10 WEIRD THINGS IN MALAYSIA - DID YOU KNOW? 🇲🇾 

Heavy breakfast : Malaysia (Malaya or Malay Peninsula what it was called prior to the 60s) wasn't a rich country in the past, local are either paddy planters, fishermen, rubber tappers, tin miners and other really labourous workers. They have to take heavy breakfast (rice cooked with casava/tapioca and some local veggies and a little protein if they're lucky) because they need the energy to work under the sun for a long time down to lunch time (maybe a short drink of coffee in the mid-morning). Despite that they are usually skinny but still very strong. Heavy carb-laden breakfast was a necessity back then and life wasn't as easy.

Its not International Driving License but International Driving Permit. Basically required in foreign country for proper translations of your driving license into local language, obviously every country use their own language and one could possibly forged the license and claimed its valid driving license from their country - but not everyone reads every one's language. It is a legal requirement to drive in many foreign countries (including UK), and it is a United Nations regulated travel document for your benefit and safety. For for carrying a passport, it is required to always have your ID with you at all time. Malaysian required to bring MyKAD and foreigners their passport. Without any of those IDs, you could be accused as someone who stays or entering the country illegally. I don't know why foreigners always felt weird to carry a passport with them but, god forbid, accidents happens while you are driving for example and you were unconscious, no one could identify you unless you have your ID with you so that everything necessary went smoothly and all parties will be notified promptly if needed be.

5:10 I think many Grab drivers here don’t carry change that often anymore, because most local passengers rarely use cash booking these days. Malaysian consumers are already about 74% cashless & Malaysia is said to become a cashless society by 2025. All transactions by government related agencies are already 100% cashless here.

We Malaysia people 👉 RESPECT EACH OTHER 👍👍👍

interesting thing is, i've come across squat toilets in France in more rural areas. There are several reasons for them, one of which is actually hygiene as it stops skin contact with any surface especially in an area where sanitation might not be the best practice.

LAH context tips : A. Standard writing context : To emphasise the a word that combine with it. B. Common spoken context (comes with various intonations) : 1. Laaa~ (elongated ‘aaa’ sometimes with ups & downs like wavy lines showcase intention of begging just like “pleaseeee” ) 2. Lahh!! (Stressed H letters exhale from throat showcase anger emotion) 3. Laaa- (flat & deeper elongated ‘aaa’ showcase disappointment) 4. Lah (solid ‘lah’ showcase intention to emphasise a statement just like “yeah that’s it”, emphasise an instruction like “just like that/this” connotation or emphasis the spoken word before” 5. Lah! (Sharp & short ‘lah’ indicate annoyed or irritated emotions)

Burping is natural and sometimes shows that you appreciate the food you ate; however in Malaysia farting is considered rude behaviour and farts loudly in public places tantamount anger near you

Enjoyed your video and your candid comments about Malaysia. By now you should realize that "excuse me" is not in our vocabulary (never taught in schools or at home) but instead we use "boss", "uncle" and "auntie" out of respect for calling someone we do not know but who is older or special, example providing an important service. LAH is for informal communication, usually added to end a sentence. Saying a sentence without LAH sound as if you are making a statement, which sounds rude. Adding a LAH implies to inform you/get your agreement politely. For example, "saya makan" is making a statement that I am eating, period. "Saya makan, lah", means to let you know politely, i am eating as we speak. In Canada, the word "eh" is added to the end of a sentence for a similar purpose. Other countries have theirs.

Hahaha...a grab driver is usually a part timer driver...i mean they have a permanent job but they just do it anytime they want for extra cash or money...they are not a taxi driver 🤭🤭...for the passport issue while driving, i think that's a common even for local..for a local, the police officer usually ask for our driving license along with our identification card...the burping issue, actually they kind of weird for me too...never happen to me ever (unless around family or close friend 🤣)...

