I swear living in Malaysia is going to turn me into a libertarian!!

[Heather in Neverland]

Please my fellow Americans, please be grateful for your freedoms because, seriously, I am about to lose it here. This country regulates so much for individual citizens that it is REALLY starting to aggravate me.

 

They censor movies before they reach the theater. Now you may be thinking "oh, that's nice...no swear words, no sex scenes" but see THAT is not the stuff they censor. They cut all references to christianity but leave all the sex in. Weird.

 

Also, I cannot download anything wirelessly for my kindle here because the government won't allow it. Even after amazon made their kindle content available internationally, Malaysia STILL won't allow it.

 

Half the things I try to download on youtube are blocked...and people, if you know me at all after these years you KNOW I am not downloading porn.

 

They censor TV ...as in entire series are not available here.

 

But this weekend was the ultimate...I FINALLY got the ipod touch, newest model, with all the bells and whistles as an early present from my dh. We went together to the Apple store at the mall to buy it. I was SO EXCITED. I got home, set up my itunes account and...

 

MALAYSIA WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO DOWNLOAD SONGS OR MOVIES OR TV SHOWS FROM ITUNES OR NAPSTER OR ANY OTHER SERVICE LIKE THAT.

 

I seriously wanted to hurt someone. We went back to the Apple store at the mall today and asked the salesman about it...my dh said, "We bought this ipod touch here yesterday and we cannot seem to download any songs fom itunes."

 

The salesman said, "No, itunes does not work here. The government won't allow it."

 

So dh replies, "THEN WHY ON EARTH DO YOU SELL IPODS IF YOU CANNOT DOWNLOAD MUSIC TO THEM? DON'T YOU THINK THAT IS HELPFUL INFORMATION TO BE SHARED WITH A CUSTOMER BEFORE THEY BUY IT????"

 

I had to drag him out of there before he got arrested.

 

So right about now I am pretty sick of living under a government that feels it has the right to control what I watch, read and listen to.

 

HOWEVER

 

Living under this government had made me a master of subterfuge. This evening I figured out that if I changed my account to USA instead of Malaysia and used a credit card linked to a bank in the U.S. with a U.S. billing address (which I thankfully still have) then I can get around their little road block and download music....

 

until they catch me. :tongue_smilie:

[MomOfOneFunOne]

....

 

until they catch me. :tongue_smilie:

 

And then what??? Will you disappear?

[creekland]

Glad you found a way around things!

 

I grew up in a liberal family associated with education. It wasn't until I got out of academia and into business that I switched from being a liberal (pro-gov't) to a conservative/libertarian. Even now that I'm back working in our public school district as a substitute (for 11 years now), I haven't switched back. It amazes me that anyone who works in public education can be as pro-big gov't as they are, but most of them have NEVER seen the rest of the "working world."

 

I wish all educators at all levels beyond elementary had to work at another (full time) job prior to becoming a high school teacher or college professor. I'd prefer it if they owned the business they worked for. Ditto that for politicians I think.

 

With regards to censorship... it's a bad thing when the majority gets to decide things for the minority - with censorship and more.

[nd293]

Do you know about UltraSurf? It is free software that allows you to circumvent censorship. I think it confuses the Internet as to where you are. That's my high tech take on it, anyway. Dh used it in the Middle East to access Skype which was blocked by the local government. I've used it more recently to watch programes on the CBS website which are blocked to those outside the US. I know, naughty me. Still, it's clever software that works.

[....]

This is how I felt after living in the middle east. I left the US with an idealistic view of these places and went home never wanting to go overseas again. Just be careful...

[Dayle in Guatemala]

Are you sure it doesn't work off of your ip address? The thing is, there are some things we can't do on the computer and download simply because our ip address is not an American one even though we use a stateside address, debit card, and bank. I would be careful since they can trace your ip.

 

On another note, it's a bummer that you can't download or even watch stuff on you tube. We don't have that problem here in Guatemala, but, there are times that it gets frustrating (net flix) because we can't use services here simply for not being in the US.

