Merdeka

Merdeka means Independence and Malaysians throughout the country have been gearing up for a wonderful August 31st celebration. Taylor's College got into the act on the morning of August 30 with a flag raising ceremony. There were patriotic songs, the national anthem, mini flags and a good deal of commaraderie as the pictures can attest.

Malaysia as we know it today is a thriving developing country, often considered a “role model” by its Southeast Asian neighbours for its economic and political stability, multicultural harmony and steady progress. August 31st, 2007 marks the 50th year of this country's independence from British colonialism and the day the joyful, triumphant shouts of “Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka!” resonated throughout the nation as Malaya's first Prime Minister, Allahyarham Tunku Abdul Rahman stood on a podium at Merdeka Square doing the same.

The name Malaya was then changed to Malaysia when the country was officially made a federation of 13 states including Sabah and Sarawak on the Island of Borneo. Article 1(1) of the Federal Constitution states that "The federation shall be known, in Malay and English, as Malaysia". Although Singapore broke away and became a nation of its own in 1965, the rest of the states have remained firmly together, combining to make Malaysia the harmonious melting pot of cultures it is today.

Here is a bit of the chronological history of Malaysia.

1511 – Melaka was invaded by the Portuguese and hence the start of the era of the European colonial powers.
1596 – The Dutch arrived and decided to take over Melaka from the Portuguese in order to control the sea route that connects the Eastern countries and the Western countries.
1641 – The Dutch officially gained control of Melaka and conquered the land for 200 years.
17 March 1824 – Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, also known as the Treaty of London, was signed between the UK and UK of the Netherlands in London. Which included the term that the Netherlands would cede the city and fort of Melaka. Hence the begining of British colony in Malaya.

1 January 1942 – World War II broke out, the Japanese army invaded Labuan Island which syndicate the beginning of their campaign to capture Borneo. For the next three years following the invasion, the British power in East Asia was strongly affected by the Japanese occupation.
1946 – The British announced plans to turn the Federated and Unfederated Malay States, Penang and Melaka into a unitary state called Malayan.
1955-1956 – UMNO, the MCA and the British hammered out a constitutional settlement for an independent Malaya.
31 August 1957 – Malaya achieved independence and Tunku Abdul Rahman became the first Primte Minister.
1961 – Prime Minister Abdul Rahman mooted the idea of forming Malaysia that includes Malaya, Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei.
16 September 1963 – Malaysia was formally formed merging Malaya, Singapore, Sabah, and Sarawak.
21 July 1964 – 36 people were killed and 556 injured in the 1964 Race Riots between Chinese and Malay groups in Singapore.
9 August 1965 – Singapore was expelled from Malaysia, Singapore gained independence.
May 1969 – During the federal elections, the UMNO-MCA-MIC Alliance polled only 48% of the vote that leads to a large lost of Chinese-majority seats of MCA to DAP candidates. A riot was raised.
22 September 1970 – Tunku Abdul Rahman was forced to retire and Tun Abdul Razak became the second Prime Minister of Malaysia.
14 January 1976 - Tunku Abdul Razak passed on due to leukaemia.
15 January 1976 – Datuk Hussein Onn ,the son of UMNO’s founder Onn Jaafar, succeeded the position as the third Prime Minister of Malaysia, who later was also referred to as the Father of Unity.
10 July 1981 – Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, fondly called “Dr. M” by his supporters, became the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia and remained in office for 22 years.
July 1997 – The beginning of the period of economic unrest, termed as the East Asian Financial Crisis, largely affected the economy growth in Malaysia.
31 October 2003 – Dato’ Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi succeeded Mahathir and became the fourth and also current Prime Minister of Malaysia.
31 August 2007 – Malaysia celebrating 50 years anniversary!