"Lah" is a particle which was use after a verb, an adjective or a noun to emphasize the meaning of the verb, adjective or noun mentioned. For example: * makanlah means JUST eat, *mesti cantiklah / mestilah cantik means must BE beautiful, * nasi lemaklah means JUST nasi lemak and etc.

I think Boss means respecting them higher than themselves.

Thanks Skye. Very informative

"lah" is basically an amplifier of the emotional component of your statement. "lah" will usually signal what you are implying without saying much with words. Also.. Burping is not really a faux pas in East Asia, i think. 🤔 Unless they're burping while talking to you, i think most won't say much about it. If i may add.. Farting tho is considered quite rude and (in some places) not to joke about. Why is this relevant? I donno, just popped into my head and thought I would mention it 😂

Thanks for sharing this wonderful video. Happy New Year to u.

The burp thing is unfortunate. Not everyone does it but those who do tend to do it VERY loudly. It annoys the hell out of me and I'm Malaysian 🤣

The huge floor number jump is due to another premises in the same building that is not connected with that particular elevator and have their own elevator. For example level 1-5 is the parking garage, level 20-50 are the residential (apartments) floors so that means 6-19 floors are either offices or mall that is technically in the same building but it's not connected with the same elevator as the residential for security purposes. Because in Malaysia, it's pretty common to have a building where the lower levels are malls and then the apartments above it. Usually in this type of building, there are separate entrances/lobby for the residential with their own security. So basically, it's apartment & commercial spaces under one roof but not connected and have separate entrances & security

in some tall buildings there are usually no floors 4, 13, and 14 because it is considered unlucky in Chinese belief. The building owner will replace level four to 3A or level 13 to 12A... for example

Think of 'Lah' in Malay as 'Ey' in Canada, or just another "okay". It's just a casual sentence ender. Squat toilets are pretty common in Asian countries, and some Middle Eastern countries as far as I know. It's considered "cleaner" than seated toilets as you're not sharing your bare bum with someone else or touching your bare bum on a surface. It's also harder to install the kind of plumbing required for seated toilets in the more rural areas of Malaysia. The "big breakfast" is more to do with the fact that rather than eating a separate kind of meal in the morning, you just eat the previous day's dinner in order to avoid waste. It's also a hold over from the not so distant past where people did a lot of manual labour day to day so a hearty breakfast to hold them over was better than a bowl of cereal or a smoothie (I sometimes still eat a big bowl of noodles or rice and curry from last night for breakfast if I have a big day planned). I'm a UK-Asian and grew up in Brunei/Malaysia as a child and still have family there, and I agree that some of the customs can be a little odd to anyone who hasn't visited that part of the world before. One of the reasons I really want to bring my friends there as it really is another world.

Hey Skye Hope you're enjoying your travels, Beaded seat covers were a huge thing in the 80s/90s in UK I remember having one (whoops showing my age now) But big drawback was they used to catch hairs at the back of your legs if wearing shorts (Not that you'd have that problem 🤣) They were supposed to have a massaging effect.

Hi skye! Actually a squatting toilet is most natural way for human being to do business. In this position, one specific muscle down there which looping our large bower in its relax state, thus less obstruction for doing business. Nowadays, people can use the sitting toilet also can mimick the squatting one by stepping on a small stool chair for same purpose. Hope this clear why does it exist here. One more thing in Malaysia, have you seen any bikers (especially small bikes) ther wear a jacket d other way round? Enjoy your stay here and thank you!

Skye you're officially become my Boss. Njoi in Malaysia 😁

9: Beaded seat cover is something we used since the 70s. Malaysia's hot climate means we sweat a lot. The beads provide a layer that separates our sweaty backs from the seat fabric. So the sweat won't stain the fabrics as much. Sure, we have airconditioning cars now, but you still sweat from outside going inside. I'm not sure about the acupuncture or massage-like benefits that many people claim, though.

