The Malaysian Habit of Parking Wherever They Please

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The Malaysian Habit of Parking Wherever They Please A National Sport We Never Officially Admitted There are many unique cultural behaviors that define a nation. The British queue. The Japanese bow. The Germans engineer. And Malaysians? Malaysians park. Anywhere. Everywhere. All at once. In Malaysia, parking is not a skill. It is not a responsibility. It is not even a driving activity. It is a creative expression. A form of street art. A statement that says, “I exist, therefore I park.” You can travel across the entire country — from Perlis to Johor, from Kuantan to Kota Kinabalu — and you will witness the same magnificent behavior: a car parked diagonally across two lots like it is marking territory, a car parked in front of a shop “just for 2 minutes,” a car parked blocking another car with the phone number on the dashboard like a romantic invitation to strangers, and of course, the most powerful move of all — the double park and disappear technique. Malaysians don’t...
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Why Malaysians Don’t Trust Malaysians (And Then Wonder Why Everything Is So Expensive

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Why Malaysians Don’t Trust Malaysians (And Then Wonder Why Everything Is So Expensive)

Let’s start with a simple Malaysian business model:

Step 1: Customer comes
Step 2: Overcharge customer
Step 3: Customer never comes back
Step 4: Complain economy bad

Brilliant. Nobel Prize in Economics is on the way.

In many countries, business owners think about lifetime customer value.
In Malaysia, many people think about today value.

Not long-term relationship.
Not reputation.
Not referrals.
Just:

“How much can I squeeze this fella today before he disappears forever?”

And then we have the audacity — the absolute audacity — to complain:

  • “Malaysian customers very stingy.”
  • “People always ask for discount.”
  • “People don’t trust local business.”
  • “People prefer Shopee / foreign brands.”

You trained them to be like that.

The Great Malaysian Pricing System

Malaysia has one of the most advanced pricing systems in the world. Very sophisticated. Very scientific.

Price depends on:

  • What car you drive
  • How you dress
  • Your skin colour
  • Your accent
  • Whether you look blur or not
  • Whether you look rich but stupid
  • Whether you look poor but hardworking
  • Whether you say “boss” or “bro”
  • Whether you look like you know the price already

This is not pricing.
This is psychological warfare.

Walk into a workshop driving a Mercedes:

“Boss, this one very serious problem. Must change everything.”

Walk in wearing slippers and drive Myvi:

“Aiya small problem only boss, I help you cheap cheap.”

Same problem. Different face. Different price.
Welcome to Malaysia.

The Deposit Culture

Malaysian favourite sentence:

“Boss, need deposit first.”

After deposit paid:

  • Reply becomes slow
  • Suddenly very busy
  • Phone cannot reach
  • Mother sick
  • Lorry breakdown
  • Worker quit
  • Material price go up
  • Weather too hot
  • Weather too rainy
  • Then disappear like Avenger after Thanos snap

Deposit in Malaysia sometimes doesn’t mean commitment.
It means motivation to disappear.

The Tragic Part — We Do This To Our Own People

Here’s the ironic part.

Many Malaysians are extremely polite, honest, and professional when dealing with:

  • Tourists
  • Foreign companies
  • Expats
  • International clients

But when dealing with fellow Malaysians:

“Relax lah, he local what. Can tekan a bit.”

This is the part nobody wants to admit.

We don’t dare to cheat people who can sue us.
We don’t dare to cheat people who can expose us.
We don’t dare to cheat people who have power.

So who do we cheat?

The safe targets. Our own people.

Because the Malaysian mindset sometimes is:

“He won’t do anything one.”

Until everyone starts thinking like that.
Then suddenly:

  • Everything need contract
  • Everything need black & white
  • Everything need deposit
  • Everything don’t trust
  • Everything must compare 10 shops
  • Everything must read reviews
  • Everything assume kena scam first

Congratulations.
We have successfully built a low-trust society.

Low Trust Society Is Very Expensive

People think cheating makes things cheaper because you “earn more”.

Wrong.

Low trust society = everything becomes expensive because:

  • You need middleman
  • You need lawyer
  • You need agreement
  • You need agent
  • You need platform
  • You need escrow
  • You need reviews
  • You need to protect yourself from being cheated

In high-trust societies, people shake hands and deal is done.

In low-trust societies:

“Bro, send IC, send utility bill, sign agreement, stamp LHDN, take photo, send WhatsApp, email again, pay deposit, balance after delivery, but delivery maybe next month.”

By the time finish, everyone already tired.

The Biggest Lie We Tell Ourselves

Malaysians love to say:

“Malaysians very friendly, very nice, very polite.”

Friendly? Yes.
Polite? Yes.
Nice? On the surface, yes.

But trustworthy in business dealing with each other?
That one… whole different discussion.

We are a country where:

  • People smile with you
  • Call you “boss”
  • Call you “bro”
  • Call you “kawan”
  • Drink teh tarik with you

And still overcharge you after that.

This is not friendship.
This is soft scam with good customer service.

The Real Reason This Keeps Happening

Because many people don’t think cheating is wrong.

They think cheating is:

  • “Pandai cari makan”
  • “Rezeki jangan tolak”
  • “Untung sikit apa salah”
  • “Business is business”
  • “If I don’t take, other people will take”

So the mindset becomes:

Smart people cheat. Honest people get cheated.

When a society starts believing that, honesty becomes stupidity.

And when honesty becomes stupidity, trust dies.

When trust dies, everything becomes difficult:

  • Business difficult
  • Hiring difficult
  • Partnerships difficult
  • Buying house stressful
  • Renovation scary
  • Send car repair also scared
  • Even hire plumber also feel like gambling

That is a very tiring way to live.

Final Sarcastic Conclusion

Malaysians like to say:

“Support local business.”

But local business sometimes treat locals like:

“Walking ATM machine that can be milked once.”

You cannot build a strong country if:

  • Nobody trusts contractors
  • Nobody trusts agents
  • Nobody trusts workshops
  • Nobody trusts sellers
  • Nobody trusts employers
  • Nobody trusts employees

A country does not become developed because of tall buildings.

A country becomes developed when you don’t feel like you’re about to be cheated every time you take out your wallet.

That’s the real development indicator.

Not MRT.
Not skyscraper.
Not mall.

Trust.

And trust is built when people stop asking:

“How much can I earn from this person?”

And start asking:

“How long can I keep this person as a customer, partner, or friend?”

But that one…
Less exciting than quick profit.

So we continue.

Same story.
Same complaints.
Same scams.
Same distrust.

And then we all ask the same question every year:

“Why Malaysia like this ah?”

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