So Many New Friends

Since we have been in Malaysia we have met a multitude of new friends. The staff, the students, the neighbours, all have been warm and welcoming. In another post we told you about our part time job and how we met Rossy and Burnett, our neighbours across the colonnade.The people of Malaysia are among the friendliest we have ever had the pleasure to have known. An example of how things work: one day we were in USJ, the next section to Subang Jaya. We had arranged for our telephone land line and done some shopping. We decided to catch a bus to Summit Mall and we were walking to the bus stop. Apparently we must have looked like lost foreigners or something because as we approached a woman standing by the roadside she asked us where we were going. Fortunately, she asked in English. We said we were walking to the bus stop and she told us to just wait with her. It was not a bus stop we observed and she indicated that it didn't matter because "everyone waits here!" As we waited she determined that we were going to Summit and as one of the private company buses (Bas Mini) approached she said we could take this one or wait for one of the local municipality buses (Rapid KL). We thought the MB might be an adventure and so she flagged down the bus, got on and instructed the driver regarding our destination and made sure that we paid and were given appropriate change. She instructed us clearly and left with a smile and a goodbye. We never exchanged names nor more than a few minutes together but we felt we were welcomed to the country.

When we came over, there were ten instructors and one non teaching spouse who arrived at about the same time. Steve and Pam Wise (Pam is the non teacher) were here April 20th or so. They broke a lot of ground for the rest of us. Steve is a retired teacher from the London Ontario area and Pam has left her position in health care. They are both committed to their church and have in fact travelled to other places on mission trips. They have been to Germany and Bangladesh. Susan Tsin and Ken Cheung are a young married couple who are on a one year leave from the Toronto Board where they teach in a high school. They have about seven years experience each. Ken was born in Hong Kong and moved to Toronto at 15. Susan is originally Indonesian but has lived her whole life in Toronto with the exception of a short stint studying in China. Erin Donati and Mark Klimitz are a very young couple who are in their first year of teaching. It is kind of fun to watch the young ones (they are younger than our kids) as they settle into the new life and their first professional assignment. Mark Myers is an experienced international teacher. He spent five years teaching in Japan during which time he made the trek back to Canada to get his teaching certificate. For the past two years he has been in Tian Jin China teaching a high school program at the Pines. He is quite interesting and mixes easily with everyone both local and ex-pats. Les Hussack is also a first year teacher as is Easton Hanna. Les is from Dunnville Ontario and Easton from Toronto. Easton is via Ireland and is very proud of that heritage. And then there's the McNamara's, the senior citizens of the bunch.

On our first day here Pam and Steve met us and showed us around (See an earlier entry). As newbies arrived they conducted the tour repeatedly. They invited us all to their apartment and made the introductions. At that point Pam collected names and birth dates and she has become the designated social convenor of the group. So far we have celebrated four birthdays including Kim's. This also gives us a chance to get together and share stories and concerns. The Macs are sort of the liaison with management because we have known Frank, the program director, since the early 70's in North York.

At the college we have met several new friends as well. One of our department heads (Bill's boss) Rowena Valberg meets us every morning at the gate to our subdivision and drives us to the college. This saves us a RM6.00 ($1.80) taxi fare. In the evenings we walk home which takes about 20-25 minutes. Rowena is a born and raised Malaysian. She was trained in accounting and did spend several years with an accounting firm in Australia. She says that her family accuses her of having an Australian accent. Rowena has been at Taylors for many years and teaches accounting as well as heading the business department. Another Department head, Joy Augustine, rides with us each morning. Joy is from Toronto and he intends to end his three year stay to take his wife and two young teen children back to Canada.

Rowena and Joy are both Catholic and attend the same church. Early in our stay Rowena volunteered her friends Matthew Chong and Serena Wong to drive us to church. They have adopted us. Each Sunday that we are not otherwise engaged they pick us up at 7:30 or 7:45 and drive us to Petaling Jaya (another section) to attend 8:30 mass. The church is packed! There is a large and active Catholic community in Malaysia with a very diverse mix of race and culture. Many Indian, Malay and Chinese families sit side by side with the few old white people like us. The community feeling is wonderful. After mass Matthew and Serena insist on taking us around to show us the sights or to assist us to shop and return things to our apartment. This saves the aforementioned taxi charges. These side trips almost always include a meal of some sort and we get introduced to some excellent ethnic restaurants as well as some savings methods. We have had serious lessons on Japanese and Chinese meals so far (Matthew is a fanatic about sushi mi...raw fish). We have tried steamboat buffet. In this style one has a bubbling pot of two kinds of broth into which one dumps quantities of food selected from the buffet. Once the food is cooked...ENJOY! Its a lot like fondue.