Just to add to the explanation given on the floor 3A issue. Yes number 4 pronounce in Chinese sound like death. So as a developer or the building owner, they avoid naming the floor with number 4 as it will make it difficult for them to sell the unit on this floor as chinese will avoid buying or renting it. Certain place will avoid floor 13 as some people are superstitious with the number 13. Wallahuaklam

Nice one lah boss the video . Hehehe 😉

About the floor numbers, the only one that I know of is 3A and it is like that because the number 4 sounds like death/die in Chinese and is considered an unlucky number. But I still don't know why the floors jump from like 5 to 20 even though I'm Malaysian 😅😅😅

The lack of the #4 is a superstitious thing…the number 4 in Cantonese is Sei (pronounced like say) and it sounds and is spelt like the word death or die in Cantonese which is séi. So it’s considered rather ominous to have death or die associated with yourself - in Bahasa or the Malay language, this would be considered “pantang” (pronounced like “puntung”) which essentially means it’s taboo or superstitious. So the floors will be like 1, 2, 3, 3A, 5 etc and 12, 13, 13A, 15 etc

2:15 here in penang it's common to have nasi kandar for breakfast. having nasi kandar at 4, 5 and 6am is not uncommon as there are shops that opens at wee hours and cater to certain kind of crowd. some Malaysians tend to eat at whatever hours they feel like eating, both light and heavy food.

Normally in Malaysia we go for cashless now if we were taking grab car or doing online shopping...In the event where we need to use the cash payment option..it is either preparing the exact amount of cash tht you need to pay or I personally will just round up the purchase to the nearest amount and tell them just to keep the change

Hi Skye, u do nee to keep ur passport with u at all times as a means of verifying ur identity. For us locals, we always always have to have our identity card with us failing which we will be fined. That's the law. :)

Okay. I am going to try my best answering these 3 things: 1) LAH This word is an additional to certain things normally to express importance of other words such as, instead of just saying "Come On", we could also say "Come On Lah". 2) BOSS This word is quite new. In my old days we never use this word. The word Boss just means that we want to show some respect to other people by calling them "Boss" no matter what the gender or age are. 3) FLOORS Some buildings mostly owned by Chinese they have renamed certain floor such as the 4th floor becomes 3A mainly because Chinese doesn't like the number 4. Some floors are missing maybe because they want that floor to be "private place". I am not really sure about this one, I'm just guessing it. I hope this will answer some of your confusion 😁

So truly findings by yourself here in Malaysia. We believe that 'burping' in low sound is a sound to result a positive sign for what we eat / drink almost daily. Due to too often some people burping make him / her not realize who was nearby. Hahahaha 😂. LAH is an additional some words to show deeper expression. Most RU-vidrs from abroad like UK / US / Japan / South Korea who stays longer in Malaysia had explained about it. Most of us also do pay grab drivers via online transfer or we provide exact amount. That is why they're not ready to provide its exchange but some still can provide it. Anyhow, may you keep enjoying with happiness in Malaysia for foods, cultures, shopping stores / malls, transportation, people & hospitality, weather, beaches, islands & nature 👍👍👍🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟😘😘😘🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

Bad habits are like a comfortable bed. Easy to get into but hard to get out of.

What the police meant regarding the passport was to keep it handy so that it shows that you have entered Malaysia legally or illegally if you dont have it with you whenever they doing inspections. Fyi, we are experiencing high rate of illegal immigrants or foreigners entering into our country.

Happy new year to youu

Regarding eating big breakfast, it is probably following the proverb, "eat breakfast like a king, eat lunch lika a prince and eat dinner like a pauper"? 24 hour restorants are for those who like to have late dinner or supper or for those who work late night shifts? Cheers

You're funny lah..Skye 🤭

There are more savoury heavy breakfast in Malaysia. Fried flat glass noodle,pan mee,curry laksa. Pan mee is basically like pasta and sometimes serves either on soup or dry. Hope you’ve try it all out already😃

I am here 5 days and am totally confused. And I've been everywhere in Southeast Asia for the past 7 months... wow, my mind is tilting

Lah means just to make your sentence feel subtle and warm.. Boss is a new trendy to call or greet someone as to respect him/her amicably.. You have to carry your passport same as us the local carrying our IC wherever you go is for own safety...in case anything happens it's easier to refer to.. The squatting toilet is a traditional and it's many health benefits.. 24hrs mamaks is for people who work round the clock especially those working on shifts..also for football supporters who like to hangout together watching live match from overseas.. ✌️😎🇲🇾

I love to watch your video about 10 amazing things about malaysia not have at UK..

