Writing about where
you stay often becomes your favorite pastime if you are an expatriate. For me,
I lived in Malaysia (Kuala lumpur to be precise) for almost two years, then
moved to Singapore for an year and a half, and am now back in Kuala lumpur (KL)
again. I cannot claim to know either country in depth, but when has that
stopped me (or anyone else) from forming opinions and perceptions?
We like to think we
know a place and its people if we stay there for a while, because if we admit
we don’t, we feel a little disadvantaged…and er…let’s say disoriented. Maybe
“dislocated” is the word I am looking for.
Anyhow. Malaysia andSingapore. Singapore and Malaysia. How do they compare? (I know this will end
up as a comparison between KL and Singapore, because I have seen the rest of
Malaysia only as a tourist would, through predictable weekends at Penang, Ipoh,
Cameron,Cherating, Langkawi, and so on.)
Singapore is often
compared with other countries, and most often with Malaysia, because Singapore
was earlier a part of Malaysia—-we all know about that sort of feeling don’t
we?
Well, here goes,
Singapore and Malaysia from the eyes of an expat:
• Singapore is fast and efficient. It took me all of
three hours to get connections for broadband, television, cell phone and
land-line. It took me more than three weeks in KL for all the same things, and
I am not sure I am happy with my broadband speed even now.
• Singapore is easy even if you do not own a car.
There are trains and buses and taxis going any possible place you might want to
go, at any time of night or day. Ok, only the taxis run at night, but you can
hail or call them anytime. In KL, if you do not own a car, you are handicapped.
The cabs are few. You could chat with a cab driver in Singapore but a cab
driver in KL would keep asking “Sini?” (”Here?” in Malay) at every turn, eager
to drop you off. I am not sure how many Malaysians take buses and trains to
work. Can’t be that many.
• Singapore has an antiseptic sense of cleanliness.
The malls are cleaner than some hospitals I have seen. The roads are cleaner
than corridors and toilets of some of the world’s hospitals. The toilets? Well,
Singaporean toilets are cleaner than some of the world’s living rooms.
Malaysians are a little less maniacal about cleanliness, but they can learn a
thing or two from Singapore about toilet hygiene. I hope.
• Malaysia is a place of smiles: the girls
collecting toll smile, the security personnel smile, the immigration officers
smile, it comes naturally to them. Singaporeans smiletoo, but their smiles look
like they have been reading instruction manuals meant for air-hostesses.
• Singaporeans do everything the way their government
instructs them, and the government instructs frequently (even on chewing gums).
I have seen neat placards near playgrounds saying: Children Must Play Quietly.
Malaysians let their children loose anywhere they go, malls, hospitals,
churches. Malaysian parents seem to think screaming in public places is every
child’s birthright.
• In Malaysia, people drive like the road belongs to
them. In Singapore, they mostly drive like the road belongs to everyone else.
• In Singapore, queues are sacred. You will see
queues everywhere, at donut shops in shopping malls, at shops distributing
freebies, at taxi stands, cemeteries. Everywhere, in short. In Malaysia, queues
are not taken seriously. Period.
• Malaysians love their food, and they don’t care
where they get it. You can have some of the most delicious food at roadside
hawker stalls. You will find BMWs and Ferraris parked beside humble Proton
Wiras outside a stall that is famous for Char kway teowor Asam Laksa. In
Singapore, the rich go to fancy restaurants, and the rest go to lesser
restaurants and food-courts. People meet over food in Malaysia, in Singapore
they meet over shopping.
• When you meet people in Malaysia for the first
time (naturally at a place where the food is scrumptious), you are likely to be
asked, “What would you like to drink?”. In Singapore, the question would
be,”What do you do (for a living)?”
• In Malaysia, expatriates (and their spouses) are
not given work permits or permanent resident status despite merit. In
money-driven Singapore on the other hand, these things are issued based on
ability to contribute to the country, not on race or religion. Sigh, poor me,
an expat’s wife. The tough-as-nails Singapore government welcomed me to work
and stay with open arms, but in Malaysia, alas, the hospitality and
friendliness remains a quality only of its people, not its government.
• In Singapore, my husband did not care if I took a
cab at 3 am alone. In Malaysia, he worries if I take one alone at 6 pm. There
are rapes, murders and robberies in Malaysia, much like in a lot of other
countries. In Singapore, the crime news consists of accounts of shoplifters being
caned mercilessly. (Ok, I exaggerated on that one, but you get the picture.)
• The most important thing to remember about both
countries: Most Malaysians hate Singaporeans and think they are stuck up and
kiasu. All Singaporeans hate Malaysians and think they are lazy.
If I really, really
ask myself, I like the relentless efficiency of Singapore, but there is nothing
really to love or hate, there is great liking and but mostly, there is
indifference.
I love Malaysia’s
people, its natural beauty, its food. I hate the slowness, and of course, the
corruption.
I am not so sure if I
should believe that the “opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference”.
But there you go: I
have a love-hate thing going on for Malaysia, but for Singapore, it is
indifference.
