Being a Malaysian, what does that feel like?

I am writing pretty much lately, because Russell is busy with his Java, and I'm not that busy with my Swift. So, let's get into the main topic.

Me and Russell are both Malaysians. If you are from the US, one of the most advanced countries in the world, you might be wondering, what does it feel like being a citizen of some third world countries? Just like where I am now, Malaysia. What does it feel like living here? You won't know unless you live here for at least a year or two.

1. Electricity and Internet usage 

I am living in the state of Sabah, which is in the Eastern Malaysia (Borneo). This place is not that advanced compared to the other side of Malaysia. We don't have fast WiFi speed. The fastest in my city is only about 500KB/s if I have not mistaken. We don't even have LTE networks available, we are still sticking to the old 3G, but we still can live. The thing that bothers us a lot is powercuts. In my town, we will face powercuts for at least twice a month, which sucks.

As you can see, Sabah and Sarawak are at the East and the other states are at the west.

2. Language, Race and Religion 

First, there are mainly three types of people in Malaysia, which are Malay, Chinese and Indian (I'm a Chinese). We live together in the same country along with some other small races. But the main people you will see if you come to Malaysia are the Malay. Because of that, we usually speak Malay when we go out. When we see Chinese, we speak Chinese. When we see Indians (or any other races), we still speak Malay. But, we do learn English. What is that used for? Just to be used when we need it, such as during exams, meeting with foreigners or so. We as Chinese must learn all three languages if we are studying in Chinese schools. In other schools, Chinese is an exception. This is an Islamic country BUT we are still get the freedom to choose our own religion.

3. Entertainment 

Unlike the US, we don't have a lot of popular superstars or big movie-making companies, like Hollywoord or Bollywood. But Astro (a TV and entertainment company) have some great Chinese singers and a Chinese New Year movie every year, which is pretty nice. This year's movie is called "The Journey" Some Chinese comedians here is Ling Big Yong and Joseph Gemani

This is the Astro logo

4. Food and Culture
Malaysia is a multiracial country. The benefits of a peaceful multiracial country is that we can get to share our culture and food. For example, during Chinese new year, everyone is allowed to celebrate. Other than that, the variance of food that we can eat is so much that we will get crazy. Malay and Indian people cook hot and spicy food where our Chinese people cook some "gentle to the tongue" type of food. If you happen to live in Sabah or Sarawak where the native people are still living, you even get to know their traditions and special food. The Iban people who lives in Sabah and Sarawak has a special kind of fermented rice wine.

Nasi lemak, a popular Malay dish

A picture of a dragon show during CNY