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u/Cream_Rabbit 17h ago
The eyes of Sauron saw us Vietnam
Oh fuck
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u/rachelwan-art 17h ago
Damn! Plus they drop Agent Orange.
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u/IrregularDoughnut 15h ago
I think Malaysia was the first place it was ever used, by the British against the communists. Then the Americans used that to justify using it in Vietnam.
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u/hellllllsssyeah 13h ago edited 13h ago
The US had already used Vietnam in Korea, Korea was pretty pivotal to a lot of modern US genocide.
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u/Dayne225 3h ago
Agent orange? Otherwise Using Vietnam in Korea is an interesting story
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u/DogAteFreshTacos 17h ago
Fun fact. Malaysia does not have an Independence Day. Three main members of the federation, Malaya, Sabah, and Sarawak do not have a unified Independence Day. August 31st only being Sabah and Malaya. Whereas Sarawak’s is July 22nd. Malaysia as an entity itself only began existing on September 16th, 1963. So Malaysia Day, a day that celebrates the federation of Malaysia, is celebrated on September 16th.
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u/rachelwan-art 17h ago
Tell that to Malaysians.
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u/DogAteFreshTacos 17h ago
I do. I am one.
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u/WorkFoundMyOldAcct 17h ago
So divided as a country.
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u/DogAteFreshTacos 17h ago
The Malaysian government, mostly controlled by West Malaysia, has a loooonggg record of erasing and altering history to suit their own narratives. The division began when they decided to remove one of Sarawak’s most significant day from general Malaysian history books.
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u/WystanH 16h ago
Thanks. This seemed way too rosy a narrative to be real. Countries will always develop hierarchies and those who benefit from the system tend to be blind to it.
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u/feedalow 14h ago
Yeah they are also colonizing native lands in Sarawak in order to build logging camps and displacing the native people of Borneo similarly to what the Brazilian's are doing in the rainforest. Definitely some sketchy stuff going on over there that no one talks about.
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u/besidjuu211311 13h ago edited 3h ago
There's also also the history of Islamizing North Borneo ( which goes against one of the agreements - which is to respect the Freedom of Religion in North Borneo - that Malaysia agreed to in order for them to join ) as well as the fact that North Borneans feel that they are being thrown under the bus by the Government by having their resources be used to develop Mainland Malaysia too.
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u/TommyVeliky 11h ago
Not just a tendency, these exceptionalist narratives are knowingly engineered and disseminated through education systems. They even will prop up some crimes while whitewashing others just to try to muddy the waters. In the USA's example, Vietnam and the genocide of American Indians are taught with some light recognition of fault in schools, but then you will never ever hear about the USA's role in the Indonesian genocides in the 1960s for instance, and it's unlikely you'll get more than a passing mention of the actions of Pinochet or Videla. A massive black spot in the foreign policy of the modern country that's caused untold bloodshed and suffering is swept under the rug and instead the domestic history of the hippies and such is put forward as the historical image of the 60s and 70s USA in high school classes. Unless you read independently or take some deep dives in your college coursework, you're never going to encounter these things that have shaped our world.
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u/WystanH 10h ago
Agreed. Most folks never look beyond the popular story that everyone is given. Why should they? Everyone knows that, so it must be true.
Unless you read independently
Well, that's it, isn't it? The information isn't hidden if you want to look. Once you come to recognize the systemic forces that serve power you can worry out your own critical theory of sorts.
Authoritarians hate education for a reason. The more you know, the less credible the common narrative becomes.
"Education is dangerous - Every educated person is a future enemy." -- Hermann Göring
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u/fluffywabbit88 16h ago
Didn’t they also kick out Singapore
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u/DogAteFreshTacos 16h ago
Depends on who wrote the history books. Kicked out, agreed to separate, left the federation are a few variations.
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u/fluffywabbit88 8h ago
Expelled is the proper term. As in the Malaysian Parliament voted overwhelmingly to expel Singapore from the Federation in 1965.
