Incidents with the Korean

Mid of last week I had to attend a final draft presentation of a nearly completed study focusing on the Korean and Japanese tourist and their spending pattern whilst in Malaysia. It says that the Koreans in terms of demographic are mainly the young ones and they are highly educated i.e. degree and masters level. Of course this study have not been completed, therefore some of the findings disclosed here must not be taken as conclusive. Koreans are also considered late bloomers in the travel industry as they have just begun to travel abroad due to their "hermit" nature and their obvious intention not to mingle with other non-Koreans.

The study reminded me of an incident which happened not too long age with a bunch of Korean kids. Me and Kolat was in Suria KLCC after a lovely lunch with my parents in the KL Convention Centre's cafe. We wanted to watch Eagle Eye, starring Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan. So we bought the tickets and went in the cinema. Our seats was the first and second from the aisle and besides us were a bunch of Korean kids, about 6-7 pax. They were in their late teens, I guess. I was coughing quite badly and frequently at the time. So as soon as we settled in the seats, I began to cough. The Korean girl next to me immediately turned her head to the other side and started rambling something in Korean, and quite suddenly she stood up and get this: knocked her knees to mine and started to wave her palms to me in a shooing motion, as if she was shooing a fly or some other animal. I felt so insulted but I didn't say anything. All the while she was rambling and obviously complaining to her friends in the loud and rude-sounding Korean language. I let her pass, and she was sitting on a seat just in front of me. I was complaining to Kolat about the rude Korean girl and was saying things that I'd like to say to her and cursing her at the same time.

Not so long after, a few boys came in the cinema at the place where the Korean girl was sitting. Obviously it was their seats. The Korean girl got annoyed, again, because she didn't want any Malay to sit next to her. Then the girl got up and started doing the shooing motion and move to a seat which was to the very front row which was so close to the screen that she'd practically had tilt her head back to watch the movie. I had hoped that she'd had a terrible neckache by the end of the movie. I said to Kolat: "Padan muka dia, crazy girl, so rude. Ntah dia paham atau tidak tengok English movie". She was really rude and loud in the cinema. In my prejudiced state of mind at that time, I think she didn't really understand the movie. She just wanted to be there to look cool and just see Shia LaBeouf. Now I have the impression that Koreans are really rude people, that their sweet facade is just that, a facade that hides their true personality. If you've ever seen some Korean movies or drama, they'd always have an arch-typical character of macho ma or some gangster-girl or some damsel in distress. Phooey...all fake Koreans...I couldn't watch another Korean movie or drama, still haven't. I will keep it that way, as long as I'm able to.

By the way, Eagle Eye was a good movie and the two of us really enjoyed it. On our way out, we saw the girl again, smiling sweetly to her friends as if nothing happned. And all I could think about was that "This crazy girl is so fake...". I know I'm so passive-aggressive. I'd only have bad thoughts about other people and their actions, but I don't actually do anything about it. The hell with it...as long as the Koreans are in Malaysia, and they spend their money here, at least our country can benefit from that. Right? Spoken like a true tourism person...