Hence, using the trusty Google, turns out Malaysia is neither first world nor third world, or even second world. According to this Yahoo! Answers question, the terms first world, second world and third world are only relevant to the situation post World War II and cannot be truly applied in today's situations. As for Malaysia, it's a developing country, currently on its way to being a developed country. Specifically speaking, it's a newly industrialized country (NIC), in accordance to Wikipedia's article on developing country.
I really liked the best comment of the aforementioned Yahoo! Answers question, where the commenter aptly described Malaysia as a country "... filled with people of simple and sometimes under-developed mentality" and that most Malaysians "are easily influenced and that politicians and religious fanatics are taking advantage of that." How very true indeed. Of course, I'm not saying ALL Malaysians are like that, but generally speaking, Malaysians do come across as rather simple.
Personally, being someone who has only lived in Malaysia (Penang to be specific) for the past 3 years and with considerable lack of knowledge about Malaysia, I am ignorant to many facts. However, I can't help but think there's really huge room for improvement for us. We actually have abundance of resources to work on and improve our country's status. It's pretty sad to know what we could have been but cannot be due to issues which could be easily overlooked and resolved if only certain people aren't so darned fussy and sensitive.
Despite that, I still have hopes for this country. It's a lovely place and I would love to see to what new lengths we could achieve.
