Cem I began to get intrigued by the idea of visiting Malaysia and Singapore a few weeks back. First of all, since we were in southeren Thailand, it would be rather easy for us to cross the border by land. And second, I realized that most of the Muslim culture I was familiar with was closely linked to the Middle East. However, it seemed different in Asia, and not so subtley in many ways either.
I think Tam and my first impressions of Malaysia were how much more developed it seemed than Thailand. The roads (the entire length of the highway from Butterworth to Singapore is neatly landscaped), the buildings, the cities etc. On our way to Penang we passed by the large offices of companies like Seagate, Sony etc. Malaysia had definitely made much more inroads in becoming a regional economic power.
Penang
2/17/03-2/19/03
Our first stop in Malaysia was Penang. Georgetown, Penang has been an extremely interesting city to visit. However, as our first stop in Malaysia, I obviously can not evaluate how representative it is of the rest of the country. The island of Penang was the first area that was colonized by the British. Many of the old colonial buildings remain from this period. During World War II, much to the surprise and shock of the local people, the British just packed up and left as soon as the first Japanese soldiers arrived. However, after the war, they returned, until independence (Merdeka as the Malaysians call it) in 1957.
One of the interesting things about Malaysia is that it is hardly very homogenious. In fact, the Malay and other indigenous people are only 58% (CIA Factbook) of the population, with the two other largest minorities, the Chinese and Indians, representing 24% and 8% respectively. Although the official religion of the country is Islam (freedom of religion strictly guaranteed), only 52% (Lonely Planet) of the population is Muslim. This, I think is also one of the main reasons English is so widely spoken in the country. Its seems to be the common language between the various ethnic groups. It is probably also a major drawing point for foreign companies in Malaysia and an important factor in the strong economic growth of the country.
Although I don't have any statistics to back this, I think in the island of Penang, the Malay may even be a minority. Tam and I did a walking tour of Georgetown today and the majority of the stores were owned by the Chinese (jewelry stores, electronics etc.) and the restaurants were either Chinese and Indian. In fact, Last night I may have had my best Indian food ever. Since for the past three-four weeks, all we have been eating is Thai and Chinese food, it was a nice change of pace.
Oh yeah, we also bought a new digital camera here after a nearly a full day of shopping around. Pretty excited about my new toy.
Tam Basically Georgetown is a large Chinatown. Not expecting much, I found Georgetown to be potentially quite charming, if its colonial buildings, dirty and run-down, undergo a facelift. In fact, a major renovation of the area would do the historic city much good. On the other hand, Georgetown seem to be prospering; many multinational companies' offices/buildings were evident. As this was our first stop in Malaysia, it was interesting to see an integrated Indian, Malay, and Chinese society and culture.
What definitely was not cool (besides the temperature...ha ha, lame joke) was our "guesthouse". Unfortunately, our guesthouse not only houses guests of the human kind, but also of the rodent kind. Hotel Pin Seng, listed in the Lonely Planet, seemed like a popular place to stay. Plus we were advised against staying in other guesthouse by a fellow passenger. On our second night, as we entered our room, a mouse quickly darted across our room, crawling under our door to leave. I screamed and hopped onto our bed out of fright. The experience was horrible....
Kuala Lumpur (KL)
2/19/03-2/21/03
Cem We left early on the morning in a Super VIP Bus to Kuala Lumpur (or KL as everyone seems to call it). The Super VIP Bus, as it is called here costed about $7 each for the five hour ride. You might think that the name is typical Asian exageration, but this was one case that it wasn't. There were only three seats per row, each of them the size of First Class air seats.
KL during our first day of visiting was actually a little bit of a let down. We went to the oldest public mosque in the city and found out that it had been built in the 1890s. The architecture seemed too similar to the other colonial buildings we had been seeing in Malaysia. Besides, I thought to myself, how could the oldest mosque in the city be so recently constructed when Malaysia has been a Muslim country for over 600 years? Well, apparently this was my ignorance speaking. Founded in the late 1850s, Kuala Lumpur is actually a younger city then San Francisco. Although it is currently the capital, the real historical city is Melaka, which is what Malaysia used to be called. Everything in the city made a whole lot more sense once I figured this out.
