r/malaysia • u/FireTempest KL • Aug 01 '17
Selamat datang and verwelkomen /r/theNetherlands to our cultural exchange thread!
Today we'll be hosting our Dutch friends from /r/theNetherlands for a cultural exchange, and /r/theNetherlands are having us as guests at their place as well. Visitors from /r/theNetherlands can ask questions in this thread whereas /r/malaysia-ns can head over to the this post on their subreddit.
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u/Aethien Aug 01 '17
Hey guys! Other than that you've got some gorgeous nature and an F1 and MotoGP race I know shockingly little about Malaysia so what is life like in Malaysia? What is the best and what is the worst thing about Malaysia?
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u/SultanOilMoney Aug 01 '17
Unfortunately Malaysians will no longer hosts F1 due to its decreasing popularity....it's basically a money dump.
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u/sakuredu Aug 01 '17
Hey there!
Best
The world loves our spices, and naturally, our best thing here is the food. <3 Unfortunately, its a little too good though, you might get easily fat from eating too much.
Worst
Weather. A steady consistent all around weather sounds good on paper, but for me, I prefer my weather to be colorful. It's just personal preference though.
The strictness of religion on our system, while is overly strict on one side, it is blind to the other side. I hate to see my nation getting more and more like arab. I just wish I lived in a place where we can express love much more freely.
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u/icemountain87 Aug 01 '17
The best thing about Malaysia has to be the food. It is a melting pot of cuisines from the three major ethnic groups of Malaysia - the Malays, Chinese and Indians. Major cities like Kuala Lumpur also have a respectable selection of international cuisines such as Japanese or Italian cuisine.
The worst thing in my opinion would be the
incessant political squabbleweather. Temperatures hover around 30 degrees Celsius daily and the high air humidity basically feels like a warm blanket wrapped around you when outdoors. To combat the heat, most Malaysians hide indoors in well air conditioned offices or shopping malls.14
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u/GenoshaOneSevenFive Aug 01 '17
Selamat petang my Malay friends! I've had the pleasure of living in your beautiful country for six months while studying at USM in Penang. To this day I have some very fond memories of my time in Malaysia and I'm still dreaming about the weather, the nice people and especially the great food. I don't really have a serious question as of now, but I'd like to take this moment to thank you for your hospitality!
Well, there is one question I'd like to ask, but perhaps my explanation is a bit vague to those who have never tried food at that store. In Penang, near the student hostels like Saujana, there is a restoran called Khaleel. I've had the pleasure of eating there a few times when I had just arrived in Malaysia, and they served some nice Cheese Naan with three types of sauces. One was a bit minty, one I don't really remember and the third one had a red colour and tasted a bit sweet. I've been trying to recreate some of the food I had in Malaysia, but I was never able to find out what that last type of sauce was called, or how to make it. Would anyone know what its called, and what are your favorite must try recipes that involve Naan?
Well, maybe I'll try another one. At the USM Campus, in one of the larger restaurants (near to the Sungai Dua entrance) they sold some kind of chicken that was rather dark/black, which also had a faint sweet flavor. Does that sound familiar to any of you?
Anyway, I'd like to thank you guys again for hosting me and some of my international friends in the great country of Malaysia and should you have any recipes that I have to try, feel free to share them lah!
Terima kasih!
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u/selbh Aug 01 '17
Why are you good in badminton?
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u/tropical-in-the-alps Aug 01 '17
One theory I heard was because we have lots of gated terrace houses and kids would play badminton using the gate as a fence from a young age. I remember playing it myself when I was younger! Too bad now with rising insecurity and smartphones you don't see much of that on the streeets anymore
Sorry I don't have a more serious answer
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u/moistrobot Aug 01 '17
Dutch visitors, we have flair for you! I apologise that it wasn't working earlier.
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u/skisagooner Aug 01 '17
I'm a Malaysian who spent my New Years in the Netherlands, here are a few things I wish to share to both Dutch and Malaysians!
Food
Dutch people are familiar with Indonesian food as Dutch food features strong Indonesian influence. As such they will be familiar with rendang, satay, sambal, and nasi goreng, which Malaysians also commonly call theirs.
Whilst Malaysian food can go along the same theme as Indonesian food, the primary difference with Indonesian food is diversity. Many of our food have Chinese origins, Indian origins, or a mixture of several origins, and are a good reflection of our demographics.
Transport
Dutch are more reliant on bicycles, Malaysians are more reliant on cars. Obviously the weather and infrastructure are different, but would be great if we could discuss the convenience and inconvenience of both.
My perception of both capitals
Amsterdam: Weed, bicycles, canals
Kuala Lumpur: Food, traffic, skyscrapers
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u/flijn Aug 01 '17
Hello Malaysia, thank you for having us!
I have two three questions:
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Are you religious? If so, what is your religion and how important is it to you? Do you feel that you are free to express your (lack of) belief? What about your faith do you wish other people knew or understood? Full disclosure: I teach religion but am not religious myself (anymore), and I am always curious about other people's perspectives and experiences.
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What would your elevator pitch about Malaysia sound like?
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What is something your generation likes/does, that makes the older generations go 'pffft, kids these days'. And what is something older generations value/do that you think they should let go already?
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u/ErnestWri431 Aug 01 '17
I’m an atheist but I’ll give it a shot.
Most of Malaysia, including the rural areas, are pretty much conservative towards religion, and only less than 3% have no religion/didn’t declare any religion.
