Warsaw - Polish screenwriter Piotr Kalwas, known for a popular TV show poking fun at national stereotypes, recently moved to Egypt in search of the better values he says are lacking in his homeland.

Kalwas, in the late 1990s, worked on the series, The World According to the Kiepskis, which told of a dysfunctional family and the pitfalls of unemployment, alcohol and laziness.

The move to Alexandria - along with his wife and 5-year-old son - was to escape those same faults, the daily Wyborcza reported on Wednesday.

"In Poland the sweeping, all-encompassing rudeness bothers me," Kalwas told the daily. "People from year to year are more aggressive and coarse. Basic manners are disappearing."

Kalwas converted to Islam after a trip to the Middle East in 2000, and says he's drawn to religion as Poland becomes more "materialistic."

"There are no drug addicts in Egyptian schools, no problems with drunkenness, no crime on the streets. Life revolves around the family," Kalwas said. "Our culture is based increasingly on materialism. But a person's positive traits come from a spiritual culture." dpa