MALAYSIA vs USA: Cultural Differences (honest opinion)

Malaysia and USA probably the two most culturally different places for the most part uh in the world uh at least in my experience and um you know I grew up in America I am now in Malaysia I've been here for close to 6 months you know I've spent most of 2024 here um and so I'm not an expert but I think I now have quite a good perspective on some things I want to talk about some cultural differences and um yeah just talking about how some of these cultural differences translates into real life and how it affects me um in my day-to-day um or just things I've noticed things that I have talked to Malaysians about um you know I know you guys sometimes think I don't really have like any Malaysian friends here uh but I do especially in Ko lmour uh I have a pretty decent group of friends now and we talk about some like deep topics you know some stuff that I wouldn't be sure if I should discuss on YouTube um you know political anything with religion politics stuff like that um and so I I often times will run things by them or we just like me and yeah I'll kind of go over some stuff I'm going to talk about in a video uh to get their opinions and to learn you know to yeah I I I don't want to speak out of context on anything or you know yeah I try to only speak about what I know and you know I only know what I know from my experience so take from that what you will you know I'm not an expert like I said but this is my perspective and uh yeah there's a couple different things I want to talk about today so I think the biggest differences would be uh social hierarchy uh religion food uh communication uh personal space and then I have two more of which I'm not you know education I'm not like super familiar with personally but just from like talking to some people who went to school here or currently go to school here um and then um yeah time you know sense of time um because we treat time very differently uh in America versus here um and so yeah I think we should start off at the top social hierarchy I think this is a good one I think it's a bit complex and you know maybe something I'm not so well versed in but I'll give you some thoughts on it in Malaysia there is a lot more social hierarchy there's a lot more um respect when it comes to certain titles or you know somebody's age Elders respecting your elders things like this um are like extremely important here right and in America it's of course you're supposed to treat everybody well and you're supposed to treat Elders well but we don't Place such an emphasis on like uh yeah such an emphasis on it or importance to it uh the same way that you feel it here um yeah very different for America there's a real emphasis on individualism and equality you know treating everyone the same no matter what age gender race whatever um these are like big in America and in general we're just less formal um with everything and you know addressing people by their first name and stuff like this not really using titles um too much you know maybe in certain environments um you might right certain workplace environments or something like that but we don't yeah it's very informal so we just don't place too much emphasis at all on social hierarchy it's not like something we think about you know if you ask an American about like uh social hierarchy in America they will kind of be confused or they'll be like I don't really know what what am I going to talk about because it's not something that we like even discuss really in school it's like you know we have uh the president then we have like uh teachers and then we have like we have things like that that's our hierarchy that's how we think of things of like who's in charge who the boss um you know how do we refer to somebody uh stuff like that but otherwise it's like yeah we're just not thinking about it all right so next is religion it's a it's a big one right um I'd say in general like Malaysia is extremely diverse and you know most people coming from America would come here and it would feel very different and very culturally diverse in a different way you know um um but since I'm from New York City uh it's kind of like the cultural Melting Pot in America it's like you know if there is anywhere in America that is similar in that way is very Multicultural it would be New York City and uh so to me it's a little bit less of a cultural difference but to 95% of Americans or more um you know they come from states that it's just mostly white people or mostly black and it's like a bit seg at with those two and that's about it you know then you have certain cities where there will be some Asian population and Indian population but like you mostly see it in New York City you know of course Los Angeles like another cultural Melting Pot but not in the same way you know New York City you have everything you have every country you have just every single type of person and so yeah to me I I can't even say that it's like more culturally diverse here compared to New York uh but like compared to America it's a huge difference and like yeah it's just exponentially more diverse um with the cultures and religions um and so like in America we like to say like we don't really care you know what religion you are um especially now uh the culture is kind of changing but like in the past it was very much more um you know Catholic people sticking with Catholic people and um Jewish folks sticking with other Jewish folks and and that's just kind of how it always went and that's probably how it goes in most of the world um but now it's becoming a little bit more like whatever you know like uh you you are what you are we don't really ask somebody's religion maybe so often as as in the past uh it's not even really discussed that frequently I think because people know everybody has such different views on it now and so they don't even want to really get into religious talk you know it's it's becoming more like Malaysia in that way where it's like um um oh yeah maybe maybe let's not get into serious you know religious political discussion because we may have a couple different people here who have very different uh viewpoints and different ways of living their life and you know you don't want to offend anybody you know and to me I am very accepting of of the way anybody wants to live like I I genuinely don't care I've always kind of been that way um