2nd Interview

Interview #2

Eng 191

11/10/2011

Interviewer: Huan Yu

Interviewee: Sim Chenkeat 

Date of Interview: 11/09/2011

Country Report

Malaysia, located in Southeast Asia, a federal constitutional monarchy. It has thirteen states and three federal territories. Malaysia covers an area of 329,847 square kilometers, equals 127,350 square miles. Because of separated by the South China Sea, Malaysia has two main regions. One is Peninsular Malaysia and the other is Malaysian Borneo. Malaysia is bordered by Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei on land. Also, Malaysia is bordered with Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines on Ocean. The capital city of Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur which is a famous tourism city.

Geography

Link

As I said, Malaysia has a land area of 329,847 square kilometers. With this, it is the 66th largest country in the world. In West Malaysia, there is a land border with Thailand. And in East Malaysia, there are land borders with Indonesia and Brunei. Also Malaysia links to Singapore with a narrow causeway. There are hundreds of islands around both of the two parts of Malaysia. The largest one is Labuan. Here is the picture of Labuan.

Biodiversity

Malaysia has a high number of species. About 20% of the world’s animal species are in Malaysia. There are about 210 mammal species in Malaysia. More than 620 species of birds are found in Malaysia. 250 reptile species have been recorded in Malaysia with about 150 species of snakes and 80 species of lizards. What is more? Around 600 coral species and 1200 fish species also have been recorded in Malaysia.

Link

Malaysia is also been considered as the heaven for plants. There are around 14,500 species of flowering plants and trees. There are almost 8,500 species of vascular plants in Peninsular Malaysia, with another 15,000 in the East. In the forest in East Malaysia, there are around 2,000 tree species. The largest flower in the world, Rafflesia genus, is also from Malaysia.

Link

Climate

    The climate of Malaysia is equatorial. From April to October, the climate affected by southwest monsoons; from October to February, the climate affected by northeast monsoons. As Malaysia is rounded by oceans, the temperature is not too high, between 26 to 30℃. The humidity is usually high. And it rains a lot in Malaysia; the average annual rainfall is around 250 centimeters. The climates of the Peninsula and the East are different. Because the climate of peninsula is affected by wind from mainland, and the climate of East is affected by wind from ocean. There are mainly three regions of climates in Malaysia, highland, lowland, and coastal.

Education

As Malaysia is a multi-culture country; Malayans, Chinese and Indians all have their own special culture, the education system in Malaysia is quite unique. There are three kinds of primary schools. The first kind schools are schools based on the Malay. The second kind schools are schools based on Chinese. And the last kind schools are based on light meters.

Wikipedia says: “The education system features a non-compulsory kindergarten education followed by six years of compulsory primary education, and five years of optional secondary education. Schools in the primary education system are divided into two categories: national primary schools and vernacular schools. Vernacular schools use either Chinese or Tamil as the medium of instruction, whereas national primary schools use Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction for all subjects except English, Science and Mathematics. Before progressing to the secondary level of education, pupils in Year Six are required to sit for the Primary School Achievement Test."

Malaysia is a kind country. It keeps a positive relation between China. My country has economic and culture connections with Malaysia. Also, Malaysia is a wonderful place for visiting. From the two interviews, I think people in Malaysia are very kind and helpful.

Work cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia

http://baike.baidu.com/view/7009.htm

Transcript of




the interview
H: Huan Yu


S: Sim Chenkeat


H: Hi, I am
Huan. I am from China. Nice to meet you. And thank you for helping me with the
interview. Shall we start?


S: Nice to me
too. Shall, you can start whenever you want.


H: Ok, first,
what is your name? And can you spell it?


S: Sim Chenkeat.
(He spelled it to me.)


H: Got it. Thank
you. Where are you from?


S: I am from
Malaysia.


H: Can you tell
me more?


S: Oh, sure, I
am from Sepang. It is in the southern part of the state of Selangor in Malaysia.


H: Ok, could you
please tell me something about the education system of your country?


S: Ok, the Malaysia
pays lots of attention on education. The government considers it as one of
their responsibilities. Primary schools and secondary schools
are free to public. And non-compulsory is a feature in the education system.
Primary schools take 6 year to finish and secondary schools take 5years. Then,
we go to high schools for 2 year. After the high schools, you can go to
universities. By the way, it takes 3 year for undergraduate.


H: Ok, how has
your culture influenced your people/family values?


S: I think culture
has a big influence on my family. In the culture, men are always more social
than women. The same as the culture, in my family, my father goes out for work;
at the same time my mother does the house work. Also, my father makes the
important decisions, such as investments. Another example is when we are
celebrating the holidays. At those times, each member of my family should
attend. We have dinner together. Also, we will visit our relatives.