Driving - for Malaysian we need to have both, Identity Card (or I.C) & driving license.. so similar to foreigners who's going to drive in Malaysia, Passport (equal to Malaysia I.C) & international driving license. Payment - Nowdays we rarely using cash to pay anything. Either using card (debit/credit) or using touch&go or boost or DuitNow any other electronics payment. Even myself, i rarely have big cash in my wallet, just below RM20 usually.

24hour restaurants/eatery's was started to cater for people who work odd/shift hours/travellers

OKAYLAH BOSS 👍🥰🇲🇾

Beaded the seat is for you to feel comfortable when you drive but usually they put cushion on their seat especially for old people when they drive. For those who have more budget and very nice looking car, they will change to racing seat.

Lah is actually part of the Malay language....it more of beautified the sound thus was incorporated into our daily conversation of the Chinese and Malay and English speech....

Hi Skye Happy new year do ypu live in Malaysia did your family come see you 🥳🎉🎊🥂 hope we can be friends

No.4 - even as a Malaysian we carry our ID (NRIC) where ever we go, without that you could charges as illegal immigrant... and the procedure to get out are really waste a time, better prepare than having troublesome.

Mashallah beautiful Malaysia friendly ❤️ traditional food dressing hijjabi 👍 I like it

Boleh lah boss😂😂😂😂

HAHAHHAHA everything LAH🤣🤣

about the floor numbers, actually most of the big developers in Malaysia is Chinese... so its related with their feng shui when its come to numbers... that's why sometime u will find there is floor number 4 and then 4A with a missing floor number 5 because they have replaced the floor number 5 with floor number 4A... its all about Chinese feng shui...

The numbering of floor levels, buildings and houses is related to the belief in Feng Shui, particularly by the chinese. Google this. One of the beliefs/ superstition/ taboo is on the number 4 which means death, the opposite of good fortune. Housing developers are predominantly Chinese in Msia, therefore, it is just a real estate practice to avoid using the number 4. It could mean bad luck, u may not get sales, rentals or good fortune. Thus the use of 3A instead of 4, or 13A, instead of 14.

Cab drivers, delivery persons will say they don't have cash because they know you will likely not have any yourself. So you will have to tell them keep the change. Bigger tips.

Me, a road side food stall seller also emphasized my customer to pay via qr pay, ewallet or online trfr... ;)

i have been at morocco which is GMT 0 too, just located below UK same timeline , there is squat toilet everywhere other than sit on bowl kinda toilet

LAH..since this word already practise by mostly chinese in Malaysia..some they said no lah..ok lah and lately this became habbits or culture by some chinese and indian when they spoke with their Malay friends..but mostly Malay we not really practise this words lah..and for nasi lemak basically we serve with very small portion of rice and some boiled egg.sambal.cucumber.anchovies or we call nasi lemak kampong selling 50cent or rm1..this is the original portion of breakfast for long years ago but now everything has changed for some reason..however small or big portion is depending on person or demanad by customers..

Big meals for breakfast dates back to our agricultural and mining background. People would eat large meals before going out for hard physical work. Being mostly poor, they only had that 1 meal until about 4 pm when they would have their tea breaks or straight for dinner at about 6 pm. "Lah" is just an expressive sound we use to enhance a sentence. Our local police just like to harass foreigners hoping to make a few bucks. Pre-pandemic almost all mamaks open 24 hours and many other restaurants that open to dawn. Grab drivers mostly get paid in credit and therefore we have little to no change for large notes. Also to avoid from robberies. Others are just a-holes. Floor numbers: superstition with the number 4. In Chinese 4 is also the word for death. So 4s are replaced by 3A and 13 by 12A or something similar.

