of a night there are piles of plastic bags, cardboard, rotten food and Styrofoam containers knee deep in the streets where vendors have been. The garbage men come at around 2am and by 6am the street is reasonably cleared and ready for another layer of filth

If Mike Myers decides to make another Austin Powers film, god forbid, he should definitely go to KL's Little India for costume ideas. If you bought a few shirts there and some tight velvet pants, you'd be the swinginest swinger in Swinging London. Honestly I saw stuff there that made Austin Powers look like a poster boy for Gap. And of course I had to buy some. Anybody wanna swing?

One big problem I have in Southeast Asia is my style. For a few years now I've been into this rockabilly-inpired schtick, wearing tight pegged pants, good leather on the feet and a tasteful but loud bowling-style shirt. Not a Hawaiian print mind you, but definitely more eye-catching that your average Izod. This works fine in New York. In L. A. I blend in and in Tokyo I actually get complements from strangers. But in Southeast Asia, where they actually make these shirts, I look exactly like a tourist fresh off the boat, ready to spend wads of cash on any sort of krazy krap the vendors want to sell. It bums me out no end. So now, in Bangkok I'm puzzling over what to do. The local idea of hip is mired around 1985 and basically involves showing how big your paycheck is. On top of that, even fashionable men wear sandals without an ounce of shame. OK, it's hot so I bought a pair of nice ones, but every time I look down and see my little piggies waving in the breeze I feel like I'd better hurry up and get to Madge's lawn party.

From all this you might get the impression that I was not impressed by Kuala Lumpur. I was definitely impressed and I had a good time thanks to fine friends there. But I'm not in a hurry to go back. I'd say there are at least six other places in the region I would rather visit first. It was an experience and I got to see my first wild gecko so I can't complain.

Jeffrey Studebaker is currently a reporter for a magazine in Bangkok, but he has taught in Japan, played rock'n'roll with the band, Swoon 23, in every city of the US of A, roasted coffee beans in Seattle, been a bike messenger in Portland, fixed boats all over the Northwest, checked old ladies for osteoporosis in Providence, worked night shift in a mental ward, succeeded in New York, failed in New York and now he is typing a web page to you from his balcony in the center of Bangkok while torrents of rain fall on his guppy pond.

is this true? :eek2: :eek2: :eek2:

ahha, i just imagined myself if im going to a place which i REALLY dont know, or should i say with no bias FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, i will not say something like "People don't seem to smile much there." <--bold somemore :sleepy: "And once you get out of Chinatown the women start covering their heads. <--bold and in red somemore :sleepy: :sleepy: "I kept my eyes open for anyone who wanted to strike a tiny blow against America by offing a dorky tourist, but it never happened." <--bold again :sleepy: :sleepy: :sleepy:

i dont bother to finish reading the article since its his personal opinion. point of view is taken from one side but not as a whole so nevermind. nobody is perfect, u and i know it, but still u wanna tease me for my dirty shoes while u r wearing a brand new shoes that u stole from a refugee during the war with Afghanistan <--c, i could bold it in red as well if i wan u to agree with my bias.

Did you guys see the but in this phrase?
Jeffrey Studebaker is currently a reporter for a magazine in Bangkok, ]but he has taught in Japan :lol: That itself shows that they admitted the magazine is superlowsy and not even worth mentioning!
BTW, he should not be taken seriously. Obviously a liar who have some grudges against Malaysia particularly the muslims.

This article is an insult and should not be taken seriously. Malysian people are very friendly! If you smile at them, they smile back. And maybe they didn't smile because of this stupid bloke. :bash:

Do we need to smile all over the time? Seems like a mentally disordered people. If we smile too often to a tourist especially those from US, they might think we are insane.. By the way szehoong, where did you get that article? The url please.

:hahaha::hahaha: poeple like u just make other poeple hate ur country even more~ get a 'LIFE' fools~ :bleh: and good luck wit ur 'Opportunity' in malaysia 'k~ and comebck anytime u want scumback~ :okay:

I would like to see some pictures from KL new renovated Chinatown... :)

C'mon folks, this is obviously a tongue-in-cheek article written in a humerous sorta way with exagerations and the like, typical writing style you often see in magazines. No point getting all offended, since it's obvious he prob writes like that about loads of places.....

