In Johor, I prefer taking the taxi to go places because I get the chance to talk to the taxi drivers - and most of them are very down-to-earth, perceptive and have very practical approaches to life. Whether they are Malays, Chinese or Indians, they all have something to add to my info-base of what it is to be Malaysian.
Just so that you know, I also love conversing with the Chinese uncles I meet during my "get-to-know-Johor" run-arounds, because they give me a different view of who and what the Chinese people are. Very different from the ones I used to hang out with in Bangsar and Damansara Utama. Just as different as the original Kluang Station Coffee in Kluang from the ones you find in KL.
I admit though, I find the Bangsar lifestyle is not for me, and the super glitz of Bangsar Shopping Centre puts me off. I am not saying the Curve in Mutiara Damansara is better, but at least there are other things to "cuci mata" at the Curve, with a more bohemian feel to it and practical shopping to be done, like IKEA and Ace Hardware. Oh OK, that is Ikano, but that's just like across the street from the Curve. But that's a couple of years ago, so maybe things are different now, though I still drop by IKEA for small stuff whenever I'm in town. Parking is horrendous there, though.
Anyway, I digress, as usual. I just think that Shuzheng's piece there is worth reading to understand why I feel the way I do about people who tend to generalise and paint all Chinese with the same brush.
the Bangsar "Chinese" are not real Chinese. they are Mat Salleh wannabes. I agree though with Shuzheng. the real Chinese have nothing to do with the Bangsar crowd.its just too bad that the Bangsar crowd are more vocal and the voices of real Chinese are not heard.
ReplyDeleteWhat Shuzheng say could be just wishful thinking on his part coz the fact is >85% of Cina Malaya are aligning and voting for biaDAP.
ReplyDeleteWords are cheap. It is the votes that count. The real Cina Malaya could be the most gentle people on earth but the fact that they chose loud-mouthed biaDAP party to represent them speaks volume. They are guilty by association.
If 50% supports MCA (which is a much more gentleman party) then at least I can give them some benefit of the doubt. As it stands now since >85% supports biaDAP... I don't think we are in great error if we were to paint them all in the same brush.
Maybe because the uncles I talked to are MCA supporters ...
DeleteWe Malays dont need the Chinese or indians.
DeleteIt was Tunku's weakness and he was held hostage by the British to take in the Chinese migrants. The Chinese and indian labourers have no right to be the citizens of Malaya. Period.
We must try to undo what Tunku had done. it is not too late.
Vincent Tan Ju Dii had built a replica of the tongkang that brought him and his father from communist China.
Now that China is prosperous and peaceful we should evoke this love of
motherland among the Chinese at vernacular schools so that they choose
to self deportation.
Now that the tin mines have closed we dont need the Chinese anymore than we need the Bangla once the project is completed.
We dont offer the bangladesh citizenship do we?
So lets live and live in peace. Go back to where you come from.
Big cat will tell you how peaceful Taiwan is.
If a Malay girl can make it in taiwan, there is no reason why chinese cannot make it.
You forgot to include the Chinese. "The highest other country of origin other than from within Malaysia are China at 13,556. This excludes those from Hong Kong at 1,981."
DeleteSource:
http://www.sabahkini.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17789:project-ic-for-chinese&catid=37:politik&Itemid=41
The natives in Sabah and Sarawak were in deeper shit than the Malays.
DeleteThat was one of the reasons they wanted to join modern Malaya because
they were being overun by the Chinese.
Even now the economy is controlled by the Chinese. Without bumiputera
right aka Malay rights given by Malaysia, the Borneos natives would have totally lost their identity.
The Malays give them pride in their iban, bajaus and kadazans identity. They now controlled the states. Why and how the natives of sabah brought other races in that was their decision even if it was
due to some smart calculations. Unlike the Chinese ICs they were just
because they have relatives across the sulu seas. And these people have the right to be citizens of Sabah then communist Chinese from China mainland.
