Differn’t Strokes
“Now, the world don’t move to the beat of just one drum, what might be right for you may not be right for some”
Dave Says:
Malaysia is not exactly a melting pot of their only three cultures, rather its a jello mold into which is poured the population and out slurps a soft goo of rainbow stripes comprising 60% Malay (including a few indigenous ethnic groups), 25% Chinese and 15% Indian. Fear not, this rather laborious metaphor will make complete sense further down this posting.These three groups couldn’t be more separate although they all appear to interact quite harmoniously. So, what does this mean for the traveler’s everyday needs? Here’s the breakdown:
Accommodation: For the budget minded, there are hostels and hotels. For the most part the hostels are run by non-Muslim Malays. Beer is readily available and sometimes cheap by Malaysian standards which is normally around US prices. (However, it must be noted that your very own travelers are taking a “country off” from drinking. Cheap beer and being on constant vacation is taking its toll on waistline and liver. ) The hostels are clean and usually very friendly. Budget hotels are run by the Chinese and look absolutely grotty. We did have the pleasure of staying in one in the equally grotty town of Sandakan and it was passable for a night but I certainly wouldn’t write home about it - unless, of course, you consider this “writing home about it”. They certainly don’t believe in fooling the potential guest with the old “nice lobby but shabby rooms” scam either; the whole hotel looks quite horrible indeed.
Shopping: Now, the Chinese Malays own commerce in this country. In small towns just about every other shop has the word “trading” in its title. This is the travelers clue that one may purchase anything one might desire from these stores. Anything from toothpaste to plastic toys from the “Batman Begins” movie. Next step up from “trading” is “superstore”. Superstores are more super for the vast array of goods they sell rather than their size. Imagine the whole of Target or Asda squeezed into a midsized grocery store. Ground floor is usually food although its hard to find anything fresh and the top floor is anything from guitars to gum boots or shorts to shampoo. For our muddy jungle trip we had to purchase a pair of rubber boots or Kampung Adidas. Off we went to the local chinese superstore and had our pick from about 200 pairs. Kampug Adidas are a one piece rubber soccer boot cast from a mold of the real leather Adidas shoes. They cost 5RM ($1.50). We opted for the gum boots at a more expensive 9RM figuring the snakes and mud would have a harder time entering at mid-calf level. Anyhow, there’s nothing you can’t buy and buy for cheap at these places and they are all, without exception, Chinese.
Shopping in KL is like shopping in London or Seattle. Starbucks are everywhere as is Borders books, KFC, Burger King, Quicksilver, Top Shop, Body Shop, Guess etc etc. Note: these are NOT Chinese owned!
Food: The food stays along ethnic boundaries too. The Indians run Indian restaurants, the Chinese run Chinese restaurants leaving the Malays to the market stalls and Kopi Kedai. “Fusion” is not a word that has crept into Malaysian cuisine. Kopi Kedai actually means “coffee shop” but they are really restaurants and all look exactly the same and all serve exactly the same dishes. In fact, the lack of a printed menu just saves everyone time and money - noodles, rice, soup - all fried and all with chicken and all for about 4RM. The floors are all white tiled and the food is made in the morning and kept in a serving cart all day. Rarely are there woman patrons although its almost always woman who work there. Once you’ve had one meal from one Kopi, you, quite literally, have had them all. Even though they are coffee shops, the Malay word for coffee appears to be nescafe. Indian restaurants are so so. We had several Indian meals and they all were like eating at the Indian booth, next to the Thai booth, next to the Baskin and Robbins at the shopping mall food court. Chinese food in Malaysia is just like Chinese food anywhere in the world. Now, there is one Malay drink that crosses ethnicities: the not-so-humble ABC. This drink will now prove my opening metaphor to be not as ridiculous as you thought upon first reading. The ABC comes in a bowl and consists of a pink colored condensed milk/sugar/peanut powder liquid suspending three different colors of jello pieces, red soy beans and yellow sweetcorn. It sounds quite disgusting but each ingredient has a distinct taste and fits together in a slightly awkward but not unpleasant manner. Much like the culture that gave birth to it, one is not sure if all these things need to be in the same drink, but they are and that’s what makes the whole thing so damn interesting.
“Whatchu talkin’ about Willis”
It appears from those not in the guide book writing business or those in the tourist industry that racial tensions in Malaysia may actually be as sanitized as it was in that famed TV show. It appears as if the Malay’s control government and the government is becoming more and more conservative by the week and we all know that conservative Muslim governments are not always the best for world peace (come to that, neither are Christian conservative governments). A couple of interesting facts: if you’re a Malay Muslim you get 7% off the price of that new house you’ve always wanted courtesy of the government. The Chinese are mostly Christian and the Indians are mostly Hindu so that effectively precludes them from this state incentive by means of religion. We also heard that corruption is rife and should a non Muslim die without a will, the local cleric will come along and say he converted the deceased to Islam shortly before is death so ensuring most of his estate goes to the local mosque (which the cleric happens to run). Even more disturbingly. debate rages in parliament to apply Islamic law to everyone regardless of religion. All these things we understand to be contributing to a powder keg that may exploded at any time. Even in the land of racially integrated beverages the specter of neo-conservatism raises it’s ugly head.
March 15th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
I believe that “Whatchu” is more akin to our beloved little ’70s munchkin, o’ british one :-). Aren’t you cute for trying, though.
Can you tell I am not so ready to get to work today? I’ve become that loser that posts too many comments to your blog.
I am on my back balcony facing out over the canal with my computer, a cup of coffee, a breakfast plate of cheeses, roasted chicken, a cracker, and organic artichoke spread. There is a pigeon on the gutter above my head wooing a dove perched in a tree on the other side of the canal. The pidgeon is puffing and squawking and making a show of himself, the dove is preening her feathers and just fluttered off to another tree farther down the canal. WAY outta your league, little pidgeon dude. The birds are always first to wake, then me, then everyoen else.
So are you telling us that Malaysia is basically the Westlake Food Court of SE Asia? Do you ever come across huge factories were all our disposable “Made in Malasia” stuff is made? Where are those factories?
Am I horrible for sorta kinda missing my starbucks double tall lattes? We don’t got ‘em here.
March 15th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
By the way, that picture of the little breakdance boy is stunning.