Besides, in the broadest general sense, in a way, there are flecks of truth hiding in there. For example, if I was a fella fr N.America, I *would* think KL is mighty dirty (which it is).....I *would* feel as if almost everyone was wearing a veil......I *would* feel a bit more edgy if I was an American.......and it's true, we *don't* smile often enuf (refering of course to our cashiers/shopping assitants/immigration agents etc etc etc).......and, there actually are tons of geckos out there *grin*

so hey, dun be offended......jus shrug n laugh it off....

having said that, if he's lived in Asia, he should kno Middle East is not quite where KL is situated....dongo!

if I was a fella fr N.America, I *would* think KL is mighty dirty (which it is)


oh..pls tell me which American downtown are cleaner than the KL one ??
LA? San Diego? San Francisco? Boson? New York city? Chicago?

I had lived in many america cities, and still have to travel there very frequent because of works

Yes some white suburban american are clean, so do my home KL city where I was educated...Taman Tun, Tropicana. and my first condominum like every average one in KL completed with outdoor swimming pool, gym, tennis, garden and gardeners from Idonesia. And most importantly of all... I don't have to be a millionaire to enjoy these.

Now in London's st johns wood, one of the most exclusive and upmarket neighbourhood. my neighbours are Jews, English, expatriate Ameriacan, Chinese Hong Kong...but I never feel my victoria lifestyle ..any cleaner or superiors than KL.

I *would* feel as if almost everyone was wearing a veil......I *would* feel a bit more edgy if I was an American...
Typical islamophopia american..perhaps they should extend more of their green card lottery program to muslim countries..in order to become real multi-culture..

he (the writer on kl) hasn't been to London, birmingham, Paris (where more than 10 millions muslim living over europe)..since more than 97% American never been abroad in their lives or they just don't bother. My american friends feel ashame of themself and their innocent back home their motherland....whenever we talk about my life in US.
we shouldn't blame him(the writer on kl)... in many ways America is the most isolated and 'backward' nation on earth....just flip through their newsweek and compare it with the London Economist..or switch on CNN to over BBC...and the possibility of high school kids from europe pointing out South East Asian from the map than average american graduated.

oh..pls tell me which American downtown are cleaner than the KL one ??
LA? San Diego? San Francisco? Boson? New York city? Chicago?

actually, a lot of American cities have surprisingly clean downtowns. The maintainence culture and the concept of public cleanliness is still higher than that in a 'typical' Asian city (barring Tokyo, Singapore etc). Why? The concept of health as a public domain is extremely strong there. For example, downtown Chicago is rather clean, except for the slum areas...and even there, the level of dirt is different. Mostly grafiti, rubble, paper trash and the like. In many Asian cities (ie.KL), the level of grime consists of blocked drains, blackened/weather beaten walls, both paper and organic trash on the streets etc. For example, in Damansara Jaya, the garbage bins in the residential estates are often toppled over, trash accumulating on the streets....that would be a crime in the US. I believe that we're just not there yet, in terms of civic conciousness.....that's just something we've got to work on. And blindly saying it doesn't exist, makes things worse.


Typical islamophopia american..perhaps they should extend more of their green card lottery program to muslim countries..in order to become real multi-culture..
Islam is the 4th largest religion in the US, behind Christianity, secularism, Judaism. That's larger in fact that Buddhism, based on a survey in 2001; making up 0.5% of the US population. It apparently is growing at a rate of 30% per anum. You make your own judgements about the multiculturalism of America......In Minnesota, where I currently am working, there are (based on a population census 2000) 140k latinos, 45k Hmong, 35k Russians, 20K Viet, 11k Somali, 11k Laotian, 6k Cambodian, 5k Ethiopians....that's pretty multicultural wouldn't you say?

anyway, I'm not trying to be an American apologist. All I'm trying to say is, who cares about this writer dude and his comments? Don't we individually laugh and criticise other countries all the time? Lets not be hypocrites....BUT, what we SHOULD pay attention to is whether or not his comments have an element of truth in them! If there are, then we should change our behaviour.......

