Land and Sea 2015: Malaysia

Our first stop following embarkation in Singapore was at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, or more particularly at Port Klang on the seacoast twenty miles from Kuala Lumpur. This was my first visit to Malaysia. I found the orientation tour we took most interesting. KL, as the place is called to by locals and travelers alike, is a modern city. High rises are under construction everywhere. It appears that China and the Emirates are investing heavily in this ethnically diverse country. Malaysia is a Muslim majority country. Most citizens are Malay with about 25 percent ethnic Chinese and 7 percent of Indian extraction. As a result, Malaysia has a relatively laid-back brand of Islam and generally practices religious tolerance. The country has its own (subsidized) auto industry and a large oil company that is partially government owned. The government is trying to preserve the remnants of British Colonial architecture that still stand amid the rush to erect glass and steel buildings and huge shopping malls.

Port Klang in the Morning Mist

The Independence Monument - Every Tour Starts Here
By the Sculptor who did the lag Raising at Iwo Jima
Any Resemblance is Intentional

Old and New in Kuala Lumpur

The Malaysians were eager for independence from more than a hundred years of British rule and at first saw the Japanese as liberators. After WW II and independence, they now despise the Japanese and give the British credit for building an infrastructure that let the country modernize rapidly.

Our Tour Group Viewing the Former British Cricket Grounds
Surrounded by British Built Government Buildings in
a Strange Moorish Style

KL Street Scene

View from 1200 Foot Radio Tower
The Haze is Due to Air Pollution

Our ethnically Chinese guide gave a version of Malay culture and history uniquely slanted toward her “outsider” status and highly insensitive to Western ideas of fairness and political correctness. It was fascinating to see Malaysia from her point of view:

The prime minister must be a Muslim by constitutional law. The country has been under one party rule since Independence. Our guide brushed off the bloody war between Singapore and Malaysia in the 1960’s as a “small difference of opinion.” In her version, Singapore’s Lee Kwan Yew decided that it was better for Singapore to go its own way rather than remain in a federation of Malaya, Brunei and Singapore. Our guide didn’t have much use for politicians and said that Malaysians generally try to avoid paying taxes. She characterized the Chinese citizens as hard working business people but discriminated against, the Malays as lazy, and but nice people, the Indians as those who do the heavy work that no one else will. She deplored the end of rent control because now most ordinary people cannot afford to live in the city center anymore. A building boom is producing high-end apartments and condominiums that are being purchased by foreigners. She was proud of the Malaysian auto industry although she said that the cars aren't very good and most people buy Japanese cars.

Petronas Towers - Headquarters of the State Oil Company

We toured the sights and marveled at the Petronas towers that were, for a few years, the tallest buildings in the world.

Entrance to Shopping Mall at Petronas Towers

The next day we visited Penang, Malaysia. Penang an island north of Kuala Lumpur that has become a popular resort area. Penang was seized by the British who established a settlement here in the early nineteenth century, primarily for tin mining and the cultivation of rubber. Many Chinese were brought in by the British to mine and run local businesses. Michael had told me to expect Penang to be more Chinese than Chinatowns anywhere, even Hong Kong. It’s true, most of the inhabitants are still ethnically Chinese, but in the twenty years since Michael last visited Penang, it has become a tourist destination with lots of oriental restaurants and shops selling tee shirts and souvenirs. The old Chinatown is mostly a tourist destination. We walked through the Chinatown area and dodged traffic while looking at the older buildings and enjoying the scent of wonderful foods at the hawker stands and food courts.

Tugboat Escorting Silver Wind to the Dock.

We went to see the Eastern and Oriental Hotel. Michael remembered the hotel having a big veranda with fans lazily circulating the air and an atmosphere that made one expect to spot Sidney Greenstreet sitting at a table playing solitaire. There were some echoes of the British Colonial past but the hotel is now modern, air-conditioned and the veranda has been replaced with a swimming pool and an outdoor cafe shaded by a wrought iron and glass canopy. A new twelve-story addition has been added. The lobby, the cannon out back and the Farquhar Bar are about the only things that were essentially the same. It is still a wonderful hotel but time has moved on.

Food Court with mostly Chinese Specialties
Most of the tourists were from India

Mural in Chinatown - We Saw Many Cats on the Streets

In the afternoon Michael and I rode the ship chartered shuttle bus to the modern downtown shopping area. Outside of Chinatown, where the ship was docked, Penang has modern shopping malls and high rise condominiums. Beautify beaches are not far away. The Chinatown and the old British buildings give this resort area a kind of romantic charm even though old men no longer play mahjong on the street.