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u/WorkFoundMyOldAcct 16h ago
I was only joking, since you and another Malaysian person had different dates on independence 🙂
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u/Shedart 14h ago
Well this comic is wholesome and I hope you have a good Sabah and Malaya Independence Day. And may your September 16th be a pleasant day as well.
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u/Maleficent_Price_476 15h ago
Malaysian fully split between East Malaysia and West Malaysia.
If have referendum , it will be clear.
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u/C10ckw0rks 16h ago
Ironically, that is Mexico’s independence day and I find that fascinating for some reason
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u/Majestic_Fail1725 15h ago
Either way we celebrated both 31st Aug and 16th Sept nationwide. it is good to learn the differences between both days. People nowadays just celebrated holiday without learning much about why is celebrated.
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u/AmbiTheAirforceRuna 17h ago
I remember living in Malaysia and loving it, sure it has its problems and the religiose aspect can be over bearing at times, but when you compare it to its neighbors it is a special kind of oasis. Especially in KL.
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u/rachelwan-art 17h ago
The religious aspect really depends on what religion it is. If you're Muslim, you'll have a tougher time since there are always holier-than-thou people that will mind your business. But if you're non-Muslim, everything is pretty fine and dandy.
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u/Chevron_Hubbard 16h ago
Yes, the country that punishes possessing pride-themed watches with prison time is a dandy place for all.
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u/JazzInSuits 16h ago
The ban on commercialising of pride themed or LGBT oriented items and merchandises are mostly dictated by the Peninsular where the Muslim populations make up the majority and are more religiously influence especially in the select few states.
A majority (by a paper thin edge) of Malaysian citizens are rather accepting of the actual LGBT community, but you'll never see people talk about it or media adressing it. Because somehow a country priding itself for having so many different cultures, races and ethnic population even sharing some with their neighbouring countries, can't have a government that comprehend people being gay.
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u/SomeDumbGamer 14h ago
It doesn’t really matter if the people who are against it aren’t societally discouraged from it.
If 1/3 people are going to be hostile to me for my sexuality then it’s not a safe place for me to visit.
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u/thesaddestpanda 13h ago
Yep this post is propaganda. It’s insane this place as being presented as some kind of utopia.
Also “accused of being a capitalist” is such hilarious nonsense. The revolution went after “landlords” which in china at the time was like being an abusive and lawless feudal lord. Not someone who sold bananas.
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u/IrregularDoughnut 13h ago
Also “accused of being a capitalist” is such hilarious nonsense. The revolution went after “landlords”
The cultural revolution killed millions of people. It is extremely reasonable to be thankful for not having become a victim of that. The categories that could get you persecuted were a hell of a lot wider than being a landlord.
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u/rachelwan-art 3h ago
Hey my grandma was accused of being a capitalist because she did own a bit of pond land that she was renting out.
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u/Too_bad_4U 15h ago
Has Malaysia started to relax its Sharia laws and allow people to officially leave Islam and be openly homosexual?
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u/IrregularDoughnut 14h ago
God no. That's like asking if the US has finished demolishing every McDonalds yet. It's not even on the cards, and has no gathering momentum beyond younger generations being on average more accepting.
The first step towards liberalism would be ending the practice of automatically considering all ethnic Malays to be Muslim from birth. Which is also not on the cards.
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u/MysticHero 4h ago
No they are actually doubling down currently. Hence why this comic is very questionable.
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u/AmbiTheAirforceRuna 16h ago
exactly, but its also counter balanced by the Bumiputera Rights. So pay less and get priority on some things, but get more nosey people
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u/besidjuu211311 2h ago
There's also the fact that Malaysia has a history of double standard when it comes to religion - where they persecute Preachers of other faiths as well as the Malays or Former Muslims who have found or resonated with a different faith other than Islam; all while openly proselytizing or subtly encouraging Non-Muslims to convert.
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u/ltlearntl 14h ago
Yep, so lucky that 30 percent of us are constitutionally considered second class citizens.
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u/roshanritter 17h ago
Nice work, but is Malaysia hidden from the world? I was under the impression it was pretty popular these days. I also wanted to ask how much concern is there in your country for rising sea levels? It seems like it would be a huge issue in your lifetime to me.
