7 curious reasons why Malaysians prefer watching TV at home than going out

Ever felt the strongest desire to just FFK (a.k.a. cancel on) your friends’ dinner plans, drive straight home, tapau some mee goreng, and just veg out in front of the TV?

Well that’s us on a daily basis, and there ain’t no shame in that. Once you reach a certain age, that’s pretty much what you look forward to when you spend 10 tiring hours in the office. Clubbing and socialising? No thanks – we’ll take watching a full season of Game of Thrones, horizontal on our couch. Aahh, that’s whatchu call livin’ the sweet life. #simplepleasures

 

And things are about to get even sweeter…

… because now you can complete your final transformation into a couch potato by downloading hours worth of TV programs and movies, LEGALLY! 

How you ask? If you didn’t know, our buddies at Astro have a really cool feature that lets you download shows with the PVR box. It will allow you to pick and watch anything you want instantly, so you have access to a huuuge library of entertainment at your fingertips. And if you connect your PVR to your Wi-Fi, you can even download titles On Demand (a.k.a. OD).

Hollywood got, Bollywood got, K-drama got also. There’s a helluva lot of entertainment with OD, can OverDose on happiness wei. Who’d wanna leave the couch anyway?

Well, definitely not these guys. A while back, we asked our readers… why do y’all prefer staying at home to watch TV instead of lepaking outside? Check them out and see how many you relate to 🙂

 

1. Can actually learn stuff you didn’t learn for SPM 

“I can put on my precious sweatpants while browsing through shows without having to concentrate on any conversation.

Hey, watching TV also can learn things okay? I learnt lots of ‘law terms’ from Drop Dead Diva and Suits. Hehehe.”- Waniey Ghazali

TV is an escape from reality, we all know that. But sometimes, this escape can get you in-tune with a reality you actually want. But despite the fact that these are fictional shows, who’s to say that they won’t help you in real life?

Take for example new hit K-drama, Doctors (also on Astro of course!), which consults with real doctors for every medical-related scene! Or in Criminal Minds – we learned to always be alert when walking alone at night. Or in Suits – we learned the basic elements of corporate law. Sexy cast comes as a bonus.

And for something closer to home, err… we’ve learned that Malaysians actually refer to themselves as “gua”. Haven’t heard this in real life though. o_O

 

2. It’s dangerous to go out when Pokemons are around

Even though some of the craze has died down, there’s still a ridiculous amount of Malaysians braking their cars for no apparent reason, or worse still, getting injured cos they didn’t notice cars around them :(. Worse still, almost every mall in Malaysia has become a darn Pokestop.

“My nose is gonna break from the amount of times I langgar the back of the people in front who stopped walking halfway just to catch pokemon. For my own safety baik stay at home” – Wee Jee Hui

Poor Jee Hui. But then we read the rest of his hilarious entry.

“Go out for what you only look at your phone and play Pokemon GO, u might as well come over and watch a movie here since my house on top of a Pokestop lar.”

Wow… playing Pokemon Go WHILE vegging at home. Double-win.

 

3. Cannot bring char kueh teow into a cinema

“I can ask my mum to cook kuey tiaw goreng for me. I can’t bring my mum’s kuey tiaw to the cinema.” – Shahir Naim

Have you ever realised just how ridiculously expensive cinema food and drinks can be? Mineral water can cost about RM3.80, while 6 pieces of measly nuggets can go up to RM10. What’s worse, they’re mostly processed finger food that probably costs less than 20% if you were to cook it yourself -_-”

But if you do wanna smuggle food into a cinema, get ready to be reprimanded publicly from cinema staff cos not nice la, people wanna do business mar. If you like living life dangerously, play it smart by checking out this very helpful link eehehehe.

4. No need to mandi at all! 

“Of course I can be myself, no need to mandi to save water (our bills usually sen-sen only, mandi once a day because I did not sweat or touch dirt during the day). I can sit or baring, or change TV channel as I please.” – Jurina

Hate showering? Here’s a fun and gross fact: Doctors have said that in terms of health, we’re actually over-showering. In fact, the ideal shower frequency is probably once or twice a week. “Your body is naturally a well-oiled machine. A daily shower isn’t necessary,” Dr. C. Brandon Mitchell, an assistant professor of dermatology, told TIME. 

In fact, Dr. Elaine Larson, an infectious disease expert, says that regularly washing your hands and clothing is good enough to keep bacteria at bay. Eeyer so gross… do what then? Dr. Joshua Zeichner, also an assistant professor of dermatology, suggests cleaning the grossest parts of your body (face, ketiak, under-boob, sacred zones and butt) with a soapy washcloth on non-shower days.

One major side effect though: you gon smell like a bag of ikan masin, mate!

 

5. Couples can share their love <3  

“I only answer to me. No burden of having to take into account someone else’s taste in movies / TV series. The ability to doze off half way and continue where I left off. I can eat whatever I want.

And if I’m ‘pakthor-ing’, I can… err… you know la. :D” – Barry Mark Westerhout

Hey young loves, ever wanted to hold your bae tight when watching a horror scene? Or maybe wipe her tears when she cries at a sad scene? Ok, so a lot of Malaysians do this in the cinema and in shopping malls too, but some of us like Barry have consideration for other Malaysians k? Oh and nowadays everyone camera phone dem canggih, so……

 

6. Can cry without having to maintain macho

“So that no one will know that I cried like a lil b***h after the red wedding.” – afiq radzi

Remember when social media went batpoop crazy after Game of Thrones’ Season 3 finale, a.k.a the Red Wedding, a.k.a. the one where EVERYONE FREAKING DIED?! Well viewers had all sorts of reactions, from angry to sad to downright depressed. No surprise that Afiq over here cried a river.

But in all honesty, we’ve been conditioned to think that crying is a sign of weakness, especially for men. But this empathy has long been seen as an aspect of emotional intelligence, a trait found in prominent leaders and successful individuals. Writer John Haltiwanger puts it simply: “… if you cry at movies, you’re likely fantastic with people and an emotionally strong person, further disproving the notion it signifies weakness.”

So what’s the lesson here? It’s ok to cry! Now go forth and watch 15 movies that are guaranteed to shed manly tears. Feel free to Snapchat it.

 

7. Can wear kain pelikat and let it all hang loose

“Because, kain pelikat. Home is where no pants is. Seriously damn cooling wei. You know that feel when you terlupa to zip up after shishi, and it feels a lil’ bit cooling down there? Imagine that but x1000.” – Fariz

If there’s one thing most of our entries had, it’s a love for letting everything hang loose. Guy, girl, whatever – freedom from elastic waistbands and metal wires are universal. Anyway, *some* doctors did say that letting it all hang out is good for your health. That’s just token commentary la… whether it’s good or bad, we’re team #pelikat.

Fariz has a double whammy: you can even use it as an excuse to avoid going out. “No clean undies, cannot go out. Now too late to wash ah, sure lambat kering and tomorrow only dry.”

 

So how? Still wanna go out?

With hundreds of Astro channels at your fingertips WAITING for you to watch them, there’s less reasons to go out. If you’re reading this in the office, we hope you’re just as excited as we are for a night of being horizontal on our couches. If you’re reading this at home, we hope you’re *already* horizontal and ready to veg out hard. With all sorts of shows and movies On Demand, think of it as a reward after a tiring day at work!

Err, but do it moderately la of course, don’t sampai cannot function the next day k? 🙂