With mega gyms mushrooming all over the country and the fitness industry thriving here in Malaysia (which I believe is still very much at it’s infancy), I must say that over the past few years, I have personally noticed an increased INTEREST among the public when it comes to keeping fit. Yes, there are definitely way more gym goers now than before.
Even just last night, while I was having dinner at Finnegan’s at MidValley Megamall, this guy at the table next to me was showing off his fancy new dumbbells to his friends at his table. He was even making a fool of himself in the restaurant trying to simulate a run with his new toys, but hey.. that tells me something besides the fact that he’s had too much to drink - its the fact that he is interested to keep himself fit. It’s a good thing… really… but let’s just take a few steps back and think of the bigger picture today - are we, as a nation, really in better shape today than we were before?
Look around you the next time you’re out in the city - we have access to exercise facilities, gyms, freely available information on health and exercise, healthier eating options at certain places.. but as a nation, has it really brought us any good?
The rapid developments in the areas of science, nutrition, the better understanding of the human body today… has it impacted our lives like it should? Is our nation today in a better state than it was before?
Many of us were taken by surprise with the shockingly true statistics when the New Straits Times ran a frontpage story entitled FAT NATION (yes, thats us - Malaysia) last year on the 29th of September, 2006. The MySon (Malaysian Shape of the Nation survey) revealed that:
- Malaysia has the MOST number of fat people in the Asean region, exceeding that in many developed countries, including Germany and France
- 54% of our adult population are either obese or overweight, up from 24% 10 years ago.
- 48% of our adult males and 62% of our adult females are fat.
The report also went on to reveal the reason which was believed to be the cause of all this - the good life, and the unhealthy lifestyle in Malaysia. Too much fast food, carbonated drinks, and a lack of exercise (for example, today, we prefer lifts/escalators instead of stiarcases).
Honestly, I dont think that living a good life is a decent ‘excuse’ to justify the state some of us are in. It is more of the changing of our lifestyles, which comes along with the good life we’re living today.
Our jobs today are more sedentary in nature than ever. We hire foreign labourers to get the hard physical jobs done. When was the last we picked up the broom and swept, and mopped our floors dry at home? We’ve left it all to the maids we hire from Indonesia. Some even get the maids to wash their cars.. or send it to the automatic car wash.
Now, food.
A simple example of the McDonald’s outlets in the United States having healthier grilled options, and KFC having GRILLED CHICKEN (yes.. they’re not stuck with FRIED chicken only) shows the pathetic immature state of the demand for healthy eating options here in Malaysia. It’s sad, honestly, and you may be amused to know that I sometimes have to resort to squeezing my chicken nuggets between paper towels or wiping off the mayonnaise from the burgers at fast food restaurants here just so that I can have my own version of a healthy menu item.
Then, there is white rice. Now, don’t get me started!! Ridiculously large helpings of white rice is basically our staple food. Many say that rice is ‘fattening’ (by the way, I dislike that term because ANYTHING eaten in excessive amounts lead to weight gain, not just rice!). If it’s not rice, then it’s white bread. In Malaysia, the Malays love the breakfast of white rice cooked in coconut milk - Nasi Lemak (so famous I think it should be called our National Dish!). Nasi Lemak is a real killer when you take into the consideration the sambal (ground chillies paste) which come soaked in a pool of oil. The Chinese love pork, the Malays and Indians (Indians especially!) consume way more rice than they should with oily curries, spread over 3 large meals over the entire day, not inclusive of the snacks in between. The portions/ratios of carbohydrates, proteins and fats have all been distorted. Today, instead of consuming a balanced meal consisting of protein + carbo + fats, alot of times, our plates are filled with carbo, more carbo, fried carbo, steamed carbo.. all topped with a little bit more carbo. I’m sure you get what I mean.
We also take more coffee/tea breaks than we need to, and these breaks are accompanied by curry puffs, doughnuts, and yes, even NASI LEMAK again. I was once at our Ministry of Defence for a 10AM meeting, and their break included oversweetened coffee, fried noodles, and yes.. NASI LEMAK. This is the culture we’ve grown to practice.
Although us Malaysians are more health conscious today than before, and gyms mushrooming all over.. are we seeing the results we rightfully deserve? Or has it just become another fad, another craze to be seen carrying a gym bag at a cool looking gym, or simply the craze of having a gym membership?