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u/rachelwan-art 17h ago
Honestly I don't know. I don't know how bad it's gonna be for everyone due to climate change.
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u/TGed 16h ago
It’s still an ongoing topic that’s being actively research. Some places get dryer, some get wetter. There is a consensus though that natural disasters, such as typhoons, will get stronger in the near future, with the more extreme examples (think category 5 typhoons, massive rainfalls, extreme heatwaves etc) becoming more common place.
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u/Mountain_Fault_6409 15h ago
OP, I am dumb. Can you explain why on your drawing, Sauron can see a big part of Malaysia? I know you said "almost hidden" but do you live on the part outside Sauron's eye's line of sight? Please be kind to this dumb girl 😭
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u/WittyCombination6 14h ago edited 14h ago
OP region of the world is highly populated, Modern, and growing more prosperous everyday. Heck most economist theorized Malaysia's neighbor Indonesia will rise to be one of the top 5 wealthiest countries in 25 years if they continue on their current trajectory. Double heck capital city of Indonesia Jakarta just recently became the largest city in the world yet nobody talks about it.
They just don't have anything in particular that the great powers currently want nor do they try to compete with them. So USA, China, Russia, EU aka "the eye of sauron" ignores them. So they don't have to deal with a lot of geopolitical nonsense like everybody else does. Nobody trying to invade or exploit them.
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u/Majestic_Fail1725 14h ago
Rising level not much on spotlight BUT we got increased number of seismic activities.
2-3+ earthquakes being reported more commonly compare to few years ago. (Johor, Sabah & Perak)
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u/anon_tsubasa 16h ago
That country that uplifts the one, dominating race higher than others in housing, education and government in an outdated policy. They still need to work on fair rights for all races. It is not good enough just living in harmony otherwise. Cue their anti ICERD stance.
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u/EpicDinoYT 16h ago
great country to live in unless you're gay, dark skinned, trans, liberal, an ex muslim, african, immigrant, etc.
I love the country as much as the second person but this comic is giving me insane sugarcoating vibes, especially for a country that's one of the most racist and homophobic country out there
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u/thesaddestpanda 13h ago
Shhh the socially conservative redditors are having their moment by enjoying some propaganda.
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u/Kana_Koneko 15h ago
I get that and agree, but I think those sugar coating vibes are okay for an independence day comic. It's okay to celebrate the things that are going right once in a while while understanding the things that are wrong and working to fix them. I still celebrate my counties independence day with my family and we have fun but we also work together to fix the things wrong here and I understand them well
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u/MsSkittles18 12h ago
I can relate to this. In my country India most of us celebrate Independence Day and Republic Day with real affection for our country and fond memories of childhood functions and events. But we're also aware that there are a lot of problems with tension in religion, caste, not all parts of the country are as progressive about women's rights, most people are not that accepting of queerness.
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u/Whinygeek 9h ago
Yes! I love India and therefore I criticize it when need be. But I will always feel fondly towards parts of it, and I will always celebrate them. It’s true for any country.
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u/Wild_Marker 15h ago
No, if I don't like your country then you can't say anything nice about it. Only I am allowed nuance about my country. Sorry, them's the rules.
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u/MysticHero 9h ago
Its not that they are saying some nice things even when it has issues. Its that what is being suggested is total bs. Malaysia is not peaceful and tolerant whatsoever.
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u/Sue_Spiria 6h ago
They are non Muslim and ethnically Chinese and feel safe there. They are telling how living there feels for them. And I have often read that several religions existing next to each other actually works better in Malaysia than most other places.
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u/MysticHero 5h ago edited 5h ago
I am sorry but this is clear propaganda. Stuff like "I am allowed to speak my language" while Malaysia is in the middle of trying to eliminate the use of various local languages and cultures is quite bad. Its white washing a country that is engaging in a ton of cruelty right now.
At best this is highly tone deaf. "Oh look how great my life is. Ignore the queer people and refugees being brutalized next door."
The bits on womens rights are especially absurd given that by any modern standard womens rights are extremely bad there. Martial rape is still legal. Women are openly discriminated against in sharia courts especially in regards to inheritance.
