A nice Malaysian

Recently I met up with an acquaintance from Hong Kong who stayed in KL for almost two years. I accompany her for window shopping and dinner … which ends up I’m doing the shopping and she paid for dinner :-P.

We had some friendly conversation but one that struck me most was when I asked her experiences living in KL. She answered simply,

“I can’t believe there are so many nice people here. In fact they are too nice.”

“We are? (Very much in disbelief)....Yah, I guess, there are nice people here.”

“Really, there are so many nice people here…except for the taxi drivers. They always cheat me when they hear me talk.”

I had to laugh to that as she had a very strong Hongkies Cantonese English slang. But what make me think of that particular conversation was that when she said they are nice people in KL I actually wanted to say that she is wrong. She wasn’t just being a ‘nice’ expat as her reply was spontaneous and honest to boot. That made me think back of my life here of more than three years.

Before I come to KL, I’ve been warned on the many ‘evil’ things that KL or West Malaysian are doing and capable of doing.

“They are scoundrels. They are racist. They only get to know you if they want something from you. Find some East Malaysian to mix with. Don’t just hang around with anybody. You’ll get kidnapped. Or mugged. Or worse. They only think of money. You want to be successful in KL you must learn how not to be cheated. You must learn how to cheat. Stay away from Kirieng (Malays) man. They have ‘sweet mouth’. Stay away from Tambi (Indian) man; all of them are married and will cheat you. If you use taxi, make sure the driver is not Indian. Chinese are ‘sombong’. Don’t mix with them….etc.”

These words actually comes from various family members and friends from different background and they all actually meant well. I was known as a little bit of an eccentric and a daredevil so I could understand their worries.

So did I meet with evil West Malaysians? Yeah, I did. I was ever cheated. I was ever taken advantage of. A few time in fact. Was a victim a snatch thief. They didn’t manage to get my purse but I was thrown of the road and still bear that scar.

Meeting with total jerks who were excited to meet me when they know I’m Sarawakian…because somehow to them Sarawakian ladies are easy. It can get really frustrating sometimes. Just because we are a friendly bunch and our perception of physical attraction and relationship are different doesn’t mean we will jump into anybody bed. ( But I do find some Sarawakian ladies who uses this particular stereotype to their own advantages. Makes me thinks who actually are ‘easy’.)

And those who looked down at East Malaysians and thought we still lives in jungles.

But though I held the memories and the experiences, I held no grudges. Mainly because I’ve met nice people in KL.

Taxi drivers who gave me free ride when they know I’m from Sarawak. Big brothers & big sisters who make sure I’m always safe. Those who help to send me back home because I don’t have my own transport. Those who teach me how to hug friends. Those who offered me help when I needed them. A ‘Che che’ who gave me 500.00 to pay my urgent bills during my bad times and didn’t ask me to pay back. That particular Chinese young man who send me to work when I fell of the road during the snatch incident. Probably he was the reason the snatch thief didn’t make a U turn.

That particular person, who is now a TV star, who directed me to a motivational course that changed a lot of my perceptions.

Those who taught me. Those who help me grow. Those I still owe money to even when they’ve forgotten about it. Those who likes to learn about my culture and my home. Those who gives me business and those who teach me business.

More than three years in Kuala Lumpur, one fine day and one fine Hong Kong lady, I’ve finally realized that they are actually more good people in KL than bad people. I believe that we are among the nicest people in the world. And it takes the point of view of an outsider for me to really understand that…to really really honestly understand that.

That we have a lot to be grateful of. That to an outsiders eyes we are not East/West/Bumiputera/Muslim/Or non… we are just simply Malaysian.

As I sms to her later to invite her for ‘yam cha’, I thought of writing this article. To let others know and to remind myself, that though they are ‘evil’ people in KL, I would like to be among the nice one.

I would like to be known as a nice Malaysian.

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