I believe that we're just not there yet, in terms of civic conciousness.....that's just something we've got to work on. And blindly saying it doesn't exist, makes things worse.
All I'm trying to say is, who cares about this writer dude and his comments? Don't we individually laugh and criticise other countries all the time? Lets not be hypocrites....BUT, what we SHOULD pay attention to is whether or not his comments have an element of truth in them! If there are, then we should change our behaviour.......
liping_t made points here. i agree with him, after all it was just an article, if you and me feel insulted of people claiming our country as dirty then from now on, dun simply throw rubbish in the public...or at least improve our civic conciousness. :) :)

Jeffrey studebaker is probably a pedifile and a frustrated chunky dude that should open his eyes and check out his neighbourhood, Malaysians are very acoomodating people, maybe he was being a jerk or arrogant...people in malaysia don't treat tourists like a big fat wallet like in bangkok nor do they chase tourists selling drugs, marijuana and sex. For a foirst tiemer to malaysia, he sure knows and observes a heck lot and the smoking opium in the open....dude please...do not ASSUME, investigate or get proper facts before you write such hostile article towards malaysians in general. Apparently you failed in New York that's why you're in bangkok and writing for a whole in a wall newspaper...good job Jefferey...adn yea one last thing, I don't think the Malaysians gonna miss you and wait for you to come back...stay put in bangkok and try to get a little life and learn to be a little pleasant and less judgemental and arrogant. The whole entie article was an insult and a direct attack to Malaysia.

It's quite true...totally agree with liping_t ..like it or not..US cities should be the prototype of our cities.. as we drink starbuck and coffee Bean :)
Am studying in UK now, Some europe cities are full of shit!.....London is too dirty and very third world now. The underground is a horrible dungeon. Been to Australia and New Zealand..very clean indeed..but i dun know much US..
KL should as sophisticated as any western new world (Australia, US, Canada etc) capital city....:banana:
we should speak more english, like singapore.
And baju kurung should not 'prominent role' in the city instead of promoting modern KL gal :tongue4:

oh, i have a question, where does coffee bean actually come from? cos i only seen (seldom travel.. :sleepy: ) coffee bean in m'sia, so thot coffee bean was a m'sian brand..

oh, i have a question, where does coffee bean actually come from? cos i only seen (seldom travel.. :sleepy: ) coffee bean in m'sia, so thot coffee bean was a m'sian brand..

checkout their website coffeebean.com, originally founded in 63' by a Californian. Interestingly, based on their info, their business strategy appears to be focused more on International markets rather than local US states....

It's quite true...totally agree with liping_t ..like it or not..US cities should be the prototype of our cities.. as we drink starbuck and coffee Bean :)


hmm, I dunno whether American cities should be the model for us to follow....Certainly, the good aspects that we can learn from are public hygiene, decent maintainence of public areas, strict policing and being tough on crime.


we should speak more english, like singapore.
If only cuz it will assist us in promoting our nation's development...I like cultural differences...I think the world would be a most boring place if everything started looking the same and everyone started acting the same. I cringe at the global proliferation of Starbucks... .....I hope KL will never look like anywhere USA.


And baju kurung should not 'prominent role' in the city instead of promoting modern KL gal :tongue4:
HAHA! You just wanna look at legs! *GRIN* jk

we should speak more english, like singapore.


What is the relationship between speaking english and making KL more sophisticated? :dizzy:

Not many people around here speak English. But still Tokyo is considered as one of the greatest cities on Earth.

People come and visit Tokyo for its uniqueness.

Do you think people in the US or other western cities for that matter would visit KL to see a smaller version of LA?

The bottom line is, KL has to be unique.

C'mon folks, this is obviously a tongue-in-cheek article written in a humerous sorta way with exagerations and the like, typical writing style you often see in magazines. No point getting all offended, since it's obvious he prob writes like that about loads of places.....