We Malays now have our own yellow peril on our own doorstep. The natives of Sabah and Sarawak have to learn and fight their own fight
to keep their land from the capitalist Chinese. Li sheng Cheng of IOI said he just wanted to be a teacher and ride a Vespa instead he now owns hundreds of hectares of forest land in Sabah and Sarawak which he destroyed to plant oil palm.
He has his colloborateur Dompok who now will help him burn palm oil as diesel! So Sabahans must know who help the Chinese destroyed their own millions years old rainforest. Its not us. Land is state matter.
How Chinese like Li Sheng Cheng, Medea, Kwantas and THIP destroyed rainforests in Sabah and Sarawak must be the subject matter of another RCI. You can google these companies and see the Chinese owners. These are crimes against nature and the world is looking.
Racistnya bigcat !!
ReplyDeleteErk ... alamak, didn't realise I'm a racist. So how do I change myself to become unracist, Anon 15:58?
DeleteBC, pack your bags, move to KL, Bangsar to be specific & intefrate yourself with the Bangsarites kot?
DeleteEh .. must I? Bangsar? Is that the only way to be unracist? Uhmm ... let me think, to be or not to be ..
DeleteWhile I haven't fully digested the points on Shuzheng's blog but one area I definitely agree with you is my dislike for the pretentious Bangsar lifestyle or more accurately, the Jalan Telawi lifestyle and it involves individuals of all races, not just the Chinese.
ReplyDeleteFor such people, it seems that Bangsar is THE place to be seen in, even though they have little in their pocket to be able to afford to be seen there.
As one who writes about information technology (IT), I've found Bangsar to be a rather popular place among the IT yuppie-tariat, not the hard core IT guys who do the serious stuff but more the technopreneur and media wannabes.
A Chinese friend once said that really rich towkays don't go to the pubs in Jalan Telawi but rather to girlie bars off Old Klang Road where they drink premium XO brandy with friends.
Anyway, that was some years ago and I kind of think Bangsar (Jalan Telawi) has lost its image and appeal over the years.
Can't stand the Mont KIara scene either, though Plaza Mont Kiara and Desa Sri Hartamas are OK.
As for Damansara Utama, I found that to be a more appealing location for watering holes in the 1990s but post the 1998 financial crisis, many have closed down and it's become a rather down to earth place, though rather run down now, compared to the 1990s.
I wouldn't go out of my way to go to The Curve unless it's in line with work.
A place I kind of like for its low--key, cozy, neighbourhood feel is Centrepoint, Bandar Utama and I occassionally like to hang out in Amcorp Mall, Low Yat Plaza and Digital Mall in Section 14 Petaling Jaya, as well as Subang Parade. Tropicana City Mall and Mid Valley Megamall are also OK.
Agree about Mont Kiara .. but I don't really go out much nowadays, except with the nephews. Kind of limiting when you are out with 6 and 7 year-olds.
DeleteThere's this carnivore haunt in Mont Kiara called Las Vacas. Great mince pies. The steaks are very good but quite expensive. If you're in the vicinity & looking for a good, filling meal, try out their lamb burger at 20++. But I digress.
DeleteThe yuppies generation seem to be all about scrimping from Mon to Fri before blowing off half their salary over the weekend. As for gadgets, they'd rather fill themselves full with pantry drinks & skip meals just to have the latest i this or i that or galaxy this & that.
One place I kinda like to hang out when I visit my parents would be IOI Mall. Dirt cheap parking, lotsa food outlets too. And if I'm dying for some beer, I can just walk across to IOI Boulevard where there are lotsa cafes & bars.
IOI Mall is the one in Puchong, yes? The one that recently got flooded? I've been there a few times, purely for the shopping and not for lepaking.
DeleteNowadays I am more of a touch and go kinda a person when it comes to shopping centres and malls, purely for the shopping and largely for necessities. I tend to lepak at home because for me the traffic situation is simply not worth the going out to hang out lifestyle.
Besides, having friends over for meals and conversations in the privacy of your home seems to be more appealing to me nowadays.
Anonymous wrote:-
Delete"There's this carnivore haunt in Mont Kiara called Las Vacas. Great mince pies. The steaks are very good but quite expensive. If you're in the vicinity & looking for a good, filling meal, try out their lamb burger at 20++. But I digress."