so yeah I think yeah these are some huge differences um when it comes to religion like I grew up Catholic and now I don't I don't really identify as as anything um as much as I do believe in God I believe in a higher power I'm not so much focused on any specific God or any specific um Church anything like that um so yeah religion I'm not going to go too deep on it like I said it's it's not something I want to get too political about but I thought just giving some like you know some general perspective on that I think that was what I wanted now the next one food food is huge uh especially in Malaysia because it's I don't know there's something about it uh within the culture that it's it's just such a big thing here it's like um I think partially because it's like a quite a non-drinking culture non-alcohol consumption um for a lot of the population and so food kind of takes precedent food kind of takes the Forefront of those other things people would be doing you know going and having beer um or partying or whatever it's like here no it's more like going out on a weekend and stuff is like yeah going to get food with a couple people that's kind of it's kind of what it is um in America you know we just don't have such a specific Cuisine or um anything that we are so strong in um we're just a mix a hodge of different Cuisines it's just just the way it is and again I'm from New York and so we have a bit of everything we have everything and so the food scene there is incredible in New York it's expensive but it's very good and you have everything you you have a not just everything you have things that other places don't have as well you have like unique um presentations and um you know places the design of the the restaurant and and everything different experiences that they curate there that are cool um not that I'm like super doing this very often because it's like expensive kind of stuff um but in general you have everything there foodwise um now Malaysia is more focused on Malaysian Cuisine Malaysian food but thankfully like that is not very uh strict there's so many different things um you know Chi it's very much Chinese and Indian um influenced and based uh for the most part you know but but it's very different than the Indian and the Chinese food that we have back home very different more authentic um stronger flavors Bolder flavors more fragrant more yeah fragrant spices I'd say definitely spicier more chilly usage here that's like the number one difference I'd say would be like spicy food in Malaysia um you know people are just kind of used to eating spicy food from a young age whereas like back in America it's it's almost like a weird little taboo thing about it where it's like I feel like more people don't enjoy spicy food um and if something is like really spicy you just almost assume that somebody's not going to it's not going to be like their favorite thing where here it's like I would just assume somebody would love it if it's spicy um but yeah just a huge difference we're we're not used to it so coming over here coming to Southeast Asia in general um it's a little culture shock with the food and and the spicy levels so they usually try not to make things too spicy here um especially when they're serving it to westerners and stuff like I've not had too much issue with spice here Thailand is very different Indonesia it's much more spicy food um but in Malaysia you don't really even have to worry you don't have to think too much about it um for me maybe I'm just accustomed to it and because I've had spicier um it's not so bad um but besides that besides that I would say like the food scene here is so strong um and it's not expensive like you can get quality food uh for a good price um now now when it comes to food quality in general especially with like meat especially with beef with lamb you are going to get better quality in New York in America period I mean the freshness the supply the amount of Supply you know the organic farming and just a lot of like grass fed and and Freer range type stuff if you're buying eggs or you're buying steaks all different types of cuts of meats uh many different butchers here it's it's good but it can be bad at times um just yeah at times like I've boughten you know chicken that has smelled bad many quite a few times I have struggled to find you know like any organic farming going on really um yeah it's not it's not the best for me for for for beef and lamb you know I eat a lot of meat um even for chicken I think yeah coming from the US um we are a little spoiled with our food quality and the abundance of different foods that we have available uh so yeah even when it comes to the price honestly you can get cheaper beef in America that is higher quality than you can get here so if you're cooking at home and you're and you're regularly eating beef lamb um even chicken uh I would say yeah in the states it's just cheaper it's it costs less and the quality is much higher it's very easy to get it you go down the street and you can get any type of minc beef you can get three different fat percentages of the beef do you want 80% fat you want 90% you want 96% it's like you know there's just different levels to the food um and so when I discuss food it's not like oh you know Malaysian food versus American food or restaurants in Malaysia versus restaurants in America it's all-encompassing there's a lot to it um and uh yeah food quality definitely comes into play but I don't think it's a massive problem I think I was eating out here every single day no stomach issues nothing like that um I just have a lot of like food sensitivity problems autoimmune issues and so I'm very aware of things and sensitive to things and have very specific things I like to buy and that kind of thing can be hard here but for like the average person eating out eating Malaysian Cuisine even cooking at home like it's no problem um and it's pretty affordable uh just don't eat too much beef or lamb unless you really have the money you know that's that's what it is uh but yeah that's pretty much food in a nutshell one thing I forgot to mention is fast food how could I forget uh it's just very different here like the way you think about fast food here especially places like McDonald's I'd say especially specifically like McDonald's KFC those are probably the biggest right like in America we think of those as pretty bottom level pretty