Practical Guide to Malaysia and Malaysians

I was just awstruck when I read this post from Bootsnall.com forum. It makes me feel that no matter how shitty the world is becoming into lately, there’s always a big piece of hope to cling on to. Please take time to read this. Please take time to ponder and digest.

One of the most important things that I have learned from travel is to never listen to what CNN, the government or other people say about people, religions and countries.

From my experiences traveling I now know that:

From traveling in: South Africa and Iraq
-That South Africans are not all racist, they are actually well traveled and cool people.

From traveling in: Indonesia
-That poverty is 10,000 people living in houses made with trash sleeping in there own filth wile people drive by in Rolls Royces, not people who live in government condos who eat everyday.

From traveling in: Iraq
-That violence is sometimes the only means to create peace.

From traveling in: Iraq, Jordan, Indonesia, UAE, Bahrain, Malaysia, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait
-That Muslims are not all terrorists, they are just like me and you (good and bad)

From traveling in: Everywhere
-Contrary to what my mother told me, some people are just bad

From traveling in: Everywhere
-Contrary to what I used to think, some people are truly good.

From traveling in: Palestine
-Palestinians do want peace

From traveling in: Israel
-Israelis do want peace

From traveling in: Australia
-Australian surfer gals are hot and make me feel a little faint

From traveling in: China
-Communists don’t want to take over the world, they want a big house and a BMW

From traveling in: Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia and Philippines
-S/E Asia is not one big go-go bar (dammit…)

From traveling in: France
-The French are only rude to people who arrogantly think that people should speak English in non-English speaking countries.

From traveling in: Everywhere
-Not everyone wants to live in the west, most people would never give up there nationality

From traveling in: Mexico
-That an incompetent government combined with widespread poverty has more to do with so many Mexicans crossing the border than America being such a great place to live.

From traveling in: S. Korea and Japan
-Not everyone in central Asia knows Kung-Fu

From traveling in: UK, France, The Netherlands and South America
-Football is played with a round ball, not an oblong one

From traveling in: Amsterdam, Netherlands
-Do not eat the “brownies”

From traveling in: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
-Do not eat the “Happy Pizza”

As you can see I was pretty arrogant and naive before I started to travel

Every time I travel I always think about this quote from Mark Twain:

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.

Many thanks to the poster for giving us all this insight. The poster was borne in Seoul, S. Korea and came to the US when he was 1 year old and grew up and went to college in Virginia. He have traveled all over the world either on business, expeditions or just looking around, seeing the world making his own opinions about things, instead of listening to what everyone else says. He have lived and worked in France, Columbia, S/E Asia and the Middle East. He is currently living in Washington DC, USA and Jakarta, Indonesia and his work keeps him running around in the Middle East and S/E Asia most of the time.