According to Google, people in the world are known for…

January 13th, 2006

Here's a world map of prejudices.

The text balloon pointing our way says:

genuine warmth
"dry" curry
hypocrisy
creativity

but doesn't really specify what country. (Creativity? Eh?)

So I asked Google myself, initially to see if it belonged to Malaysia or Singapore. Results (top unique ten for each) are as follows.

Malaysians are known for...

friendliness
generosity
an innate inability to laugh at [them]selves
hospitality
warmth
hijacking cultures
manners
NATO policy (no action talk only)
poor toilet habits
last minute rush

Singaporeans are known for...

kiasu (afraid to lose) mentality
music
unity
business acumen
being unkind
eating habits
avid interest in orchids
terrible telephone ettiquettes
not knowing much about history
love of good cuisine

Seems to be neither. (And I'm baffled about, of all things, "music.")

Out of curiousity, I asked about Bruneians as well.

friendliness
caring attitude

Um, apparently this much we know.

UPDATE: *slaps forehead* I got it! Should've known that they confuse "Malaysians" with "Malays." (Note to the uninformed: the former is a nationality, the latter an ethnicity. There are Chinese Malaysians, Indian Malaysians, and so on. It, ahem, bothers us when that gets overlooked.)

Malays are known for...

"dry" curry
rallying together in times of crisis
budi bahasa (common courtesy)
"tidak apa" attitude
plethora of finger foods
creativity
hypocrisy
lazy
generosity

The map is technically flawed, just because.



6 Comments to “According to Google, people in the world are known for…”


  1. lzblue said:

    The world map of prejudices link is dead...


  2. Sashi said:

    Interesting exercise. Try "Bloggers are known for" now.
    One result: bloggers are known for their virility.

    Heh.


  3. lionel said:

    Sorry about that. Link's not dead, just a typo.

    Sashi: Haha. That's one you don't ever hear... yet it's #3.


  4. Thomas said:

    This is really interesting. I'm studying abroad next semester in Australia, so this was really helpful. Not that I havent gotten enough exposure to Australians from Croc. Dundee and Croc. Hunter. :P


  5. lionel said:

    Heh. Prejudices: helpful?

    Okay, sometimes.

    But I never thought of Aussies as being known for their crocodiles.


  6. lionel said:

    Aussies are know for...

    canvas hats
    rowdiness
    camaraderie
    love of beer
    herding
    obedience
    laid-back lifestyle

    ("Obedience" refers to the Australian Sheperd breed of dog, by the way)

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