Matthew and Serena discovered that we are golfers (loose use of terms) and invited us to play at their course in Port Dixon on the west coast. Port Dixon is a former harbour that is trying to be a resort destination. It is about 90 minutes from KL and Subang Jaya. These friends own a condo in PD and have in the past used it as a base from which to play golf a the local courses. The original intent when they bought in 1995 it was that they would retire there and play lots of golf. The shame is that the developer didn't have a contingency plan for the Asian economic collapse of 1997. Three of four buildings had been completed and Matthew and Serena bought in the forth. They were lucky that developer, who had their money, finished the block. Interests rates skyrocketed to between 16 and 20%. many people who put down a deposit could not afford to pay the balance and have walked away. The block now has 2% occupancy; this means that the maintenance fees are insufficient to do the necessary upkeep and the building is falling into disrepair. For example, the maintenance company cannot afford parts for the elevators and cannibalizes those in other areas for parts. As a result there is only one elevator working in this 18 story block and it sometimes doesn't work. The whole project is in the hands of the liquidators. On the other hand Matthew and Serena have done a wonderful job with their apartment and once inside their door it is magnificent. The views are awe inspiring wither from their balcony over the straits of Malacca or from their front colonnade over the town and the golf course.

When we left Canada we had put our golf shoes into the bags and then did the Hokey Pokey. When the music stopped the shoes were out. On Friday night Matthew and Serena picked us up and took us to their house where we were asked to select a set of golf clubs for the weekend. They each have at least two sets. They then drove us to a golf store nearby where we got new shoes at a very reasonable sale price of RM190.00 or about $60.00 Canadian. They then took us to the local steamboat buffet. Matthew is very quick with his wallet and it has been a challenge to beat him to the bill; we missed again this night. On Saturday morning Matthew picked us up at 6:30 and we headed for PD (Port Dixon). It seems that Serena had other commitments and could not join us. We got to PD and installed in the condo by 8:00 and went over to the golf course across the street. the place was almost deserted; we saw eight golfers tee off and the starter said we could go when we wanted. Matthew insisted on breakfast and we teed up at about 8:45. The day was hot and the course was damp and sandy. We played 9 holes and thought that was enough. Matthew again treated us to lunch before we showered and changed.

For the rest of the day we toured the area in which Matthew and Serena grew up. Matthew was pleased to be showing us around and Kim felt compelled to tell him how Bill travels down memory lane every time we are in the area of the Danforth in Toronto. We stopped at an exciting wet market at which everything one could imagine and a few things one could not were for sale. The fish were laid on tables on 'some' ice and at one stall a butcher used a very bloody tree stump as a chopping block for bones from the red meat they were selling. Afterwards we took Matthew to dinner at a beautiful resort hotel before returning to the condo and crashing.

The next morning Matthew had to make a presentation to a group of operating theater nurses. He is a pharmacist working for a skin care company; one of their lines is Nivea. He dropped us off at another resort hotel that had a nine hole walking only golf course. We had breakfast first of course and then teed off about 8:45. We were literally the only players on the course. The ground was damp (or wet) and the air was very humid. The course was beautifully manicured and landscaped. Both of us used sun block and Kim carried an umbrella to keep the blazing sun off. At the end of the round Bill had sweat so much that Kim took a picture because he was literally wet from the top of his hat to the back of his knees. It looked like he had been caught in a downpour. Matthew picked us up at 11:00 and dropped us back at our condo in the early afternoon.

What a great weekend. What a great adventure!

