| KL Third Rudest City Finding Disputable |
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KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 (Bernama) -- A global survey that placed Kuala Lumpur as the third rudest city is disputable, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Wednesday.
"We can question the tests used in the survey because I understand one of our attractions to foreign tourists is the friendliness of our people."
He said the survey of 35 of the world's capitals by Reader's Digest magazine gave a negative image of the country, especially after it was aired repeatedly by CNN.
The magazine had sent reporters to the 35 cities in which it publishes to conduct a survey of local politeness.
Three tests were employed: Dropping papers in a busy street to see if anyone would help; checking how often shop assistants said "thank you"; and counting how often someone held a door open.
According to the survey, the rudest city in the world is Mumbai, followed by Bucharest. New York tops as the most courteous city.
Najib said Malaysians should accept that an assessment had been made and they would need to work to change the perception.
The government had taken the initiative by launching a campaign recently to promote noble values and courtesy, he told reporters after handing over a cheque for RM32,000 from the Takaful group insurance scheme.
The payment was made to S. Sarimuthu, the father of National Service trainee S. Theresa Pauline who died on June 11 of a viral infection.
On the weapons training in the National Service programme, Najib said shooting with live bullets would continue but trainees were free to write in for exemption if they or their parents were concerned about safety.
He said feedback from trainees showed most were keen on the shooting training.
-- BERNAMA
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