bottom feeder food places you know and as much as I probably as most Americans have ate it growing up quite a lot uh I think some percentage of the people typically we stop eating that food uh at some point maybe because we ate it too much y When We Were Young maybe because we were exposed to so much fast food growing up and America is such a fast food like Hub of the world right um yeah maybe it's like now I don't know I don't I don't care as much for it I spent many years without eating it but now you know after being here uh and seeing like the way Malaysians think about McDonald's right that it's like it's special it's like a that's a special place you go out on a Saturday with your friends you you go to McDonald's and you get you know you get a nice meal and that's like a great it's a nice experience and I agree with that but like only because of being here and kind of seeing that firsthand and like uh yeah kind of going with friends getting McDonald's like it's different like I don't know in America you just wouldn't if you say to your friends like should we oh let's go to McDonald's should we go to McDonald's they just like they'd be like what are you talking about dude they would literally be like what are you talking about why why would or KFC they'd be like what do you mean let's go to KFC they would especially in New York you would just be almost appalled you would be offended like you McDonald's would be somewhere you go when it's convenient and like your buyer yourself probably um uh guilty pleasure or just you know just grabbing something right but when it comes to like making a night out of it uh you know with your friends like no they're going to look at you sideways so any of you Malaysians if you go to America keep that in mind you know we we think of fast food a little bit differently um now we have like elevated fast food we have five guys we have Shake Shack we have uh yeah places like this that are like an elevated McDonald's and McDonald's times 100 you know like an actual proper uh burger and food and so these places are fast food but we think of it as a little more oh yeah we could go there it's Friday night 6:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. like oh yeah let's go over there that could be nice that could be fun but we just don't think about that for McDonald's or KFC so that's a difference this place that I'm filming in I just kind of like stumbled in here I like didn't plan on fil in any specific place but uh it's right next to the KL bird park the KL like Butterfly Park um botanical garden it's like next to it it's like near it and I'm staying over here and so I just like kind of walked in here there's nobody over here of course and like uh yeah perfect place for a video but if you're wondering yeah we're in koal lmour um KLCC basically uh Chinatown KLCC area something like that yeah people always ask me where I'm filming and I I half the time 90% of the time I don't mention it I'm just like filming somewhere and people are like what is that Park you know what is that and then I see the comment like five weeks later and I was like oh well next topic is communication communication style two very different ways of communicating between Malaysia and USA uh i' say what sticks out most to me would be with Malaysians I'd say politeness I'd say is huge you know you can kind of feel that very quickly um yeah just in a different way then we we don't even think about it um what we might think is very fine and normal conversation might feel impolite to a Malaysian person um you know I think it's Malaysians are typically a lot more subtle a lot less direct um and Americans can be very direct and like just kind of say what's on their mind you know we kind of me especially I mean if you follow the channel you know I just kind of speak my mind I just kind of say things and so you know some people could occasionally get offended or take it away that it's not meant to be uh taken or or wasn't meant to be delivered right um but otherwise like there's not real communication issues like if you're talking about Americans communicating with Malaysians um it's like very very fluid and it's not like you know it's not weird obviously Malaysian speak good English which is very helpful um but just in general from like a cultural standpoint it doesn't ever feel weird you know the conversation doesn't get weird um it flows naturally it feels like it's always quite friendly and like light-hearted and like um and then I also have some yeah deep discussions with like Malaysians that I I know a bit closer and like uh it just feels like I'm talking to another American for the most part uh who grew up a little differently right by the way it's Taman etob botani Taman etob botani that's where we are um but yeah yeah I think like Malaysians tend to communicate their how do I even how do I even put it like I think they tend to use body language you know they they kind of tend to yeah subtly like use politeness and Body Language um without needing to say too much necessar and like I can you know understand what they want me to to get from that what they're trying to say right um and it's not quite like that in America you know we've we very much need all the context and we give uh a lot more less for me I'm very much body language because it's I think it's important one for the camera but just for like yeah in general right uh but it's not how we're like cultured we're not um yeah it's just not accustom for us God I can't speak sometimes as I'm speaking about Communications I'm like stuttering on my words um but that's also because I just kind of turn the camera on and talk and so when I'm trying to do something like very I don't know specific like this and in-depth sometimes I'm like then maybe you should I don't know figure out a way to have better memory and maybe create a plan something like that I did I I made like the subjects that I wanted to talk about you know but that's it that's it uh but I think it keeps the the Vlogs honest and I think it keeps them like my true personality coming out instead of just like thinking and and writing something so yeah that's that um but that's it communication I'm done with it I'm done speaking about it all right next topic I wrote down I want to talk about is personal space um so Americans are quite into personal space we like our personal space um even with like friends stuff