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The Daytime Guards at our Condo Complex

     They say we Americans will tell you anything, even if you don't want to know.  Hence the expression "TMI"  (Too Much Information).  If you fly cross-country with an American, by the end of the journey you'll likely acquire enough information--mostly unsolicited--to commit identity theft if you were so inclined.

     However,  most Americans do at least try to steer clear of potentially sensitive subjects like religion, politics or money, until they get to  know you somewhat.  The French, I am told, don't mind discussing politics or anything else intellectual, but they don't welcome questions of a personal nature about where they live, their occupation, etc.  Japanese people can get a bit sensitive about which universities they or their offspring attend(ed).  If the school is too low-ranking, they're embarrassed and if it's too highly ranked, they also get embarrassed.  So, you quickly learn not to ask, "So, where does your son/daughter go to school?" in Japan.

    These Malaysians, on the other hand, will ask you anything.  There are no forbidden topics, as far as I can tell.  You expect the usual questions--where are you from, are you on holiday, how long will you stay in Penang?  Legitimate questions, all.  But then they move on to "Where do you stay?"  Even among foreigners, this question is designed to ferret out information about your socio-economic level.  However, within a day of our having arrived here, I was asked "Do you rent or buy?"  Now THIS was starting to feel intrusive and I didn't want to answer.  But the next question was "How much do you pay?"  Horrors!  I'd never ask anyone this!  But here it's routine and apparently it's OK not to answer. 

     But it doesn't stop there.  Oh, no!  It's not uncommon to be asked what your own salary is or that of your spouse. When given a gift, a Malaysian will cheerfully enquire what it cost.  And then there are the "Why on earth do you care?" questions.  Recently a man in our elevator (excuse me--"lift") saw my bags and demanded, "Where you go shop, ah?" The fellow pictured above with the whiplash collar  saw me enter carrying a  new floor lamp.  He wanted to know  "How much you pay for that light?"  "Too much!" is now my standard answer.  Just yesterday as I returned through the gate, with no preliminaries at all, he asked me, "Do you have any health problems?  Diabetes? High blood pressure?"  Now WHY would he want to know that?  

      Our barber (yes, my hubby and I go to the same local Indian barber) asks so many questions we're uncomfortable going there. But he's open 7 days a week, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., so we go anyway.  Convenience over privacy!  

        When you fill out their application forms, the local phone company, asks this question:

"What holiday do you observe?   A)  Hari Raya (Muslim)   B)  Deepavali (Hindu)  C)  Wesak (Buddhist)   D)  Christmas (Christian)  E) Chinese New Year?   (Italic explanations added by me.)   I thought they were aiming to find out "What religion are you?"  But later someone suggested that they just want to know so they can offer you discounts for your holiday phone calling.

         Even the local expat ladies have a question they keep asking me:  "Why do you have two Deluxe Scrabble boards?" I dunno why;  I just usually have two of everything!

      So now it's time for my question:  How many times will I have to call before they start delivering my newspaper that I subscribed to last month?