first world

i am traveling for the next few weeks; i will have 4 long haul flights over a three week period. these flights are a great time for me to sit and think. yesterday i was thinking about the months after i moved to malaysia. there were so many things to learn, so many differences to get used to, so many things to get used to not having. i find that expats who enjoy the experience embrace the new country and its people, rather than expecting the new place “to be like home”.

when i first came to malaysia, it did not meet my expectations. it was much more modern than i had feared, the roads were new and well constructed, the telephony system felt as stable and open as the european market and the lights stayed on without interruption. i was able to communicate in english with most people, which i translated as a sign that people were educated, and people were welcoming, from the taxi drivers to staff at MDeC everyone appeared to be friendly and helpful to an outsider coming into the country.

after spending more time in the country i began to realize malaysia is not what i expected, but it is also not what i was leaving behind. i remember someone saying the words, “malaysia is not a first world nation”, this was actually a shocking thing for me to hear. it was said with such deep conviction, it was also said with limited hope that it would change soon. malaysia did not feel like mexico or afghanistan or somalia countries randomly chosen from a long list of countries i would consider to be third world. i continued to hear people say that malaysia is not "first world", and when i did i would argue that if it is not, then it is not "third world" either. it is a wonderful place, with great potential and seemed to be moving in the right direction.

a year has passed; i have spent much more time with the country and its people. while flying yesterday i was thinking of the things i could enjoy while in europe and the US. the simplicity of life i could enjoy because of the little differences, differences i started to list in my head. i realized malaysia could go from a good place to live to a great place if attention were paid to the following things:

road signs that work
people are constantly shocked at how well i move around KL. i have maps that i carry with me at all times. when i need to go somewhere i can pull one out and get to that place. i love maps, but in KL it’s a requirement, not a nice to have item. the road signs in malaysia are horrible, most highways do not have signs saying what road you are on, and no where is there a sign saying what direction you are going in. all roads in the US and europe have both.

i drove from schiphol airport to belguim yesterday, i left amsterdam and headed south taking A9, A2, A27, E19 following the signs that say the road numbers, direction and distances along the way. it’s a 187 km drive and i can do it without a map if i need to because it’s well marked the whole way. i could have kept going to paris, taking E19 all the way if I had the time to go there.

can someone now give me the directions from mont kiara to port klang, and remember the kesas highway does not have signs that say it’s the kasas highway; none, anywhere. not on the NKVE before you turn off, or when you are on the road.

roads that are built to move traffic, rather than collect tolls
if we can get the road signs to work, lets try to do two other things to the roads, make them the right size and interconnect them so you can go from one place to the next without needing the ability to map a maze in your head. take the LDP for example; it is 2 lanes on either side for most of its length. the traffic it carries needs a 4 lane road, but 3 would be helpful. the single place the road does open up is at the tolls. the sunway tolls have 10 booths on each side, clearly the priority is moving you through the tolls, not down the road itself.

once you are through the tolls, exiting off a road is also ridiculous. i now understand the reason is that roads are built by private groups, who are not forced to interconnect the roads in a reasonable way. take for example coming north on the LDP and trying to take the sprint over to bangsar. at tropicana you need to get off the highway and sit at a traffic light, which tends to get jammed, because the two roads are not connected in a sane way. there are very few roads with real ramp systems to move people on and off efficiently. here is a rule of thumb, if you need to use a u-turn to get somewhere, the roads are poorly connected.

i know urban planning is not big in KL, but can someone please focus on the traffic congestion. resizing the roads, and having them flow from one to the next in a way other than as an after thought would help; fixing this would be a MAJOR plus for everyone.

internet based maps of the country
once we have the roads fixed, can someone please pay google or yahoo to put malaysia on their maps platform? do you know how nice it would be to have someone invite you to dinner at atrium on heritage row, and be able to go to the internet and get driving directions?

the way you tell someone in KL how to do this is say “do you know where the sheraton is? no, okay it's on jalan sultan ismail. yes, near the hardrock. well, its right behind that”. this is great, once you know every building in town, but it’s less than wonderful when you are new to the city. this would also help the traffic situation if people knew the right way to get places, i am constantly telling people they are going the wrong way to get from one place to another – you don’t go from kl sentral to mont kiara though bangsar – if you cant use a map, it would be good if the internet could tell you how to get places.