On Monday night I treated myself to ikan bakar - i.e. stingray with veg at an ordinary Chinese kopitiam in SS/2 for RM17 plus drink, so RM20++ for a steak isn't bad, once in a while.
"The yuppies generation seem to be all about scrimping from Mon to Fri before blowing off half their salary over the weekend. As for gadgets, they'd rather fill themselves full with pantry drinks & skip meals just to have the latest i this or i that or galaxy this & that."
Unfortunately, the consumer IT media tend to promote that kind of conspicuous consumption. The worst kind of advertising and marketing is to influence peer-pressure to get gullible, insecure people to live up with the Joneses. Remember that old saying "coat, tie, collar, pocket no dollar" during our fathers' time. I guess little has changed, though it take a different form.
"One place I kinda like to hang out when I visit my parents would be IOI Mall. Dirt cheap parking, lotsa food outlets too. And if I'm dying for some beer, I can just walk across to IOI Boulevard where there are lotsa cafes & bars."
I've been there a few times. Not a bad place.
Summit in Subang Jaya sin't bad either.
Big Cat,
Delete"Besides, having friends over for meals and conversations in the privacy of your home seems to be more appealing to me nowadays."
I used to like to hang out in pubs when I was younger, like up to 45 but after that I became more and more of a homebody and much prefer quality time with friends over dinner. I guess that comes with age.
I guess I reached that stage a lot earlier than you :D
DeleteIT.Sheiss, the burger is damn good, juicy & cheap there. The party must be almost an inch thick.
DeleteNot the steaks though. That can cost you around 25-50 per 100gm. A decent steak would be around 300gm. But if you decide to have a party of 4 or more, ask them for a tomahawk. Meaty ribs that will cost ya about 300+. I normally pay about 400-500 for a party of four day.
Have a chat with Yusof, the proprietor or his Japanese wife. They'll give ya a good education on steaks & meat cuts for free.
As for malls, I prefer those I can reach with public transport. Less stressful when you're not looking for a place to park.
And finally, Ah Jib Gor dissolves his coffee mix in the hot water, I meN the parliament. End of madness, for a few moments at least, within reach after long last.
Shuzheng post have a clip "Riverside on a Qingming" which is about the Song era, and here is a poem by Liu Yong of the same time period, The Rain-soaked Bell, very beautiful and sad.
ReplyDeleteA cold cicada, sad and desolate,
Faces the long pavilion at twilight,
The showers having recently ceased.
Outside the city gate, drinking in the tent continues
without end.
I am about to linger awhile,
When the magnolia boat urges me to start my journey.
Holding hands, we look into each other’s tearful eyes -
Without words, throats choked -
As I think of my voyage through a thousand miles
of mists and waves.
Where the evening clouds are somber and the distant skies vast.
Lovers have suffered since ancient times the
sorrows of parting.
How can I bear further my solitude in
this clear autumn season?
Where shall I be when I wake up from my drink tonight? -
Willow banks, the breeze at dawn, and the waning moon.
During this long year of separation,
All fine moments and lovely scenes will appear to me in vain.
Even if there are a thousand varieties of tender emotion,
To whom could I impart them now?
Shuzheng label me jejune and i call him a eunuch, however i hope/believe we both do have some little understanding of The Doctrine of the Mean, which Confucius said "The superior man embodies the course of the Mean; the mean man acts contrary to the course of the Mean (君子中庸，小人反中庸). Many blog and writing exist not to communicate goodwill but to inflame racial hatred and to justify violence, we must distance ourselves from such blog and writing.
so you have come to this blog. no wonder Shuzheng called you jejune. whereas Shuzheng knows what he is talking about, you on the other hand speaks from your backside.
DeleteShuzheng is basically a Chinese supremacist who has condescending remarks towards non-Chinese people. His worship of China is typical of the fenqing internet warriors and Overseas Chinese who have never set foot in China. If that is the general Chinese world view, then it doesn't bode well for Malaysia.
ReplyDelete