Are we really reaping the benefits of the growing fitness industry here or have we just found the biggest and sneakiest excuse to GET FAT? You tell me. How many of us can read the above statistics and proudly say - Hey DM, thats not me..?
As more of us become busy, the more time we spend sitting still at our offices with sedentary jobs, I really wish that progress would mean a progressing healthy lifestyle too.
You know people… I actually started this writeup to comment on the opening of the new True Fitness gym at Petaling Jaya… I even took pictures of gym under construction with my camera phone - but it kinda got skewed to something totally different. Oh well.. ;)
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{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }
I feel most malaysians are into fitness for about 2 to 3 months then they give up. Or some just join the gym maybe just to comfort themsevles. Is Malaysia Really in Better Shape Today Than We Were Before? In my opinion I don’t think so because of the eating habits and the lack of discipline.
Cheers
Agree with the rice being our staple food. How bout writing an article to the alternative food that can replace rice.
Hi DM!
I have noticed that my strength for BodyPump has dropped, I don’t have much endurance for the same weights anymore. What would be the cause? Could it be because I stopped taking protein shakes?
Thanks for your time.
Cheers!
It is a known statistic tt most ppl (in general, not jz Msians) sign up at a gym and go for an average of 4 mths. they slack off aft tt.. then go back agn, if and only if, there’s motivation. (of course we’re talkg in general terms!)
alot join e gym due to peer pressure and also to be in e ‘in’ crowd.. “oooh.. im a member of XXXXX gym/ fitness ctr/ health club u knooooow?
of course, agn it’s a GENERAL, and admittedly, a sweeping statement, coz i know for sure, there r tons out there who r avid gym-goers n hv e right intentions to b at e gym, not be Seen at e gym ;) (yeah all DM readers? :D)
r Malaysians really in better shape than we were before? i wud say Yes and No.
Yes, becos there is a trend gg on right now (a healthy one) tt is keepg alot of ppl on their toes, n ppl r being more n more aware of wut they eat, how they prepare their meals, how they workout etc. we hv plenty of magazines (Men’s Health, Shape, EzyHealth..) n healthier alternatives of food (non-fat, low-fat, low-carb, low GI..) n e mushroomg of multiplex gyms w (highly?) competitive prices to keep ppl signg up (actually im not too sure abt e $ factor haha.) ;)
No, becos we r simply a nation tt realizes e paradigm shift tt is n has been happening but is not educated enough to realize e imprtnce of it. as Shaun has pointed out.. yes it is due to poor eating habits n e definite lack of (self-) discipline. w self-discipline, now tt, will work wonders.
btw, i saw some dude at a hawker centre tt day, reading Men’s Health while chomping down huge ass bowl of curry laksa, otah-otah and a pint of Carlsberg. (how’s tt for education)
i also think that many msians simply do not care about their diet. they eat and eat not knowing what they’re eating, simply for the sake of satiety. joining gyms is a great thing which should be applauded, but what i don’t understand is how they work their butts out at the gym, then smoke a stick or two of ciggies after everything. sheesh. there goes trying to stay fit.
it’s really a case of educating msians, which the govt has done with 20-second adds. people really need to know and understand and care! yup, ur right bout the fast food thing; and banning fast food adds won’t do any good, introducing healthier options would be a much more proactive thing to do. somebody tell them!
what were u doing at Finnegans? oh no, more like who were u with at Finnegans? haha
I agree with fitchick that Malaysians needs to be educated more about fitness. The government needs to do more in educating the next generation to live a healthy lifestyle. I am now “addicted” to life a healthy lifestyle because of being influence by the British. I’ve been living in the UK for about a year and when I am in Malaysia all I did not bother at all about fitness and just drank and smoke all the time. SO i feel education is extremely important. Besides that, parents needs to be blamed as well. I’ve notice that most of my nephew and niece are “fat”. All they do is sit and play their computer games. In addition to that, their parents are so lazy to cook most of the time they just have take aways.
Cheers
Hey DM,
Perhaps we should start a petition or make some ‘noise’ for all these fast food joints to have healthier options for the public. My last trip to Australia, Mcdonald’s launched their healthy meals (if i remember correctly) called Choices, sort of like a Deli where u can pick up more nutritious meals compared to the regular stuff…
Anyway, as they say, no pain, no gain… Perhaps that’s what people are scared of.. The ‘hard’ work to get in shape..