credit card transactions over the phone/internet
have you ever tried to send flowers, buy an airline ticket or pay for a weekend holiday in KL? i was shocked that each of these involved a visit to pay for the item. in US and europe its all done over the phone or on the internet. i guess i can understand the flower shop not taking internet or phone orders – no i really don’t – but for malaysia airlines to need me to drive to kl sentral or KLIA to pay for a ticket is a complete waste of my time. if this can’t be fixed, the country will never move forward. first world countries focus on efficiency.

privacy to live without intrusion
i realize the asian environment is different than western, but the thought of ANYONE caring who i have in my bedroom, and feeling they are justified to barge in is appalling. there are laws in the US that are on the books regarding morality laws, no one worries about them being enforced. the climate of fear that surrounds things like who you sleep with, or worse what meat you cook and eat, is just sad. please, have your opinion, act the way you want to, but leave others alone to live their lives.

stop focusing on the differences
it’s a strange thing to have someone always tell me what ethnic group someone is when i am introduced to them. sometimes its obvious, but more and more its not clear which group someone is from. i think this is positive. the more mixed this country becomes, the less the differences can be used against one group or another. as a mat salleh, i am clearly an outsider but i know i am treated better because i am white. all malaysians should be considered the same, not separated by a line on their IC card.

independent newspapers with real editorials
when there are things that need to change to make a country better, the only way it happens is if the people can discuss the issues openly. this happens when there is a press that is free to speak its mind. sometimes they will say things that you disagree with, but hey that’s a way to understand what you really believe and to see that there is another opinion out there.

let’s stop pretending that there is only one opinion, or worse that other opinions are not as valid as the majority opinion. if we fix this and give people the chance to express themselves and have a voice, the educated and motivated may not be emigrating to other countries a quickly as they are.

a court system with judges that work for equality
this one doesn’t need to be discussed, it’s clear that if you are connected you can get away with anything, including murder. all you need to do have a political analyst take the fall, and go to trial. we all know he will get off and you will go free.

expect no corruption
getting pulled over by a police officer should not, so openly, be an opportunity for a bribe. it does help the expat to know that malaysian laws are so flexible, and that we should just do as we please. this is the simple example that permeates all levels of the culture though. from noticing that vendors are forced to give kick backs to landlords when doing work for a new space build out, to suggestions that paying off a minister is the fastest way to get something done, to watching major projects being done for the government though shell companies owned by the son of a minister or a group who has NO experience in the technology.

question, do we really need proton as a car company? especially when they are selling local cars for 2 – 3 times what they could be sold for in the US? this price is only supported by the tarrifs on cars which are hurting the consumer. we only do if we want to keep the suppliers producing over priced and low quality parts in business. VW will never come in and partnership if they are forced to use these suppliers. stop expecting, or accepting, that there is money to be skimmed.
[but, leave the DVD markets alone]

equal rights for women
i can not think of a single country where women are not considered equals, which is politically and economically forward. this is not just at work. men need to see women as equal in all areas of life. women have the same desires and motivations as men, stop believing that is not true. stop making them feel like they are not just as good an capable as a man, and you will find you have twice as many educated, motivated and capable people in the country – or more if US trends could be followed.

focus on real education
stop fighting about what language to teach in – it should be english so there is nothing to fight about – start focusing on real education. education should be focused on critical thought and ability to analyze and communicate. this requires the ability to argue a point and to accept an argument without getting upset that someone disagrees with you.

if you want to compete with countries who educate this way, you need to do it as well. malaysia will only go so far, possibly where it is today or was 10 years ago, if its people are not skilled in thinking creatively and being willing and able to take the risk to be wrong.

desire to compete
why is there not a public outcry to compare malaysia with singapore, india, thailand and indonesia and to find a way to beat each of these countries in every market you compete in? the conversation is always that malaysia is good, but never is how it can be better.



these are the things i would be focused on to make malaysia a great place to live for everyone. the first few are simple to implement, the latter would be much harder social changes that i hope some day happen. if malaysia is not focused on becoming a first world nation is should be focused on not clearly becoming a third world nation. if changes such as these are not made, if the issues become worse over time, the country is clearly at risk of becoming another indonesia. if this isn’t motive enough to change, i am not sure what would be.