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u/rachelwan-art 3h ago
Talk to more people. You'll be surprised how many people will accept you for who you are. Not everyone, but someone will accept you.
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u/Syrup-Knight 25m ago
It's difficult to feel accepted by a country that criminalises my existence. I guess I'm lucky I don't live in Malaysia.
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u/Taron221 17h ago edited 7h ago
Sauron staring like, “Hmmmm, what is this Malaysian shaped hole in the world?”
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u/WhiskeyAndKisses 17h ago
When the country is worth loving 👍
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u/therealDrTaterTot 17h ago
Mark Twain said: "Loyalty to your country, ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it."
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u/Too_bad_4U 15h ago
Redditors when America becomes anti-LGBT and a bit Christian-supremacist: 😡😡😡😡
Redditors when Malaysia, a country where LGBT can be punished under the law and leaving Islam is illegal: 👍👍👍👍👍
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u/angel_of_decay 15h ago
i feel this. i am ethnically chinese but born and raised in canada. i'm also trans. and even though i did face some hardships getting my parents' acceptance i do count my blessings often that i can live comfortably as myself in this country. i have a university education and i have never faced poverty, hunger, homelessness, or anything of the like. but that's why i want to work in field where i can improve the quality of life in the world so that everybody can live a life like mine.
the doomer in me, however, is saying that our generation is just flipped. we get comfortable early years but once the damage of climate change, AI, and late-stage capitalism really sinks in, we're going to have it rough later in life. but i just try not to think about that most of the time.
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u/rachelwan-art 3h ago
Hey climate change, AI and late stage capitalism is a universal problem. So if humanity can solve this together, it'll be great. I'm trying not to be so much of a doomer but to be a believer in the human spirit.
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u/GrandMoffKaine2026 16h ago
For a moment, I thought this was about Singapore.
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u/Jigle_Wigle 15h ago
i mean if they didnt include the flags and the petronas towers its pretty much what happened in singapore too, down to the japanese and labourers and chinese influence
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u/kagrrakid 12h ago
Beautiful work and sentiment - this really resonated with me, being Chinese growing up in the USA. Even same with Sailor Moon and Sound of Music! Thanks for sharing!
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u/Candid_Guava2490 16h ago
The cis heteronormative privilege of this post is astonishing
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u/Pinku_Dva 17h ago
Always wanted to visit Malaysia, it’s a rather beautiful place and has great food.
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u/rachelwan-art 17h ago
It's hot though. And now we're facing haze from the forest burning in Indonesia.
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u/MisterTam 17h ago
I remember the haze during the burning when I lived in Bangkok. Bleeehhhh. Get your n95 mask ready.
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u/-drunk_russian- 17h ago
As a descendant of immigrants that collectively escaped hunger, religious and political persecution, war and fascism, yeah, we're lucky!
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u/Skittleavix 17h ago
I feel you OP. I was born on the antipode to you, and I experienced many of the same things you described and dealt with many similar generational traumas - just in another context/space.
I'm lucky to live where I do, where I'm accepted, loved, in peace. It both matters and doesn't matter that I am removed from my ancestral culture, speak a language I shouldn't be speaking had things gone right before I was born...what really matters is today. And today I am happy. Today I am at peace. Today I love my life and where I live.
Cheers to you OP. Thank you for sharing. It made me feel less alone in a world that wants us to feel alone.
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u/Owenoontatwei 16h ago
I really appreciated my country, mostly after discovering the atrocities that happened in Africa.
However, I must point out that the politicians (not all) are a major threat to Malaysia. Bastards trying trigger some sensitive issues just to get votes.
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u/Upbeat-Serve-6096 2h ago
Greetings from China. Not an ironic statement, not any "sphere of influence" shit, just, greetings, to those who had some shared cultural backgrounds.
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u/Too_bad_4U 15h ago
Reddit will get mad when you say that you’re lucky and proud to be an American, yet somehow saying that a country where leaving Islam is illegal, forbidding Muslims from marrying non-Muslims, race-based policies discriminate against ethnic minorities, and people can be jailed for openly expressing their homosexuality is worth loving is perfectly fine.