The Internet Has Arrived

We finally have internet access at our condo. This means we will be able to catch up on our posting. It also means we will probably get some of them out of order. We also need to re-edit some of the existing entries to include photos. You will have to check back regularly over the next week or so to get caught up.

The internet thing is an epic in itself.

Back on July 21 we got up early and travelled to the next district (Taipan) which is like travelling from downtown to North York. There we visited the TM Points office (that's Telekom Malaysia). In order to get internet access one must have a telephone line because there is no cable version here. There is 3G which is a wireless connection but that doesn't work above the 4th or 5th floor and...well...we're on 13. No one really understands why but it was the salesman for the 3G who told us that it wouldn't work.

Anywaaaay!!! We filled out all of the paperwork and paid our fees and registered to get a telephone line. We asked about internet access (it's called Streamyx) and were told we would have to apply after we had a telephone line. When we asked to whom we would speak about that application the young woman informed us that it was her. We suggested that we fill out the paperwork for Streamyx and she asked if we had a phone line; no; well that's needed first. With a sigh we moved on to a young man who collects the money. The young woman only does the paperwork.

Several days later we were concerned that no service man had contacted us to set up an appointment to install the phone. It took several tries to raise TM because one cannot call the company from a cell phone. Cell phones are supported by a different company. We finally got through on a land line and heard that the technician was scheduled for 10:00 AM the next day. We had no notice and we were working (obviously). We were given the techs hand phone number and called him from our cell. We got the appointment changed to 4:30 the next . We raced home and met him and had the phone installed. It didn't work; apparently it takes several days to activate.

We prepared to wait while the system ground its way to activation. We however received several calls from companies wanting to register us for Streamyx. The sales section is farmed out to private companies on a commission basis. Once they were assured we had a telephone (apparently they can check) we were registered and we arranged to have the high speed modem couriered to us THE VERY NEXT DAY. We had them address it to the college. We spoke with the college receptionist and she agreed that she would accept delivery for us. No modem that day, Tuesday, nor Wednesday. We called; it will be delivered Thursday. No modem Thursday or Friday. On Friday afternoon we called and told them to cancel our order. They said that the problem was that the modem was out of stock; we said cancel anyway because we were not happy with the service. About twenty minutes later we got a call asking if they could deliver the modem immediately (it seems a shipment had just come in) We agreed on a time and the modem arrived within minutes of the agreed upon time.

We spent several hours trying to install the modem the software and to get it operational. In desperation we called the service desk help line. It seems that despite being registered four days before it takes up to seven business days to have a technician plug us into the system. We waited. On Tuesday evening we had a call from someone at Streamyx asking how the service was operating; when informed that it was not the gentleman said he would open a report and call us back the next evening to review. After eight days (it is now Saturday a week after receiving the modem) we find that the service is still not working. We called. The very pleasant and helpful person on the other end "opened a report" for us. This process results in someone checking that we are registered and that our cable has been plugged in. This process takes two business days. We waited. On Monday we called to check what would happen next. Well it takes two business days don't you know so we can't expect a progress report until Wednesday morning. We waited.

On Wednesday morning we called and were informed that the cable was plugged in and that our account was activated and that our internet was working; we begged to differ based on empirical evidence and personal experience. Once the discussion about the validity of our observations was concluded it was agreed that Vincent (a tech) would stop by and check it out. He'd be by around ten the next morning. But we're working. We were given Vincent's number.

We called Vincent and established an appointment for 4:30 to 5:00 the next afternoon. We hurried home from the college and waited. To our happy surprise Vincent arrived at 5:05 and was full of apologies for his late arrival. He spent about 30 minutes verifying that the internet did not work and that the problem was not at our end but at the point at which the cable had been plugged into the system. By 6:00 PM he had the service up and running and he verified this by checking his stock market performance.

