Malaysians are . . .

. . . . mad for  ("crazy about" in American English) certain things, just like the people of any other country.   Here one biggie is bolsters.  All beds evidently need to have a bolster -- or two or three! Every set of sheets includes a bolster cover, and evidently every kid going off to school to live must take one along.  I've never seen so many on offer in my life, and at all different prices, too.  Of course we now have one, and suddenly I can see their value.  They're darned comfortable, those bolsters!


   Malaysians are crazy for receipts, too.  I've mentioned this in a previous post, as you loyal readers will remember.  (Maybe "formerly loyal," considering how seldom I've been able to post any new stuff recently.  Sorry 'bout that!)  Anyway, now I understand just why it's so important to get a receipt and keep it until it curls up and turns brown on the edges. It's because the potential for things to go wrong is so great, you're quite likely to have to prove later on that you did, indeed, pay for this item or service on such-and-such a day.


    Then there's the matter of drinking water at a restaurant or even at home.  We Americans like things icy cold, whether it be water, cola, beer, whatever.  But I understand that Brits like their beer less cold than Americans do.  And here in Malaysia, when you order water with a meal, you'll be asked "Warm or cold?"  If a group of ladies are out together, the expat ones will order ice water and the local gals will get lukewarm or slightly hot drinking water in a regular glass.  I gather it's something about icy cold water being too hard on your internal organs or such.  There might be something to that, come to think of it!


Another thing is charity events and donations.  I've never seen a place where so many events are held to benefit various charitable organizations or activities.  The place where Hubby works just goes from one charitable event to the next one, year 'round.  Musical concerts, walks for this, that, bike rides, food fests, etc.  It never seems to end!  


      I wonder why this is?  






Maybe it's because there are quite a number of people who need assistance, but that's true of other countries as well.  Maybe it's a religious thing-- merit or karma can be accrued by making donations to the needy, especially during certain festive seasons.  At my husband's workplace, there are frequent free lunches provided by local organizations or even individual families or people, all in the name of charity.   Fairly often someone will come around with red gift-money envelopes for each one of the 100+ people working there.  Inside there will be a small amount of money--just enough to get lunch or some small thing. Once when a whole group of blind people and their caregivers were out having lunch at an Indian restaurant, they found at the end that the entire bill had been paid by a benevolent Indian man who said he had a soft spot in his heart for the blind.  Whatever their motivation, Malaysians seem quite willing to buy tickets or make donations to help others, which is a very admirable trait indeed!