Six Malaysian ones, Half a dozen Australian others.... well half of that anyway.

Arriving in Malaysia from Japan, my first impression was that this country is a lot more like Australia. For a start, the highway signs here are a familiar shade of green, not to mention being in English. I’ve been here three weeks now and I can confidently say that taking comfort in the colour of street signs is a completely delusional thing to do.

In that time I’ve learned to appreciate Malaysia as a completely unique place. Whilst there are other majority Muslim countries where English is an official language, (such as Pakistan) I still find this a good indication of the multicultural nature of Malaysia. However, since I’ve been here I have been shocked by some aspects of this society. That said, after getting over the shock I realised that similar sorts of things happen in Australia.

The first issue I had with Malaysia was the traffic. Lane markings, like a lot of things around here, seem to be for ‘display purposes only.’ And maybe car makers should think about making indicators and seat belts optional extras for this market since no one seems to use them. In my first week, I was content to survive a taxi ride in a rural area on the way back to Kota Bharu airport from the Perhentian Islands. The driver went to overtake a van and a truck at the same time because they were slowing down. Surprise, surprise, they were slowing down for a reason – the truck was turning right. I think the driver felt bad so he took us for a brief stop at a Buddhist temple (pictured above). Whilst this sort of traffic incident seems pretty common here, my girlfriend told me of a near fatal accident that happened right outside her house that would almost never happen here. A car was apparently doing burnouts on the road when I car come round the corner and smashed into the passenger side, luckily no one was in that seat. I can't imagine people doing burnouts here in their front wheel drive Protons with half the power of Australian cars. I don't think it would be culturally acceptable either.


I was also shocked recently to learn that a Singaporean Muslim women was to be caned for drinking. Part of the reason this was shocking is that I believe it to be reasonably common for some Muslims to drink here. However, Malaysia’s hard line stance on drugs, especially narcotics, might not be such a bad thing compared to their quasi acceptance in Australia. One of my flatmates learned over the weekend that a girl she went to school with had been charged with murder for reportedly stabbing someone in St Kilda. Whilst nothing in the media has stated that drugs were involved, it is seemingly probable from all reports.

The third incident that has shocked me of late is the police reaction to protests on the streets of Kuala Lumpur. Whilst this seems like a strong reaction to me, it is nothing compared to the Iranian government’s one to the post ‘election’ rallies. And in the other extreme, Australian governments have a history of simply ignoring whatever protesters have to say. It took around 30 years for an apology for the treatment of the Stolen Generations to be forthcoming, and this was just an apology (albeit a significant one). So, maybe Australia isn’t entirely the mythically wonderful place to live we make it out to be, it’s just what we’re used to.

Skip to the end: Some things shock, but it's partially just due to one not being used to it.