Malaysia

Why is Malaysia called “Malaysia, Truly Asia?” LeX gives us the inside scoop!

LeX, one of our Pocket Cultures regional contributors is a student traveller, currently in France, but originally from Malaysia. Malaysia, in it’s own right, is a multi-cultural country, melding together the Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures. Read more to learn about why LeX joined the Pocket Cultures team, and how to easily detect a Malaysian speaking English!

Where do you live? Where are you from? If those are different, can you tell us a little about what inspired your move?

I am a student traveller, LeX from Malaysia. Actually my real name is Tan Yih Liang (陈奕良/단익량 – Chinese/Korean) and LeX is what people always call me. Education and study are the motivation and direction that inspired me to move! South Korea was the 1^st foreign country I stayed and currently studying in Europe and operating a travel blog call “LeX Paradise”.

If you would describe yourself as multi-cultural, tell us a bit about what culture you most identify with and why.

I was born in a multi-racial country which is Malaysia where majority include Malay, Chinese and Indian. Firstly, as Malaysian, most of us tend to speak more languages like Malay, English, Chinese and Indian. So actually, we experiencing cross cultural all over Malaysia. We celebrate different kind of festival together along the year! Finally, the last thing you can easily identify Malaysian is “LLa”, almost all Malaysian speak casual English with “LLa” at the end of sentence. OK LLa!

Why did you decide to become a Pocket Cultures contributor?

The main reason that I decided to become a Pocket Cultures contributor is the whole idea of Pocket Cultures. I am a person that likes to share cultural experiences with people and like to understand people from different parts of the world. Pocket Cultures acts as a platform for us to share, discuss ideas and get to know others amazing contributors! It totally suits me! So that’s why I am in LLa!

What is the best part of living in your country? The worst?

The best part of living in Malaysia is you could experience cross culture of Malay, Chinese and Indian! The experience of cross culture stands out the uniqueness of the country! As always “Malaysia, Truly Asia”

As for the worst part of country is the hot and humid weather.

What’s something that visitors are often surprised by when getting to know your country/culture?

The population of Chinese and Indian in Malaysia often surprise the visitor, since they are so curious how Malay, Chinese and Indian with different beliefs living under the same roof.

Malaysia “Truly Asia”: Fusion of Culture, Food and Tourism

What do you know about Malaysia?

“I know Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia.” That is all you know? Alright, let me give you some hints! Many people are curious about the cultures of Malaysia. The three main races in Malaysia are Malay, Chinese, and Indian. You may wonder why there are three main races in Malaysia. What I would like to say is that this is the exclusive characteristic of Malaysia that cannot be found in other countries.

A variety of races in Malaysia result in a range of different cultures, foods, and tourist attractions. Below are some interviews with my foreign friends about what they think about Malaysia while they are travelling. Aren’t you eager to know what their feelings towards Malaysia are ? Enjoy! (more…)

Malaysia to New Zealand

Colours of my life comes to us from Malaysia via New Zealand and is “where faith, fashion, food and photography collide”. It’s written by Shahirah Elaiza, originally from Kuala Lumpur but now living in New Zealand.

Read these posts to see more about New Zealand through Malaysian eyes.

And for a taste of Kuala Lumpur check these holiday photos. We’ve posted before about Malaysia’s multicultural influences and here is proof – check the post about shopping in Indian mosque street which according to Shahirah is ‘somewhere in between India and Malaysia’.

Read more:
Malaysian blogs on Blogs of the World
New Zealand blogs on Blogs of the World
Cultural quiz: Is it easy to learn Malaysian culture?

Always evolving: some languages of the world and where they come from

This month’s collaborative post was inspired by a conversation between some of our contributors about languages and how much they ‘borrow’ words from one another. Malay has words from English, Turkish has words from French, English has words from Hindi, Spanish has words from Arabic. Not to mention the massive way in which European languages have influenced each other.

So here’s a look at the history and foreign influences of some of the languages spoken by PocketCultures contributors around the world.

It’s a long article, so if you’re interested in a particular country use these links: India, UK, France, Canada, Turkey, Spain, Argentina, Costa Rica, Portugal, Malaysia.

India: Hindi, English, Tamil, Marathi and many more!

Languages in India are as varied and complex as the country itself. The 2001 census estimated that there were 29 languages spoken by more than a million native speakers, 122 by more than 10,000!

We have 22 ‘official’ regional languages spoken across the country, but no ‘national language’. Hindi is often mistakenly referred to as the ‘national language’, but the constitution lists it as our ‘principal official language’. Where does Hindi come from? Well, it’s a language which evolved from a dialect spoken in northern India during the Mughal period, was influenced by Persian, and is closest to Urdu – the language today identified with Islam!

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Do Indians like to be alone when upset?

Test your cultural expertise with our weekly quiz question. This week’s question is from India.

If an Indian is upset about something, he or she would like to have some time alone.

True or False?

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Is it easy to learn Malaysian culture?

Test your cultural expertise with our weekly quiz question. This week’s question is from Malaysia.

The cultural uniformity of Malaysia makes learning business and social protocol relatively easy to learn.

True or False?

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