It's pretty good in Malaysia : sunshine everyday, very easy and cheap to travel around the city, easy to find a place to eat or have a cup of tea at very cheap prices, safe to walk around
but I couldn't live there as there is always a small feeling of tension cos you can never be sure that the government or police would do something crazy.
Systems don't work like they should; so you can't rely on the police, the health system, whether the building will fall down or not.
The main thing is lack of equality in society: how can anyone earn a good wage and accept that their neighbours live in poverty ? not me. This is especially true of migrant workers, not only is employing workers for less than £100/month wrong ethically it's asking for trouble today you will get a lot of petty thievery and pilfering, but in the future there is possibility of racial violence when people have so little to lose etc
The politics are complicated -
It's an up and coming Asian country : theres a lot of first world infrastructure, but the cultural values are far from the deveoped countries.
It's got one foot in the middle ages it could decay into revolution etc or it could develop into a civilised non racist country.
People - Most people are kind enough, but cos the people are split between 4 racial groups : Malay (by law Muslim), Chinese, Indian and Orang Asli,
people seem to stick with their own kind.
Cultural Problems - In an ideal world there is complete equality of opportunity - but in Malaysia there is a big Rich and poor divide: professional people earn almost western salaries wheras the manual labour earns $250 a month. This put's a lot of pressure on society as regards crime and health etc.
So there weren't many hippy people or people doing green stuff, but there were some. But there no Green Festivals. I never met anyone like me. as I said...most people were pretty much the same as everywhere else in the 20th century capitalist, consumerist planet, "family family", "buy lots of stuff".
complicated politics ..a lot of new things a lot of
things that don't work perfectly
(Malaysian museums are cheap, but always something not
working)
Government offices Always closed The night markets are great, you can buy many things late at night 7 days a week. But like many countries there are a lot of extra public holidays when businesses shut like a whole week for Chinese New year. Careful Friday As for most countries don't count on things been open Saturday, Sunday, but also be aware most government things close 12-2.30 pm for Friday prayer.
99% of locals are kind , but the Parasite taxi drivers who try to catch foreigners at high fares and constantly tour ..really piss me off
|
|
Not really English speaking Before the majority Malay speaking community felt discriminated against. The other races were often educated in English etc. So now all government business is done in Malay and there are less signs in English etc. In an attempt to balance the injustices of the past there is a strong bias in favour of Malay people and culture (government money for Mosques etc. )
So before English was a second language to most people. Today to the Chinese and Indians it's now a third language. Its a difficult one, by making it easier for the Malays, they have become less international .
Singapore like before - same police state
Morality problem - many people probably brainwashed in the mosque tell me it's terrible in the west, but in fact I found the morality problems seem to be much bigger in Malaysia and particularly in the Muslim community. Most people are kind, but corruption is endemic from the top downwards. A large number of people seem to see taking a bribe as taking an opportunity, not stealing ..
The streets are not full of muggers it's pretty safe, but there is a huge wealth gap that it seems so tempting for the some poor (and the not so poor) to think that if something is not well protected it's a gift from the gods ! When Aki lost her backpack, locals thought people would not hand it in.
and sexual morality - The papers are full of stories of rape and shockingly incest, which are exacerbated by the police and authorities taking sexual crime seriously. The feeling of equality is not strong and in general men have all the power. And there seems to be a lot of prostitution. I would have said the level of sexual threat against women is much higher than the UK. All this despite have special religious moral laws and homosexual sex being illegal.
A little lack of Freedom - You can never rely on the government or Police not to do something crazy. The media is controlled which is a problem.. the public can't get a true picture of what's really happening. e.g. Films and books are censored the international film club got banned.
didn't find work, but hung out and didn't spend too
much money
Triumph, repairing a computer disaster
Going to Siberia Got to get away from Malaysia to the UK, but I don't want to be in UK until all the World Cup hype has finished. Getting my visa Chinese visa got one for Russia June 8th - July 5th
In the end I had to rush away cos of the timing of the flights etc. Before I had time to write up my Malaysia notes or indeed prepare for my journey overland to Europe... next postcard
|
|