Taylor's University College

Teaching is a pleasure. Kim is teaching grade eleven English. Many students need this to qualify for grade twelve English which they need to graduate. Bill is teaching grade twelve Business Leadership. We each have three classes and only one preparation. Classes range in size from a low of 15 to a high of 25. As we said the students are wonderful. Kim has commented several times that we see no angry kids as we so often do in Canada. The students here are truly wonderful. In the main they are dedicated and intelligent. Each day we are thanked for the lesson. They do, however, have some difficulty adapting to the Canadian style of education. They come from a system that requires them to sit quietly while a teacher tells them everything. This information must then be memorized and fed back on the final exam. the final is 100% of the final mark.

Many of the students are government scholars. They have their tuition paid by the government as long as they maintain an average of 80%. If they do so the government will support them for 4 years at an offshore university. This is important to them because many graduates of the national university are not hired by Malaysian companies because the local degree has little respect. Offshore graduates do get preferential treatment. (More about this another time when we discuss the political climate)

Getting to the teaching is not such a pleasure. Our classes are on the fifth floor and there are no elevators. We walk, climb or crawl up and down a minimum of twice (round trip) each day and often more. For the benefit of our skiing friends, our legs will be staying in shape. The good news is that all of the indoor areas are air conditioned; in fact is is sometimes so chilly inside that we feel the ice cubes forming between the shoulder blades and/or in other unmentionable places.

The college is quite a conglomerate. It is spread over three different campuses and the plans have just been completed for a forth campus. Completion of the new location is scheduled for 2009. As a result there is little in the way of high end maintenance being completed. Because of the climate (hot and humid) there is a need for constant work to keep mold and mildew at bay. The main campus (ours) houses several programs. These include:

• International Canadian Pre University Program (ICPU). This is basically Ontario grade 12 and we are supervised by the Ontario Ministry of Education. We use the Ontario curriculum guidelines in both content, methodology and evaluation. Students here are required to complete 6 grade 12 subjects including a level four English. They also have to complete 10 hours of community service.
  
• South Australian Matriculation (SAM). This is the Australian pre university program and it is very popular because many students travel to Australia because of the proximity and therefore the economy of attending.
  
• Cambridge A Levels (CAL) This is the English pre U. It is here because until 1957 this was a British colony and many people still see this as the education to have. The college also has an affiliation with a couple of British universities.
  
• A law degree
  
• An engineering degree
  
• A medical sciences degree

The college itself tries to be socially responsible. In the past each program has operate one or more charity events. This year, to reduce disruption, we held a charity day that involved all of the programs on our campus. The Canadian program (that's us remember) held a barbecue. The staff did the cooking and serving and all was headed up by my colleague in the business leadership program, Carl Boodram. Carl has been here for eleven years and the barbecue is his specialty. I ended up cooking and Kim serving. The students and staff were surprised to see a cook wearing a tie. In the end we raised RM1500.00. The ringgit Malaysia is the local currency and trades at about 3 to 1 against the Canadian dollar so we raised about $500.00 Canadian.

So far we are having a wonderful time. The staff and students have been very welcoming and it is truly a joy to be back teaching. It is to be noted that kids are kids everywhere. They come with all of the ideals, joy, humour and angst that we see at home (all except the anger; we wish we knew why)

A Tour of KL

That's what the locals call it (KL).

On August 3 one of the lecturer's at the college was conscripted to show us around the city. Moaz grew up in Mississauga and has been teaching here for almost three years. He is the resident expert on the local transit system as well as a very interesting person. He has wide ranging interests that include the history, geography and social standards of the country. Most of the newbies (those who came over at the same time as us) signed up for the day long tour. The college provided us with a van and a driver and at 8:30 Saturday morning we were off. We were picked up at our condo. While we were waiting I got a picture of the entrance complete with the security gate and Kim.

