Malaysians rude? Ehh silap… sorry for the misinformation… KLites rude??
Hehe… It’s hard to quantify and qualitize human characterization in general la kambing. It depends on so many factors that dealing with humans does seem humongously challenging compared to dealing with millions and billions of RM (or USD for that matter - says this sengal engineer).
Just last Wednesday, we (as in Yda&me) were trapped in the komuter between Seputeh & Salak Selatan stations for approximately 30 minutes. Dready, rainy, dark skies, suffocating… Then the commotion started. A lady just fainted, with us theorizing that it was caused by a lack of air. Those near to her lay her down on the chairs, tried to clear a passage way for her to breathe and did the best they could to accomodate her situation. She actually fainted and did not give any response to those people who were trying to revive her. One guy fanned her with his gf’s newspaper; I was scanning around the sides, trying to locate an opening to the outside world. The windows had a small pane on the top which can be opened by the passengers if need be. Pointed out those panes to Yda, who asked the people near those windows to try opening them, in the hope of increasing the ventilation of the carriage. People were actually passing up front their mineral waters and ubat cap kapak.
After sometime, and drops of water sprinkled on her face, she was barely awake, but it was progress. Those people asked her where’d she’s going off and took the liberty to check into her handbag for her handphone. They tried dailing the numbers but surprisingly not one picked up. We were in a quandary, who’s going to take care of her once she alight? So the pak cik who co-ordinated the ‘rescue’ attempt picked 3 guys who were heading for Serdang (which was the place she was getting off) to lift her to the platform and a girl to help carry her shoes & handbag. After almost an hour (heh… it felt like a lifetime) of waiting to get to Serdang, the people inside the train were getting concerned about her predicament, wondering what causes her to be that way and how can they help her. She got to Serdang safely, but had to be carried out since she looked extremely weak. I hope she’s alright.
I commend such action taken by those passengers. They were tired after a long day in the office. But they still had the heart to help a person in dire need. Trancending racial divide (peh cm ayat promo dalam brochure Pak Lah wat =P).
It all boils down to needs. So what of a pile of papers being dropped on the streets, who in their right minds would be clumsy enough to drop them? Err… Holding out doors? Don’t you have the strength to open it for yourself? Who asked you to walk like a turtle and then expect me to wait at the door, leaving it open for you? *Rolls around on the floor laughing my ass off*
Hehe… In most Asian countries, not addressing your superiors as such is considered rude, and Westerners call their bosses by their first name. Now who’s being rude here? Rudeness level depends on our preception la dey. Consult your Cultural Anthropology textbooks la kambing.
But I have to agree about the shop keepers. They are essentially rude. Haha. In order for their business to prosper, they need customers. In getting faithful customers, they need to sacrifice some of the ego and at the same time have the descrepancy to know what trancends the expectations of their customers. It’s not too hard to say thank you, and it’s not always neccesary to trail your customers to every nook and corner of your shops. Rimas la weyy… nak decide to buy a bra or not pun payah.
