It has been said as a society, we are getting more and more rude by the day. I think many people consider rudeness to be only when people are shouted at publicly or a lack courtesy when dealing with each another. That is putting it simply.

I would also say that not replying to e-mails, phone calls and letters promptly is rude. If that is the case, since the core of the civil service is in Kuala Lumpur, surely the capital can be marked as rude?

Double parking, blocking entrances and traffic is also rude. Talking loudly while belching at posh coffee outlet is rude, shopkeepers who think they are doing you a favour selling without even so much as a smile are rude.

Have you compared shopping in Malaysia and Thailand, for example? How helpful and friendly are Thai shop assistants compared to ours who will be either on the phone or trying their best not to catch your attention.

Locally, how many times have we gone into local shops but are not entertained because we 'look poor'? But as soon as some Caucasians walk in, though scruffy as anyone can be, the shop's whole sales brigade will pounce on them. You can see a different level of discrimination at play and it will only get worse. Isn't this being rude?

There are many other example of rudeness. The other day some moron from Mars who was sitting on the table next to mine at a coffee shop decided that the ketchup on his table was not to his liking. He promptly took it and put it on my table like I was not even there. Rude or not?

Our social behaviour is extremely rude, I'll say. People are wrong in assuming that friendly KL can't also be rude. Someone I know made an analogy of us being as graceful as warthogs at a mud-hole.