Besides, in the broadest general sense, in a way, there are flecks of truth hiding in there. For example, if I was a fella fr N.America, I *would* think KL is mighty dirty (which it is).....I *would* feel as if almost everyone was wearing a veil......I *would* feel a bit more edgy if I was an American.......and it's true, we *don't* smile often enuf (refering of course to our cashiers/shopping assitants/immigration agents etc etc etc).......and, there actually are tons of geckos out there *grin*

so hey, dun be offended......jus shrug n laugh it off....

having said that, if he's lived in Asia, he should kno Middle East is not quite where KL is situated....dongo!


yup......I am an avid reader and I can truly say that I do understand the style of writing most of these writers wrote. I understand the exagerations and the homour of such articles but I somewhat felt that this article is just not all that. I dun think I could laugh off at something so degrading and to a certain point - offensive.

Truth.....yes.....the negotiation (or should I say argument) with the taxi driver is indeed a speck of truth but dirty? ....yea.....some places are dirty but he's comparing with Bangkok?!?!? (no offence if my fellow Thai friends are reading this)........but parts of Bangkok is very much dirtier than KL (I am being very honest here). I stayed a week in Bangkok and I've got tons of pictures to prove it (too bad I did not take pictures of the slums there). Okay there are places in Bangkok which is clean but overall I wouldn't even put Bangkok and KL in the same league. I love Bangkok but certainly not for its cleanliness. KL's cleanliness is comparable with HK ( just came back from HK actually :D )


About wearing a veil......well.....apart from the influx of middle easterners during the months between June till August every year where lotsa Arabian womenfolks in black veiled clothing wanders around town.......you won't see Malaysians in veils......tudungs yes but these do not cover faces. But what I am most intrigue of is that the writer claimed that outside Chinatown.....people start covering their head - yes.....an exagerattion BUT a very very negative one which would likely put one off from visiting KL.


oh yea.....and all Americans should feel insecure if they travel abroad as their government is doing all the unspeakable atrocities in a couple of countries but I am not going into politics just yet........but his gross exageration again makes any reader cringe at the thought of taking a cab in KL. For that they might even refrain from coming to KL.

Okay......our cashiers, immigration or any frontliners in the service industry might not smile or interact with customers as well as those of other countries (particularly caucasian-dominated countries), but they are not as bad as you might think if compared with other Asian countries. Having been to a few countries within Asia lately, I find that many Asian countries are lacking in simple courtesy and smile too - and even if they do smile, it is an obligatory smile :D My job currently require me to go to banks and sometimes I talked to frontdesk personnel, cashiers etc.......you'll be surprise how far a small talk could lead to. These people are very friendly and I became friends with em :okay: . Perhaps the writer should understand the 'shyness' that are so prevailing in Asian culture ......so it is not limited to just Malaysian ;)

And if one smiles everywhere and to everyone, people would think that you're nuts......even in the States! :D :D :D



Another speck of truth that I agree with you (and indeed a good-taste humour found in the article) that geckos are indeed a common sight. Many of my foreign visitors notices em and are usually very intrigued by it! :D I personally hate seeing em in my house.....they shit everywhere! :rant:


Well......and by saying that KL is in the middle east...well......it kinda downgraded his credibility isn't it? :lol:

By the way szehoong, where did you get that article? The url please.

Well....the article are posted in one of the thread in the Thai forums > http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=118198&page=3&pp=20

It is not deleted thanks to a heated argument there........it is originally posted in post #46 by Chad ;)

ahha, i just imagined myself if im going to a place which i REALLY dont know, or should i say with no bias FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, i will not say something like "People don't seem to smile much there." <--bold somemore :sleepy: "And once you get out of Chinatown the women start covering their heads. <--bold and in red somemore :sleepy: :sleepy: "I kept my eyes open for anyone who wanted to strike a tiny blow against America by offing a dorky tourist, but it never happened." <--bold again :sleepy: :sleepy: :sleepy:

i dont bother to finish reading the article since its his personal opinion. point of view is taken from one side but not as a whole so nevermind. nobody is perfect, u and i know it, but still u wanna tease me for my dirty shoes while u r wearing a brand new shoes that u stole from a refugee during the war with Afghanistan <--c, i could bold it in red as well if i wan u to agree with my bias.

