I walked into a sports shop today, at KLCC hoping to buy a soccer ball to practice with. After picking ball, I figured I'd get a new pair of shinguards because the ones I have back in Sydney make me look like I have some cancer in my legs. I went over to look at the shinguard stand they have. I must say, it wasn't very impressive. I took some of them out to try on and get a feel of size. After picking the Pumas, mum tells me that people have been staring at us in a sus way.

Were we idiots, or maybe even aliens to look at shinguards? Were we complete bodoh heads ('stupid head') to try the shinguards out for size? Have they never seen a FEMALE buy soccer gear? Hell, have they never heard of FEMALES play soccer before?

Some have, maybe. Some haven't, most probably. This is what annoys me. My home country is blind. We are blind bats. We're older than Singapore, yet we haven't got a big-ass integrated resort in the works like them! So, is it just me or is Malaysia moving very, very slowly on the development scale?

All right, I'll agree Malaysia has developed considerably well on the economic growth scale and in general. I know this for a fact because I did a semester of Developmental Geography. That was a waste of time though, but it's not the point. Malaysia seems to be so slow compared to countries like Singapore.

Our education system is still full of bullshit. Kids don't learn the life skills they require for the future. They study about bergoton-royong (err... I think it means cleaning up together or some crap) and feeding fish, and the UMNO (whatever the hell that means!). They don't learn ethics, manners and safety. It's clearly evident.

I was walking around with mum in KLCC today. We know where we're going. We were walking towards the escalator, and there were these two ladies walking infront of us. As we approached the escalator, the two ladies abruptly stopped, quickly exchanged a word or two (maybe even four or five) and walked in a different direction. How rude, I thought. What made them think that they were the only ones walking around in that shopping centre? Had they no respect for others around them? Had they no manners to stand aside from the escalator to make up their mind, so that the *possible* others behind them could go to their destination in mind? After that, during the following hours of our time spent in KLCC, this very same incident happened three times.

The roads. Oh, must I talk about the roads! Not that the roads are bad, or anything (they are, but that's not entirely the point you see) - it's the drivers. We Malaysians have a lack of respect on the roads too. All we want to do get to where we're going, regardless of how we get there. I mean, who cares about the driver behind you, right? It is a rarity to see a typical Proton (Malaysian brand car. Highly common!) on the road, use its left or right indicators when making a turn. It's like seeing the Loch Ness - it's extremely rare, yeah? When you see it, maybe even take a photograph of it, people don't believe you because it's so rare. Hell, you can't even prove it because of its rarity!

I wonder, where did these people learn to drive? Actually, did they even take a drivers test? As a matter of fact, many Malaysians pay to get their licence. Oh yeah, it's called bribery. We have alot of that happening here. It's so common, that even the police are highly fond of it. Politicians practice it too - so what the heck, let's all do it!

On the way home from KLCC this evening, I imagined Malaysia as a "clean" country. The drivers don't dilly-dally on the roads as if they were enjoying the scenary of their beautifully littered city. The drivers use their indicators. An ordinary person on the street would smile at you and not give you a wanna-buy-drugs look. Older people don't call little kids they don't know girl and boy, but use excuse me instead. Ah, what would I do to stay in that country for the rest of my life.

I'll give Malaysia a decade and a few years. We'll see how she develops. By then, I feel that Singapore will be the dominant Asian country with a sky-rocketing population close to China. Ok, maybe India. ;)

Cheers.