like this typically like I'm speaking in generalizations here you I'm speaking from myself but also what I know of America and Americans and people that I've met right um and like we do value our personal space a bit uh and here I would say it's a little bit different it's a little bit different I would say Malaysians tend to be a little bit more and so okay so let me separate this when it comes to like friends people that you know feel like Malaysians are very comfortable and like um almost a bit like touchy in a friendly way and you know uh this is not like sexual it's nothing like that this is just like um you know personal space on a friend level on a on a human to human level it's like yeah with friends we are not typically that touchy touchy or or anything like that and here you will see a lot of times um yeah where it's just like a you're not even sure what's going on um but then you know if you know this if you know that this is kind of how people here act sometimes and it's just like a friendly thing then it's it feels normal but initially you know first coming here first I don't know just observing right and and talking to people it's like it feels a little bit different and you're not really sure what to think um and then there's other side of things where when you're talking about complete strangers um like for example Malaysians really you know like their personal space with like strangers I'd say um and the biggest thing that sticks out to me or a good example I'd say is like several condos I've stayed at probably four different condo buildings I've stayed at here um are all the ones that have a sauna all the ones that have a steam room or sauna um they have like a good siiz sauna and they will only allow one person in there at a time you have to schedule it you know like can't which is to me to me is it's such a polar opposite of what I experience in America um like specifically with this with this example or you know especially in somewhere like Europe like sometimes there are like multiple mixed gender multiple people in there nude and it's like they're just very fine with it uh I mean me as well I I'm fine with it I I lived in Berlin and Germany for a couple years and like this is where I was really exposed to that kind of like Freedom feeling and so it rubbed off on me and this is how I am now right um but I think here um you know I actually had comments cuz I mentioned this before about the sauna and a comment was like yeah like us Malaysians don't like sharing our personal space with like strangers what is what is going on here [Applause] anyways yeah the comments were like uh yeah we don't like to to be in a small space like that with like someone we don't know you know and so yeah to me it's just it's it's very different for Americans we don't care we don't care you know there can be multiple people in the sauna and we truly don't care of course it's probably better I'd rather have it to myself of course of course I'd rather have it to myself but but I mean like I don't know it doesn't it doesn't bother me not to you know and I don't know how much of this is rooted more in religion or rooted more in like you know having people see you exposed in any way you know you're sweating a lot in a sauna um and so I don't know I don't know of course we typically wear like a just some shorts bathing suit and that's how I would go into a sauna right um I'd imagine like if it was shared here in Malaysia same way as the pool is shared um you know the Malaysians would be wearing proper attire they would be covered up um for religious reasons they would yeah be wearing something to cover themselves up they're not wearing like a bikini um and so to me it's like I don't know how much they are you know if you are going into a sauna alone in a in a condo that you live in the building it's like well then what do you do then are you wearing you know are you still completely covering yourself at that point if you're not going to be around any people in the scheduled sauna session or is it still something where you would probably completely cover everything that I don't know that I don't know um but you know this is just an example of how different it is um with something like this um and again it's like R rooted in religion it's rooted in like just like this freethinking thing that we have in America and in the west where it's like I don't know you would you would never need to be the only one in the sauna and that's just an example just because that has come up in my life now multiple times uh and they never they always say you can't use the sauna If You're airbnbing So Pro tip if they ever ask you oh how long are you staying here you say oh you know I signed a 2-year contract whatever I just signed a contract one year then they're like oh nice cool welcome and they show you to the sauna if you tell them you're there I've even said before I was staying for 6 months and he was like oh sorry only like long term I was like Jesus now I know if you have anything to add please leave a comment below on any of these things I'm talking about uh I think all of this kind of stuff is like best suited for open discussion um and yeah I want to know what you guys think about like my perspective uh on Malaysia and like the culture you know uh I also learn a lot from you in the comments like I'd say 75% of what I know about Malaysia and like you know what dictates where I'm going and what I'm doing uh is mostly the comments you know yeah I don't I can't reply to a lot of them uh but I do read them so you know don't ever hesitate to leave a comment uh I really appreciate it the last thing I want to touch briefly on here is work life balance you know I think this is another thing that is quite different um you know in America we are very very workaholic you know uh work overtime work you know this age to this age give your everything forget abouts you know social life uh even like family time uh whereas here in Malaysia it's it's not quite like that you know surely there are jobs and different sectors where there is overworking and stuff like that and and this kind of mindset but in general it's much more um take the time you need for your family time essentially and um you know not burning out not overworking and having this balance in your life you know you can tell uh it's it's just a much more treasured thing here um we in the US we we don't