shima amiza's: malaysia? new zealand?

i was often asked, "how is it like, living in new zealand?"..."is it better than malaysia?"..."which do you prefer?malaysia or new zealand?"..."what do you like the most about new zealand?"..."which country do you feel safer to live in? malaysia? new zealand?"

bla bla bla

it was all fine at first, but when people kept bombarding me with such silly questions, i became annoyed. uh please! to be honest, i used to say, "new zealand is a very nice country to live in." the more i think about it, i came to realise that i never say, "malaysia is a very nice country to live in."

ironically, i'm a malaysian. yes, i am.

if i were to compare their beauty and environment, new zealand is undeniably incomparable. the places are awesome, the scenery is terrific! most importantly, there's no pollution here. i breathe in clean and fresh air everyday. neither in the cities nor in the countrysides. malaysia is not bad too. we have sipadan island, one of the most beautiful islands in the world. but sad to say, we lose when it comes to cleanliness and hygiene. malaysians know what i mean.

malaysia (0) - (1) new zealand

if i were to compare the crime statistics... i have never heard of bank robberies in new zealand. there might be some cases, but it's rare. but in malaysia, robbery is common. if you once lost your purse or laptop or hand phone in malaysia, to get them back is NEARly impossible. in new zealand, especially dunedin (since i live here), it's not like malaysia. last time, my friend carelessly left her pendrive at the library. 2 days after, she had a call and she was asked to come to the library and take her pendrive back. someone sent it there as 'a missing item'. another friend lost his wallet and he got the same call, being informed that a school girl found his wallet and gave it to the police. now, can u see the HUGE difference here? again, malaysia loses.

malaysia (0) - (2) new zealand

if i were to compare the road accident statistics... hundreds of people died on the road, in malaysia. especially during festive seasons. when i was enjoying myself during hari raya, and when i watched the news, news about car accidents were more than news about the celebration. how awful that is. what a pity, malaysia loses AGAIN.

malaysia (0) - (3) new zealand

i'm not writing to condemn my own county, my nation. as a citizen, i want to ask myself and others to think back, what have we done for OUR malaysia?

some things to ponder...

do you expect rivers to clean themselves and undo the pollution caused by humans?
do you expect the wind to blow the rubbish into the garbage can?
do you expect the goods you accidentally find on the road to beg you to return them to their owners?
do you expect your hands to stop stealing, without you willing to stop?
do you expect the roads to evade accidents?
do you expect the car to slow down itself when you push the pedal to your heart content?

DO YOU EXPECT OTHERS TO CARE FOR MALAYSIA IF YOU YOURSELF DO NOT EVEN CARE?

new zealand is a great country and its people make it even greater.
malaysia is too, a great country but WE have made our nation worse than it should be.

lets change ourselves and change malaysia.