Anyway, we saw a bunch of colonial Malaysian buildings that were sort of interesting. I think by far the most interesting thing in KL are the Petronas towers which were completed six years ago. With an strong Islamic influence, the architecture of it was definitely very unique among the tall buildings I have seen...
Perhaps one of the most memorable moments in KL was checking out the nightlife in the city. It was my b-day so I was ready to party. After dinner in Chinatown (where I finally gave up and reminded Tam that it was my b-day), we went out to the Golden Triangle area, the downtown and hip area of town. We ended up in a club called the Beach Club with a live cover band. The band was surprisingly good. I had forgotten how much of a good time Asians have when they go out. (Tam: Cem makes it out as if he's really knows the Asian night scene...based only on his paltry Japan experience.) And also how much they drink when they go out. Everybody sang along and danced to almost every song the band played. It reminded me of Neel and I's Karaoke experience in Japan. Everybody knew all the words to some of the most obscurest, oldest songs. So we danced and sang along until about 2am when exhaustion starting kicking in for us. But the Malaysians (almost all of them of Chinese decent) kept dancing on...
Well, this gets me to another observation. Its become pretty clear to me that the Lonely Planet is correct when it says that its a safe assumption to say that the Malay's control the government while the Chinese have their finger on the economic pulse of the country. There are Chinese jewelry stores, foreign exhange stands, antique stores etc. everywhere that we've been too. If it weren't for the actual statistics, my guess from just traveling around was that in Malaysia it is actually the Chinese that are a majority here... However, one thing that is impressive is how much relative calm and harmony there seems to be between the Malay's, Chinese, Indians and other minorities here. Although I wonder how much that is just a first impression.
Parks & Gardens
Tam We went to the world's largest covered Bird Park in KL, boasting over 1,000 birds. However, we didn't see all 1,000 birds, but did get a closer look at the Great Hornbill, a type of bird that we saw in Thailand at Khao Sok Natioal Park. Such a weird-looking bird. Same goes for all the Hornbill birds. Basically, the beak has an additionally thing on it...on the Great Hornbill, it look like a rectangular box of the same color as the beak on top of the beak - sort of like another head... very weird.
I somehow managed to twist Cem's arm to get him to walk around the Orchid and Hibiscus gardens with me. The Orchid garden was really cool - so many different types of orchids. And the orchids were beautiful. lots of different colors and shapes. I wanted to take some home with me, but couldn't. It's such a shame that this was not towards the end of our trip. Orchids, very expensive in the U.S., is amazingly cheap here. The Hibiscus garden was all right, nothing spectacular.
Melaka
2/21/03-2/22/03
Cem We decided that two days in KL was plenty and decided to move on to our next stop, Melaka. There wasn't much more to the city. As the city of birth of the Malaysian Sultanate, the focal point of the spread of Islam in the surrounding areas, and a colony for three different European powers, Melaka definitely has a lot of history. Since its actually pretty compact, we were able to do a walking tour of most of the interesting sites. Today, I saw the most unique mosque that I have seen in a while. Built in the 1700s, the building looked more like a Chinese temple than a mosque.
To digress a little bit, one thing that has been somewhat funny is that Tam has not been able to come inside with me to most of the mosque's with me because she is not "Muslim." And my own Islamic background is generally confirmed with a brief test with how I respond to "Selamu Aleykum" which as far as I know is more of just an Arabic greeting than anything Islamic. But than again, my own Islamic knowledge is a little hazy these days!
Singapore
2/22/03-2/24/03
Cem After a five hour bus ride, we checked into our hotel, the Singapore Conrad. The dip into my Hilton Miles was well worth it. After being on the road for nearly a month and staying a "budget accomadations", the Conrad seemed like something out of the movies. We definitely stood out, checking in looking pretty scruffy and with backbacks for luggage.
One of the reasons for coming to Singapore was for me to do one of my business school interviews. I had been carrying with me a suit, formal shoes, dress shirt, tie (etc.) in case I had to schedule any interviews while I was on the road. I was pretty excited when Wharton contacted me with an interview request. Of course, my suite and other gear being backed up in my backpack for so long, I had to get some dry cleaning done quickly. (Tam: For $40 USD, the Conrad will provide excellent service...) Anyway, it was all in vain, as I ended up dressing business casual, since my interviewer suggested we meet in my hotel's lobby. Anyway, I thought the interview went pretty well, but its tough to ever really be able to tell. I think its going to be a tough year to get into business school this year. Seems like everyone is applying...