H: That is
pretty like China, so what is the weather like in your hometown?


S: Not as cold
as here. Actually, we don’t have winter in our hometown. The temperature
doesn’t change a lot. And the average temperature is around 27℃. Another difference between my hometown’s
weather and here’s is there is more rain in my home town.


H: So you like
the weather here or your home town?


S: That must be
my home town. It is too cold here in winter.


H: I have the
same feeling. Let move to government, will this kind of questions ok fo you?


S; Yes, go
ahead.


H: Ok, what is
the form of government in your country?


S: My country is
a federal constitutional monarchy and Federal parliamentary democracy. Yang
di-Pertuan Agong is the same as the head of country. Now, the Yang
di-Pertuan Agong is Mizan Zainal Abidin. And     Prime
Minister is Najib Tun Razak, Deputy Prime Minister is Muhyiddin Yassin. Quite
different from the U.S.A.


H: Who has the
highest right in Malaysia?


S: Yang
di-Pertuan Agong.


H: What is a
traditional food in your country?


S: We eat rice
and noodle for our main food. We also eat meat like beef, pork, chicken;
vegetable and fruits. Nasi Lemak is a famous Malaysia food. Oh, you
make me feel hungry.


H: Sorry, is the
food in your country spicy?


S: Compares to
the food in America, the food in our country is much spicier.


H: Could you
tell me what festivals you celebrate?


S: Oh, we have
Hari Merdeka, it is the Independence Day on 31 August. Maulidur Rasul is
another important holiday. We also celebrate Chinese New Year.


H: How do you
celebrate these holidays?


S: Usually, we
don’t need go to work or school. And we will have the entire family member
attend for dinner. Then, we will go to visit our relatives.


H: Tell me one
thing that makes you proud of your country.


S: Petronas Towers. It is the world highest twin towers which is located in Kuala Lumpur. It is finished in 1998. It has 88 levels. And its height is 452 meters. Amazing, right?
H: Sure. What is the most popular sport in your country?
S: Oh, soccer, badminton, field hockey, bowling and tennis are very popular in Malaysia. And I can’t tell which is the most popular.
H: Do you have any recommendations for visiting?
S: Penang, Malacca, Kelantan are famous for visiting. 
H: Have you ever been to these places?
S: I have been to Malacca. It is a beautiful city. I will not forget the beautiful view I have seen there.
H: Nice, Ok, let move on, how old are people get married?
S: Maybe 25 years old. I am not very sure. I think it is around 25 years old.


H: How about
you?


S: Oh, I have no
idea either.


H: How many children
are there in your family?


S: I am the only
one. 


H: Ok, I see. I
think that is all. Thank you again for helping me with the interview.


S: You are
welcome.


H: See you.


S: See you.
Preparation


To do the interview, I visited Jason again. With his
help, I met Sim Chenkeat, my second Interviewee. Sim is a friend of
Jason. They came here for study together.


Based On the
experience of first present, I did some improvements. First, I have prepared
all the questions I am going to ask, and printed them out for several copies.
In this way, I don’t need to spend time on reflecting on what is the next
question. Another improvement is to find a quiet place to do the interview.
Last time, the place is not so quiet. And when I went back and check the
recorder, there is lots of noise in the interview. Although, I have a recorder,
I need to make some notes. It can help me to remember the details. With these
improvements, the second interview went smoothly. And it becomes much easier
when I do the transcript of the interview.
Personal Review


Sim Chenkeat is so nice. And the interview
is a very wonderful time for both of us. He pays serious attention to my
interview. His answers are good and more helpful. By the way, I don’t mean
Jason’s answers are not good. Both Jason and Sim helped me a lot. I want to
thank you Jason and Sim here.


After these two interviews, I have a rough
image of Malaysia. Malaysia is a multi-cultural country. There are mainly
Malayans, Chinese and Indians live in Malaysia. And Malaysia is a federal
constitutional monarchy and Federal parliamentary democracy. This is the first
time I have heard about it. Also, both Jason and Sim told me some interesting
things, delicious food, and tourism cities in Malaysia. I think when I have time;
I will go to Malaysia for visiting.


From the second interview, I still found
some shortages. First, I am not good at note-taking. When I am taking notes, I
can not pay attention to what Sim is saying. For the third interview, I need to
learn some note-taking skills. Second, I am still a little shy to talk to
someone I don’t know. In the interview, there are still some awkward situations.
Even Sim is much outgoing than me. I need to be more outgoing when I do my
third interview.