Our first stop was to the immediate south of KL in Putra Jaya. This is the newly minted administrative centre of Malaysia. Putra means prince and Jaya means success So it means 'Prince of prosperity' but loosely translated it means 'Malaysia the successful' or 'Malaysia will be successful'; don't ask why but translations here have many "loose" forms. The city, more like one of the old boroughs or five cities of Toronto, is built on an island in a largish lake donated by the local king of Selangor (our state). There are seven bridges to the island each in a different architectural style representing the seven continents. There is obviously some symbolism here. The bridge pictured here was apparently inspired by the European Romantic style. All of the buildings in Putra Jaya are new and magnificently designed to impress. The roads are broad avenues and are impeccably clean by any standards and impossibly clean by Subang Jaya standards.

Once on the island we stopped for a group photo (minus Moaz who was operating cameras). In the background is the main justice office built in the preferred Muslim style with the onion domes. Many other styles are represented. The group includes, from left to right, Ken, Susan, Bill, Kim, Les, Mark, Erin, Steve and Pam. Pam is Steve's wife and is not working here. As we moved on we stopped for about an hour in the plaza below the prime minister's house (palace is more like it). Next to the plaza is a large ornate and very beautiful mosque. In order to visit, all women and men who are wearing shorts must don a robe that is supplied for the visitors. Personally we think the colour suits Bill! We had some time to tour the exterior of the mosque itself but we were not allowed inside because we were not Muslim. Downstairs there is a small market area that sells a wide variety of local goods. Mostly crafts and textiles. Outside on this level we were right next to the lake across which we could see the palace of the king of Selangor. Part of the deal for the donation of the area to the national government was that they would build him this palace to be the official residence of the Selangor royal family. Also nearby is a quay where one could take a boat tour of the lake; we didn't have time but we will go back for that experience.

Once we finished in Putra Jaya we re boarded the van and moved on to central KL itself. The first stop was the palace of THE KING. There are fourteen states and each is ruled by a royal family called variously king, sultan or rajah. They take it in turns to elect a "high king" from among their number and that family moves into this palace. It is like the Governor General's place in Ottawa except that visitors are not allowed inside. The guards, however, perform exactly as the mounties at Rideau hall or the guards at Buckingham palace...they don't move or pay any noticeable attention to the plebes. It must be a tough gig though because they are dressed to the nines and sit still, albeit in some shade, in the extreme heat and humidity. We didn't see any of them keel over.

We went next to the National Monument. It is a war memorial for the first and second world wars as well as the war against the Communist insurrection from 1948 through 1960. The colonial government declared a state of emergency that lasts 12 plus years as teh government forces fought the insurrection by the Malayan National Liberation Army; this was apparently an arm of the Communist movement of that period.

Next stop was the Orchid Garden. Admission here is free on weekdays and RM1.00 (about 30 cents Canadian) on weekends. We paid and wandered in. Next time we'll call ahead because most of the orchids were not in bloom.

We moved on to little India because most of us had already visited Petaling Street and the Central Market. Petaling street is a major 24/7 outdoor market in Chinatown. You can buy just about anything there and we describe it more in another entry. The Central Market is a showplace for local goods and crafts and that too is a subject for another entry. We wandered around for a while and saw more textiles than we thought possible. Every shop save one or two sold brightly colours materials that could easily be made into magnificent saris by the seamstresses invariably working in the back or, rarely, in the stall next door.

We travelled next to KL Sentral; that is not a spelling error it is the name of the very new and very modern transportation terminal for the city. It includes railway, bus light rail and monorail hubs. A stop for lunch was about all we had time for.

The van next took us to the awesome Batu Caves, the sacred place of the Hindus in Malaysia, which are situated thirteen kilometers north of KL. They were discovered in 1891/2. They consist of three main caves and a number of smaller ones. The caves are made of limestone and stretch 400 meters deep into the rock. You have to climb 272 steps (which we all dutifully accomplished) to enter the Temple Cave or Cathedral Cave which is the best known and largest of the caves. The ceiling is 100 m above the ground and this huge chamber is lighted by daylight from several holes in the ceiling which is 100 m above the ground. All the way up the stairs, you are greeted by long tailed-macaque monkeys, which are very friendly, especially if they think that you have food to offer. If you have the misfortune of not attending to your bag of peanuts one of these little beasts will swoop down and grab the whole thing.

