I just came back from two weeks of traveling in Asia. As we drove from Singapore to Malaysia, we were in traffic for more than three hours to cross the custom between Singapore and Malaysia. On the lane for motorcycles, I had never seen so many motorcycles in my life. There were thousands bikers waiting on that lane to cross the custom as well. Our driver who was a local Malaysian told us bikers are Malaysians who work in Singapore. Because of the currency exchange rate differences between Singaporean and Malaysian currencies, they are willing to travel four hours one way each day or weekly. I was really shocked. The reason these people do not live in Singapore during the week because of the cost of living in Singapore is very high, but it is much cheaper in Malaysia. In addition, the Singapore currency has three times of higher value than Malaysian currency. In Malaysia, I could purchase a decent dress for about $12 to $15 USD, but it could cost me about $60 in Singapore.

​Food in Malaysia were really good and cheap. Because of the convenience and economic of food in Malaysia, many Malaysians don’t cook at home but eat outside. I found many of them have hardened arteries and high chance of getting stroke. I saw many male Malaysians had stroke in their 50s. It seems like their lifestyle has a big impact on their health. Because of the tropical weather and heat, their food are heavy, creasy and spicy, but their drinks are icy cold. Many of their food use animal oil which could cause high cholesterol. They also love deeply fried food and alcohol. Many of them have a very stressful and busy work schedule according to the locals. Their lifestyle caused many of them have high cholesterols, poor functions of liver, digestive systems and kidneys. 

ironically my friend told me that her eight years old son complained to her that he was tired of eating street food due to the concern of his health. However, both of my friend and her husband work long hours and they didn’t have time to cook at home at all. All children stay in school till 6 or 7pm until their parents got off work. 

It seriously made me appreciate what we have in US so much more. Although many people in US are busy with work as well, we have more job opportunities and more resources than many other countries in the world.