My observations in Kuala Lumpur (KL).

I was at KL over the weekend to attand an professional investment training with a group of Malaysian financial planners. I also took the opportunity to learn something about the country. Below are my observations.

I make a short trip to KLCC, the up-market shopping centre. Most of the shoppers were tourists and expats. Over at mid-valley, the mega-mall, which caters to mid-level income shoppers, the crowd were overwhelmingly chinese. These observations do give me an indication on the concentration and distribution of wealth in the country.

Next, I took mental notes on the type of newspapers and magazines on the streets and bookstores. The two main newspapers were The Star (which i was told is owned by the MCA) and News Straits Times (which is owned by UMNO). They were well written, and some articles by local journalists did have intellectual depth. The other newspapers were of lesser character and shallow in their contents, typically filled with over-blown dramas and stories with sexual, violence or spiritual themes. But the standard of news is not as bad as I have seen in Taiwan.

The part that impresses me the most is the "never say die" attitude of the local businessmen. My host runs a financial planning firm. The speed, courage and the thoughfulness of executing a business strategy in a less-than perfect (or chaotic) envirnoment by him and the management team is breathtaking, compared to the "complaining" attitude of the Singaporean counterparts. They are one up compared to us.

When I asked him casually the reason underlying such attitude, he answers me: "we are hungrier than you (i.e. S'pore)!"

This is thought provoking.