"lah" is an expression to the word before.. :D

u need to live in malaysia at least 1 year to know more weird things in malaysia including the political things

In Japan there are squat toilets at the airports in Tokyo as well as in Osaka. Cultural differences.

It's some kind of body pulse point massage...just like foot massage or hand reflexology....the beaded seat... As to the numberings...4 sounds like death in the Chinese languages,.14.too meaning definitely die...,13...bad in English ....so that's why..3A, 13A, 43A.... Number 8 ..is auspicious....sound prosperous in Chinese... especially in Cantonese dialect...18...118, 128...etc

People calling Boss because to show respect to each other no matter what type your job. If you in restaurant, you can call waiter "boss" or if you want eat Ramly burger, you can call the owner "boss" but sometime in different situation, If you meet the oldest people you can call uncle or auntie. For young people you can call "adik" for boy or girl.😀

You are right

As a Malaysian, I think burping out loud is rude even for me. it's okay if there's no one around but publicly or in front of customers like you said, it is not appropriate.

5:45 we use ewallet grab pay or touch 'n go ewallet..

24 hours mamak caters to those graveyard hours workers. There's a lot of bank/Telcom contact centres in KL/Selangor. This is not really the case in rural districts in Malaysia.

WEIRD THINGS make you remember malaysia..have a nice day

The number 4 in Chinese is said as sai, which means death. So after number 3, it becomes 3A and so forth

Hi I’m Malaysian myself. And lah is kinda like just and adjective. There’s no specific meaning of lah actually. Boss is not just at a place of work. In Malaysia we also use boss to waiters at mamak corners. Boss is like a sense of respect that we have for the workers at a mamak haha.

Hello pretty girl ❤️☺️❤️ good night 🌃✨

7:55 Hi Skye, it depends on who is the building developer. Take a 20-storey condominium/hotel for an example, you'll find floor numbers on the 4th & 14th floor being replaced with 3A & 13A respectively. Reason being if the building developer is chinese, the number 4 in chinese means "death", so to the chinese developer, it brings bad luck for business.

Actually nasi lemak is the simple meal of breakfast...it was wraped by banana leaf .it just coconut rice,sambal,fried enchovies and peanut thats all...but nowadays there r so many others dishes added... nasi lemak actually suitable for those in heavy work not for office workers hahahaa office workers should follow your simple meal such cereal...omellette...hehehe...

Ha ha ha , This Is What Make Malaysia So Different From Other Country. And We Malaysian Are Always Being Describe As Language Genius . Because I Should Said All Malaysian Can Speak Atleast 3 to 4 Languages. Malaysia Boleh......👍👍👍😁😁

❤ Bình An Hotel nearby Lien Khuong Airport 1 km Dalat

Ok 👌 Boss

Burping is just "ok lah" in Malaysia (but not farting)😂. It's neither rude nor good. If someone burp, Malaysian mostly will just ignore it. People just burp wherever they're.. in the classroom, workplace or even public space. Moreover, if they're Malay/Muslim they will say "alhamdulillah" means thank God/grateful to the God. It even shows that you're full and grateful for the food. 👍🏼

The word "Lah" is always widely use at the end of the word you would like to emphasize or to express disappointment or frustrations or confusion "I think I'm hungry-Lah" "Don't wait-Lah I think you should go now" "Laaaaah... I never thought of it" "She's the one who started the fight-Lah" The word "Boss" is often used to describe a person as a 'Rich-person' or to be use to show respect or be beneficial to someone.

Lah is like the end of a sentence or full stop. LOL!

I'm pretty sure the suffix "lah" originate from chinese language. If you watch Steven He video, he use it quite often.

