By Assunta Ng
For the Northwest Asian Weekly
Ever since the Sept. 11 attacks, I`ve wanted to visit an Asian Muslim country. One of my goals is to understand Muslims better. Recently, within two hours of arriving in Hong Kong, I had to decide which one of these countries I would visit.
Traveling to Malaysia was a surprise to my husband and me. We hadn`t planned the trip and knew nobody there. Nor had we read anything about the country. I didn`t consult with my Malaysian friends in Seattle before the trip. But none of these reasons discouraged us from going. That`s how adventurous we were!
We picked the capital city, Kuala Lumpur, because we heard so much about its Twin Towers, once the tallest building in the world. With Chinese and Southeast Asian influences, its food is an interesting blend of cultures. All our meals in Kuala Lumpur were fantastic, even though nothing contained pork! Muslims don`t eat pork. It`s against their religion.
I preferred going to Malaysia rather than its neighbor, Indonesia, which has a notorious record of killing ethnic Chinese. Its government doesn`t seem to be doing anything about the senseless violence.
Does that mean Malaysians treat Chinese well? Read on to learn about my experiences in Malaysia.
Hiring an Indian driver
The only thing we knew about Malaysia was that its taxi service was cheap. US$1.50 can take us more than a mile. The best decision we made on this trip was hiring the right tour guide, a Malaysian-born Indian taxi driver named Sandran who loves this country.
He isn`t an ordinary taxi driver. A retired government employee, he knows a lot about his country, is open minded and is well informed, as he reads two newspapers a day, one in English and the other in his native Indian language.
The first three taxi drivers we had before we met Sandran didn`t speak a word to us, even though they knew some English. The gregarious Sandran`s accent was strong, but we understood him. When we climbed into his taxi, he asked, “Where are you from?”
Instead of telling him that we are Americans, I replied, “Hong Kong.” Let`s face it: America doesn`t have a favorable reputation overseas because of the Iraq war. On foreign soil, including in Europe, Singapore and even China, we have to protect ourselves, and that means our real identity. My experience is that native folks tend to charge Americans more for services because they assume Americans have lots of money and can be fooled.
What`s your name? the driver asked.
My husband replied, “George.”
“Mr. George,” Sandran said, “I can take you to …,” as he displayed an album of photos showing the sites of the city. Once we agreed on the price, he took us on an exhausting and exciting journey that included the Prime Minister`s Building, where foreign dignitaries are received; Butterfly Park; and the newly created planned city of Putrajaya, complete with artificial lakes. Putrajaya, founded in the 1990s and home to about 25,000, acts as the federal government`s administrative center. Sandran suggested we take a cruise to enjoy the splendid architecture on both sides of the shore, including the Millennium Tower.
In addition to driving us to the tower afterwards, he took us to Bantu Cave, which houses the century-old 272-step-high Hindu Temple, a waterfall and lots of unwelcome wild monkeys wanting tourists` food.
The cost was US$100 for the first day`s taxi ride. It was an incredible deal, as many of these places were far from each other. And traffic in Kuala Lumpur was horrible.
By the way, we did call a Chinese tour guide recommended by the hotel. But he never returned our call. At US$60 an hour, he would have been five times more expensive than Sandran. We hired Sandran for the next two days and enjoyed our conversations with him immensely.
A fascinating, diverse country
America defines its races using four groups, Native, Latino, Asian and African American. But Malaysia is so diverse that no one can sort out its racial diversity. Just look at the colors of the people`s skin: They vary from chocolate brown to charcoal brown, reddish to yellow-brown, light to dark as midnight. The Malay, Chinese, English and Tamil languages are all frequently spoken.
Like other Asian countries that suffered imperialism centuries ago, Malaysia was once ruled by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, British and Japanese. The Chinese might not have formally conquered it, but China has exerted its influence over Malaysia since the second century. With Islam as its state religion, Saudi Arabia has a powerful presence in the area in terms of loans, tourism and cooperation. Hard to believe, but Malaysia is a fairly young country. It established its independence only 50 years ago with the support of the British.
Of the 26.3 million people in Malaysia, 6.5 million are ethnic Chinese and 2.5 million are Indians. Most Chinese are Buddhists; Indians are Hindu or Muslim. Lots of the illegal residents are from Indonesia, Bangladesh or Pakistan. Temples of all kinds are scattered throughout the country. Mosques are not only bigger, but they are located in more prominent positions than other houses of worship. For instance, next to the Prime Minister`s Building is the biggest mosque in not only Malaysia, but all of Southeast Asia.