really care about it until it's a problem and until we are in the situation and then we are thinking about you know whatever or we're depressed or we're having psychological issues and it's like oh well maybe this is because you're working 70 hours a week and uh your relationship is crumbling or or this kind of thing you know and this this happens a lot in America because of the work life balance and like the relatively toxic like overworking culture and mentality now it's not to say don't work hard uh and maybe sacrificing your social life in your 20s to build a business or or build your career is is a good thing it's going to be a different balance for everyone you know some people are going to be more happy working 60 hours a week getting some family time in and like really pushing for some strong position in their their career um you know maybe it's going to be very happy whereas somebody else may be much more happy working 30 hours a week spending most of their time with their family and um yeah having not too many financial goals monetary goals in life uh stuff like that um so everybody has different different wants and needs you know how materialistic are you how family oriented are you how much family do you actually have um all this kind of stuff but there's a clear difference between the the way people balance work um back home in America and the way people think about balancing work even school but like especially work uh here when it does come to school uh education um you know I've not gone to school here you know I went to college for one year in America dropped out you know I made a a lot of money when I was young that year and like decided to quit school uh not bragging just saying just saying uh you know I I was actually failing in school I was never very good in school at all um but when it comes to education what I've been told by Malaysians is that um here it's very Focus it's very rigid it's very much like um you have a very specific set of things to do with your school workor um and achievements and goals and like for example in America it's like very focused on creativity um your participation um and like your unique points that you can offer stuff like this uh it's becoming more and more at the Forefront of like education in America and like those things that jobs care abouts are our stuff like that our standout factors and like the ability to form creative ideas like these things are important and maybe like in some education systems they're not that uh rewarded or it's not really thought about and what I'm told is that Malaysia is is more like that you know it's more just academic focused specifically uh and I think that that is across Asia you know at least in America it's like a it's a thing it's like a I guess a stereotype right that like Asians are going to be smart or they're going to be um you know their parents are going to be very strict with school they're probably going to be good at school they're probably going to be and again I'm generalizing but this is how it usually pans out right um and so this is why that stereotype exists for us uh it's because the school system the education system is completely different in America versus sorry versus in Asia and so like our parents think differently about it they teach us differently they yeah they parent us differently when it comes to like getting your schoolwork done and uh you know maybe getting grounded or punished stuff like this very different ways of parenting for that um and so that's this is the result of that right it's like you got two very different um ways of thinking about education and learning um for me I don't know that it was a good thing I don't think like the American education system did me well you know I I went to public school you know a lot of the public schools in America especially in cities bigger cities it's like it's not great you know it's it's hit or miss you may get a good education you may not you may have good classmates you may you know be with a bunch of delinquents uh criminals uh usually it's a complete mixed bag you have one of everything you probably have a freaking a criminal over here you have somebody who's going to a doctor here you have someone who's going to be a teacher you have a school shooter in the making you have one of everything in each class and so it's a nice little mix but yeah I was you know I was not into school I was not good at school um I didn't feel like the curriculum was good I didn't feel like my teachers were good I didn't I was very very obese overweight so I didn't have a great social life and so School sucked school was whack but I also don't think I would have been very happy if my parents were trying to take a very hard stance on me with school and like pushing me really hard and stuff maybe it would be good for me you know I'm not saying they did right or wrong even it's just like yeah I wouldn't have been happy uh and so the fact that I was able to switch to homeschooling in ninth grade I switched to homeschooling and like did it all online and I didn't even do it I didn't do it so 9 10th 11th 12th grade high school essentially I didn't do it my you know I was just not motivated and I was making money online I was more focused on like business digital marketing crap uh and yeah I didn't care didn't care and so my mom wanted me to graduate and so she did all of it for me she did like three and a half years three years at least of my my High School uh just so that I would have the document that I graduated and I got it I got it and I never really used it but um you know I'm not a dummy I just don't like school I think there's book smarts I think there's Street smarts I think it's good to have a mix of both uh but yeah that's that I I wanted to talk a little bit about everything in this video like a culmination of everything I've been learning and I don't know talking about with my friends here and just like discussing and things that come up in the comments and things that go through my mind it's like I wanted to put it all into like kind of one video just figure I'd make it titled like cultural differences you know USA vers Malaysia right yeah I hope you enjoyed it again drop a comment I'd love to hear your input on any of this crap that I'm talking about and drop a thumbs up too uh that would help the video for sure uh but yeah have a nice day and I will see you in the next video