Since my interview wasn't until Monday morning, we had a day and a half time to discover this city nation. Jingli, my Singaporean friend from Salomon had sent me a long list of ideas for food, nightlife and the tourist stops. The first afternoon, we did a long walking tour (about six hours) encompasing almost all of the city center. We were exhausted, but it was worth it. Some of the things I thought was interesting:
Clean Streets. The reputation is true, Singapore is by far the cleanest city I have ever walked in. There would be stretches of 10-20 minutes walking around where we wouldn't see a single piece of litter on the ground. In fact, the only place were there was regular litter in the city was in "Little India."
The Carmel of Chinatown's. Why a city nation that is nearly 80% of Chinese descent would have a "Chinatown", is beyond me. I was not able to
find an answer to this from anyone. Anyway, at this point, I have visited a fair number of Chinatown's around the world. Maybe some of my Chinese friends
will dissent, but I generally find them to be remarkably similar to each other. Except Singapore's... Singapore's Chinatown is as Tam and I started joking, the Carmel of Chinatown's. Not only was this Chinatown spottless clean, but everything in it had a elegent feel to it. I wouldn't ever get
close to use that description to any of the other Chinatown's I've been to in my life. Even the street food vendors had really nice wooden stainless steel carts, with solid wooden tables in front of it. Great Food. Jingli was right, the food
in Singapore was amazing. And one of the only things,
it seemed, that wasn't at all expensive. We ate at
"hawker centers", which are basically these big
covered bazzare type areas with any where from 50-100
food stands. Our last day, we ate in Little India, at
a Muslim Indian restaurant which was amazing and
unlike any Indian food I had eaten before. Little India. Singapore, like Malaysia
and Thailand has a large Indian minority (about 8% of
the population. However, Singapore also employs as
guest workers thousands of Indians, Pakistanies,
people from Bangladeshis etc, to work in jobs that
resident Singaporeans are not interested in, such as
construction etc. Sunday afternoon, we made a trip to
see "Little India", the historically Indian part of
town. The experience was surreal. I have never seen
so many Indians in my life. It was like we had left
Singapore and had been dropped off in the middle of
New Delhi. There were Indian people sitting around
and chatting, walking around etc. everywhere.
Thousands of them and almost all men. We
couldn't believe it. We later found out from our cab
driver that most of them worked six days a week for
about $10 USD a day and on Sundays they all got together
to hang out in Little India. The stores were a
different story. They were filled with people going
through the merchandise as a clerk shouted out from a
loud speaker Our second day, Tam and I went to the zoo. Although not a very big zoo, I would actually say that it was one of the best that we have been to. The zoo
is, in their words, an "open concept zoo," which they really make work. An open concept zoo is one which limits the use of cages and relies instead on artificial barriers, such a moat. You definitely get the feeling that
you are walking very close to their habitats. Although we have been visiting a lot of national parks, its very rare to see any animals except monkeys
and birds. So even though it was at a zoo, it was good to see the regional wildlife. (Tam: including a bat pissing display...the bat turned right side up and hung from the branch using his hands and then went at it. I tend to forget that bats are mammals, rather than birds. The display definitely set me right.)
We were lucky, and after my interview on Monday ,
we were able to catch the morning bus to Mersing where
we could catch a boat to the Tioman Islands...
Tam: Cem pretty much covered everything. But I couldn't resist a couple of comments.
First, nightlife in Singapore is pretty expensive. Cem and I went out for beers at a popular bar. I had a regular sized beer and Cem had a large. For that sinful pleasure, we anteed up $20 USD. We tried some other nearby places, and they looked even swankier than the "pub" where we had our beers. So regretably, I didn't get the chance to try the infamous, Singaporean Sling.
Second, over half of Jingli's email was in regards to food...my kind of woman. (Jason Alambra sent us a similar email regarding food in Thailand. Not where to go, but what we must eat...) And eat we did. Singaporean cuisine comprises of Chinese dishes, Indian dishes and Malaysian dishes. Very similar cuisine to that of Malaysia's. But infinitely better.
