Thursday, March 19, 2009

Singapore and Malaysia

I am a Malaysian and I have been staying Singapore for the past few days for training. I know, I know. It is too short for me to say anything but I will just comment about things that I noticed. Just my simple analysis.

Differences between Malaysians and Singaporeans.

1. Cleanliness
Yes Singapore is cleaner. It is true that Malaysia is dirty but only in certain areas.

2. Arrogance
It is true some Singaporeans are pretty arrogant and not really friendly. But they do have their own fair share of nice
and friendly people as well. Just like in Malaysia, we have our own share of friendly and arrogant people.

3. Mandarin
Here anyone who opens their mouth to speak to you and you are chinese, automatically they will speak to you in
Mandarin.

4. English
Singaporeans generally think that the Malaysians are not very fluent in English. Well that's not the case. However,
I do find practically all Singaporeans have good English though. From the hawker selling food to professionals, they
can speak good English.

5. Exercise
Singaporeans do walk so much more than Malaysian and they take alot of public transportations. No wonder the
girls in Singapore have nice legs :p

6. Shopping Malls
Malaysian shopping malls are better organized and not so confucing. Singaporean malls tend to be like a maze,
full of corridors and pretty narrow at times. Maybe due to scarce land their design tends to be like that.

7. Japanese Food
Japanese food here is so much better compared to what we have in Malaysia. Plus, it is more affordable for their
fellow Singaporeans due to the strong exchange rate. The fish and ingredients really fresh because Singapore is an international import/export hub. Thus, fresh seafood is more easily accessible.

8. There is definitely a higher number of foreign people in Singapore. Mostly western foreigners or chinese nationals. Malaysia too have a lot of foreigners but from Indonesia. :p