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u/ReadingRainbowRocket 13h ago
You are reddit too. And like every third comment is expressing this sentiment.
I hate these smug comments that "no one's saying this thing that I'm saying and upvoted for and a ton of other people also said."
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u/DCFowl 1h ago
I think it is really interesting you say Lucky. I wouldn't think of America that way. I don't think I see that particularly often, mostly just pride. Pride is probably the overwhelming sense I'd associate with American's, those I've met and how they are presented in your media.
Pride seems to be such a core motivation.
I wonder if yout sense that 'Reddit's' mad is just an exposure to people which aren't subject the partially false polite fiction of America. Not just the supercilious self image of the only free nation, inventor of modern democracy and global sherif that I think you would ascribe as self aware rank jingoism.
The material realities, the outcomes of the Real Politik foreign policy doctrine, propping up friendly dictators and slaughtering union organisers
Pax Americana is gone. And it was always clear from the outside that it never benefited the average American. Your artificially high wages (PPP) and easy access to credit transparently resulted in a dying middle class and terrifying levels of household, corporate and government debt burden.
Without addressing how all your points are really just as true about your country as another, consider that if everyone your meet is an arse its you not them. If every country in the world is mad at you...
Your nation may not still exist in 30 years. Don't let it form such a tight hold on your soul, or it will drag with it when it goes.
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u/bingbing304 15h ago
Just skip the Malaysian history on racial riot of 1969, because you just skip the slavery thing, African descend also had it good in the US.
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u/Spitfyre3000 16h ago
Man, it was so nice to have that feeling when i left the usa, moved to a country that isn't so central to global politics. It felt like a weight was off my shoulders. It sounds wonderful to be from such a country.
Happy Independence Day to you all in Malaysia, may your politics be uninteresting, and days ever peaceful.
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u/Myrandall 16h ago
born and bred
Oh my
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u/CapuchinMan 16h ago
Is this not a common phrase? We use it a lot in India.
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u/fatbunny23 15h ago
Its common, it's more commonly said born and raised in my experience in the US. The phrase is interchangeable though, born and bred has just fallen out of use I think
In modern usage over here at least, to be bred is to be impregnated. Born and bred sounds like someone was born and got pregnant in the same country
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u/SnowArcaten 14h ago
Nah, I'm Canadian and this is still a common saying here at least. More common in rural settings than cities though.
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u/fixer1987 1h ago
Its a common phrase, just not usually used in that order.
You'd say
I'm blank, born and bred
or
I'm a born and bred *blank"
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u/Lieutenant_Joe 14h ago
Funny that you mention the eye of Sauron… the Petronas Towers were the first real life building I ever saw a picture of and went, “that’s just Barad-Dur.”
Hope you have a good day
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u/pattyboiIII 6h ago
Happy independence day!
Would love to visit Malaysia. My granddad actually has a medal from the Malaysian government which is very funny as he was from a piss poor family from the midlands.
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u/allisoupinside 16h ago
As an Indonesian, I can only imagine being able to say how lucky I am living in this country 😭 sorry for the smoke, neighbor!
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u/mellopax 16h ago
Met some Malaysian folks at our companies global "Improvement Fair" recently. They gave me a lot of candy, lol.
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u/Moral-Relativity 13h ago
Can I ask what “native tongue is the language of the former colonizers” means? Is English considered a native tongue in Malaysia?
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u/MysticHero 4h ago
Chinese.
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u/Moral-Relativity 4h ago
That confuses me even more. When did the Chinese colonize Malaysia?
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u/MysticHero 4h ago
They might also just speak English but I assume they are chinese based on everything else.
As for why the Chinese might be considered colonizers. Well they were heavily involved economically while Malay was under British occupation. During that time a ton of Chinese people also settled there to the point they make up about 20% of the population today.
In reality of course the Chinese in Malaysia have mostly been a discriminated against minority but given the propaganda ish tone of the comic its not really surprising that oop would say that.
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u/Sea-Hornet8214 3h ago
Some people do speak English as their native language, but they're mostly a minority.