haha......actually I took the liberty to bold it for some easy reading as I would like to highlight some of the points he said. He certainly did not highlight any of those ;)

actually, a lot of American cities have surprisingly clean downtowns. The maintainence culture and the concept of public cleanliness is still higher than that in a 'typical' Asian city (barring Tokyo, Singapore etc). Why? The concept of health as a public domain is extremely strong there. For example, downtown Chicago is rather clean, except for the slum areas...and even there, the level of dirt is different. Mostly grafiti, rubble, paper trash and the like. In many Asian cities (ie.KL), the level of grime consists of blocked drains, blackened/weather beaten walls, both paper and organic trash on the streets etc. For example, in Damansara Jaya, the garbage bins in the residential estates are often toppled over, trash accumulating on the streets....that would be a crime in the US. I believe that we're just not there yet, in terms of civic conciousness.....that's just something we've got to work on. And blindly saying it doesn't exist, makes things worse.





I might sound a bit defensive here on KL but one had to understand the situation here firstly before blaming eveything on civic-conciousness. Yes......I do agree that Malaysians had lots to work on civic-conciousness (it would take generations perhaps), but the younger and educated lot had been a tremendous improvement over the older and lesser educated people.

The trash in KL downtown I must say is very minimal - save for the festive atmosphere of Chinatown where trash maketh the atmosphere :D In fact KL downtown thesedays -dare I say- is comparable to many large cities of western countries. I've got many frank visitors which marvels at KL's cleanliness - not only that it exceed their expectations or squashes their stereotyping of an Asian city.....but at times even beat the cleanliness of their own home city.

After rain is a different story all together......tropical rain would make everything soggy and dull.......so the city would looked very very dirty. Concrete pillars which is wet could looked very dirty if you realised ;) .......yea......weather-beaten walls or moss-covered walls are typical in Malaysia as our weather here makes plants grow a lot faster and paint peeled lots more faster too. And it doesn't help thatour law and govt here isn't pushing on owners of such buildings to repaint the buildings once every few years which could be a very costly affair in less affluent Malaysia. Most western countries are lucky as they aren't succumb to such weather elements thus not much maintenance to the exterior of a building are required. And they are wealthier to begin with ;)

Organic waste are sometimes found in drains because of the lacking in regulation in the construction industry in the yesteryears. Most houses then had kitchen sinkhole piped directly to the drain.....making it into sort of an outdoor 'sewage pipe'. Then there is also the issue of irresponsible contractors which likes to cut cost and take short cuts by channeling sinkholes to backlane drains. If you realised, most Malaysian homes do not have in-sink waste disposers so normally bones and orange peels are thrown into the drains.....choking it at bottlenecks. In this case, most Malaysians would have to work together to overcome the convenience of throwing solid waste into drains. We're just about a decade out from being an backwater agrarian country so there are such things we need to catch up on. Afterall we can't have these habits changed overnight ;)

As for the garbage overflowing at residential areas like in D'sara Jaya....well......that is the incompetence of MPPJ and maybe Alam Flora (or whichever company servicing DJ). Luckily this problem isn't prevailent in most part of Klang Valley particularly those area under DBKL as the city hall had been very strict. I have no complains on the garbage collection in my area since privatisation took place. Oh and did you know that my back drains are cleaned by Alam Flora yearly of weeds and moss :okay: ..........and on a brighter side.......ince you mentioned garbage over-flowing.....well....it means people are throwing garbage in the bins and not on the street :D

I am not too sure if others did but I wouldn't say of all he said are lies. He just exagerate too much. So much so that most of what he said are lies and would deter others from visiting KL thus not experiencing the truth :)

ooh..baju kurung should stay in the streets! It's an identity. Celebrities like Mariah Carey were even impressed with them when coming over recently. I don't want it to die like kimono where it seems only waitresses wear them. :(

ooh..baju kurung should stay in the streets! It's an identity. Celebrities like Mariah Carey were even impressed with them when coming over recently. I don't want it to die like kimono where it seems only waitresses wear them. :(

Kimono is too expensive to be used daily. Anyway, you can see many girls wear yukata, a casual version of kimono, on the streets especially during summer. Excellent.

