How To Sit On A Chair

Image: Sitting - KATAQACI

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WHY do Malaysians fold their legs when seating on chairs? I said Malaysians because I'm not sure if other Asians do this.

Most foreigners find our habit hilarious. Our seating style has created a lot of interests among many. Time and again it becomes the subject of discussions in many magazines and newspapers.

The habit of bringing our legs up when we sit on a chair comes so naturally that we don't even bat an eye doing it.

Some of us sit cross-legged on a chair, some prop ourselves comfortably in a chair with both legs folded under our body while many of us love bringing one leg up and propping it against our chest while the other feet is left dangling.

So why do we sit this way although we know it is bad manners to do what we do, especially at the dinner table?

A chair is just that - a chair so learn how to sit on it right.

Image: KARSTENKNEESE

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A friend of mine used to say that if we do not know how to sit with both legs on the floor then we shouldn't be seating on chairs.

I'm a lot more flexible. I think it's fine IF we are within the comfort of our home but it should be avoided if we are in public places. We might get away with it at a casual cafe where we are just lazing about but to do it in a restaurant is not acceptable.

Until today, no matter how furnished my house is, I still prop my legs up when seating on a chair, not just at the dinner table but my office chair as well.

I know it's bad for the back because my physio told me this many times over but I still do it. This is one bad habit that gives me so much comfort!

The correct way to sit on a chair - with both legs on the ground.

Image: Wedding Ready - REUBEN4EVA

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Whenever I go home to my Mum's, I see the same thing. Mum sits cross-legged on the chair. And my sisters, highly educated souls they are, sit with one leg propped against their chest.

Everyone does it so in our eyes it's normal but not to a third person looking in.

In another post I will tell you about the lifestyle in a kampung (village) and how my aunts used to roll out the mengkuang mat (screw-pines mat) because there is no such thing as a chair. Well, at least in those days there aren't.