The ugly side of Malaysians

"Do as the Romans do"

Unfortunately, the phrase doesn't apply to certain Malaysians. Just returned from my week long European tour, I couldn't believed that certain Malaysians behaved the way they did. I hate to say this, but, I felt embarrassed to say that I am from Malaysia on European soil. I felt embarrassed to be associated with my fellow tour mates in European restaurants or shopping boutiques. It's not to say that they are in the wrong. They just....they just don't do as the Romans do.

My tour group had consisted of 32 members. There were a few honeymoon couples. One or 2 families travelling together. A group of young friends. A group of 3 grandmas. And a couple of couples aged between 40 -50 years of age. Yea. They all seemed well to do.Until they get real kiasu and real greedy. Gosh! I almost had to dig a hole and bury my face in it.

Scenario 1:

Aunty and daughter with huge luggages stood right in front of the elevator door. Once the door opened, they pulled their luggages into the elevator, not even allowing the person inside to step out first. When aunty realised the rest couldn't get in, she told her daughter to drag the luggages out again. The person inside stood smiling.

Scenario 2:

At the hotel buffet breakfast. All food and drinks were free flow. Realising that, aunty told her husband to get a few cups of orange juices. She poured all of them into her empty mineral bottle, to be taken away. Something like self "ta-pao". Our tour guide found out and told her that it's not allowed in Europe. If the waitresses saw, they could charge a fee on the drink. Aunty didn't even apologise and quickly hid the bottle in her bag.

Scenario 3:

At the public restrooms. The basic restroom etiquette would be to queue up at the main door or slightly inside the main door. Aunty (yes, it's aunty again) was lining up and grew impatient, she barged straight to a cubicle door and stood right in front. Seeing that, the rest of the aunties did the same. So everyone was lining up outside the cubicle doors and blocking the walkways.

Scenario 4:

At the dim sum restaurant in Chinatown. Grandma did almost the same thing. She filled her empty bottle with hot chinese tea, with the intention of taking it back. Grandma later realised that she wouldn't be able to sleep at night after drinking tea, so guess what? She walked to a live plant by the window of the restaurant and poured the filled bottle of tea on to the plant. Everyone else looked at her.

Scenario 5:
In the tour bus. Our tour guide announced that she will allow us 30 minutes for photo shoots at this particular destination. The bus have not even stopped and parked, aunty already got up from her seat, hurried her daughter to the door and said, " Quick! Quick! Get to the front. Get the best angle. Don't let the rest block the view." I went speechless.....

Scenario 6:
At this watch shop in Switzerland. The Swiss are well known for their fine watches. A supposingly well-to-do aunty has set her eyes on this Rolex watch, which costs around 73,000 euros. Instead of just paying the price for the watch, she asked for a discount. Pasar malam style. "No la. No la. 60,000 euros la. 60,000 euros. Can ah?" After a long negotiation, the sales lady agreed to a 5% discount. Aunty was still not satisfied. "So little ah? 60,000 euros la. Round figure. 60,000 euros. I buy immediately. 60,000 euros." The sales lady got mad. "No! No! These are Rolex. The price is fixed. We can't sell for 60,000 euros!" The sales lady stormed away, leaving the aunty at the counter, complaining and complaining to her husband.

Scenario 7:
It was a free and easy day for us. As we were not aware of any tasty food, the tour guide brought us to this chinese restaurant, to suit the tastes of uncles and aunties, on our own expenses. The table next to us were a mix of the 3 grandmas and a couple of the middle aged couples. After the meal, they told the waiter to split the bill for the table into 3 separate ones. Each for the different couples. It was already a hassle for the waiter to take down each particular order and split them. Not only that. They realised the bill was split wrongly. They went to the cashier to complain. "This bowl of rice is theirs. It shoudn't be on our bill. Please deduct this here and include it in their bill." What in the world!??!?! I regreted telling the waiter we were from Malaysia earlier when he was taking our order. I walked out of the restaurant as fast as I could.

No wonder the Europeans looked down on us Asians. I wouldn't blame them. Just look at the way some of us behave. Not every where is like home. Sometimes you need to blend with the flow. And watch out for your manners out there. You are carrying our country's name and your own family name.