Kelly Clarkson Loves Coffee Bean Malaysia

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A few days ago, Kelly Clarkson tweeted as you see above. I quoted her on Facebook and Twitter. The tone of the reaction received was primarily that Kelly was either a ditz, ignorant or insulting, albeit what she said was a compliment.

Now to be fair, I do understand the knee-jerk and even post-knee-jerk reaction that people feel that way. It is not uncommon for people from developed countries to assume we don’t have certain elements of civilization that they have.

However, to be fair too, I draw a few things from the prime action, and the reaction it generated.

1. We are insecure and as a resul fall into the trap of immediately assuming an insult by reacting as such, when such a statement is made. The reaction, validates the insecurity. If not that, then its an over-compensation of being defensive.

2. It says quite a bit about Malaysia’s tourism marketing. However, this might not be an accurate conclusion, somewhat related nevertheless. For example, if I am not mistaken, the Singapore government paid USD 5 million to The Pirates of the Caribbean, so that its name would be mentioned three times in the movie. Note that this practice is not exclusive to Singapore, or governments.

3. It was our assumption (an unclever one) that well known international food and beverage brands by default exist in any country that is sufficiently developed, when in fact the two do not necessarily go hand in hand. Singapore is a first world country, with a literacy and unemployment rate far better than Malaysia. Yet, Nando’s opened first in Malaysia in 1998, and only after 33 outlets here, in mid-2010 it will finally open one in Singapore. This is something Singaporeans I know have been whining about. Additionally, they have never once attributed the degree of development of their country as a factor as to why certain things aren’t available there.

*I often use Singapore as an example as it is the next country I am most familiar with, after Malaysia.

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Besides now telling all to chill out, I’m also putting forth something that I believe is more imperative. And that is identifying the cause and reasoning of any issue, accurately. It’s always convenient, and relieving to point a gun and shoot. But it’ll be a shame if energy is wasted shooting blanks.

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