My so-called international friends have these to say. (I renamed them with some familiar ones.)
"You know Thailand is so fun, the baby elephants are so cute!" Michael said.
"They are selling fried cockroaches in the market and people are eating it!", Jenny said.
"I don't like Phuket because oh gosh their water costs us 6quid each! But it's just too beautiful!" Whistler said.
"Thailand was fantastic, people, food, temples...and we went singapore after that, passed by a country...argh nothing much there. Singapore was fun too! I saw the huge lion!" Sarah said.
......
Malaysia is "nothing much there", which is a conclusion I noted after talking to so many of them for two months.
Perhaps something has really gone wrong. We are living under the shadows of Thailand and Singapore. We were called "the neighbour country" instead of Malaysia. Maybe we don't have elephant conservation center like the one in Lampang, we don't fry worms in our night market in Connaught, our Petaling Street isn't as wow-ish as Chatuchak, the hot girls waving by the roadside in Muar are only 1% of those in Thai and no tigershow in the hotel second floor, but we still have so much to offer.
Sooner or later, I will find myself taking up the imaginary position of tourism ambassador. That being said, this is all that I feel about the petty little unimaginative state of our country on the international tourism blackboard.
What do I have to say?
Come on Malaysia! Build your multiracial foodstall in the international cultural festival, have the Indian to pull the long tea, the Malay to wrap up the nasi-lemak and Chinese to prepare the delicacies. Finally, have the Iban and Kadazan to hold a placard stating "Do not eat the banana leave!"
Again, that being said, we don't actually need multiple images for our country because we don't already have one. I was thinking why don't just brag to the world that we have mamak stalls and Indians are the emerging millionaires in this country because they own mamak stall?
That strikes back to the very old-fashioned question: What reminds you of Malaysia?
And what do you have to say?
"You know Thailand is so fun, the baby elephants are so cute!" Michael said.
"They are selling fried cockroaches in the market and people are eating it!", Jenny said.
"I don't like Phuket because oh gosh their water costs us 6quid each! But it's just too beautiful!" Whistler said.
"Thailand was fantastic, people, food, temples...and we went singapore after that, passed by a country...argh nothing much there. Singapore was fun too! I saw the huge lion!" Sarah said.
......
Malaysia is "nothing much there", which is a conclusion I noted after talking to so many of them for two months.
Perhaps something has really gone wrong. We are living under the shadows of Thailand and Singapore. We were called "the neighbour country" instead of Malaysia. Maybe we don't have elephant conservation center like the one in Lampang, we don't fry worms in our night market in Connaught, our Petaling Street isn't as wow-ish as Chatuchak, the hot girls waving by the roadside in Muar are only 1% of those in Thai and no tigershow in the hotel second floor, but we still have so much to offer.
Sooner or later, I will find myself taking up the imaginary position of tourism ambassador. That being said, this is all that I feel about the petty little unimaginative state of our country on the international tourism blackboard.
What do I have to say?
Come on Malaysia! Build your multiracial foodstall in the international cultural festival, have the Indian to pull the long tea, the Malay to wrap up the nasi-lemak and Chinese to prepare the delicacies. Finally, have the Iban and Kadazan to hold a placard stating "Do not eat the banana leave!"
Again, that being said, we don't actually need multiple images for our country because we don't already have one. I was thinking why don't just brag to the world that we have mamak stalls and Indians are the emerging millionaires in this country because they own mamak stall?
That strikes back to the very old-fashioned question: What reminds you of Malaysia?
And what do you have to say?
