I was inspired to write the following article as I have been studying in China for the past 3 years. And the following concludes the largest cultural difference between China and Malaysia from my point of view.
在过去的三年里，我在中国留学了，因此受到启发写下这篇文章。从我的角度来看，以下总结了中国和马来西亚之间最大的文化差异。 — By Adelina Tay @6Sense Marketing /copywriter
“Oh, you are not from China why is your Mandarin so fluent?”
This is the most frequently asked question as a Malaysian Chinese in China. One of the cultural differences in language is that we Malaysians grew up in a multiracial society hence resulting in our ability to speak in various languages such as the Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin and not forgetting the Chinese dialects. While the majority of the mainland Chinese can only speak Mandarin but as our era modernized the English language has been one of the compulsory taught second language in China. Often gaze of admiration is shown among their faces as Malaysians have the advantage in language.
“诶，你不是中国人，为什么你的普通话可以说得这么流利？”
作为在中国的马来西亚华人，这是最常见的问题。其中就是我们语言上的差异，我们马来西亚人在一个多种族的环境中长大，因此我们能够使用多种语言（例如马来语，英语，普通话以及各个方言）说话。虽然大陆大多数人只能说普通话，但随着我们时代的发展，英语已经成为中国的强制性第二语言。由于马来西亚人在语言上有优势，因此中国人的脸上常常露出钦佩的目光。
Wait, did someone mention food?
Besides being multilingual, let’s not forget all about the mouth-watering local foods. If anyone is slightly overweight the local food could take up the blame and it is not at all exaggerating! Malaysia has some of the top listed local delights, for instance, Nasi Lemak which is also known as coconut with rice, Ice Kacang which means ice with red beans and a variety of sweet sauces, Roti Prata is an Indian flatbread served with chicken curry, fish curry or dal and not forgetting the king of fruits — durian. All in all, Malaysia is also a food haven. In Malaysia, we are very privileged to have many types of cuisine from all of our different cultural backgrounds. As compared to China, the majority would only go for Chinese food. Another characteristic about mainland China cuisine Is that dishes often could be extremely spicy and the locals have high spice tolerance. And this is where ‘mala’ hotpot comes in, the ‘ma’ here means numb which means the spice could numb you up!
等等嗷，有人提到食物吗？
除了会说多种语言之外，我们也不忘有令人垂涎三尺的当地美食。如果有人的体重稍微超标，通通都怪当地美食，这一点真的不夸张！马来西亚的当地美食都常常被称赞，例如椰浆饭（Nasi Lemak）是椰浆和饭一起煮出美味的马来传统美食，红豆冰（Ice Kacang）就是冰与红豆和各种甜酱的一个甜品，Roti Prata是印度大饼一般和咖喱鸡，咖喱鱼或各种传统酱料搭配吃出美味，也不要忘了水果之王 — 榴莲。总而来说，马来西亚也是美食天堂。在马来西亚，我们非常荣幸能有来自不同文化背景的多种美食。与中国相比，大多数人只会选择中国食物。中国大陆美食的另一个特点是，菜肴通常可能非常辛辣，当地人对辣的忍耐力很高。相信大家都听过“麻辣”火锅，这里的“ 麻”表示麻痹，意思是说这辣能够让你吃到麻痹的爽快感！
All about the looks.
Moving on another cultural difference is that in China, people often are very concerned about the way they look. A lot of effort and time are invested in appearance as compared to Malaysians, we are on a more simple and casual side. The mainland Chinese would go all out to preserve the youth in their looks hence they take really good care of their skin and have a very tight watch on their diet to maintain a slim figure.
外表样貌很重要。
造成另一种文化差异的是，在中国，人们非常注意自己个人的外表。与马来西亚人相比，中国人在外观上投入了大量的精力和时间，而在马来西亚大家都交简单随和。在中国人们都会竭尽全力保护年轻的外貌，因此他们会非常呵护自己的皮肤，并注意饮食以保持苗条的身材。
The origin of culture.
In connection with the first paragraph on language, growing up in Malaysia had helped many of us to develop good interpersonal skills. It is not easy to grow up and always surround yourself with people from different backgrounds and roots but thanks to Malaysia it made us grow as a whole and not isolate one another. With this skill, it is easier for us to accept any new culture along the way. Whereby in China, the majority are Chinese and this is where you could feel the thick and heavy culture that they still preserve to this day as compared to Malaysia. Yes in Malaysia we do practice the Chinese culture but in China, they are way more precise and detailed on what to do and what to eat on certain occasions.
文化的起源。
和第一段相关，在马来西亚长大的确帮助我们许多人发展了良好的人际交往能力。此外在马来西亚成长并不容易，总是与来自不同背景的人在一起，同时这使我们以一个整体成长，而不是彼此孤立。有了这项技能，我们可以更轻松地接受任何新文化。在中国，大多数人是中国人，在这里您可以感受到他们至今仍保留的厚重文化。是的，在马来西亚，我们确实在实践中国文化，但在中国，它们在某些场合下做什么和吃什么的方式更加精确和详细。
In a nutshell, with the difference in both country’s culture, we are all blessed in one way or another. Our beloved homeland has taught us many values and amazingly it has taught us how to prepare ourselves to face challenges later in life.
总而言之，在两国文化的差异下，我们都是幸福的。我们心爱的家园教会了我们许多价值观，令人惊讶的是，它教会了我们如何做好准备以应对生活中各种的挑战。
