Living in JB 3 (Johore)

[Gardener]

Hi Frodo, I politely wished one of my Malaysian neighbors who was very friendly on forums.

Turned out was my neighbor.

Guess what... Hardly acknowledges you in person.

Not that I care.

And not that this person has done well for himself in life either. Not that I look down on anyone.i connect with anyone who is polite. $$$$$$$ dun count.

So what a waste of my niceness.

No offense to u Frodo.

Just stating what happened.

Another of my neighbors used to park right in front of my drive way assuming I'm a weekend Singaporean n even threw chewing gums/cig butts into my home.

Lately better sense has prevailed upon them.

I'm not saying I'm a saint. I'm not. I'm definitely not one.

But I started off my Malaysian Odyssey being polite.

Turns out ppl think I'm weak.

Is OFFENCE the best form of DEFENCE?

Traditional or new, being nice and polite is always right and you can't be faulted for that, even if others do not reciprocate in kind.

 

[Gardener]

Thanks mallow. It's on ur prodding I visited KIP MART n din regret.

I have always seen the signage pointing toward Pasar Tani Mega, Larkin but never actually went there.

Now that you Hv mentioned it , I will definitely go there.

I googled it and whatever came up looks really interesting.

I'm amazed you mentioned pucuk paku. My wife recently introduced me to it.

Is it open everyday?

Loved ur description of d market apart from ur English.

I am happy to say that after 6 years here, I can get seedlings/plants/cuttings of almost everything I need free from friends; and the very best toddy at RM10: it is only a matter of time for anyone coming to this friendly country. Just ask advice and suggestions and you will told about the double petalled jasmine or (the name escapes me) also the double-petalled blue flower, a creeper, that is used to colour pulut; and what leaves are edible (some coleus) which plant well with which others.

Nonetheless, if you can wake up to be at Pasar Tani near the stadium at Larkin by 7 am they have cheap plants and little fruit trees which are hard to resist. The occasional huge and unusual hibiscus appears, rosella and such. It's a large outdoor market and often unusual fruit will appear whose seeds may be planted successfully too eg jambu susu. The market goes on till noon, but by 8ish parking becomes hellish and after that it is HOT. Plenty of kueh kueh, Johor laksa and other delights for breakfast with good teh tarik. Here is where you can find the old fashioned jambu batu - small, yellow and fragrant; the unusual vegetables that the Malay people eat with relish and are not usually found at other markets and some utterly delicious puchok paku of a variety I have not myself seen at other markets.

Kong Hei Fatt Choy to all!

 

[Jetstream]

Being humble, polite and friendly will serve anyone every good wherever they may go

Absolutely agree. I used to get annoyed when strangers for whom I held the door open for failed to acknowkedge my small deed...it's like they treated me like the doorman. But ive over this by changing my mjndset, which is, to derive happiness from being of service to others. I still hold open doors for stranfers but now do not have expectations of them returning my kindness. When you dont have expectations, you won't feel disappointed when these expectations aren't met.

 

[Gardener]

Good stuff.

They say Politeness Pays.

Absolutely agree. I used to get annoyed when strangers for whom I held the door open for failed to acknowkedge my small deed...it's like they treated me like the doorman. But ive over this by changing my mjndset, which is, to derive happiness from being of service to others. I still hold open doors for stranfers but now do not have expectations of them returning my kindness. When you dont have expectations, you won't feel disappointed when these expectations aren't met.

 

[Mummymoo]

Good stuff.

They say Politeness Pays.

I "met" my new neighbour and must say it wasn't the best first impression. Him in his Hummer honking loudly because his driveway was blocked by our electrician's vehicle. My reno work has been in full swing for the past month and no one ever showed up at that house so the workmen grew into the habit of parking there. Wow, did the workmen learn their lesson when my neighbour made his presence felt. My husband ran out to apologise and say hello but the neighbour decided to just wave him away and drove into his house.

I am still hopeful we would get along fine. The only thing I can control is my actions so I am determined to be the best neighbour ever, whether he likes it or not

Wish us luck everyone

 

[Grago]

I "met" my new neighbour and must say it wasn't the best first impression. Him in his Hummer honking loudly because his driveway was blocked by our electrician's vehicle. My reno work has been in full swing for the past month and no one ever showed up at that house so the workmen grew into the habit of parking there. Wow, did the workmen learn their lesson when my neighbour made his presence felt. My husband ran out to apologise and say hello but the neighbour decided to just wave him away and drove into his house.

