First of all, I am using my life experience not studies I’ve read about.
In my childhood I was able and encouraged to play outside till dark… at least! In Malaysia the family allowed the kids to go outside whenever they wanted, they just had to stay inside the gated area. They had one hour at the park but I only saw that once.
Health. I along with friends were ‘forced’ to cover our coughs and sneezes and were sent home from school if you had a cold. In Malaysia, there is no covering for coughing or sneezing. The kids were still were allowed to go to school if they were sick. Although the families kids stayed in bed if they weren’t feeling well. One boy, though, came to kindy sick every day. I ended up getting sick and had to stay home one day because I was the one working with him.
Schooling is way different. We have elementary, middle, and high school where we learned many different subjects. In Malaysia, parents could send them to one of two elementary schools: English and Tymil languages with math and science or Chinese and Malay language with math and science. When they reached high school they all had to take a test to place them in the correct stage of learning for English and Malay languages and math and science.
This is why our contact came up with English class and Institution. To teach the children subjects early so that they have a better chance to go farther in high school and universities thereafter.
Entertainment. The family only watched movies and television at night. This is how I grew up but as life went on tv became more and more ‘necessary.’ I noticed that the families were more in tune with each other because they created the entertainment instead of sitting in front of the television.
Clothes. We had to wear clothes that covered our shoulders and knees. What was interesting about this was that in the classroom in front of all the kids.
The one thing that stood out most culture wise was while we were on the bus. Alex was introducing himself to a woman and went to shake her hand. She embarrassedly shook her head and said “no, I can’t. I’m married.” I didn’t ever think about simple things like a hand shake so it was a big culture shock slap in the face.
