Assalamualaikum again dear readers!
How are you doing so far? Maybe our schedules are a bit busy, but don't worry, we still have fun stories and entries for all of you! *fireworks*
Do you still remember our friend, Mahmoud? Yes, that handsome Comoros guy we met at the cafe. Yes, that (slightly) bald guy. Yes, and yes. Well, we have more stories to share about his prejudices and stereotypes that he has faced here in Malaysia! Therefore, this post is a continuation to the previous post before about him too. (bare with this, Mahmoud)
Prejudice.
What do you have in mind? A 5-second pre-judgement period that you have in your head? A negative thought you have about someone who just walked pass through you? A mischievous idea you have in mind?
Well, it is basically a nature of humans to have a prejudice (or we call it "mindset") towards other people/nation/cultures. As for Mahmoud, our dear friend, he faced it a reaaaaallllll tough one!
#1 He's a BLACK guy.
Yeppp! That is what he said. Mahmoud said, Malaysian people are scared towards black people, where they choose not to mingle around and avoid eye-contacts and even distant themselves.
#2 No smiling.
According to Mahmoud, he was quite shocked with the culture here in Malaysia. He claimed that Malaysians LOVEEEEEEEEEEEE to smile to strangers, or just people that they pass by. To him, people thought that he is very arrogant because he did not smile. In his culture, smiling is almost considered as flirting. Yes, that is how dangerous a smile is in his culture!
#3 Super Straight-forward.
Malaysians, as we have learned, are a high context culture, where "beating around the bush" is our bread and butter. We don't say things directly, instead, we try to please the other party first and then only go to the point veryyyyyyyy smoothly, in sugar-coated words.
To Mahmoud, he dislikes it very much.
"If you want to say something, just say it. Why wasting your time to say nothing?" - Mahmoud, 2016. YES, HE SAID THAT EVERYONE. *BOWS*
Mahmoud got the prejudice that he is very straight-forward, and sometimes people dislike that attitude in him, but actually, it is how it should be.
Fuuhhhhh what a long list you've got there, Mahmoud! Some prejudices could somehow motivate us to be a better person, don't you agree? We totally agree on how we should be straight-forward when it comes to dealing with other people. Being straight-forward does not mean that you are rude. Instead, the right choice of words guarantees the conversation to go smoothly without any 'pain'. We should not treat people based on their culture, skin colour, races etc. WE SHOULD TREAT PEOPLE EQUALLY. Honestly, we do not find any problems in mingling with other people from different culture (so far, inshaa Allah).
Thank you for reading! See you guys soon~ (o˘◡˘o)
Hello there DJ and Anne! Wow, Mahmoud's stereotype towards Malaysians is quite funny hahaha! I bet he's not the only one who feels Malaysians are weird because we smile at almost everyone! I wonder if smiling is part of our culture as Malays or are we somehow influenced by our religion...as smiling is one of our Prophet's sunnah:)
ReplyDeleteHello girls! We noticed that majority of our international friends share similar first impression towards Malaysians which is friendly because we smile at almost everyone!
ReplyDeleteAlso, we like Mahmoud's point "If you want to say something, just say it. Why wasting your time to say nothing?".
Because Malaysians grew up learning to not say things straightforwardly because it might hurt others feelings, but I think we need to take into consideration the listener, context and social setting. We can't possibly "beat around the bush" all the time, right?
Among the good think about Malaysia is the fact that some Islamic conducts and behaviors were instilled in Malaysia culture.For example Smiling and eating with the hand to just name a few.
ReplyDeleteFrom what has been said above, it is clear that people are of course different so does their attitude toward other people.