Tourism Minister, Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, has been under fire after he condemned DBKL for issuing summons against businesses that only use Mandarin and omit Bahasa Malaysia from their signboards.
According to the Tourism Minister, this has caused foreign tourists to consider Malaysia as a racist and extremist country, which can lead to these tourists losing interest in coming to our country.
Now, political and social advocate, Fairuz Azmi, has taken to his X page to call out these tourists for expecting Malaysia to be exactly like their own home countries, rather than a foreign country to them, as it takes away from Malaysia being unique.
He wrote, “People come to our country to enjoy the uniqueness of our country. If they come to our country but want our country to be exactly like theirs, it’s better that they don’t come at all.”
“If they don’t understand signboards, they should ask (for assistance). Many Malaysians can speak English. If they want to ask in Mandarin, there are many Malaysians who can speak Mandarin.”
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
He went on to share that tourists should make an effort to learn and understand, especially when there is technology to help.
“It’s even better if they learn our language. Our language is not even difficult to learn. Even more so that there are now all kinds of applications (to assist in such situations). We have our ways. There’s no need to bow to and entertain all the comments from outsiders. It’s as simple as that,” he added.
What do you think of his stance on this matter? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
