Peninsular Malaysia
Selamat pagi! For those of you who have forgotten what you learned in your high school Malay language class, that means good morning! We’ve just returned to Kuala Lumpur after a bit over a week of travelling around Malaysia and I thought it would be a good time to get everyone caught up on our adventures to date. But before we get into that, a woefully inadequate and oversimplified Cliff Notes version of Malaysian history (all of which was new to me too).
Hinduism and Buddhism from India and China dominated the early history of the Malay Peninsula, with Islam taking root in the 15th century. European colonization began with the Portuguese in the early 16th century, followed by the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries, and then the British in the 19th century. The Japanese invasion during World War II was brutal and ended British rule in Malaya. After the Allied victory in WWII, the British returned and spent more than a decade fighting a Communist Chinese insurgency prior to the independence of Malaysia in 1957. Singapore, which had been part of the federation was expelled in 1965 and became an independent country.
Today, Malaysia is comprised of two regions - Peninsular Malaysia (where we have spent the past couple of weeks) and East Malaysia on the island of Borneo (our next stop), with a total population of 34 million. The country is multicultural, with approximately 70% being Malays (principally Muslim), 23% Chinese (Bhuddists) and 7% Indian (Hindus). While Malay is the official language, English is spoken quite widely. Malaysia is considered a wealthy, upper-middle-income, newly industrialized nation - the 3rd richest in Southeast Asia behind Singapore and Brunei. Interestingly, Malaysia has a unique rotational monarchy, where the King is elected every 5 years from among the 9 Malay state rulers.
Most tourists coming to Malaysia are from Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries. Western tourists are principally from the UK and Australia. Tourists from the US account for only 1-3% of the total. In the past couple of weeks I think we’ve only run into 1 other American. Perhaps not surprisingly given all the lunacy happening back home, my favorite t-shirt, purchased at the No Kings Rally in Boston back in the fall, has been a big hit
Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, translates literally as “muddy estuary”, referring to the confluence of the Klang and Gombak rivers pictured in the background
Kuala Lumpur is a city filled with skyscrapers and high end hotels and malls. From 1998 until 2004, the Petronas Twin Towers pictured below were the world’s tallest buildings. The key personality behind the development of the towers was Ananda Krishnan, a reclusive Malaysian billionaire tycoon. The really interesting part of the Petronas Towers story is what happened with Krishnan’s son. At age 18 he went to Thailand to visit his mother’s family. During the trip he decided to go to a Buddhist retreat as a way to honor his mother’s heritage. What was originally intended as a short, temporary experience transformed into a lifelong spiritual calling. He has now lived as a forest monk for over 20 years, foregoing his potential inheritance which was estimated at over $5 billion!!!!
In my last post I included a picture contrasting traditional architecture in the foreground with the ultramodern architecture of a skyscraper in the background. It turns out that the skyscraper, known as Merdeka 118, is now the second tallest building in the world, behind only the Burj Khalifa in Dubai!
Given the multicultural nature of the country, there are numerous temples and shrines for the three main faiths practiced here: Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. One of the most visited of these is a Hindu shrine outside of KL located in the Batu Caves, reached by a flight of 272 steps. Just in front of the cave is a remarkable 141 foot high statue of the Hindu deity Lord Murugan.
We also took the opportunity to visit one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Southeast Asia, as well as the National Mosque
In line with the diverse population, there is a wide selection of Malayan, Chinese and Indian food options here as well as lots of fusion cuisine that incorporates elements of all three (with an occasional American fast food restaurant thrown in for good measure). We happen to be here when three of the Malaysian’s favorite tropical fruits are in season: rambutan (known as the hairy fruit), mangosteen and durien. Mangosteen and durien have some interesting properties, which create some challenges
Mangosteen is prohibited from most indoor spaces because its juice will permanently stain anything it touches. Durien’s issue is its smell and, for me at least, its taste. As Anthony Bourdain described it: “Your breath will smell as if you’d been French-kissing your dead grandmother.” I had to taste it nonetheless. Talk about a cultural experience!
From KL we headed to Penang Island, known as the “Pearl of the Orient”. The main city of Penang - Georgetown - is a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its colonial architecture, vibrant street art and street food.
After spending some time in Georgetown we continued on to a small fishing village on Penang for a home stay with a local family. Our hosts were very gracious, even if the accommodations were what you might call “modest” - this was the sink in our bathroom
At least they had good WiFi so we were able to catch the 2nd half of the Patriots-Texans game at 6:30 in the morning (not to mention the stylish bedding!)
We also had some good fun learning local games and watching a demonstration of Silat - a Malaysian martial art
From Penang it was on to the Ulu Muda rainforest where we had the opportunity to do some nice hiking and wildlife spotting on the banks of the Muda river (that is when we weren’t busy picking leeches off our feet and legs)
So fun to read about your Asian adventures!! Hope both of you are doing well. We just returned from 3 weeks in India!
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