There are also no dogs around. Oh yes, Muslims are not allowed to keep dogs. But they can have cats. According to our driver, you can have dogs outside the capital, but you need a permit.
In this day and age, Malaysians still believe in royalty. Yes, they have a king and queen, whose symbolic heads-of-state duties are transferred every five years among the 14 states. However, the prime minister has the power to run the country; he was on the front pages of Chinese and English newspapers daily.
The Twin Towers
Built in 1998, the amazing and glamorous 88-story Petronas Twin Towers was once the tallest building in the world before Taiwan built its Taipei 101. The two buildings are connected by a two-story skybridge on the 42nd floor. With a grand view of the city, the sky bridge is free to everyone. But there is a catch. Visitors have to line up two hours early to get tickets.
Forget it, I said.
Sandran volunteered to get us tickets at 8 a.m. What service!
The Twin Towers are not only a remarkable achievement for Malaysia, but they put the country on the map. Aside from the grand four-story shopping mall, which is equivalent to five to six Bellevue Square malls, the building also houses a concert hall, a library, a private club as luxurious as the Columbia Tower Club, and petroleum companies.
What struck me was that the buildings were very clean and efficiently run. Everything was well organized, including the tour. The free admission to the skybridge is a great marketing strategy, as it encourages families and tourists to spend money at the mall before and after the tour, as they have to wait there for two hours before the tour starts. No wonder the mall is bustling with people and activity. Compare it to the Shanghai Pearl Tower, which has few tourists and many empty malls; China could learn something from Malaysia.
The free tour made us feel obligated to support the businesses there. We bought souvenirs and had lunch inside the mall at the Coffee Bean, a chain similar to Starbucks, which also had a shop there. The nice lunch, which included a vanilla drink, latte, chocolate cake and 6-inch chicken pie, cost only US$16.
Sandran showed us Indiantown and where to exchange Malay currency. A Hindu himself, he said Indian Muslims offer the best exchange rate. There we got the highest rate among the three places we visited on our trip.
While we strolled around Indiantown, Sandran was having breakfast in a tiny cafeteria where everyone was squeezed together at long tables as if they were old friends. I wondered why there were no women present.
There were Malay businesses next to Indiantown, mostly fabric stores and dress shops selling colorful Muslim designs for women. I was attracted to the gorgeous batik pattern of their clothes, but declined to try on a dress when I realized it wouldn`t fit. I noticed Muslim women wear their clothes two sizes bigger than their bodies.
“It`s supposed to be loose,” said a saleswoman who understood my concern.
“But I don`t want to look fat,” I responded. That might be the biggest cultural difference between Western and Muslim-influenced fashion, I presumed. Western women wear clothes that show the curves of their figures, whereas Muslim women hide everything about their bodies.
Las Vegas-style town on the mountain
Sandran dropped us off at the foot of the mountain at Genting. He warned us about the cold weather. But to us, it was perfect. The 70 degrees at Genting was much more pleasant than the 92 degrees in Kuala Lumpur.
Everything in Las Vegas seemed to be copied by Genting, from the theme parks to the hotels. For example, Las Vegas` Venetian Hotel has a manmade lake with tourists on boats and singing rowers, just like in Venice. At Genting, there`s also a lake inside a hotel and moving boats, but the rower isn`t real.
The casinos are not located in an obvious spot, unlike Las Vegas` casinos, which are the first things you see when you pass through the grand entrance. Although we are not gamblers, we ventured into a casino on the lower level of the hotel. A security guard stopped my husband from entering, indicating that he wasn`t properly dressed. He had a T-shirt on, as did I, but women were allowed to enter with T-shirts. So I roamed the casino alone. To my disappointment, the casino was crowded, dark, dull and small compared to Las Vegas` fancy ones.
To comfort my husband waiting outside, I told him he didn`t miss anything. Immediately, he pulled out a shirt from his backpack, put it on and went inside as if I had lied to him!
The best part of Genting was the US$20 foot massage at the hotel`s mall. It was a slow day and the Malay therapist gave me more than the 40 minutes allowed for the massage, while the Chinese therapist served me tea and entertained me.