Hey everyone… I’m back…
I’ve been real busy with work and stuffs recently that I had only sufficient time to read through the new posts instead of posting comments…
Guess what? I’m going into modelling thanks to all the hard work I have put into keeping fit =)
Anyway, I truly believe that more and more people are going to gyms because it’s a trend…
Just like cybercafes use to be a trend where people hang out not long ago and now it has shifted towards gyms!
Seriously… How many people do you ACTUALLY SEE busting their asses when they workout in the gym? Perhaps 1-5%!
The others are practically there to “SOCIALISE” and “LOOK AT CHICKS”, whereas for the gals, that’s their place to parade their latest gymwear and to get guys’ attention >.
Hey everyone… I’m back…
I’ve been real busy with work and stuffs recently that I had only sufficient time to read through the new posts instead of posting comments…
Guess what? I’m going into modelling thanks to all the hard work I have put into keeping fit =)
Anyway, I truly believe that more and more people are going to gyms because it’s a trend…
Just like cybercafes use to be a trend where people hang out not long ago and now it has shifted towards gyms!
Seriously… How many people do you ACTUALLY SEE busting their asses when they workout in the gym? Perhaps 1-5%!
The others are practically there to “SOCIALISE” and “LOOK AT CHICKS”, whereas for the gals, that’s their place to parade their latest gymwear and to get guys’ attention =.=
Of course, I’m not here to pick a fight with anyone but that’s what I see in the gym… (or at least in my gym)
And to me that’s plain ridiculous and a waste of time and money…
Oh well, that’s their choice of “gyming” anyway… Who’s to say that they are wrong, right?
As for the other 1-5%, I would say bravo and keep it up!
You are the kind of people that would gain the other 95-99%’s envy and respect for some! =)
Sorry for the repost DM… Didn’t know I messed up with the html codes when I used this emoticon –> “> .
Lol, squeezing nuggets and wiping mayonaisse off? sounds a bit like me, can’t you just order it without the mayonaisse? I used to order Grilled Chicken foldover without mayonaisse. DM, i’m still a lil’ surprised that you still eat fast food :p mst be when you go out with friends, there not much of a choice eh?
But this write up is so true, its so difficult to get a healthy variety of food in Malaysia. and its more difficult when your not-as-well-informed-friends calls you out to makan and chooses to go to places to eat unhealthy food. Its either good bye social-life OR goodbye diet for the day.
hmm.. i smwut disagree w e ‘goodbye social life OR goodbye diet for e day’ ehhee.. :D
i dont think there shud b an ultimatum. in fact, we SHOULD eat more healthy stuff in front of our peers. we shud not succumb to temptation (of course if it’s some choc fondue, sm seriously good sushi, sm awesome true-blue italian pasta, it’s another story) n b dragged into eatg wut they eat! :P
of course, wen it comes to dining at places lik Mac n mamak, there r always healthier choices, no matter wut.
at a mamak? get chapati n dahl, n 100 plus.
at mac? grilled chic foldover minus e sauces, bottle of water. (or one can try squeezing nuggets, hi-5 DM!)
at sm fancy italian? linguine aglio olio, extra chilli padi, water w lemon wedge
at kopitiam? vegetarian pau (e white type) n kopi-O
agree? disagree? ehhehe.. :) :) :) :) :)
in e end, we can convert our friends too! ive managed to do tt quite a fair bit w my colleagues.. n tho they may not say it, they r thanking u.. coz everyone needs a (morale?) boost now n then. or a swift kick in e ass.
Chrisdaanimal: i totally agree w u tt der r some guys who go to e gym to ogle at e womenfolk at gyms. i also totally agree tt some ladies r jz der to show off e latest Nike sports bra, or Adidas yoga pants. haha!!!
howevr, i dare say tt in Sg.. hmm.. e gym i go to, der’s not really such a situation.. but i heard CaliFit is quite famous for thgs lik tt. my fren even said they’re quite exhibitionists… im sorry if i offend anyone.. jz tt it’s straight fr e horse’s mouth!
i agree that malaysian are more concerned about their body. however, our views of health & fitness are distorted by misleading TV commercials of fitness centres, slimming pills and uZap kind of exercise equipments.
