Coming from Singapore, Malaysia was quite different. The first thing I noticed was the difference in people’s lifestyle, Singapore civilians seems to care more about work. Singapore, a city-state renowned for efficiency and modernity, is a worldwide financial hub that propels a fast-paced lifestyle, where as Malaysian citizens seemed more laid back and lived a “slower” lifestyle. We kind of saw this difference when comparing our tour guides, Richard in Singapore was very much go, go, go and always had something for us to do and see while Felix didn’t have as much to show and we would have more free time in the afternoons.
Something else I noticed was the increase of cars, trash and homeless people on the roads in Malaysia vs Singapore. There are explanations for the rise of cars, waste, and homeless individuals on Malaysian roadways in contrast to Singapore. Singapore maintains a cleaner and more orderly environment because to its strict rules and effective urban planning and we clearly saw how effective their planning is after comparing the two places. Cleanliness is enhanced in the city-state by strong anti-littering legislation and an extensive public transportation network. Another reasoning for this could be the difference of education systems, I noticed a difference of personalities between the university of Malaysia and Nation University Singapore. The students in Singapore were very serious and I think that culture is instilled within the countries culture as a whole, they want to create well educated students in order to withhold their vast business hub and that’s why the Singaporean government has put so much money into their education systems. With Malaysia, although the students we talked to were very intelligent, they were much more laid back and enjoyed life. With education not being a priority, this can lead to an increased rate in homeless individuals.