The last agenda was dinner in Chinatown. Sandran commented that this neighborhood was famous for selling fake designer purses and watches. He left us in Chinatown before he headed home to celebrate his wife`s birthday. Our generous tip touched him. Sandran told his wife that her birthday gift and dinner were courtesy of “Mr. George” and “Madame.”
Chinese in Malaysia
We never felt we were discriminated against in Kuala Lumpur until we talked to a friend in Hong Kong after the trip.
“The Malays have hated the Chinese for thousands of years. The Chinese control everything in Malaysia, from big to small businesses,” he said.
In retrospect, he could be right. The Malays were not especially friendly to us. When we asked for directions on the street, the locals weren`t helpful, and many times they gave us the wrong instructions. I didn`t know if it was intentional or not. I thought we got more help when we asked for it on past trips to Istanbul, Turkey, and Casablanca, Morocco.
At a museum, our driver told the receptionist that he was leaving to get gas and asked her to tell us. She saw us waiting in the lobby, but did not relay the message.
A couple of times, Sandran addressed my husband as Chinaman. Most Asian Americans would be upset by the term, but it is acceptable in Malaysia.
There are many stories of successful Chinese entrepreneurs in Malaysia. The Chinese foot masseuse told me many, including that of Mr. Lim, who started Genting town. She said he started from scratch and was perceived as nuts when he decided to build a gambling town on the top of a mountain.
Chinese language schools are important for the locally born Chinese. They can write and read better than many American-born Chinese. I read two of the three Chinese daily newspapers available there. They seem to be doing well, with decent editorial content and strong advertisements.
In Kuala Lumpur alone, there are more than a million Chinese, and I was surprised that I could get by with Cantonese in many areas of the city. Chinese eateries are everywhere. In fact, there are even more Chinese food courts and restaurants outside Chinatown than in it, and the wait staff speaks Cantonese just like in Hong Kong.
Sandran told us that interracial marriages between Chinese women and Indians and Malays are common. What`s interesting is that Indian women don`t marry Chinese men. Sociologists would be able to analyze the issue.
Saying goodbye
On our last day, we invited Sandran to have lunch with us at Seafood Palace, a restaurant he recommended. A vegan himself, he ordered vegetarian fried rice. He was so happy that we included him for lunch that he told the Chinese waitress that we were like his family and friends.
We had a lavish and delicious meal featuring Malaysian lobsters, shark fin soup with crabmeat, and long beans with chopped fish mixed with eggs. Actually, Sandran knew all the great restaurants, and we loved his suggestions. The night before, he told us to dine at Eden Village, right behind our hotel. It was more like Seattle`s Canlis restaurant.
I told him the truth when he brought us to the airport: “We are Americans.” His jaw dropped and he was speechless. I gave him many hints, but he never connected the dots. For instance, when we didn`t have enough Malay currency to pay him, we paid him in U.S. money to make up for the balance.
I don`t know when I will go back to Malaysia, but the trip made an impression on us. We were particularly struck by Malaysia`s accomplishments and Sandran and his service. Kuala Lumpur`s modern airport rivals our own Sea-Tac airport. The new government city of Putrajaya is a brilliant expression of art, religion, technology, urban planning and revitalization in an old mining and plantation area.
Malaysia also manufactures cars. Sandran`s taxi was a Malay product. More than half of the automobiles on the freeway were made in Malaysia. Buying a Toyota in Malaysia would cost double.
Unlike Singapore, which has a dictatorial regime and press censorship, Malaysia is a democracy. I don`t care to go back to Singapore, but Malaysia, I would do so again in a heartbeat.
Why we ended up in Malaysia was an accident. My husband and I were visiting my mom in Hong Kong. She has an apartment with an extra guest room. My sister-in-law, who works in Hong Kong, recently started living there on weekdays. On weekends, she goes across the border to China, just like British Columbians who work in our state do when they return home to Canada on weekends. My mom insisted my sister-in-law give up her room and sleep in the living room while we were there. I didn`t like the idea.
After arriving in Hong Kong on Friday morning, we randomly walked into a travel agency in my mom`s neighborhood and told the agent to get us out fast. Within 36 hours, we left Hong Kong in time for my sister-in-law to have her room back.
Source: www.nwasianweekly.com (9 April 2007)
