I’m back…with a vengeance. Not really, but I am in a different country, though. I’m in the 3rd week of a month long semester break, and after much difficulty in attaining a visa to go to China, I settled for Malaysia instead. I say settled, but really it’s been an absolute bargain. I love Malaysia! Let me tell you about the country: Selamat Datang (Welcome)! Sitting partially on a peninsula off the Strait of Malacca, an important trade passage which links the Indian and Pacific Oceans, as well as Borneo, Malaysia has historically been a magnet for cultural diversity, and the country does not disappoint in displaying its eclectic and multiracial culture. It’s incredible: Ethnic Malays, Chinese, Indians, Arabs, Africans, and more, all in one place, attempting to interact with each other as best as they can. Coming from a nation as homogeneous as Thailand (at least racially, although there is a lot of diversity), I’ve not felt this much at home in a few months. It also helped that I came to visit some good family friends and some PiA fellows, and happened to link up with two other teachers from Khon Kaen since I’ve been here. Malaysia has been very kind to me.
I started off in Kuala Lumpur (KL), the commercial capital of Malaysia, home to my uncle Cliff (a Brit) and auntie Enna (a Tanzanian), who perfectly reflect the diverse nature of the country. Kuala Lumpur is an amalgam of activity that is just striking to your senses. It is not uncommon to meet a Nigerian transvestite/ladyboy bargaining for Ray-Ban sunglasses with an Indian Malay in Chinatown while grubbing on a whopper. I encountered this canvas of events, not exactly in that order, but was insanely awestruck by all that I was witnessing. KL, for a major regional capital, is surprisingly structured, neat, and walkable.
There’s a compact city center, which is lively and offers a lot of attractions; the foods are culinary explosions in your mouth; and I found people very approachable and more eager to get to know me, which is refreshing when compared to the timidity of some Thais. Since Islam is the state religion of Malaysia, there a lot of Islamic influence in the architecture of the city – and I have an affinity for Islamic architecture. All this combined with the fact that a lot of people speak English greatly influenced my perception of the city. (Pictured above are the Petronas Towers, followed by the old railway station and Batu Caves)
Next, I visited Penang, an island off northern Malaysia and on the Strait of Malacca, which is a cultural and historical throwback to Malaysia’s days (actually 100s of years) under colonial rule, most noticeably by the British. In Penang, I visited Alex and Aggie, also English teachers at a university in Penang through PiA, and really cool kids. I was also lucky enough to meet up with two teachers from Khon Kaen (where I work in Thailand), Diana and Anna, with whom I linked up with in KL and followed to Penang; they were my travel partners, as Alex and Aggie were busy at work. On the island, we went on a great hike in the national park which ended at Turtle Beach, so named because that’s where turtles come out at night to lay and bury their eggs (although, no turtles were sighted). We then took a boat to another beach, this time Monkey Beach (no monkey, but iguanas were spotted), before heading out of the park. We also spent some time in the old colonial district of Georgetown, and toured the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (or the Blue House), a renovated 19th century home of a Chinese mogul, dubbed the Rockefeller of the East, who built a vast business empire throughout Asia. The mansion was one of many that he owned all around the continent, and the home of wives 2 and 7, I believe, out of 8. Penang was a cool cultural experience, made better by the fact that I was able to interact and travel with friends that I really enjoyed being around.
Malaysia is a very interesting country. As I mentioned, it is super diverse, but there are some real issues underlying the social utopia that it’s made out to be. A part of me feels like the country is living a lie that is snowballing out of control. Some problems are really in need of mending, like giving preferential EVERYTHING to ethnic Malays, while not really catering much to the Chinese and Indian communities, which make up the two biggest minority groups in Malaysia. For example, if you're Indian Malay, you can't ever aspire to be the president of a university, and Chinese schools are not given as much money as schools that teach ethnic Malay kids, leading many Chinese to set up segregated private schools for their children. There's a certain glass ceiling, which is meant to keep "foreigners" from dominating social/economic spheres, but it's straight up discrimination.
Historically, non-ethnic Malays have dominated the peninsula for many centuries. Malaysia was colonized by the Siamese (Thais), Portuguese, the Dutch, and the English. And Chinese, Indian, and Arab traders have had a long history here because of the important role of Malay spices and other prized goods in the Indian Ocean trade routes. After Malaysia got its independence in the late 1950s, a large scale effort was made to put the country firmly under the control of ethnic Malays. Thus, the educational, commercial, housing, etc., sectors (and even tax payments) were all structured to cater first to Malays, and then to others. The result of this policy is an unsettling racial segregation that I find very detrimental to the country’s image as an oasis of diversity. So, although there’s a tremendous amount of culture sharing – you can go to an Indian restaurants and find Chinese and Malays also eating there – what I didn’t see very often were the different races eating together, or dating each other, or going to school together (outside of universities). In effect, what the ruling Malays in the government are trying to do is prevent “outsider” races, especially the Chinese, who hold incredible power in places like Singapore and Thailand (although in Thailand I find the Chinese better integrated with ethnic Thais and Thai society), from dominating the politics, the economy, and the media. This is understandable when considering how little control the Malays themselves have had over their own territory in the past 600 years, but I find it unfortunate that people are deliberately made into second-class citizens in a country in which they’ve had roots for centuries; and as a professional, it must be frustrating to be unable to reach the apex of your field in the country that you call home.
And yet, what I do like about Malaysia, although it frustrates me, is that, unlike in the US, where 2nd generation immigrants quickly lose their cultural identity and take up a general “American” social identity, mentality, and speech, here it’s not like that. Although everyone speaks Malay (which is a fusion of Southeast Asian languages, Sanskrit, and some Arabic, Portuguese, English, and Dutch words), I get the sense that Chinese Malay kids want to learn Mandarin (or maybe because their options are so limited, they are forced to learn/retain it in order to open up more doors for them in the future?), many Indian Malays still speak Hindi, Arab Malays practice Arabic, etc. People really make an effort to retain their old cultural values and lifestyles, which I think is great, but implies that there are roadblocks to full assimilation into Malaysian culture and forging a new identity out of all the diversity.
I say all these things and I’ve only been here for a week and a half, which means that I’m in no way an authority on matters Malaysian. These are all very, very rough observations that I just had to write down. Before I leave, I’m hoping to visit Melaka, the famed port city which was crucial to the Indian Ocean trade, and Uncle Cliff got us some tickets to see Akon in KL! So, I’ll be jamming my way out of Malaysia with some good tunes. I’ll take pictures.
Peace out. One.
The coolest part of the night, other than my near-50 year old uncle Cliff jammin’ hard to "I Wanna Make Love..." was when Akon, after diving into the audience 4 times already, decided as his finale to crawl (yes, on his hands and knees) above the audience from the stage to the very back of the venue. CRAZY!!! I've never seen an artist that passionate about his fan base. As the Malaysian security guards were trying to keep him from his act, Akon balked "Securrrity, why are you holding me back?! I'm trying to get to my people!" Epic! After he finished, he serenaded the crowd with a brilliant performance of "Mama Africa," which made me so happy to be African. 