I am still hopeful we would get along fine. The only thing I can control is my actions so I am determined to be the best neighbour ever, whether he likes it or not

Wish us luck everyone

Put yourself in his place...... How would you react if you found a car blocking your drive way, irrespective of the fact that "..... no one ever showed up at the house....."?
Hat off to your husband for apologizing, realizing the "mistake". I'm sure your neighbour will "come around" and this incident will be forgotten.....
By the way did you notice the registration of the HUMMER?

 

[potter]

human store unpleasant events.. u chaim liao..:p

 

[Frodo]

Hi Frodo, I politely wished one of my Malaysian neighbors who was very friendly on forums.

Turned out was my neighbor.

Guess what... Hardly acknowledges you in person.

Not that I care.

And not that this person has done well for himself in life either. Not that I look down on anyone.i connect with anyone who is polite. $$$$$$$ dun count.

So what a waste of my niceness.

No offense to u Frodo.

Just stating what happened.

Another of my neighbors used to park right in front of my drive way assuming I'm a weekend Singaporean n even threw chewing gums/cig butts into my home.

Lately better sense has prevailed upon them.

I'm not saying I'm a saint. I'm not. I'm definitely not one.

But I started off my Malaysian Odyssey being polite.

Turns out ppl think I'm weak.

Is OFFENCE the best form of DEFENCE?

Being nice is not being weak, rather it shows you have a strong character. The nasty person has a weak character. It is easy to be nasty, human nature being what it is, so being nice in spite of feeling otherwise, now that's noble! Of course this is easier said than done, but that should not stop us from trying still. IMHO offense is the best defense when you know you are already at war and you are stepping into hostile area. But I wouldn't want to cause unnecessary offense.

 

[wuqi256]

Absolutely agree. I used to get annoyed when strangers for whom I held the door open for failed to acknowkedge my small deed...it's like they treated me like the doorman. But ive over this by changing my mjndset, which is, to derive happiness from being of service to others. I still hold open doors for stranfers but now do not have expectations of them returning my kindness. When you dont have expectations, you won't feel disappointed when these expectations aren't met.

When you help others with no expectations, its always better for both parties.

Some of the folks that i ferry up or down from HH don't even say thank you and once i sent a gent to his house, he just opened the door and left without saying anything. I told myself i must have not heard him from the roar of the engine and still took him the next time but this time he did thank me. Life is never a bed of roses and a couple of times i got told off by my wife when i took a few workers uphill in the rain and they accidentally squashed some of the groceries.

Then there is the postman who often posts the wrong letter, i got like 5-6 letters, when i went to each house to put in their letter box, sometimes i get barked at by their dogs or dirty looks as if i was posting ads.

 

[kezgtree]

....good attitude goes along way...cheers

 

[wuqi256]

Being nice is not being weak, rather it shows you have a strong character. The nasty person has a weak character. It is easy to be nasty, human nature being what it is, so being nice in spite of feeling otherwise, now that's noble! Of course this is easier said than done, but that should not stop us from trying still. IMHO offense is the best defense when you know you are already at war and you are stepping into hostile area. But I wouldn't want to cause unnecessary offense.

Best is no conflict. Always take the moral high ground where possible and ignore the rest. There are too many trivial things in life for one to bother about.
Once a neighbour parked her car into one of my houses, opening the gates (which i had kept unlocked) and parking her car inside plus closing the gates after.
I politely asked her to remove but she repeated it, saying its too hot outside. The 2nd time, my dad locked the gate after she parked inside and since then, she
has not repeated that although they did repeatedly park their cars right outside the gate and blocking them. We just live and let live. Everyone is happier that
way.

 

[wuqi256]

Put yourself in his place...... How would you react if you found a car blocking your drive way, irrespective of the fact that "..... no one ever showed up at the house....."?
Hat off to your husband for apologizing, realizing the "mistake". I'm sure your neighbour will "come around" and this incident will be forgotten.....
By the way did you notice the registration of the HUMMER?

Seriously blocking others way whether they are there or not is unacceptable especially if its a rainy day and one has young kids. I think no matter which country one comes from, having some kind of decorum is always better than none. I am pretty blessed to have mostly nice neighbours and got to know quite a few close friends here. Very thankful for any blessings that come my way.