[pqr]

Please my fellow Americans, please be grateful for your freedoms

 

I coulld say welcome to the real world.

 

This is not uncommon for expatriates. Many a person I know has come to look at the world through a very different lens once exposed to the way other nations are run. What is interesting is that while locals frequently see nothing wrong or odd about their regulations many Americans are horrified.

 

Conversely many foreigners who come to the States are equally horrified by our freedoms and at the same time view some of our restrictions as evidence of a Victorian Era prudishness.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Living under this government had made me a master of subterfuge. This evening I figured out that if I changed my account to USA instead of Malaysia and used a credit card linked to a bank in the U.S. with a U.S. billing address (which I thankfully still have) then I can get around their little road block and download music....

 

until they catch me. :tongue_smilie:

 

 

Which would be why you should go back and delete this sentence before you mess up the system for yourself and everyone who already knew this.

 

That is how life works in some locations overseas.

[Mejane]

So right about now I am pretty sick of living under a government that feels it has the right to control what I watch, read and listen to.

 

 

 

I can understand that, but I also think you play by the rules of the country that's hosting you. I find it interesting when US citizens go to countries such as this and think their rights are imported along with them. If (and please note I said if) circumventing the law is akin to breaking it, it's probably not something we should be applauding here.

 

Fwiw, I think it's stupid, but it is what it is.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

And then what??? Will you disappear?

 

 

I certainly hope that wasn't a joke. It's not funny.

 

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2001/august6/17.28.html

 

This is what can happen to missionaries in that part of the world.

 

Not that Heather is a missionary-but nonetheless...

 

An open forum is not the place for these discussions. There can be repercussions.

[Haiku]

FWIW, one needn't be a libertarian to believe in individual freedoms. My opposition to the current incarnation of libertarianism in this country is an opposition to big business run amok, which imo restricts people's freedoms.

 

And I agree that this is probably not the place to advertise how you have flouted the laws of the country in which you are living.

 

Tara

[Anne Rittenhouse]

Ahhh welcome to the life of an expat. I left the USA three years ago a die-hard leftism liberal with a hugh dollop of UN socialism schmeared over the top. I gave dh an ultimatum last week we have two years to return....I'm coming back as a red-state tea-party conservative with a side order of hardcore fundamental religion to boot. I can't hack socialist western Europe, I can't imagine Malaysia.

[pqr]

Ahhh welcome to the life of an expat. I left the USA three years ago a die-hard leftism liberal with a hugh dollop of UN socialism schmeared over the top. I gave dh an ultimatum last week we have two years to return....I'm coming back as a red-state tea-party conservative with a side order of hardcore fundamental religion to boot. I can't hack socialist western Europe, I can't imagine Malaysia.

 

Living overseas does things to a person, making one appreciate and love this nation (the US) all the more is often one of them. Striving to ensure that we do not become more like Western Europe (in some of the invasive government rules and regulations) is often another.

Edited November 28, 2010 by pqr

[danivdp]

Ahhh welcome to the life of an expat. I left the USA three years ago a die-hard leftism liberal with a hugh dollop of UN socialism schmeared over the top. I gave dh an ultimatum last week we have two years to return....I'm coming back as a red-state tea-party conservative with a side order of hardcore fundamental religion to boot. I can't hack socialist western Europe, I can't imagine Malaysia.[/quoteS]

 

Welcome to the dark side :D Too bad his trip to Europe didn't have the same effect on Obama, LOL.

[LG Gone Wild]

Ahhh welcome to the life of an expat. I left the USA three years ago a die-hard leftism liberal with a hugh dollop of UN socialism schmeared over the top. I gave dh an ultimatum last week we have two years to return....I'm coming back as a red-state tea-party conservative with a side order of hardcore fundamental religion to boot. I can't hack socialist western Europe, I can't imagine Malaysia.

 

 

It did the same for me but I was in Africa.