Speak five languages? No problem.

My impression that the Malaysians speak good English is confirmed during my short visit here.

Two Malaysian Chinese friends I knew in Hong Kong gave me the impression. The English of one of them was so good that she was employed as a Native-speaking English Teacher in a Hong Kong school.

Here in Kuala Lumpur, anyone you meet in the street can respond competently when you ask him or her for directions. And the Malaysians who are well educated are even more impressive. Like the friend I just mentioned, they speak flawless native level English. I think this has a lot to do with the country being multi-racial, like Singapore, and English serves as a common language of communication that the people have to master.

Another advantage of the country being multi-racial is that the people are not only good in English but also multi-lingual. The other Malaysian Chinese friend I mentioned above was able to converse in English, Malay and three Chinese dialects - Cantonese, Putonghua and Fukienese. And this is exactly what I can see in some Malaysian Chinese I meet here.

In this respect, the Malaysian Chinese are like the Singaporean Chinese, but credits to them, they don't seem to be as snobbish as the latter.