Some of the things we tried: kway teow (stir fried flat noodles with eggs, bean sprouts, and dark soy sauce - similar to Thai's Pad See Ew), chai tow kuay (fried carrot cake - like fried taro cake you can get at Dim Sum in Chinese restaurants), poh piah (wrapped egg rolls stuffed with stir-fried carrots and jicama, eggs, and peanuts - similiar to Vietnamese's bo bia rolls. (Jingles, I have to make some for you when I get back home. Didn't know you like them....I cook this dish quite often.) Also great noodle dishes! And the best Indian food in SE Asia! And last but not least - ice kachang, which is basically shaved ice with multi-colored and flavored syrup on top of tapioca, beans and jelly. Uhm umm.
Tioman Islands 2/24/03-2/26/03 (Cem) After a four-five hour bus ride to Mersing and a long, rough ride on a speedboat ferry, we made it to Salang Beach at Tioman Island. The island was definitely beautiful. Unfortunately for us the beach we choose had some construction going on it, which got in the way of us enjoying it as much as we may have. We also did a hike into the jungle, which we had to cut short when Tam started to have back pain. After our first day, we needed to make up our mind whether it made sense for us to switch beaches and stay a couple of days more on the island. We both decided that it probably wouldn’t be worth it. After spending nearly three weeks in southern Thailand, it seemed to be difficult to be impressed by anything that Malaysia was going to throw at us. (Little did we know just how beautiful the Perhentian Islands were in the north.) So we left and after a 10 hour journey on multiple buses, we reached Jerantut, the homebase of our trip into the Teman Negara rainforest in the center of peninsular Malaysia.
Taman Negara National Park and Environs 2/26/03-3/02/03 Kenong Rimba Park
(Tam) Cem and I have just finished a 3 day/2 night trek in Kenong Rimba Park, a park adjacent to Taman Negara, peninsula Malaysia's largest and most impressive national park. At 130 million years old, Taman Negara (& the same our guide assures us of Kenong Rimba park) is the oldest rainforest in the world, older than Brazil's Amazon. It was so green! All different shades of green.... We didn't see much wildlife, and as for the "wildlife" we did encounter, I wished we hadn't. About 10 or more leeches (maybe even 15 leeches) crawled up my shoes and try to suck my blood. Unfortunately 4 of them hit the jackpot. Cem only had 1 leech bite. Thankfully no ticks this time. However, lots & lots of insect bites – no matter how much DEET I spray on myself. They just don't come after Cem. Despite the bugs, the experience of hiking and camping in the jungle was
really cool. We crossed many streams & rivers using old-fashion techniques such as swinging on vines (Tarzan has nothing on us....) and walking across fallen trees. You can also drink water (not much though) from vines. We also had to crawl on our hands and knees through bat turd and piss in a very, very
dark & low cave...yuck! At another cave, Cem had lots of fun climbing up and then coming back down via
sliding on a vine.
On the first night, we slept under a makeshift tarp & on the second night, we slept in another bat cave. And guess what... 2 furry rats came scurrying about our campsite. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well. In the middle of the night, I woke up as I felt an insect crawled through my hair. I kept combing my hair and hitting myself on the head. Quite a funny sight. Cem didn't think so....since I woke him up with the banging. What was funny was how fast Cem woke up when I was patting his legs looking for my hair thing. He thought it was a rat..... How startled he looked! Looking back, it was a pretty amusing incident.... Even though we bathed our sweaty bodies in murky streams, it felt great! to wash away the sweat, grime, dirt, blood... Yet we still stank of the "jungle" & refused to be any closer than 1 and 1/2 feet apart. So the thing we looked most forward to at the end of our the trek when we finally came back to "civilization" was a shower! With clean clear water.
After the trek, I wanted to stay an extra day and check out Taman Negara's canopy walk, which is supposed to be the longest canopy walk and one of the highest. It was so cool! At first I was pretty scared. I kept on thinking that there was nothing holding me up but a couple of planks tied to some ropes. And the rope bridge kept swaying as I walked. However after the first 200 meters, my confidence level rose. I started to deliberately jump on and shake the rope bridge so that it would sway. However, I only did this when I was close to the end of a bridge, and Cem and others were closer to the middle (more sway for them and less for me...). It was quite fun. We all had a good time.