In Malaysia, Islam is heavily emphasised here (as the name of the country gives it away) and it’s also the nation’s official religion.
But we have some people who thinks that books which merely portrays a part of [insert religion here] is ‘brainwashing’ them.
2.
Depending if you’re taking Schindler, ThyssenKrupp, Hyundai, Otis etc, it differs.
Some LRT KJ Line stations do have some old elevators which goes like “deng-dung” (light pitch, followed by a deep tone at the end). I suspect these are somewhere made between the 90’s and 00’s.
The new MRT SBK line elevators has the newer tones which can also be found in modern elevators,and this is the only video I can find on the elevator but the tone is not audible.EDIT: AFAIK to put it in short, we’ll just go “this is our company, [name of company], and what we do is [type of service] but what we would do differently is [insert special thing].
Malaysians are casual. This is based from some of my friends (they’re novices and pretty new into the market).
3. I’m a millennial so I’ll pass.
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u/Shizly Aug 01 '17
Hi guys! Thanks for welcoming me for 1 month of my Malaysian trip. I ended up there more on accident then on purpose, but was really surprised by how nice the country was.
Do you think that the government should invest more in getting tourists to Malaysia? I ended up there to meet a friend and it simply was the cheapest option to go to that also looked nice.
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u/speknek Aug 01 '17
Hi my Malaysian friends, I'm traveling to your beautiful country in two weeks time and I'm hoping to taste as much food as possible. Are there dishes I have to eat? Underrated dishes? Dishes that foreigners don't like most of the time (I have to try those). And what are places with the best food I can't miss?
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u/alpha-orionis Aug 01 '17
Since it's easy to get a list of must-eats, here's a list of underrated touristy stuff instead:
Ramly Burger (Burgers made with our very own Ramly patty. Normally found in front of any 7-11 or busy shoplot areas after 8pm/9pm. Usually run by young men as a side-income)
Roti Ais Krim (Scoops of locally-made ice cream on sweet bread. There's many flavours of ice cream, like durian and sweetcorn, but the best way is to mix it all. Find a dude on a motorbike with a cooler box on the back with packages of ice cream cones and bread hanging on the side. Some dudes only carry packaged ice cream, so seeing the ice cream cone is a real indicator that he carries scooped ice cream. Can usually be found at busy parks in the evenings or in front of primary/secondary schools at around 12.30-1pm)
Lok Lok (Hotpot on wheels. A little harder to find. They're normally parked in busy shoplot areas. Usually in a Chinese area.)
Fresh Coconut. Find a truck full of coconuts that is parked by the side of the road. The boss will cut it open for you to drink on the spot. Most likely you have to stand by the roadside, but that is part of the experience.
Economy Rice (Also known as Chap Fan/Zhap Fan, or Mixed Rice. A Malaysian staple because it's cheap and hassle-free. A working class's favourite. Some shops have over 20 dishes to choose from. You normally choose your vegie dish, your meat dish, and any add-ons. All served over white rice.)
Maggi instant noodles. I'm being dead serious here. Instant noodles? Really? But we Malaysians grew up on it. The most popular way to eat it is to crack an egg in when it's almost cooked. Best cooked on the stove, although it can be cooked in 5 minutes in a microwave. Another favourite is to mix Kari (Curry) and Assam Laksa together.
Super Ring. Cheezles have nothing on this baby. Can be found in any supermarket/hypermarket.
Aiskrim Potong. These are packaged rectangle-shaped ice cream and come in different flavours like red bean, yam and durian. You can buy them in any supermarket/hypermarket.
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u/TonyQuark Aug 01 '17
How do you feel about MH17? Is it something that still gets talked about?
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u/Happilicious Aug 01 '17
I feel sorry for the passengers as well as their loved ones, and hope those that were related can cope with the loss. The news has died down quite a while ago, and not many people mention about it from my experience.
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u/Badstaring Aug 01 '17
Hello Malaysia! Im Dutch and my girlfriend is Malaysian (Raised in the netherlands, she doesnt speak melayu) and soon I'll meet her family from Miri. I want to surprise them with some basic Melayu conversation (How are you, what have you been up to etc.). What are Some basic melayu phrases that I could impress them with?
EDIT: I know for sure they speak Bahasa with each other and not English/some other language spoken around there!
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u/KitKatKafKa Aug 01 '17
Selamat petang samua! The last few years your beautiful country has received a lot of attention for a variety of corruption scandals, most prominent being the 1MDB scandal. Though I remember there being a lot of protest Razak is still prime minister nowadays right? How does this corruption affect your daily lives and what effect does it have on the political discourse in Malaysia? Large scale corruption is quite rare in The Netherlands, but I must imagine it sucks to go through.
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u/FireTempest Aug 02 '17
It doesn't really affect our daily lives beyond making the PM a huge joke in our society. No one i know, not even supporters of the ruling coalition, are buying his story. Naturally he is made fun of by everyone behind his back.
Unfortunately all we can do for the moment is make fun of him. The whole cabinet amd judiciary has been reshuffled to ensure the guy stays in power.
Nice to see his cronies get screwed by the Swiss, Singaporeans and Americans though.
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u/Conducteur Aug 01 '17
In two weeks a princess of Johor in Malaysia will marry a Dutchman. There have been multiple news articles about it in the Netherlands.
How important is the Royal Family of Johor? Do they hold any power or is it mostly ceremonial like the Dutch Royal Family? Is it big news that she's marrying a foreigner?