On arrival back in KL we stopped at 'Eye on Malaysia'. This is a park near a lake that has a giant ferris wheel (see the picture on the heading). It was put up to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of 'Merdeka' which is Malaysian for independence. It was 1957 when they negotiated independence from the British Empire and took their place as members of the Commonwealth.

From here we had the van drop us off at the Traders Hotel and we sent the driver home. We were across a park from KLCC (that's Kuala Lumpur City Centre). Its the place where the famous twin towers rise to dominate the skyline along with two other landmark buildings. Below the towers is the large multi-story mall and a convention centre that connects to the Aquaria (aquarium to you uninitiated) and eventually to the Traders hotel. On the thirty third floor of Traders we settled into a private booth like seating area next to the hotel's swimming pool. From here we had a wonderful view of the twin towers. We had a few snacks and some liquid refreshment while we waited for sunset. Viewed from this vantage point it was really impressive. Around 7:30 we left Traders and headed over to KLCC to see if we could locate a good restaurant for supper. Moaz thought Madam Qwan's was the best choice. The park and the mall were shoulder to shoulder packed. Apparently there was a PC convention and trade show on in the convention Centre. Malaysians love their toys and can get great deals at these shows so the place was packed. We got to Madam Qwan's only to find it lined up out the door and a longer wait than we had the stomach for. We looked around the level for another restaurant and the main criterion was that it have space to immediately seat eleven people. We found a place and were installed at a large table. Once seated and menued we found that it was Vietnamese. Well, well, another culinary adventure. We had excellent conversation and very tasty, unknown food.

About 9:45 we decided to try to negotiate a taxi ('teksi' in Malaysian) to return us to Subang Jaya. Outside KLCC Moaz tried to negotiate the fare. Because we were a large crowd and it was late the two drivers demanded RM45.00 for a ride that would cost about RM20.00 or less if they turned on the meter. It is the preferred practice of local cab drivers to haggle a set fare rather than use the meter. Moaz thought he could get them down to RM25.00 if he took the time but several of the party decided to try the public transit system so we joined them. It took another two hours to get home due to the rather elastic Malaysian sense of time and schedule.

It was a long day but well worth the effort. We kept the itinerary and any of you who decide to come out can count on a repeat of the trip.

Thanks Moaz!!!

We're Going to Be Stars

Things have been hectic and we have been very busy. We have a part time job! A short while ago a neighbour of ours (Rossy, a real estate agent, the woman who acted for our landlord) called to ask if we would speak with her husband. We agreed. When Burnett, her husband, called he asked of we would be interested in helping him revise some educational software his company produces. We met at their apartment one evening and Burnett showed us a multimedia program that he and an ex-pat linguistic professor from UK had developed. It was designed originally to assist Malaysian kindergarten teachers to teach English to their students. It worked and sold well in Malaysia and other ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries where the British form of English is spoken. Now they want to expand the market to countries where a preference for North American English is preferred. For example they are targeting Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines among others.

We liked the program and agreed to help out. We were then invited to a dinner the following weekend at which we met Gerry, the professor and a Henry Higgins type with a startling resemblance to Terry Thomas. We also met his Malaysian wife who is a doctor of linguistics herself. Once Gerry had checked us out we were off to the next step, attendance at a seminar they were conducting for some local kindergarten teachers. We were impressed with the presentation and particularly with how well Burnett captured the personality and practice of teachers everywhere.

Later that week (in fact just last week) Burnett invited us over and presented us with the script. Apparently our mid-Atlantic accent passed the test and we will be doing this. Our task is to proof read the script and translate British language and vocabulary to CNN style North American usage. Afterwards we will do the voice over of the adult characters for the NA version of the program. Finally, we will coach the children who do those parts of the program voices.

