5 Super Annoying Things That Malagasy People Do

It may be April 1st/April Fool's day but you read that title correctly. We are being deadass.

As Malagasy, sometimes we like to think we were made perfect, which I think we were, but sometimes we do things that annoy the hell out of me. In the following article, are my personal observations of things that annoy, perplex, and make me sad about the things Malagasy people do and experience. I have tried to come up with solutions to "fix" some of these issues, but sometimes acknowledging that we have a problem is the first step to finding a collective solution to a problem we all face.

Is this an article written by a Diaspora kid who grew up outside Madagascar examining and judging the Malagasy culture and ways of doing things? Yes! However, I think this deserves taking the time to break down these traits and behaviors to understand better our people and see what can be improved.

Here are the 5 things that drive me up the wall about Malagasy people and why we do the things that we do: 

*Please note that these are my own personal opinions and not that of MadaLiving.*

1. When we move too Mora Mora

I get it! Island time is island time but damn. We love to take our time. Mora Mora is a way of life to remind us to take life chill and without problems. However, it has spilled into other areas of life that don’t help the Malagasy people. For example, in the quality of work and management, sometimes we will produce the bare minimum or not our best, which is a recipe for mediocrity. This creates issues and sets the bar low for producing the best work that Malagasy people can actually achieve.

There can be a compromise with the Mora Mora mentality and I think that could be remedied with the balance between setting high standards for how we work, our goals and expectations, and strong self-control along with knowing when to chill, rest, and give enough time to bounce back in order to go back to working hard on challenging tasks. Oprah once said the following:

What I’ve learned this year is that my weight issue isn’t about eating less or working out harder … It’s about my life being out of balance, with too much work and not enough play, not enough time to calm down. I let the well run dry.

Oprah is totally right, don’t let your well run dry but also don’t live life too Mora Mora. There has to be a balance between living life Mora Mora and knowing when to work hard to achieve challenging tasks and activities.

2. Why are Malagasy people always late?

Now this one is sometimes unexplainable and is just something in our blood. You know the classic, a Malagasy party is scheduled for 7pm but the Malagasy will show up at 9pm and I think this as a fatal flaw that people will just have to accept. Nothing annoying about this except it may annoy other people who expect punctuality. Is it a question of respecting other peoples’ time? Yes. Does that mean we can help that we are always late? No. Hahah.

3. Subservience to the White Man/Foreigner

I don’t know if it’s colonial trauma (it probably is) but somehow we find ourselves in positions putting White people and foreigners on pedestals. In a personal example, while working for a certain European firm in Madagascar, I found myself changing my behavior to please my higher-ups in a way that was unnatural to myself and acting more subservient. Later on, I felt myself inferior amongst my White colleagues. It was an astonishing feeling to experience and I had to self-correct and remind myself that we were equals even if my Malagasy colleagues were too timid to do so. Why do we find ourselves in positions where we subconsciously become subservient in the first place?

Ok so what are the solutions for this? 

• In terms of the workplace, universally, we are a product of our environment and reflect how management fosters positive or negative treatment towards their employees. It is up to us to standup for ourselves and each other when experiencing terrible treatment in forms of discrimination, harassment, and just a toxic workplace. It's unfortunate to receive mistreatment in the same workplace that provides your livelihood but believe in your voice and ability to stand up for yourself for better care and treatment.
• What we meant by colonial trauma is that we have been conditioned to make ourselves lesser, to take up less space because of our colonial history.
• Practicing self reflection: we do not owe White people more politeness or patience than ourselves or our own people. *If people are offended by this, would you be as offended if you experienced the same thing of being made to feel inferior on purpose or even unconsciously? No? I didn't think so.
• When it's a privilege to be Vazaha-Gasy: In terms of being part of the Diaspora and finding myself in the position to work in Madagascar, I had the privilege of being “in between” because Malagasy people in Madagascar would listen to me differently compared to their counterparts. If we show, that we (and the white folks) are the ones that should be listening to their ideas, that will also give them confidence and self-esteem in what they do

My theory is that this is part of a generational trauma that has been passed down that unconsciously makes us subservient. As a Diaspora kid growing up in the US where we are brought up to be "equal", we have witnessed ourselves and other Malagasy people being different around White people for whatever reason and also without “having to” we are used to code-switching, changing our behavior and our voice. It's part of internalized racism because of how racist people have treated our people in the past and present that continues to make its way into our inner voice and actions that need to be unlearned in order to heal and do better.

4. Lack of boundaries in relationships

I admire how the Malagasy culture upholds close interpersonal relationships in our lives within our families and community. However, it has made it difficult to create boundaries as we always aim to people-please (*See #3 about subservience).

This lack of boundaries manifests itself in different ways:

• Inability to say no
• Inability to cut out toxic relationships
• Taking on full responsibilities to make sure others don’t feel lonely
• Neglecting your own wants and needs, effectively putting yourself last
• Burning ourselves out in order to take care of others
• Agrees in conflict just to keep the peace
• Feeling guilty when you can’t help

Solution?

Therapy. Honestly, why is it so hard for Malagasy to know when and how to seek help? This taboo around mental health and taking care of oneself is frustrating but know that things do get better when you acknowledge you need help, I promise. We know that for many, therapy may be difficult to get access to so we ask our MadaLiving community, how are you able to create boundaries within the context of the Malagasy culture?

5. And finally, corruption and taking advantage of others

Whyyyyyy? Why do we do this to our own people? Just why. There is corruption everywhere in the world, but it is so normalized in Madagascar. It happens at every level. You will get baptised to the real Malagasy way of life once corruption has happened to you.

1. Examples: to get a simple ID card from the Fokotany, one has to pay (knowingly or not) as much as $26 or 100,000 MGA to expedite the process to receive your Carte Identité (National Identity Card) 
2. Imagine what would happen if this were a more significant document or major business development deal?
3. Does corruption in Madagascar change us? Personally, after my first experience of corruption, I put my guard up and changed my usual natural trusting self to protect myself from experiencing corruption again. Is this normal and healthy? Heck no!

Share your thoughts with us on social media or directly email us at madaliving@outlook.com to share your thoughts with our team!