One thing I noticed about Taman Negara is the variety of plantlife the park contains as opposed to Kenong Rimba. I definitely think the guide stretched the truth a little and misled me. Kenong Rimba may be as old as Taman Negara - no doubt about that, it's adjacent to Taman Negara - but it is definitely not as "pristine" as Taman Negara. However, that's only of importance to ecologists and botanists...So I was happy that we decided to stay an extra day to hike in Taman Negara so I could experience "the oldest rainforest" in the world. I'm also extremely happy with our jungle trekking experience, leeches and all. Definitely lived up to my idea of a jungle! We had to clear a new path through dense foilage using a machete....definitely not something we could have done on a well-trodden trail in Taman Negara. So we experienced the best of each!
As we left the park, I couldn't help but notice and be sadden by how the land around Taman Negara and Kenong Rimba has been mostly cleared away for palm, banana and rubber tree plantations. Granted some of this was done during British rule, but I couldn't help but feel that more and more of the forest was being clear-cutted for farming... and this is the oldest rainforest we have. Surely that should mean something....
We will post pictures up soon. Oh, yes for those of you who are checking our website, you will be glad to know that we've upgraded to a 4 megapixel digital camera. Hence, picture quality will greatly improve (before it was 0.64x0.32 megapixel).
(Cem) Another thing that really allowed me to enjoy the Taman Negara trip was the that right before we left, I found out that I had been accepted to Darden. Knowing for sure that I am going to business school next year has definitely removed alot of stress...
The Perhentian Islands 3/3/03 - 3/8/03 (Cem) Our trip to the Perhentian Islands in the north was by all means a traveling nightmare. Our train was scheduled to leave Jerantut at 2:15 am. After midnight, our guesthouse closed and therefore they dropped us off at the train station. After about two hours of just sitting around, we heard the announcement that our train would be delayed until 3:45 am. Not a happy moment in our trip.
One thing we haven’t mentioned is that we did the Teman Negara trip with a group of three Danish travelers, Uffe, Morten and Nicholai. Uffe and Morten were friends from school and I would guess were about 18 or so. Nicholai was in our age bracket and had met the two of them at an earlier stop in Malaysia. Anyway, we all clicked pretty strongly which made the Taman Negaro trip even more enjoyable. Uffe and Mortan’s next stop was also the Perhentian Islands, so we ended up traveling together for the next week or so as well.
Perhentian Islands
Tam and I decided to visit the Perhentian Islands on the advise of Jason Alambra, our friend who had also done a long trip in the region. There is really not too much that I can write about the Perhentian Islands. Besides maybe the fact that it may be the most beautiful place that I have ever been to. In addition to lazing around the beach, snorkeling and eating great fresh seafood barbecues, I also completed my PADI advanced underwater certification. The highlight of my diving experience on the Perhentian Islands was a three-dive trip around the Redang Islands. Besides the great diving, the trip was worth it just to visit the unbelievably beautiful Redang Islands. I found myself unable to leave these islands. I came there thinking we would stay 2 nights, we left (almost crying) after five…
Tam:
Paradise…. Originally Cem didn’t seem so thrilled about the Perhentian Islands, since he wanted to keep our foray into Malaysia short but sweet. I’m so glad that we made it to the Islands. They are so beautiful. Check out the pictures. Fine powdery white sandy beaches fringed with swaying coconut palm trees, crystal clear water ranging from deep turquoise to bright sea green, great snorkeling and diving. Since the Perhentian Islands are part of the state of Kelantan, an Islamic stronghold, there was none of the inebriated partying and loud blasting techno, reggae and house music to spoil the peacefulness and relaxed atmosphere. Everyone was very relaxed and chilled, including the islanders and staff. Good vibe and atmosphere.
Shark, oh so good! In fact the staff tended to be a bit too “chill” at times, forgetting our orders, coming out with food 1 hour later after we’ve ordered. But mostly everyone, including us, didn’t let these small annoyances hamper our enjoyment. I tried barracuda and shark for the very first time. Shark meat is oh so good and tender. Before I tried the BBQed shark steak, I thought shark meat would be very dense and meaty, like swordfish. Oh boy was I wrong; it is so tender that it melted in your mouth, like butter. And the little twinge of guilt for eating shark didn’t stop me from ordering it again the next night.