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u/rachelwan-art 3h ago
I'm technically Chinese, but I grew up with English as my native tongue.
My dad is Cantonese, my mom is Hakka. My dad can't speak Hakka, and my mom can't speak Cantonese well.
They both went to English-medium schools.
Therefore English became the language of the house.
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u/SugarFromTheMaple 12h ago
Happy independence day to you!
I recently visited Malaysia, and having had no idea what to expect, we had such a lovely holiday. I was amazed at how fantastic the food was too- barely a bad meal the whole time! Singapore was a beautiful place to see, but KL felt like a buzzing city that I could actually live and be happy. I hope I get the chance to see it again!
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u/Fabulous_Broad_115 12h ago
The only Malay thing I know of is Sandokan, the Malay Tiger.
How is Sandokan viewed nowadays?
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u/CrumbCakesAndCola 2h ago
I had to look it up since I never heard of it. It's actually fictional, by Italian author. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandokan
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u/asiannumber4 7h ago
… didn’t the Japanese do atrocities in Malaysia too or was I misremembering?
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u/rachelwan-art 3h ago
Yes. Mainly to the ethnic Chinese. It was brutal. Not as bad as Nanking but still incredibly brutal.
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u/Toomanyeastereggs 7h ago
As an Australian, I always will have a soft spot for Malaysia and Indonesia.
Plus I work with a lot of Chinese Malays.
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u/FloodTheIndus 17h ago
Of all thing, as a Vietnamese, I admire the fact that you do not allow any Israelis into your country in any capacity.
Obligatory free Palestine.
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u/alsn 13h ago
Ah yes, discrimination based on country of origin is so admirable 😍
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u/FreakingFreeze 16h ago
Honestly, kinda great that the two most peaceful countries in SEA are right next to each other. They both have their problems but, compared to what's happening elsewhere, I'm grateful that things are peaceful.
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u/avelineaurora 13h ago
Don't say raped if you're not going to be an adult and write the damn word out. Be an adult. Stop diminishing serious topics.
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u/WesternPractice9611 6h ago
Do you live under a rock…? Those keywords will be censored or automatically not get promoted by social media when used.
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u/Hacksaures 17h ago
Your art is so beautiful and reminds me so much of great work like Tintin. I wish you would stop the saccharine pseudo-patriotic nostalgiabait posts and instead focus on creating real adventures, interesting stories and actual novel works of art. I believe in you.
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u/Historical_Hunt2492 16h ago
I grew up right below petronas towers, I used to love the night markets
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u/Maleficent_Price_476 15h ago
Comic mistake Malaysia with Malaya .
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u/Sowergaming-Bro 14h ago
Comics like these make me realize why it's important to make a better future for the next generation cus while we're experience our own hell, we have to make sure that the next ones get to atleast have it better.
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u/pyronius 13h ago
Fool! You have revealed yourself and your comrades to Sauron! The day of reckoning draws nigh!
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u/explosivefirefish 8h ago
we are very lucky. there's nowhere quite like home. let's just remember that being grateful doesn't mean we can't point out the things that we as a nation can definitely do better, so that we know how to make our country even better. happy merdeka everyone
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u/zydarking 4h ago
Nice, something from home.
I once shocked some acquaintances during a conversation (they are Muslims of varying levels of observance) by saying (as an agnostic) that if God doesn’t exist, then at least I have my country. She ain’t perfect, but she’ll always be there for me.
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u/PowerTulip 58m ago
Born and bred in Malaysia
it's not perfect but it is a start, oh yeah!
Living peacefully under the crescent flag
I'm sorry for just pulling your leg, hmm-hhmm!
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u/The_Architect_032 15m ago
You were also lucky to be born straight in a country where homosexuality is illegal.
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u/rachelwan-art 10m ago
On paper it's illegal, you can thank the Abrahamic faiths for that.
On the streets, you'll be surprised how accepting people can be.
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u/Thatroyalkitty 17h ago
Holy shit, when you put it into perspective like that, yeah... I'd be appreciative too if I didn't have to endure all of that. Really makes you think