RE: Doing science in a developing country: my 2 month internship in Malaysia
Good description of Malaysian attitudes, tempered with a touch of humor. :)
I've lived in many different countries, and I've lived in Malaysia for about 9 years now. There's definitely something deep down in the subconscious of people here, that time and promises don't matter as much to them, as they do to me. They can say meet me at 3 and be an hour late, and they just wouldn't understand if I told them I was upset. Maybe I have a streak of Aspergers. Or maybe it's my Scandinavian upbringing. Germans and Japanese are the same way about rules, promises and punctuality I understand. Not so much the rest of the world... I've had similar frustrations in USA, for instance southern Florida. Maybe it's the heat. Or peaceful living - the Japanese and Europeans have been at war for thousands of years. Or both. :)
There definitely seems to be a bit of a climate-based difference in attitudes about being on time and keeping promises. Germany is, as you say, similar to the Scandinavian regions. During my master studies in Germany, other than me, most of my classmates were German. But there was one from Turkey and one from Brazil. They generally arrived late to everything. They both made a big effort to improve on that, knowing that the Germans value punctuality, and they did manage to get better. But it was really a struggle. They just weren't used to the idea.
My home country of Canada is also much the same as Germany/Japan/Scandinavia, as are the northern U.S. states. But as you head south things get slower and more laid back. Tropical island life is, from my experience, the most extreme example. No one is in much of a hurry and many are not bothered about just deciding not to show up if they feel lazy that day..
yes exactly lol