hello everyone...

[dinda]

hi...
im dinda, from malaysia...
a friend of mine email to me the link to this website...
anyway, im looking for friends from all over the world...
and please accept my apologize if i got a wrong place...
that's all for now... thanks for reading this... 

love,
dinda

[jm21-2]

Welcome aboard. We don't hear much about Malaysia for some reason on this board. It seems like it would be a great place to visit though! The pictures I've seen are beautiful, and I've heard the food is amazing.

[Ray]

     

[Dave H]

Hi dinda,

Welcome to P-L! You have come to the right place! I'm looking forward to reading your posts. As jm21-2 said, we don't hear much here about Malaysia here.

Dave H

[Jeff S]

Hi Dinda:
Great to have you here.
- Jeff

[dinda]

thanks jm21-2...

ya, malaysia is a nice place for your vacation and also a good place to build ur carier...
the only thing that u might hate is the traffic congested...
i would suggest u to go to Perhentian Island or Tioman Island... the beach is amazing and the coral is wonderful... been to these 2 islands for few times...
Taman Negara (Malaysia National Park) is not a bad choice too, its a tropical rainforest and has been awarded as the Great Natural Wonders of the World...

hmmm... Rainforest World Music Festival is coming soon... this is the 11th edition...
will be held on 11-13th July 2007 in Sarawak Cultural Village, Borneo...
this event is one of the hottest event every year...
u'll get to relax, enjoy the music and have fun at the same time...
i really want to go there and join them as a volunteer but still haven't receive any reply from their side till todate... 

as for me, im just an old fashion conservative girl who loves to cook, read, play sudoku... sometimes hang out with my friends at starbuck or watch movies... love to draw and take pictures too!! among all, i love cooking so much!!
i was borned and raised in Kuala Lumpur...
still here and loving it... 

p/s : my grammar is terrible... im sorry, my english is poor...


love,
dinda

[dinda]

thank Ray... 

[dinda]

hi Dave-H...
thanks to u too...
i'm gald to be here...
lots of friendly people...
have a nice day...


hi Jeff,
and thanks a lot to u...
it's great to be here... 


regards,
dinda

[jm21-2]

Ahhh...Starbucks really are everywhere.  .

The rainforests sound very interesting. If I remember right, Malaysia has the oldest rainforests in the world? Some survived the last ice age I think?

I think everyone here understands the difficulty of learning a second language...your English is way better than my Japanese ever was, haha. Don't worry too much about it.

[Ray]

Hi dinda,

My wife is Filipina but she lived in Malaysia for 4 years in Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya I think. She really liked it there.

I think your English is very good. Anyway, we don’t worry about proper grammar, spilling, and all that stuff on this forum so you can relax.

Ray

[dinda]

jm21-2,

ya, u can find starbuck all over the place... 
i dunno about the ice age stuff, but pretty sure its the oldest and best kept tropical rainforest in the world...
people go there to do research but i just went there for camping with my friends...

forgot to mention about the Sepang F1 circuit...
lots of tourist went there to watch the race, my brother went there every year...
but, i dun rili like it... it is too HOT and the heat can kill me... 
no, was just joking... but seriously, it is too HOT in Sepang, i can't stand the heat...

about the grammar...
still in the learning process, from song lyrics, magazine, newspaper and TV/radio...
i hope its not too bad...


regards,
dinda

[dinda]

hi Ray...

damansara utama... just 10mins from my office...
i work in kota damansara area... near The Curve and One Utama shopping mall ...
ask her, she'll sure know these 2 places...

regards,
dinda

[Dave H]

p/s : my grammar is terrible... im sorry, my english is poor...


love,
dinda

Hi dinda,

I disagree! Your English and grammar is excellent! How did you learn to write English so well? Only "from song lyrics, magazine, newspaper and TV/radio" Amazing! 

Dave H.

[dinda]

hi Dave H...

morning to u... *its 9.20am here, im at work...*
to be frank, i do learn english from school previously...
and since im not in school anymore, and busy working, the few sources i can learn from is from the media... newspaper, TV, mags and etc...

lucky for me, im working in advertising field, so lots of paperwork and conversation are mostly in english... whether i like it or not, i have to learn... people said practice make perfect, so tht's what i do now...  everyday is a learning process and im happy with it, besides its free!! hehehe!!

[Bob_S]

Hello!

You have arrived at a friendly place (most days).  The guys here will be happy to chat and give you good practice with your English.  Many will be eager to ask questions about your country.

Though if you have specific grammar questions, I would recommend you to sign on to Dave's ESL Café at http://forums.eslcafe.com/student/ .  There are many helpful teachers of both North American English and British English to help you with questions about phrasal verbs, gerunds, adjective clauses, and so on.  You will be joining students and business professionals from all over the world.


_______________________________________
Since my kids arrived, I discovered a startling (stupifying) new emotional impulse that hadn’t been present before: the reflexive willingness to walk off a cliff for someone else.
We say this out loud about various people in our lives: employers, friends, favorite novelists, favorite wives. But when push comes to shove… I’m not sure I want to be tested. Don’t quote me.
But our kids? I’ll take the bullet in a heartbeat. And I wish my children would appreciate this as they chuck their scrambled eggs at the ceiling.
-Berkeley Breathed

[dinda]

hello Bob_S,

yeah, so far some people had been so friendly... many might be eager to ask questions bout my country and im dying to answer those questions... no, just joking... have a nice day...

regards,dinda

[jm21-2]

Hey Dinda, I was wondering if I could ask a question about Malaysia?

