Post #1677228

One confusion I have about folks from the US (and other countries) is why they keep saying "I didn't realise [name of country] was so modern!" I see that in videos about Malaysia and China a lot, and now Iran lol. I use to joke: I thought you guys don't have a Great Firewall?? I try to understand more these days. Where I live, it's just taken for granted that you can are able to access media in different languages. In Malaysia, we have news playing on the main TV channels in three major languages: Chinese, Malay and English. Most Malaysians are multilingual. With the population conversant/fluent in the languages of the dominant business language of the world (English) and the largest developing economies in the world - China, India and Indonesia, we are able to tap into their media in their language effortlessly. (Eg, I read and talk to natives in their languages without a problem, so I can get their perspectives.) The Internet has made things even faster and easier. Not to mention we can fly to these countries in a matter of hours. Pair that with our natural suspicion of mainstream media (ahem), we've always had the habit of checking sources outside official ones. Meanwhile, in the West, they have to wade through screeds of propaganda, disinformation and algorithms to get the perspective of natives. In the US, I notice, they also “screen” newspapers for ideology first (is it right- or left- leaning), which means they are exposed to limited perspectives. Language is a massive barrier, especially since Chinese and Indian languages aren't exactly easy to read! On top of our basic fluency some of us have direct interactions with the Middle East through religion; it's also unsurprising that some of us read Arabic. So, South East Asians are truly special ... and I think Malaysia may be a head above in terms of cultural and langauge connectivity with various cultures around the world.