7 One-Of-A-Kind Things In Malaysia We Hope Will Never Die
As the saying goes, "you don't know what you have until it's gone" so it's high time we show some appreciation for these truly Malaysian things that we are fortunate enough to still have.
1. The pride and love we have for our diverse food culture is pretty hard to beat. "Eat to live, not live to eat" definitely does NOT apply to Malaysians, because we take our food very seriously.
When food can spark heated debates and national outrage, you know people mean business. So much so that Malaysia is often touted as a culinary destination to travelling tourists.
There’s also the never-ending bad blood between us and our beloved neighbour down south over the rightful ownership of certain dishes but any foodie worth his or her salt knows that Malaysia owns Singapore when it comes to food.
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2. The 24-hour mamaks that not only play host to our 'tengah malam' supper excursions, it's also a community centre for Malaysians to bond over a frothy cup of 'teh tarik' or to watch late night football matches!
Mamak restaurants ought to be voted as the unofficial Malaysian icon, transcending social and cultural barriers to become everyone's favourite place to hang out with friends. Every self-respecting Malaysian neighbourhood has to have at least one mamak shop, attracting patrons of all ages to its comforting familiar offerings of roti canai, teh tarik and various other yummies.
3. The hustle and bustle of the weekly pasar malam with your neighbourhood vendors peddling their assorted wares, even on weeknights. It's busy and packed, but we flock to it like flies to flame all the same.
A prominent feature of Malaysian shopping, these markets are basically streets which have been converted for one day only in a week into a market-place. Commonly found in housing estates and residential areas, they became very popular as they enabled locals to do shopping for their household needs without having to go too far out of their residential areas.
As a space that attracts people of all ages, and all walks of life, the pasar malam is a delightful treasure trove of all manner of goods. From vegetables to fruits, snacks to snails, clothes and household ornaments, toys and CDs, there’s nothing you can’t find here.
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4. We are always in awe of the awesome roti man who can balance 101 things on his 'kapcai' motorbike and shows up every evening around the neighbourhood, without fail
Every evening at approximately 5pm, you will hear the tell-tale bell signalling the arrival of the roti man with bulging plastic bags of bread, buns, biscuits and snacks hanging off his trusty ol' bike. Some 'roti men' would beep their horn while shouting "Roti! Roti!" to draw kids and housewives to his collection of goodies.
Those who have tried the 'roti man's 'roti bengali', slathered with generous dollops of Planta and kaya would likely agree that no other bread tastes better, barring its hardly-chewable crust. It's also pretty awesome when dipped in chicken curry.
5. Most Malaysians can speak at least two different languages or dialects, and it's our multi-language influences that has given us our unique version of the English language... Manglish a.k.a. Malaysian English
While English is widely used, many Malay words have become part of common usage in informal English or Manglish. There is also a strong influence from Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, and Tamil, which are other major dialects and languages spoken in Malaysia. Manglish also uses some archaic British terms from the era of British colonisation (e.g. "gostan" and "outstation").
Also, let's not forget about the "lah"s, "mah"s, "liao"s, "meh"s and various other suffixes!
6. No one bats an eye when we address each other as family, even strangers! We don't quite know why or how it started, but what can be more Malaysian than showing our unity and love for each other as a family?
After all, this is the theme that inspired similar Merdeka ads from Maxis and DiGi earlier this year.
7. The ever-burning Malaysian spirit has not only helped the country weather through tragedies and times of adversity, it is also the fire that unites us in support of our fellow countrymen
The rakyat has shown time and again that it has the strength to band together to bear the country’s collective weight and overcome these tragedies, even if it takes one day at a time. We do have it in us to look past petty differences and misgivings toward each other.
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