I routinely greet the guards and recently had an incident where a vehicle of mine broke down while going back home, 2 guards helped to push and one guard even helped me call my wife and led her to me. Luckily i was able to self repair some parts and had her tow me back home with the tow rope.

The guard even helped to stop traffic until we got back. I went back to look for him a couple days later, shook his hand and gave him an early ang pao. He politely refused and told me he would have done so for all residents.

 

[wuqi256]

Taking a step back from conflict is not weakness, its too easy and quick to flare up.
It takes more effort to close a door gently than to slam it with force.

 

[Frodo]

Seriously blocking others way whether they are there or not is unacceptable especially if its a rainy day and one has young kids. I think no matter which country one comes from, having some kind of decorum is always better than none. I am pretty blessed to have mostly nice neighbours and got to know quite a few close friends here. Very thankful for any blessings that come my way.

I routinely greet the guards and recently had an incident where a vehicle of mine broke down while going back home, 2 guards helped to push and one guard even helped me call my wife and led her to me. Luckily i was able to self repair some parts and had her tow me back home with the tow rope.

The guard even helped to stop traffic until we got back. I went back to look for him a couple days later, shook his hand and gave him an early ang pao. He politely refused and told me he would have done so for all residents.

I am also blessed with a good neighbour, who owns a car workshop! So when my car recently begun to vibrate strongly at higher speed he was very kind to drive my car to his workshop nearby and drive it back that evening. Now the car drives smooth and nice! Swee!

 

[wuqi256]

I am also blessed with a good neighbour, who owns a car workshop! So when my car recently begun to vibrate strongly at higher speed he was very kind to drive my car to his workshop nearby and drive it back that evening. Now the car drives smooth and nice! Swee!

Very nice, its always good to have and treasure your neighbours. Happy that you have a good one.

A couple of times, someone helped to jumpstart my car and when he had a flat tyre, i was there for him too. Recently passed a few jump starters and fix a flat type of tyre repair kits to my family and friends.

 

[good2]

May everyone be blessed with good neighbours and good news!
Happy CNY !!!

 

[Mummymoo]

Put yourself in his place...... How would you react if you found a car blocking your drive way, irrespective of the fact that "..... no one ever showed up at the house....."?
Hat off to your husband for apologizing, realizing the "mistake". I'm sure your neighbour will "come around" and this incident will be forgotten.....
By the way did you notice the registration of the HUMMER?

Actually I have had the odd car or two that blocked my driveway in my old house but I believe it's always good to give people the benefit of the doubt

 

[Gardener]

I got what you mean. Hehe...

Great topic opened by mallow.

got everyone talking.

cheers

By the way did you notice the registration of the HUMMER?

 

[ginfreely]

To prevent people parking on your grass patch, I see what Sutera mall did is to put LARGE decorative stones on the grass patch. Previously, during weekends can see cars parked partial on grass patch and partial on road, narrowing the single lane road and caused jam within the car park.

Agree can't b too nice.

Coz then ppl sit on ur head and if possible shit too.

There are ugly Singaporeans n ugly Malaysians.

There was an occasion there was a wedding.

There were more than a 100 cars.

Some of them conveniently went up d grass patch outside my house.

The soil sank, grass was squashed n luckily for me the cement did not crack.

Who would Hv paid to repair?

Mbjb?

No way right even if it's in a public area...

So I had to find a way to prevent parking around my corner ppty.

And find I did...

Even if that meant I looked uncivilized.

 

[ginfreely]

No worries, it is common for neighbours' contractor vehicles to block the driveway during reno, usually people just horn or call out and wait patiently for the blocking car to move. I think your husband is very nice to run out to apologise, personally I have met such a neighbour before who during reno the air con contractor lorry blocked my driveway when my car is inside my car porch. I called out a few times "Hello" - very nicely btw - and the local neighbour just come out to take a look and turned back, as if none of their concern. I had to liaise with the aircon contractor - who was fixing aircon on the roof - myself to move the lorry.

I "met" my new neighbour and must say it wasn't the best first impression. Him in his Hummer honking loudly because his driveway was blocked by our electrician's vehicle. My reno work has been in full swing for the past month and no one ever showed up at that house so the workmen grew into the habit of parking there. Wow, did the workmen learn their lesson when my neighbour made his presence felt. My husband ran out to apologise and say hello but the neighbour decided to just wave him away and drove into his house.

I am still hopeful we would get along fine. The only thing I can control is my actions so I am determined to be the best neighbour ever, whether he likes it or not

Wish us luck everyone