Boss is doesnt mean anything but the way to respect others....accepted by community at larges as a simple n easy word to make people kind n notice about ur intention is

Use lah when you want to emphasise something haha it's a slang Regarding the Grab driver/food delivery not carrying change, I completely agree with you. However, for food delivery, I usually text the riders and inform them that I will pay RM30 and lets say the food total is RM25, so that the rider or I can prepare. But i also had faced an issue where some riders didnt care. But some are nice, they will reply to the text either can or ask me to bring a small money. It’s so hard that i prefer to pay with online banking now. I believe that burping loudly in public is impolite, but some people did it anyway and if you asked whether it’s normal to not apologise, maybe it depends on how that person is being taught by his parents. I rarely find that kind of person in public but sure people like that do exist

'lah' is equal version of Brit's 'innit'

Ur boss to urself. Boss is the polite calling some one and shown U are respecting her/him.

LOL... Yes there are a few taboo numbers here which are sometimes skipped. It's not universally true in Malaysia, but most Malaysians are used to it if it's there. Or not there. Like 4 is bad luck amongst the Chinese community, signifying death or bad luck. So some buildings, or even housing estates skip it. So you go from 3 to 3A to 5. Similarly 13 is bad luck. While it has Western Origins, Malaysia went through a very dark day known as May 13th in the end of the 1960's. It's mainly forgotten about. But some are still superstitious about it.

Good Day

Here everbody Boss lah 😂

One more thing, in Malaysia, you can cross the street by using hand power. Also, some motorcyclist wears jacket upside down.

The word 'lah'(malay) is juz an instantaneous exclaimation!(lah). The word is also part of the spoken dialetic clans of the chinese, indians+ many other tribes/ aborigines of M'sia( East & West). Its a 'cultured~trademark' to a friendly, & verbal communication that we do speak English in our M'sian way-lah(!)...I presumed, its like an accentuated~ slang..(Canadian;[Quebecois & Newfoundland,...] American;[ Texa, Red Indians,& Aloha... ] British; [ eg.Scottish, Irish,...] Indies, [West&East], egBermuda; Jamaican Trinidad &Tobago, Haitian.] South Africa, & Oceania; Australian, NZ, Fijian & Papuan. So..have you ki da catch my drift😊❤😮

Hi pretty, the conclusion is just embrace other people culture will be fine that's nothing strange, good luck

Onions and garlic caused burping I guess. Or they drank soda drink? Our food are heavy on onions and garlic.

I'll feel at home with Lah, I'm scouse people say La at the end of sentences haha. Same with boss 😂 Dunno how I'm gonna get on with the Squat toilets 🙃 I have terrible knees haha

Burping is not considered rude. Farting on the other hand is more taboo. Those grab drivers n food delivery are just taking advantage by saying they have no change, i cld be wrong. Squat toilets are more healthy physiologically but they’re becoming less popular in malaysian homes. The lift numbers are a result of superstitions of both west n the east..

People here only say sorry if they farts! hahaha coz fart is considered very rude here but not for burping. and about the floor... Chinese are very particular with number 4 coz its means "die" in their language (correct me if im wrong) so they named the floor as 3A instead of 4. ;-)

Lah is a slang. In sabah borneo it is bah. It is used by malays originally. Chinese use mah at the end of a conversation. by itself there is no meaning at all. It is added to make it sound less serious.

Helo from malaysia 😁✌

Having an international driving licence/passport with you is more for security purposes. In case (God forbid) you have a fatal accident, how would other people identify you. I guess not just in Malaysia, can be anywhere else.

This is malaysia respect our law

The word ' lah ' means a lot of things depending on how it is pronounced . Itu lah translates as ' that's why ' or ' there you have it ' . Bila lah nak sampai = whenever are we going to arrive , the stress is on whenever . Come on you Malaysians , help me out here . It is about equivalent to the usage of ' naa ' by the Japanese .

Oh the drivers can make change, its a way for them to "make" more money.

Burping is normal thing you heard in Malaysia especially to older people but sometime it happen to young people too. It all related to the food or drink. If you saw someone drink Coke or Pepsi or alcohol drink, you can guess what happen next.😄