After reading Shukri Yusof's '"Kiasu" and the pseudo-Americans' (Aug 30), I would like to share the following with my fellow Malaysians.

Police bribery is not unheard of in the US, but it is definitely less heard of than in Malaysia.

Also, actions by the police in America are not politically motivated. In Malaysia, however, it is a well-known fact that police serve the ruling party rather than the people. Ever heard of police in a city controlled by Republicans refusing to grant an assembly permit to Democrats? Neutrality is essential in a truly professional police body. Also, in some cities, residents can actually vote for their sheriffs or police commissioners.

If you ask me whether I would prefer to live in the US or Malaysia, I would choose the latter. Why?

If you think road construction is slow in Malaysia, come and see what it's like here where workers seriously observe a 40-hour-work week and refuse to work overtime even if paid triple. You will hate the lines in the supermarket; cashiers work slowly, occasionally chatting with colleagues, and do not care whether the line is long or not.

The working culture here is bad, too; no one appears to be in hurry. People work in a relaxed manner, just out to finish what's assigned to them. Family values are relatively very weak in America, which is why the crime rate is high. It is more unsafe to walk around at the night, even in a relatively safe small city like the one I live in, than in Kuala Lumpur.

But why did I come to America in the first place? Certainly, I am not here to be brainwashed by 'Yankee imperialists'. I am here to learn what is good about America, and try to bring all that I learn back to Malaysia in order to share it with my fellow countrymen.

Commitment to research and development is something we lack in Malaysia. Most Malaysian companies would rather be sitting around and doing nothing until the technology becomes really obsolete and then it is time to buy some existing foreign technology.

Responsibility and accountability are also something we lack in the Malaysian system. A company in Malaysia can screw up its financial matters but faces no dire consequences because the government will bail it out. But in the US, if you do not manage your company well, the government is never going to bail you out (the only exception is Chrysler in 1980s).

Also, the US government behaves like it is the employee of the people, rather than acts like a boss like the Malaysian government. Every year, the county government where I live will mail a complete report of how much tax has been collected, and how the money is spent up to the smallest detail.

In contrast, does anyone still remember how the hundreds of thousands disappeared from the Malacca state government, and still there is no explanation until today?

In many areas here, parents are invited by county educational board to meetings whenever something in the educational policy is changed.

When was the last time our Malaysian education official sat down and listened to what the parents (who are paying for any government initiative) say before making any changes?

Back to road construction, even though it is painfully slow in the US, when work is finished, everything is clean and speckless.

In Malaysia, we're likely to find unfinished business like telephone poles sticking out of the middle of the road (because the telephone contractor came later than the other contractors), dust and sand everywhere, and leftover materials piling up beside the road.

We should learn the best from others and discard our bad ones. That is how progress happens. We can still 'refry' the old issues like discrimination against African and Native Americans and the WTO Seattle riot which will do us no good, or start thinking what's wrong with us and what, where and how we can improve ourselves instead of pointing fingers at others.