From what I understand, there are three main groups: Malays, Indian-Malaysians, and Chinese-Malaysians. From what I've read it sounds like they don't mix much as far as marriage goes, but get along fine. Correct me if I'm wrong here .

So, the part of your post on the "Problems with a Filipina girlfriend" regarding religion made me curious. How does religion work out in Malaysia or marriage with a Malaysian, generally? How does it vary from group to group, generally?

I don't know practically anything about Hinduism, and Islam seems to vary dramatically depending on where a person comes from. I'd also heard that Islam in Malaysia absorbed a lot of the local beliefs and traditions...don't know how true that is.

Anyways, I'd appreciate if you could comment on that. I'm an Atheist and religion can be a very tricky topic with girls from some religions, especially if they're serious about their religion.

Sorry if I sound ignorant as hell ^^. I try to learn about other countries, but a lot of information you get through the internet or books is biased or not very good.

[dinda]

hello jm21-2,

1st of all, no u didn't sound ignorant at all to me... u sounds like someone who really keen to know and learn more about different culture and religion in this universe...  to be frank with u, this is a very challenging question for me and i need to answer them very carefully so that u don't misunderstand what im trying to explain...

it is true, we have 3 different main races in Malaysia, Malay, Chinese and Indian... we go to school together, work together, celebrate Aidilfitri (for Malay/Muslim), Chinese New Year (for Chinese/Buddha and etc) and Deepavali (for Indian/Hindu) together and so far there is no problem and everyone is happy & excited about it... Mix marriage does happen but very seldom. I dunno why but maybe they feel more comfortable to marry someone from their own race...

when u marry someone, it's not only u, marry to the woman/man u love, but u also getting married to her/his family and the same thing goes to ur partner...

young people in Malaysia nowadays, they dun have problem with mix marriage. but some parents, they might feel a lil bit reluctant for their kids to marry someone from different races and religion. mix marriage between Chinese and Indian in Malaysia has not much issue... even if the got married, they still can stick to their own believe.

but, if u want to get married to a Muslim woman/man, there will be some issue. in Malaysia, once u are born as a Muslim, u are not expected to change ur religion. if u ever intended to marry a Muslim woman/man, u are advised to think thoroughly about it and must be willing to convert not just because u want to marry her/him but to believe in the religion itself.

about the religion, in Malaysia as long as u dun insult other religions & race and dun try to stir up with the sensitive issue involving these 2 main things, u'll be just good...  everyone is free to express their opinion,but do it in a proper way. and im sure no one in this country want to ruin the harmony & peace that we have since the past 50years...

when we talk about practice of religion, like what u have mentioned, the way they perform their prayer, the culture, the tradition, is a lil bit vary for different parts of the continents... Islam have different principle, Sunni and Syi'ah... in Malaysia we practice Sunni, so far i never come across any Muslim who blend it with some traditional ritual or culture.

im serious about my religion, however i dun find it too tricky and complicated stuff to discuss about. sometimes what u get from the books and internet doesn't rili accurate with the actual event and some of it might not be applicable and appropriate for u to refer to...

i hope u dun have any problem to understand what im trying to explain. and feel free to ask me anything u are curious about, and i will try my best to answer them...


regards,
dinda

[jm21-2]

Thanks Dinda! Definitely useful information . I really need to get a book on Hinduism and learn more about it. I thought there may be some conflicts between it and other beliefs.

One more question, if you don't mind: is it typical for young Indian-Malaysian girls to date? Or are arranged marriages more common? Not sure if arranged marriage is the right word, but I've read some Indians do not date, just are introduced to the person and after a sort of interview decide whether to get married or not. It's common in some Muslim countries too I think.

[jm21-2]

Hate to bombard you with questions, but it's rare to have the opportunity to get advice from a nice Malaysian girl...

So, recently, in another thread (http://www.planet-love.com/forum/index.php?topic=3200.0), there was a bit of discussion about how girls from other countries felt about being house-wives. I'm a fairly smart, modestly successful guy, and would really like to meet a girl who is intelligent, hard working, and ambitious. Those qualities are very attractive to me. But at the same time, I hate the idea of my children being sent to daycare, and would really like a girl who would be a house-wife and take care of all the things that make a household function. Do you think an intelligent, hard-working Malaysian girl would enjoy being a house-wife?

In America, most girls see being a house-wife as a bad thing. Especially if they had a career. A lot of the girls who are willing to be a house-wife view it as a sacrifice...they're giving up their career to raise the children and take care of the husband, and they generally think they deserve some sort of reward for making such a huge sacrifice.

[dinda]

hello jm21-2,

i think we rili have a good things to discuss oevr here... and i think it is much better if i move this discussion to a new topic...

please check my answer in Asian General discussion under "i HEART Malaysia..."

anyway, u make me study english even more frequent now... hardly leave my dictionary since yesterday... hehe!!

regards,
dinda