Islam is the 4th largest religion in the US, behind Christianity, secularism, Judaism. That's larger in fact that Buddhism, based on a survey in 2001; making up 0.5% of the US population. It apparently is growing at a rate of 30% per anum. You make your own judgements about the multiculturalism of America......In Minnesota, where I currently am working, there are (based on a population census 2000) 140k latinos, 45k Hmong, 35k Russians, 20K Viet, 11k Somali, 11k Laotian, 6k Cambodian, 5k Ethiopians....that's pretty multicultural wouldn't you say?

anyway, I'm not trying to be an American apologist. All I'm trying to say is, who cares about this writer dude and his comments? Don't we individually laugh and criticise other countries all the time? Lets not be hypocrites....BUT, what we SHOULD pay attention to is whether or not his comments have an element of truth in them! If there are, then we should change our behaviour.......

Yup......US and countries like Australia are multiculture (with impressive numbers) but still it is predominatly Caucasian & Christian. Countries like Malaysia and Singapore had a significant ratio of races and religions - although not in sheer variety but in percentage. Due to the mixture of race and religion in Malaysia, Malaysians are tolerable and more receptive to other culture and religion. We embraces each other culture........my Malay colleagues wore Punjabi suit, Chinese wore kebayas and baju jurung while Indians wore samfoo. I wore a baju Melayu once to work too ;)

Ethnic Chinese do not fear Islam as do those in HK or in the states. I've got relatives and friends from Canada and HK whom had never been to Malaysia was skeptical if they would be forced to wear veil or tudung upon landing at KLIA! :lol:

But I must say we do fear PAS' version of Islam State (okay.....this is not a political forum so I am not getting into this)........that's being very frank from the mind of most ethnic-Chinese in the Klang Valley. On the contrary, I am also puzzled for the fact that even in PAS-controlled Kelantan, Buddhist temples are abound esp in Tumpat (near Kota Baru). The world's second largest Buddha image is there (the largest being the Buddha at Lantau Island HK).....and a huge reclining Buddha - bigger than the one in Penang........could even be bigger than the one at Wat Po, Bangkok! :eek:

What the non-Muslims in Malaysia are mostly afriad isn't the curtailing of religion by PAS but the social liberties that comes with the package ;)

Back to the issue > well......basically no one can deny that Islamophobia is prevailent in the North American society. Many Americans just need to travel a bit just to have a feel of how the world looks at America ;)

It's quite true...totally agree with liping_t ..like it or not..US cities should be the prototype of our cities.. as we drink starbuck and coffee Bean :)
Am studying in UK now, Some europe cities are full of shit!.....London is too dirty and very third world now. The underground is a horrible dungeon. Been to Australia and New Zealand..very clean indeed..but i dun know much US..
KL should as sophisticated as any western new world (Australia, US, Canada etc) capital city....:banana:
we should speak more english, like singapore.
And baju kurung should not 'prominent role' in the city instead of promoting modern KL gal :tongue4:


Ah......I persoanally wouldn't want American cities to be a role model of KL. Afterall KL had much life in downtown compare to many of these 'world cities'. We've got mamaks and discos downtown and it ain't dead compare to many American cities.

Starbucks and Coffee Bean? :lol: well....these American chains bring masses the coffee culture that originates from Europe. So if you like to sip your cuppa at a trendy cafe - think European cities instead :D

Most Malaysian do speak or at the very least understand English. If you realised, English is a compulsory subject in school. Yes.....it might not be as well promoted for being used compared to Singapore where the main medium of communication is English, but one must understand we've got Bahasa Melayu to master as well. This is called culture. Personally, I would rather see English and BM flourishes side by side than just English only. I wouldn't wanna end up having everything is in English - while forgetting all our mother tongue. We all knew how nice it is to travel to places like Hong Kong and Thailand where the majority of the population doesn't speak English but there are adequate signages in English. Thats enuf .......no need for an entire population to speak all English ;)

