I am proud to be a Malaysian

I have recently gone on a city tour with 2 foreigners from Afghanistan and Laos. We went to most of the tourist spots in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. Both of them are full of praises for Malaysia. They love Malaysia for different reasons. The Laotian loved the high rise buildings and all the great infrastructures that KL has. The Afghan loved the fact that we managed to maintain the greeneries within the city. When they told me again and again that "You have a very nice country", my heart just melt.

Bridges at Putrajaya.

I used to question if there is really a need to spend millions and billions on infrastructures, but I finally understood Tun Dr Mahathir's aspiration. The infrastructures are not established for egoistical reasons, but it is a symbol that represents Malaysia's pledge to be a developed country. I never expect the infrastructures to have such huge impact on the foreigners. But when I found out that they actually look up to our buildings with hope, I saw a glimpse of our nation's hope too.
The only sad part is when we were strolling around the city, they too found that Malaysian's mindset has yet to catch up with the infrastructures. We are still lacking in basic thoughtfulness and courtesy. As we are approaching 50th independence, I wish that the younger generation do not forget the hardships that our country has went through to come to this stage. I also hope that our mentality will mature more holistically. Happy Birthday Malaysia!
p/s: To Saiyid and Thi, you do not have to say thank you to me. It is me who should say thank you for reminding me how lucky I am to be a Malaysian. Thank you!

Honour in meeting a good samaritan

No no no... the person in the photo isn't the good samaritan. The photo is simply the great beginning of our journey to a tyre puncture in the middle of nowhere. This was how it began...

We went to Langkawi for a part leisure and part explorative tour. We hired a car at a bargain price. Happily we drove all around the island without a map. Just go along and stop whenever and wherever we feel like it. We kinda know that hired car tend to have inaccurate fuel tank indicator. Hence we had a good sense of pumping the petrol and apply some mathematical skills to estimate the total amount of kilometres we could make at certain amount of petrol. So far so good, and we applauded ourselves for our "wisdom". As we travel along the coast, the steering wheel felt heavier by the seconds. We started to feel a mild wobble in the car. Oh o! We knew what it was before we even got down the car. Sigh... well little hitches like this isn't a problem for both of us. We are experienced tyre changers. That was what we thought, until we checked the boot. Wowho... No tools except for a half filled spare. Don't panic, we could always call the agent. He said he could make it in an hour's time. An hour? Along this lonely winding road?I saw a Nissan coming. I started flagging for the car. Ben said no one will stop for us. Before he finish his sentence, the car cruise to a stop in front of us. A middle aged guy came down and walked to us smilingly. Why is he smiling? All the CSI horror took over my mind - scary. But we were desperate. We told him what happened. Without skipping a beat, he went straight to his car and took out the tools. Relief...nope! The tools doesn't fit our car's tyre screw. He assured us to relax eventhough the sky looks like it is going to get dark and rain pretty soon. He asked us to stay put, while he drove to get the required tools from his relative. He came back later with the right tools and helped us change the tyre. He never stop smiling and chatting with us. After everything is completed, he started packing and put the tools back into his car. I asked Ben if we should pay him some money. But how much? He is driving a Nissan, are we gonna pay him ten twenty bucks? As we were walking towards him, we were thinking his demand might be higher than what we have. As we reached him, he turned around and shaked our hands. He never said a word but shoved a souvenir into Ben's hand. And from that day onwards, we do not call bananas as bananas, but we call it a good samaritan's gift.
Mistakes learnt:

1. Check that the car you have just hired are equipped with all the necessary tools.
2. People from the city cannot underestimate the generosity of people outside the city.
3. Mosquitoes in the forests are very much larger and stronger than their town cousins.