Turtle Hunt and Circling Sharks I went snorkeling and saw loads of fishes, turtles and a pack of 7 black-tipped reef sharks. In fact I was quite scared at one point because the sharks kept on circling around me. All good fun! What was hilariously funny was the sight of two snorkeling tour boats filled with Chinese tourists all wearing bright orange life jackets. And they were “hunting” turtles….so basically their boats (ours included) would circle Turtle Bay, where turtles are known to come and relax on the beach, looking for turtles. The moment a turtle was spotted, all 20 some odd Chinese tourists, with bright orange life jackets and snorkeling masks, jumped into the water, hoping to spot the turtles. And when the turtles were too fast for them (I would escape too if I had 20 Chinese tourists with bright orange life jackets on my tail), they all hopped back onto the boat and continue the “turtle hunt”… poor turtles….
Kota Bahru - Hat Yai 3/8/03 - 3/9/03 (Cem) Kota Bharu was described in the Lonely Planet as being a place where many travelers found themselves to stay longer then they expected. So therefore, we thought that we could easily fill up a day there. Unfortunately, we were both pretty disappointed with this city and wish we had just continued on from the Perhentian Islands straight back into Thailand. No idea what the Lonely Planet was talking about.
Unfortunately, as the “Islamic Stronghold” of the country, the city of Kota Bharu seems to have missed out on much of the economic development of the rest of the country. A shame. An interesting experience we had was to see an entire night market leave to go to evening prayers between 7:30 and 7:45pm. Uffe (one of our Danish traveling companions) said that basically the whole place cleared out when a guy came and made an announcement with a loudspeaker. Never have I seen or heard of anything like that since Saudi Arabia. Then again, this was the city that tried to instate Islamic Law (Sharia), but was overruled by the central government. In fact, Alcohol is illegal to all residents of Malay descent, although those of Chinese and Indian descent are free to do so. So according to our Malay cab driver, many, including our cabbie, cross the border into Thailand to enjoy a night out. Actually, this cab driver deserves a few more comments. Zeki, or “Key” as his friends called him, took full advantage of Islamic law by marrying two wives, but also felt like he needed something extra by having two girlfriends. He also made regular trips to Thai bars, but only for the drinking, not for the women. Not too surprising considering he already has to deal with four of them.
(Tam: Key also told us that in order to marry a second wife, a man must have his first wife’s permission. However, he also told us how the Malay men circumvented this “restrictive” rule. For 3,000 Ringetts, or about 750 USD, a man can go over to the Thai border, marry an additional wife, come back into Thailand, report his marriage and pay the fine of 750 USD. So for 750 USD a man can buy a wife…. Also of note, most taxi drivers seem to do quite well for themselves in Kota Bharu, as judged by their multiple wives and houses. Key told us that most of his taxi driver friends have at least 2 wives, some with 3 wives and of course the girlfriends. Since having multiple wives might not engender the most harmonious of living situations, most of the taxi drivers with multiple wives tend to have multiple residences. When we came back from the Perhentian Islands, I spotted Key and shouted, hey it’s our taxi driver with the 2 wives and 2 girlfriends. He quickly came over and told me “sshhh. My wife is here and she doesn’t know that I have girlfriends.” Funny character. )
We left the next morning to cross the Thailand border. Unfortunately, we were unable to get a sleeper train to Bangkok, so instead we took a minibus to Hat Yai, and had to make reservations to fly instead. So we bid farewell to our Danish companions and checked into the same Chinese hotel we had stayed in three weeks earlier prior to entering Malaysia. Although flying did not really fit in with our “budget” lifestyle, we dreaded losing one more day to travel. Especially by hanging out at the not so interesting city of Hat Yai a second time.
Last tidbits from Cem about Malaysia in general
Dogs vs. Cats Not too surprisingly, given its strong Islamic nature, there are very few dogs in Malaysia, which was pretty noticeable after Thailand. (Instead the country was filled with rogue cats.) There are dogs everywhere in Thailand and they are well taken care of by the Thai people who believe that they are reincarnated souls. For those of you who know of the cartoon/comic book character Lucky Luke (Red Kit), the dogs in Thailand reminded me of Rin Tin Tin (Actually, was that his name?), Red Kit’s happy natured but intellectually limited canine. In line with Thailand’s Buddhist culture, Thai dogs roam the country safely, happily and well-fed. They even seem to have developed a good relationship with chicks, cats and other domesticated animals and generally leave them alone.
