Oranges and Apples

When oranges are oranges, and apples are apples

One of the things that I cannot stand are families (or people in general) who would degrade Malaysia quite openly. Yes, we all know that our country is really humid, has bad traffic, that national car is made of tin milo, that the government is corrupted, blah blah blah, but when you go “In THIS country this will never happen” or “In THIS country is so much better”, it can get very annoying. This is especially true when it is a known fact that you are indeed a local, and if you don’t like OUR country, you can always MOVE to another one. (Yes, immigration is an option.)

I still remember two years ago when Wanay and I skipped class to go on a boat ride at Mine’s. As we waited in line to be seated in the boat, we noticed a particular family in front of us who kept pointing at the surroundings. “Look, it’s so dirty!” “Look, the boat is SO small.” To top it off with their really bad British accent, they went, “If we were in THIS country, the river would be much cleaner.” The husband and wife looked at each other as if they said something clever, and then stared at the other boat riders as if we were some back water monkeys.

“Dia orang tuh bising lah,” Wanay said.

I know, I responded.

The boat slowly traveled down the man-made river, passing a small zoo full of many types of feathered species, and surprisingly after the zoo, some really impressive bungalows. While some of the tourists snapped photos, one of the little boy from the annoying family turned to his mother and asked, “Mother, mother, is this Hong Kong?”

I remember Wanay and I burst out laughing, openly, right in front of the very disgruntled mother. Because at that moment, it was they who should have known WHICH country they are at in the first place.