2 february 2001

Welcome to Malaysia

Georgetown

A ficherman's village

Cameron Highlands

Peherentian Island

Khota Bharu

As fate would have it, we finally had to go down to Kuala Lumpur. Because it is difficult to pronounce, everybody calls it K.L.. Fate is a funny thing. In fact, we spent a loud and noisy weekend on Pangkor Island, a sort of tasteless Malay version of the French Riviera where you spend a fortune to be with people you don't want to be with and be forced to listen to music you don't want to hear. The good part of it was that it was on Pangkor that we met Shuhaïza, a delightful Malay woman who was out snorkelling for the weekend with friends.

The Malays should be careful of their natural resources. Off of Pangkor is a little uninhabited island they have nick-named 'Coral Island', but the corals there are just a memory. Local tourists pay to come out to it in boats and life jackets. The boats anchor in the corals and the tourists throw bits of bread at the fish. The result is easy to see. No corals, few fish. The tour operators keep sending out groups armed with bread not realising that in five more years there won't be a fish anywhere near Coral Island. Maybe they'll call it Fish Island when that happens!

As depressing as it was to watch all this happening, it was great sitting around with Shuhaïza and her friends, not to mention Eric the Frenchman who is in Malaysia working for a development project. You meet incredible people on the road: Eric is an engineer, and the further out there they can send him, the happier he is. We weren't planning to go to K.L., but when we did, we had Shuhaiza's telephone number.

K.L. is modern. They say that Singapore is even more modern, but K.L. was plenty modern as it was. Just a few things to keep your eyes open for: Chinatown, the Central Market, the Friday Mosque, The Actor's Studio and their coffee shop (call wonderful Lorna Tee at 2697 2797 for reservations). There aren't many places to just sit and write in K.L., but you can try the Coliseum Restaurant. Also, if your car has broken down then the man to call is Musa Yunos. His English is very good and his cell phone number is 013 368 1573. We have to thank Sam, Shuhaiza's husband for that contact.

We have to thank Fara Naguila, Sam and Shuhaïza's little girl for being the cutest monster alive. It's a wonderful thing about being in Moslem countries: you know you will always be part of a family.

There's one other thing about K.L. which is unforgettable: The Twin Towers, or the Petronas Towers. It is difficult for me to get excited about modern architecture, but the Twin Towers have a chrome grace, an old-fashioned charm, and an aspiration to the future which is hard to resist. They claim to be the tallest buildings in the world which makes them even more breathless.



Marie-Do