Bas Klein Geltink

Moving in my crib, a few facts about Malaysia, working and more working that’s where the story is about this time.

After 1,5 week delay I was finally able to move into my own crib! The reason for delay is still not really clear but thinks take a little longer here in Malaysia. You just have to except that :) Sita’s house, where I stayed before, was still ok but I was getting desperate to have my own place. I still felt as a guest although Sita was really easy going, the neighbour dog kept me awake at night and there was no air conditioning. Maarten my new housemate slept the last night in my room as well, because he was fed up with his hostel, so we both didn’t sleep much. I will put some pictures from my house online later, because I don’t have much time at the moment. The house looks great, it’s big, the community pool is next door and it is situated in a good (bit rich) neighbourhood. Besides Maarten are Sven and Tim living here as well.

You would never guess what I’m doing at the moment! Even op zijn Nederlands voor het geval mijn vrouwelijke manager meeleest :) Moet de laatste zaterdag van de maand werken, waar ik en mijn collega’s niet echt veel zin in hebben. Pas me aan met de bedrijfscultuur dus kom gewoon en draai mee. Omdat mijn collega’s heel relax zijn hebben we heerlijk ontbeten en een uitgebreide lunch gehad in de showroom. Nu is het even wachten tot de manager naar huis gaat zodat het geld en de speelkaarten op tafel kunnen! Ja Chinesen zijn gek van gokken.

Sorry but a few thinks are only for the Dutch guests!! The last Saturday of every month I have to work, this is the Chinese culture in my company. I’m not very happy with this, but try to adjust myself as much as possible to the company culture.

My work is good, my college’s are very friendly, have a good sense of humour and I learn a lot about the culture of doing business here. Most of the people here are open for a chat and interested to share their opinion about the world. So far so good! Yesterday (Friday) we organised a cooking class with a chef from Unilever and guests from MDBC (the organisation which organised my internship). Everything went well I only haven’t been so nervous for holding a presentation in years. Unexpectedly joint the general manager the audience. Nevertheless it went ok.

This was my week, tonight first a few hours of sleep and than a little beer, tomorrow will be a long sleep in and you can find me in the pool for the rest of the day!

Facts about Malaysia
This is my opinion or facts that others told me. I haven’t confirmed all of them so don’t blame me when they are not (fully) accurate.

Kuala Lumpur counts 1,8 million inhabitants and is part of the Clang Valley which counts 7.2 million inhabitants.
Traffic is terrible and rules don’t count as in Holland, they make easily a 4 lane road out of a 2. Scooters are everywhere and I have seen a few accidents already. If you access the road or change lanes and you get the chance to cut someone of you go for it!
The system is very corrupt. It’s all about knowing people or money. For example drunk and drive cost you normally 10 Euro cash by a police officer.
Only the royal family uses the colour yellow, in my town I have spotted the yellow Ferrari of the royal family.
The difference between rich and poor is huge. On my way to work I can see some townships and 10 min. away you see huge houses with expensive cars on the drive way.
There is a tax of max. 300% on foreign cars. Still you see them a lot in some areas but the Malaysian car companies are still doing good business with crappy cars.
Everything is cheap except alcohol.
50 % of the population is Malay, 10 % Indian and the rest is mostly Chinese. Most of the Malay’s are Muslim and have advantages in getting a place to study or work (government jobs). The Indians are not very well educated and the Chinese make 80 % of the gross domestic product, so they are the workers here in Malaysia.
It’s always very warm, day and night, but it’s mostly a (little bit) cloudy.


	Blog Third week in KL Dear Friends and family, Moving in my crib, a few facts about Malaysia, working and more working that’s where the story is about this time. After 1,5 week delay I was finally able to move into my own crib! The reason for delay is still not really clear but thinks take a little longer here in Malaysia. You just have to except that :) Sita’s house, where I stayed before, was still ok but I was getting desperate to have my own place. I still felt as a guest although Sita was really easy going, the neighbour dog kept me awake at night and there was no air conditioning. Maarten my new housemate slept the last night in my room as well, because he was fed up with his hostel, so we both didn’t sleep much. I will put some pictures from my house online later, because I don’t have much time at the moment. The house looks great, it’s big, the community pool is next door and it is situated in a good (bit rich) neighbourhood. Besides Maarten are Sven and Tim living here as well. You would never guess what I’m doing at the moment! Even op zijn Nederlands voor het geval mijn vrouwelijke manager meeleest :) Moet de laatste zaterdag van de maand werken, waar ik en mijn collega’s niet echt veel zin in hebben. Pas me aan met de bedrijfscultuur dus kom gewoon en draai mee. Omdat mijn collega’s heel relax zijn hebben we heerlijk ontbeten en een uitgebreide lunch gehad in de showroom. Nu is het even wachten tot de manager naar huis gaat zodat het geld en de speelkaarten op tafel kunnen! Ja Chinesen zijn gek van gokken. Sorry but a few thinks are only for the Dutch guests!! The last Saturday of every month I have to work, this is the Chinese culture in my company. I’m not very happy with this, but try to adjust myself as much as possible to the company culture. My work is good, my college’s are very friendly, have a good sense of humour and I learn a lot about the culture of doing business here. Most of the people here are open for a chat and interested to share their opinion about the world. So far so good! Yesterday (Friday) we organised a cooking class with a chef from Unilever and guests from MDBC (the organisation which organised my internship). Everything went well I only haven’t been so nervous for holding a presentation in years. Unexpectedly joint the general manager the audience. Nevertheless it went ok. This was my week, tonight first a few hours of sleep and than a little beer, tomorrow will be a long sleep in and you can find me in the pool for the rest of the day! Facts about Malaysia This is my opinion or facts that others told me. I haven’t confirmed all of them so don’t blame me when they are not (fully) accurate. Kuala Lumpur counts 1,8 million inhabitants and is part of the Clang Valley which counts 7.2 million inhabitants. Traffic is terrible and rules don’t count as in Holland, they make easily a 4 lane road out of a 2. Scooters are everywhere and I have seen a few accidents already. If you access the road or change lanes and you get the chance to cut someone of you go for it! The system is very corrupt. It’s all about knowing people or money. For example drunk and drive cost you normally 10 Euro cash by a police officer. Only the royal family uses the colour yellow, in my town I have spotted the yellow Ferrari of the royal family. The difference between rich and poor is huge. On my way to work I can see some townships and 10 min. away you see huge houses with expensive cars on the drive way. There is a tax of max. 300% on foreign cars. Still you see them a lot in some areas but the Malaysian car companies are still doing good business with crappy cars. Everything is cheap except alcohol. 50 % of the population is Malay, 10 % Indian and the rest is mostly Chinese. Most of the Malay’s are Muslim and have advantages in getting a place to study or work (government jobs). The Indians are not very well educated and the Chinese make 80 % of the gross domestic product, so they are the workers here in Malaysia. It’s always very warm, day and night, but it’s mostly a (little bit) cloudy. Groeten Bas