ORANG boleh kata rakyat Malaysia tidak berhemah di jalan raya, dan tidak pedulikan kebersihan tandas awam. Tapi apabila Kuala Lumpur dicap bandar raya yang mempunyai penduduk yang biadab, sukar Awang untuk menelannya sekalipun ia adalah hasil kaji selidik Reader's Digest, majalah senarai produk Super Brand yang turut menjadi tanda mutu di Malaysia.

Menurut kajian itu, Kuala Lumpur berada di tangga 33 daripada 35 bandar raya dunia yang diselidiki. Tiada kota raya Asia yang berada di tangga 20 ke atas.

Penilaian dibuat berdasarkan tiga perkara – kesediaan membuka pintu untuk orang lain, mengutip kertas yang terjatuh dari tangan orang lain dan memberikan senyuman kepada pelanggan. Adakah tiga perkara itu boleh diterima sebagai pengukur budi bahasa sejagat?

Budi bahasa juga berasaskan budaya yang berbeza antara tempat dan kelompok masyarakat. Misalnya, bercium di khalayak ramai adalah biadab di Asia, tapi tidak di Barat. Orang Asia juga lebih pemalu dalam berinteraksi termasuk segan untuk membuka pintu dan mengutip kertas yang terjatuh dari tangan orang yang tidak dikenali.

Awang - Ukur baju sendiri.


Most agree KLites are not courteous

PETALING JAYA: Kuala Lumpur residents are indeed a discourteous lot, say The Star readers. The overwhelming majority of the 286 readers who took part in an online poll found nothing to disagree with in the Reader’s Digest survey that rated Kuala Lumpur the third-worst among 35 cities in terms courteousness. Nearly 86% agreed that Kuala Lumpur residents were rude, with many voicing concern that people in the city seemed unable to say “thank you” or “sorry”. “They rarely say ‘please’, ‘thank you’ or ‘you’re welcome'. They never apologise when wrong and are arrogant, abusive, crass, dirty, noisy and selfish,” added Lee of Kota Kinabalu.
Said Aida of Subang Jaya: “Basic courtesy seems to have disappeared – no more smiles, or saying ‘excuse me’ when having bumped into other people accidentally.” Marcus Tay of Kuala Lumpur said most of his fellow residents were “indifferent people who only cared about themselves.”

The legendary driving “skills” of people in the city also came under scrutiny and criticism, with queue cutting widely cited as examples of discourtesy. “Look at how we drive!” added a reader from Kuala Lumpur.

Only 24 readers (8.4%) said the city’s residents were courteous people, while 16 readers (5.6%) were not sure. “Most residents are not rude,” said Tan of Seri Kembangan, who argued that the perceived discourteousness was the result of “everyone (being) in a rush and living a hectic lifestyle.” Said a reader in Sungai Nibong: “Penang people are worse.”