Chrisdaanimal & fitchick: take it lightheartedly, it is a strong motivation, isn’t it? everyone want to look good ;P
hi-5 T+1! :D
does tt horse riding thgie really work. ive seen e demonstrators in malls n fitness exhibitions but it jz seems quite funny to me.. :P
i dont think so dude
those days if i can recall my grandpa stories
there aren’t any fast food chains and 24 hours mamak~
and malaysia is like one of the obese country in the world today
how often do u come over a girl or guy with a nice lean body these days
u can forget bout six packs among malaysians these days
its like 1 in 10 i guess
lol
then again just an opinion
not a fact
hi dm,
it’s been awhile and it’s good to know that someone is concerned about the health and fitness of their country. Ican related to the scenario cos in north america the obesity rate is going thru the roof. Eventhough we are lucky to have free health care in canada, it is draining the system dry becos of the dieases that comes with obesity.
It will take a long time and the support of the gov’t to educate the pop’n about the danger of obesity and the implications.
Keep up the good work and hope to read some new comments real soon
terima kasi dan selamat hari
ciao
Wow. 62% of our adult female are overweight. I wonder how you categorize overweight. I wonder whether I am in that category.
All this talk about Nasi Lemak is making me hungry! I have managed to NOT have Nasi Lemak for 7 days. That is already a great achievement! Hahaha…
the key is to sustain the visit to the gym or sustain the workout.
most give up after 2 months.
I don’t know about you, but I think those big gym chains are more like a fad to me. It’s a meat market, with guys trying to pick up girls and the girls workout with makeup and wearing fancy tops with exposed cleavage :? .
If Malaysia is indeed a health conscious country, you don’t need all these fancy gyms. You’ll be seeing a lot of people jogging by the side of the road, trying to get in their daily exercise. Sadly, this is not the case here.
I think the government should play a part in promoting awareness for a healthy lifestyle. Set up a community gym in each neighbourhood, build and maintain facilities like public running trails or cycling lanes etc etc …. By the way, have you been to the National Sports Complex? It is so rundown, it’s a complete joke.
Faie: then agn, if we’re talkg abt ‘jogging by side of e rd’ it is NOT safe at all.. unlike Sg. ppl kena culik n wutevr else (i shudder jz thinkg, abt it)
In Sg, we hav ‘park connectors’, dedicated jogging tracks, (clean n green) playgrds w sit-up benches etc, even every hsing estate has a playgrd or fitness station! as far as i can see, many ppl do use these facilities.
yeah e Natl Sports Complex can be e joke of e century.
Personally, I think that it doesn’t really matter what kind of gym you are in…
Be it a fancy gym or a really rundown one with rusty irons all around, as long as you have the dedication, the ambition to achieve what you want, armed with a strong discipline and not forgetting the right method to lift weights, almost anything is achievable =)
Anyway, back in the old days, who have ever heard of gyms after all?
People grew strong by slinging granites and plowing the fields… LOL xD
Not that it is really that irrelevant…
But what I’m really trying to say here is if you have the mind to be fit, strong, lean or whatsoever… You don’t need a gym with chicks in it (although it can be a kind of a motivation or maybe not :P), gym with a shower room fit for Micheal Jackson and etc… Any freaking place to workout will do! JUST DO IT! :)
fitchick said: does tt horse riding thgie really work. ive seen e demonstrators in malls n fitness exhibitions but it jz seems quite funny to me.. :P
stupe’s 2 sen : stay away from those if you want to have kids and wants problem free back…these does more damage than good…
Faie - yes, gyms are a fad, but thanks to these ppl that go and *hunt* for meat, ppl like us can get to use high tech machines. With the yearly membership of about 1k plus plus, i don’t think we could be running on those star trac elite treadmills in the next 30 years even! :)
then again, nothing beats running outdoor.
:) and that is why we TRI!
TRI? im boggled
fitchick: I think stupe mentioned TRI.. he meant Triathlon. If I remember correctly, he actively participates in triathlon events. Am I right stupe? By the way.. I still owe you that sample of XPLODE. Geez..