A modern KL gal is like gals everywhere in the world. No originality at all. And to make things worst - gals here can't even wear Prada's Autumn collection as we are not a temperate country - making modern fashion here less practical. However baju kurung, samfoos, saris, Kebayas and Punjabi Suits do make Malaysians dressed uniquely. A stroll down KL during rush hour and you'll see different races crossed-dressed in each other's cultural clothing. Baju Kurung is actually uniquely Malaysian and thank goodness many still wears em and it is popular. It suits our weather best and it is colourful. IMO better than the usual grey or monochromatic suits modern gals like to wear. ;)

Many friends and visitors are clearly impressed by the people of Malaysia to still wearing ethnic-clothing. When my mom wore a casual samfoo in HK.....can you imagine how was she being commended for wearing it out as a daily wear? And it came from the Chinese and HKers! (we we're in Shenzhen and HK 2 mths back). And the fact that many women wears modern samfoos in Malaysia as casual or work clothing. :)

Gee~ What a paranoid american. I think he got all these judgemental comments because Malaysia is an Islamic Country. What a bias freak. Besides, no where in this world is dirtier than NYC, man. I hope he got robbed in America and see if that impresses him :D Just joking:D:D

oh, i have a question, where does coffee bean actually come from? cos i only seen (seldom travel.. :sleepy: ) coffee bean in m'sia, so thot coffee bean was a m'sian brand..


well......Coffee Bean had always been American but Malaysia used to have the most outlet in any country (incl USA) years ago but their rapid expansion at home and in emerging markets like in China and Singapore had eclipsed Malaysia :D

ANyway did you guys know that San Francisco Coffee is Malaysian ;) Its flagship store is at KLCC :)

I cringe at the global proliferation of Starbucks... .....I hope KL will never look like anywhere USA.




Well.....KL are bracing for the mass invasion of Starbucks! We've got a grand total of 6 Starbucks at Bukit Bintang alone with the worst being the 2 Starbucks opposite each other at Jalan Imbi (one at Berjaya Times Square and the other at Plaza Berjaya). On top of this, there's another Starbucks somewhere inside Berjaya Times Sq too! :eek:

Not forgetting 2 Starbucks at KLCC.........and another 2 at Genting Highlands :dizzy:


:D :D :D







HAHA! You just wanna look at legs! *GRIN* jk

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

That guy is garbage, I'd rather believe the Malaysian forumers than the American.

to improve civic consciousness might be one of the must people in malaysia have to learn, but i would suggest if governemnt and state government are willing to spend more on cleaniness in major cities. for example, im impress by the 'vacum machine' here in melbourne, they come out every 6 hours (not sure) to suck all the rubbish in the CBD and provide rubbish bin in every 100m (just in the city). it does leave tourist a good image.

but once again..i do not think that our cities is lack of rubbish bins cos i dun c massive rubbish waste blocking the road in the city. may be it is bcos we have lots of hawker stalls, mamak and restaurants that tend to put their table outside.. u'll find a lot of cigarette butt (malaysian doesnt throw cigarette butt in the ashtray..even thou the table has one!), drinnk can and bones in that area including the drain.

now im lost..i dunno wat my point is.. i surely dont want the government to be strict with these mamak or hawker stalls.. cos i find it unique as a malaysian..

haha......actually I took the liberty to bold it for some easy reading as I would like to highlight some of the points he said. He certainly did not highlight any of those ;)
lol okay, nvm already :) :)

Well.....KL are bracing for the mass invasion of Starbucks!

and dont forget Huaiwei Noodle Soup Company!:)

the thing is dear malaysians, let us make malaysia a far better place....for our own comfort. :) :) :)

wat u mean for ur own comfort???

Hey, found a UK site which states people's opinion on KL:D

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Kuala_Lumpur_Malaysia__89668/TabId/2

Overall seems good!

wat u mean for ur own comfort???]

well, making this country a more pleasant place.................. :bash: :bash: :bash:

oh~ 'k~ sorri boi~ :D:D:D :lol:

eh~ why kuai lo like to write lousy article bout malaysia ah??? we dint go and bomb thier country rite??? or waz it the petronas thingz pizz them off??? or mahatir?? :D

even here where im livin rite now~ people critisize me and where i come from~ even tough ma dad iz a kuai lo~ :hm: chi sin kuai lo.... i rekon... they even think i from jungle.... :lol::rofl:

Sorry I came to this thread so late, but I must say that:
(1) ignorant american tourist...they still consider this "the far east"
but...
(2) as pointed out by others, where there is an element of truth (and there is, for some of the points he made, like dirty), it must not be ignored.