The program is divided into three levels (kindergarten ,one and two) of 26 lessons (one for each letter) and covers the Malaysian curriculum in English, Math Science and Morality. The need for the program arises from the fact that most primary educators here are not first language speakers of English and therefore have great difficulty with both pronunciation and fluency. This is a major selling feature as is the design; it is meant for ease of use by the teacher.

We weren't expecting to get additional work but the project is very interesting and - surprise, surprise!!! - they want to pay us. It's not a great deal of money but given the cost of living here it will pay for a couple of side trips.

Our Address

Some have asked for our address and an explanation so here it is.

T2 L13 A Boulevard Condominium
Jalan SS12/1
Subang Jaya
Selangor
47500
Malaysia

Boulevard Condominiums This is our condo building
T2 L13A This is Tower 2, Level (floor)13, apt A, - so we are on the
13th floor apt A of tower 2
Jalan SS 12/1 This is our street & SS is the section of the town
Jalan means street so it really means the Main Street of
sub section 12 of Subang Jaya
Subang Jaya That is our city/town eg Caledon, Bolton, Toronto
47500 This is the postal code
Selangor This is the state
Malaysia The country - of course

It took us a while to sort all of this out. There seems to be so much in the address but when you break it down it is really just like ours.

Kim and Bill

We're Starting to Get Around

We have only been here for 1 month now & we have done so much, met so many wonderful people & seen so many new & exciting things. It seems that we've been here for many months.

July 27 - July 29th TUC (Taylor's University College) took 140 staff members to Pangkor Island for a weekend get to know each other. This is a resort island off the west coast mid way north toward Thailand. It was terrific. They hired a team building company to lead us through the weekend. They did a marvelous job. The activities were not too intrusive but fun. There is not much to do on the island so it was nice to have a couple of organized activities - The Amazing Race was one activity that took groups of us around the island in vans to complete a number of tests, hunts & races- a lot of fun. The draw back to the weekend was that the lovely hotel was nice in the front, lobby & restaurant area but the rooms were run down & I was not impressed. But they were very clean & bug free. We (I) managed just fine. At first I was wondering if it was my North America snobby standard kicking in & then we heard many Malaysian TUC staff who were also not impressed with the rooms. But, we had a great time & it was free. It is very interesting to see Muslim women swimming with full scarf, long sleeved shirts & long pants on. We also went on a boat trip, did some snorkeling & saw the surrounding island & sites - we could have been on Bill's parents' lake in Muskoka. It really looked so similar to some of our Canadian cottage country. But then we returned to the huge palm trees!!
This past weekend we took a school van & driver & a Canadian lecturer who has been here for approx 3 years & toured the greater KL area - fabulous day - we saw & toured so many sights; the Kings residence, the parliamentary area, a fabulous Mosque, the Ba tu Caves (enormous cave where the Hindu celebrate their Thaipusam festival each year); the Eye on Malaysia centre, studied the bridge & building architecture; a walking tour of "Little India"; sunset drinks at the Sky Bar on the top floor of a fabulous hotel facing the Petronas Towers & skyline of KL; lunch & dinner at KL centre & Petronas Towers. The towers & its mall are enormous & interesting & so modern. Lunch was Malaysian food - dinner was Vietnamese - both fabulous. We had a superb day. Yesterday - Sunday we had a Dim Sum lunch with Malaysian friends who take us to church & out to lunch - they have sort of adopted us & want to show us everything. Great couple. For dinner we went with 2 other terrific Malaysian couples (one of the ladies lives on our floor at the condo & she is the agent who got us our condo) to an absolutely great restaurant with Penang food - Penang is a small island in the north of Malaysia near the Thailand border & it is known for its great food. Actually it was one of the most delicious meals we've had this month.
But, I'm at work now and I must organize a test that my students expect this morning. We are anxiously awaiting our home Internet. We are discovering that Malaysian time is very flexible or as the locals call it - rubber time. Once that is installed we can update our blog with news & pictures.

There is so much more that we've seen & done it is hard to capture in words. We're still having a great time & we're so glad we made the decision to come.

Kim