This town ain't big enough for the both of us, said an unspecified movie character at a particular point in time.

In Malaysia, we're seen as a country of well mannered, helpful, polite society that always tries to help our lost tourist amigos and generally not decaying into moral ambiguity, drugs, sex and violence.
Actually sex isn't bad, but thats a discussion for another day.

What I'm really winging (win-ging) about is that this isn't true.
What did I just say? Am I calling everybody out there rude and uncouth?
Did I just taint the name of my country?

No idiot. If you thought that, then yeah well, name calling is appropriate.

I'm talking about statistics. Majorities and minorities.
And common sense and reacting differently in different social situations.

Lets take a common event, you meet someone for the first time, you know you're going to be seeing a lot more of time (classmate, colleague, parent) so you make an effort to be polite, considerate, helpful, smart.
Now take an entirely similar scenario, when you're taking a lift and you're not sure if you're ever going to see this person and if they matter in your life.
Would you hold the door for them? Would you step into the lift before they've stepped out? Would you make way or even think about making way to make everybody's life more comfortable? Would you ask which floor they were heading to?

I'm not saying you're rude if you don't. I'm saying that we're a nation of hypocrites, a third world mentality with first world amenities.
If not for the awesome food and long queues in our country we would have descended into chaos and anarchy a long time ago. They keep us pacified so much easier than tear gas and water cannons.

Furthermore, look at traffic jams. EVERYBODY has been cut off by an asshole at one point or another while driving here.
If we were a polite a society as we like to think, this would happen much less frequently.
Its just due to the fact that we're in a protected shell, we know that there's no consequence to us if we make it (assuming we're the asshole), and because the person we cut is probably just as scared of us of confrontation.

So we do that. We become assholes when we know that the consequences don't matter.
Polite? Only in certain situations.
Friendly? When we need to be.

It's not wrong to be, there are many excuses to not do so. Take your pick:
1) no time
2) not worth the effort
3) everybody else is doing it

congratulations. you're now part of the herd. enjoy the rest of your life lying to yourself, that you're better than others when really, you're not.

otherwise, wise up to the reality. we're not all saints. we can think of ourselves as such, but that just makes us arrogant assholes who as we know, are capable of much shitting.
know yourself, be aware, be better, not because you want something, but because you can be.