I was wrong about the alphabet. Malaysia has always used the western alphabet. They never had any strange letters, like Cambodia or Thailand do, or China for that matter.
I was told that it probably had a lot to do with the English having colonized the country for about 50 years. But that does not really make sense though, 50 years is not a long period of time, you could have had other letters long before that.
Oh well, I was wrong anyhow and I admit that.
But I realize that what I first thought would be comforting, seeing the western alphabet actually makes me more tired.
Now I try to read everything I see, everything. Signs on the street, subtitles on the movies on TV as well as menus. I think I have an idea but then Bam! Wham! No, not a clue.
What does this mean? It means that I get extremely exhausted. I get tired. If I am in a country like United Arab Emirates or Japan, I can just shut off. There is no way that I will be able to read the signs whilst visiting the country for a few days.
Being in Malaysia is like going to Finland for a Swedish person. Everything looks familiar but nothing makes sense.
I just arrived in Malaysia for the first time. Malaysia i similar to other countries in the region but also a whole lot different. They are muslims, most of them, even though I have seen a lot of catholic churches as well.
They are friendly, the people I have talked to speak quite good english and the local food is good.
One thing that is very different from lets say Vietnam and Thailand is that Malaysia has decided to use the Western alphabet.
Why one could ask?
Is that good or bad?
I try to read every word I see now, not understanding its meaning but at least it looks ok to read. Some words I can figure out though; Bus is Bas and Mini is Mini so Mini Bas is Mini Bus. Sekola is school which means that Bas Sekola probably means school bus. But they can all be false friends…
Have they lost their identity by doing this? Or haven´t they changed a thing, did their alphabet always used to look like this?
Then maybe they know what a certain sound looks like when you spell it with western letters, whereas in Thailand for instance it is a complete mess. The sound for “ch” as in Chatuchak Market is sometimes spelled with a “J”. “Soi” which is the word for alley or a small street crossing a bigger street with a proper name is sometimes spelled “Sai”.
This can be confusing, but if the Thais like it that way, then that is how it is going to be.
Sometimes I wonder if Thailand is for real or if it is just a country that should not have any contact with the outside world, because Thailand and other countries are not functioning in the same way at all.
Major multinational companies sometimes open up a branch here, but it is not really for real, they don’t send the same team the do if they were to open in Tokyo or in Singapore. I know it is not fair to compare Thailand with Japan, or Bangkok with Tokyo, but it is still Asia.
There are around 80 different topics that the Thai “Government” wants Thailand to be a hub for. Eighty (80). A hub, many of them not only a hub for Asia but for the whole world. One of them is for healthcare.
Thailand sometimes decides to use compulsory licensing, since the country is not so developed.
So I ask myself, can they be a hub?
Thailand wants Bangkok to be a regional hub for air travel.
Everyone condemns the newly built airport (opened in September 2006). I don’t know what is right and what is wrong. Luggage handling is a big problem they say, I have only had minor problems with my luggage so far. But I am sure I cannot really compare to those that travel a lot.
They had the chance to build one of the worlds top airports, now this one does not even make it into the top 20.
In many countries Thailand has the image of sex. Sex is for sale by everyone, everywhere and all the time. At least that is the impression.
Right or wrong?
There’s a hub for you…
Seriously, I think that Thailand could only benefit from opening up a little bit more, get some assistance from other countries, work with other coutries for the benefit of Thailand. Otherwise the image will be the same. It could be good to get the big companies come here with their top people, to get some intellectual influence into the country. It will rub off I am sure. Now these huge companies and their top people are choosing, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong and mainland China instead.
I don’t think that is good. I think Thailand has more to give – with some planning, organisation and som assistance from the outside world.