World Cup Apparently people here, as a fellow Muslim nation, were pretty proud of Turkey’s World Cup success last year. It was a common compliment I received from most of the Malay I met. Come to think of it, it is actually the starting point of many conversations I have in Thailand and Malaysia once people hear that I am Turkish. Its great to hear people here talk to me about how great players like Rustu and Hasan Sas are.
Iraqi Crisis The Malaysians are very disturbed and upset by the situation in the middle east. The subject came up regularly and I was very impressed by the level of knowledge of most people. I suppose that this is not too surprising considering the first twenty minutes or so of every news cast seems to devoted to the Iraqi crisis.
Tidbits from Tam:
About Malaysia:
Head-scarfs and Make-up. Cem once told me that the idea behind head-scarfs was to protect woman from unwanted male attention. The sight of a woman's hair might drive a man crazy with desire, so to protect her virtue, a modest woman should cover up. So the idea is to cover up what is physically attractive to men. In Malaysia, I saw women wearing head scarfs with make-up on. I asked some Malaysians why, since the idea is not to attract male attention. Make-up, I thought, defeats the purpose of head scarf. They seemed to reply in a manner that suggest my question is somewhat silly and absurd. For Malaysians who are Muslims, head scarfs are just another tradition.... something they do. Make-up on the other hand is just make-up. Two different ideas, non-conflicting ideas. Still somewhat baffled, I continued on my quest to search for a "logical" answer, or at least one that made sense to me. I found none.
Muslim Malaysian Dress. Surprisingly many young muslim girls where tight jeans and tight tops with their headscarfs. No tank tops but short sleeved t-shirts wearing young muslim girls with headscarfs weren't rare. Also unique to Malaysia is the colorful matching Malaysian long tunics and pants. Every color under the rainbow and some more. And no bland boring solids in black, brown, navy or grey either. Lots of prints and colorful cheery clothing.
Sleeping in Mosques. I also found the common practice of resting in a mosque to be disturbing. Lots of Malaysians seem to hang out and sleep/rest at mosques during the day. Even though I am not Muslim, I am wedded to the idea of a mosque being a house of worship....not a hotel.
Eating with hands....not. Only recently did Malaysians switch from using their hands (traditional practice) to using utensils. Even so, I came across many Malaysians who ate with their hands. Now, some things such as skewers sticks, yes, that's understandable. But curry.... how do you eat curry with rice with your hands. The trick is to mix the curry with the rice on top of the banana leaf with your hands. Then using your hands, bunch up the rice into a ball and stick it in your mouth. It didn't look too pretty, I can tell you. At the food market in Kota Bahru, there were many so many stands selling what seemed to be absolutely devine food. But no utensils. So I ordered myself some food from a noodle stall that had bowls and utensils.
About Singapore:
Government Over-involvement. The government is really involved with everyday life. Our friend, Jingli, who is a Singaporean, probably will attest to this. An example: Between certain hours (till 6 pm I think), kids with school uniforms were barred from "gaming cafes". Also, while we were in Singapore, I noticed health tips from the government plastered all over food vendor carts and restaurants. The health tips ranged from "ask for more vegetables" to "ask for less syrup" at the ice kachang shops. Even funnier....the government puts out a dating manual! i.e. what to do on the first date. for example, movie is not a good first date because less chance for interaction.
Orderliness. Singapore is definitely more orderly than Thailand. And Singaporeans for the most part, obey traffic rules! This is quite a change for me. First Turkey....crazy mess and even crazier Turks. Then Belgium in Berkan's car.....A Turk with diplomatic immunity....I'll leave it up to your immagination, but at one point, we were speeding down a highway at over 180 km/hr - that's roughly 110 miles/hr! Then Thailand....where there were no traffic rules that I could discern. Even the one about driving only on the left side of the street didn't seem to apply. One of our Thai cabbie ran red light after red light. And he didn't even slow down at the intersection! I'm also willing to bet that percentage wise, more Singaporeans pay their taxes than their Thai and Malay counterparts. It seemed to be that type of country and mentality. But of course, the penalty of not obeying the law of the land could be quite heavy and painful! - like caning.