(2) as pointed out by others, where there is an element of truth (and there is, for some of the points he made, like dirty), it must not be ignored.


Yes....like what Liping had said - it is true that we must acknowledge that it gets very dirty esp after rain but what irkes me is that he used Bangkok as a comparison. If you've been to Bangkok (sorry Thai forumers), You'll notice that the level of dirt in that city is simply incomparable and KL is totally not in the league.....maybe Manila or Jakarta would be compared with Bangkok ;)

I am not kidding myself here but having been to Hong Kong lately, I find that KL is as clean as Hong Kong. Even many of my friends said that and some added that before the whole SARS thingy, HK is even dirtier than KL esp in the Tsim Sha Tsui area (I stayed there by the way). And I din hear any Mat Salleh complain bout HK also :? :D

Well, well, there are some valid points in his article, but the whole tone of this article smacks of that of one bitter American who never made a success of himself back home but sought to find adulation in Asia. He gets all sore about a humble city taxi driver mistaking Seattle for a city in Canada when the average American has not even heard of the common Asian cities. (At least our driver got the continent right.) He gets many of his facts wrong, including the state of country's economy. He identifies the express rail to the airport as the monorail... He seems to have spent his entire month in KL wandering around Chinatown aimlessly, and admits to not having ventured much outside the city.. Well, he's entitled to his own opinion anyway. I guess it's because he's probably the dorky type (by his own words) that longed for the squeeky trappings of 5-star luxury but just didn't have the money to splash around to live it up at the Mandarin Oriental, Istana or Regent. Hence the griping. If his words were to be taken seriously, he would have been a travel writer for Lonely Planet or some other established travel magazine. and not a 'reporter' for some obscure publication, the name of which he was probably too ashamed to even mention. :)

Actually its very true that the place around Pudu is very dirty. Stinky drain and big fat rats. But women covering their head is because they are muslim. Dont forget its a muslim country.

quick question guys - would you feel OK if KL's population increased to over 5 million?

not to oppose anyone but i just read this article in the library and the guy who wrote the article said good quality of life in KL and malaysia as a whole cannot be found in other asian countries partly because malaysia is a least populated countries compare to other countries and that makes malaysia less overcrowded country and more pleasant.

Actually its very true that the place around Pudu is very dirty. Stinky drain and big fat rats.


Which part of Pudu you talking bout? :? The writer didn't mention anything about Pudu if you notice......

quick question guys - would you feel OK if KL's population increased to over 5 million?

not to oppose anyone but i just read this article in the library and the guy who wrote the article said good quality of life in KL and malaysia as a whole cannot be found in other asian countries partly because malaysia is a least populated countries compare to other countries and that makes malaysia less overcrowded country and more pleasant.


Actually KL's population is about 5-6 million cos you just dun count the population within Wilayah Persekutuan because that area is too small. KL as a metropolis sure had sprawled to include satellite cities like PJ, Subang and even Shah Alam. This is what we call Klang Valley or Greater KL ;)

KL proper's population is 1.7 million to be precise :)

yeah you right.......KL's metropolitan population is really over 5 million,

With reference to a reply posted earlier, i think one reason why many caucasians think poorly of Malaysia is MAHATHIR...

I agree he is a charismatic and brilliant leader... Who can forget how he steered our country out of the '97 downturn with that controversial but effective M$ peg? However, what pulled his name down was his criticisms of the West... The way he spoke out against the US (especially) in many things was a bit too much, man! That explains why Paul Keating, the former Aussie PM, called Mahathir a "recalcitrant" when he (the latter) did not attend an APEC summit many years back...

Fortunately, Mahathir at least had the willingness to step down gracefully and let Badawi take over in a smooth transition... Things are so far so good, one year into the latter's leadership, with Badawi getting into the good books of nearly every Western leader imaginable (think Bush, Blair, Putin, Chirac etc.)!

And with Badawi around..we'll never know...PAS might join BN! :D