DM: hehee.. thx for enlightening me. btw, ive not startd on it. :P soon though. must plan out e diet, gym routine n everything well………. thx DM!
now obes is a big problem to Malaysia
hwchua: Yes it is.. and it will only get worse unless people actually realise and DO SOMETHING about it. The food industry too plays an important role.. but sadly, I see very few parties who are bothered to make a difference. Thanks for the comment.
We do have many mega gyms in Kuala Lumpur but honestly, most of the fitness instructors are not fully qualified. A colleague of mine who is in her 50s joined one of those mega gyms mainly to maintain healthy. The instructor assigned to her was totally unprofessional. He designed a workout routine for her that sent her seeking help from her doctor. When she explained to him that her heart couldn’t take it, he accused her of being lazy. Hence, she decided to quit the gym, but they refused to let her go and insisted that she continues paying even when she no longer uses the gym. Legally she must abide by the contract she signed but after the pain and headache caused by the staff and instructor, I believe that they should at least bargain with her. She’s still paying her monthly membership and warning everyone that THAT PARTICULAR gym is not even a good choice if you wished to join a gym.
With the amount of fast food joints available its no wonder a large percentage of the population is overweight or obese, no matter what country. A large percentage also are not disciplined to stick to a diet or exercise program. Plus, a lot of these so called gyms going up are ridiculous. They have personal trainers working at the gyms who don’t even look like they’ve touched a weight and you see them coming back from lunch with a McDonalds cup in their hand or something…
Mich: I wrote you an email… did you get it? Mind sharing more about this case?
dailymuscle: I apologise but I did not receive your email.
I have heard many complaints about these mega gyms. No doubt that they have good fitness machines and fancy decor, but according to many gym goers, the equipments cannot accommodate the huge volume of members during peak hours.
In my friend’s case, that was one of the reasons why she wanted to quit the gym aside from the insensitive, poor-mannered and unprofessional treatment she received. When she pointed out to the management, they told her to visit the gym at 5.30am. She’s a mother with a full time job, I believe most women in her situation and age would agree that it’s a ridiculous suggestion.
Prior to signing the membership joining contract, they promised her everything. They would bend just to accommodate to her needs. Sadly, once the contract was signed and payment was made, everything changed to the worst. Now they advised her to wake up at the crack of dawn to accommodate to their failure of providing what they promised, they assigned an unprofessional trainer to her, ignored her complaints but constantly harassing her for payment for services they failed to provide to the satisfaction level they promised.
I think these mega gyms focus too much on recruiting members and ignored after-sales service/customer service. I understand most of these membership recruiters survive solely on commission with very low basic salary or none at all. I have conducted my research and I am confident to say that a number of employees attached with these gyms, be it in the management or frontline, are not into fitness. It’s merely a job. A general manager of one of the well-known gyms does not know the function of all the machines under her care and the club’s cardio class schedule. It’s difficult to manage and sell your gym if you do not have your company product knowledge.
Another ridiculous incident I heard involved a yoga studio and a very unfortunate lady. She signed up as a member with one of the yoga studios, then a while later she had to relocate to another country for business purpose. It was an unexpected business proposal. She requested to terminate her membership, but the studio rejected her request. She is still paying even though she is oceans away now.
I understand that we must all adhere to the rules and regulations in the contracts, but I seriously think they should have another look at the contract agreements they have created. Termination should be allowed if one had to move to another country, and/or when one’s health is in jeopardy due to the poor irresponsible training programme designed by the fitness instructor assigned to the member.
In my friend’s case, the instructor refused to acknowledge his fault and blamed her for doing the routine wrong. How could she be doing it wrong on a treadmill with him supervising her? Why didn’t he correct her?
Don’t get me wrong, exercising is a good habit to pick up. I myself love going to gym, but after hearing all these complaints about these mega fitness centres, I rather just go to the gym at my condo and do weights at my own home.
*Please note that this is my personal opinion and gym goers with positive experiences are welcomed to disagree with me.
I truly agree with this article…
I will refer to the Malay diet in particular, which are killer diets to will lead to diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
1) Nasi lemak (please eat in moderation, not everyday bantai)
2) Roti canai (some like it with sugar)…fat+sugar = excessive energy
3) Santan and lemak food…enuff said.
And lastly…exercise. Go get your ass off the couch and do exercise daily.
You don’t have to go to the Gym to get in shape, just the simple will to do so and some basic exercises will keep you in better shape than you think :)
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