Some Political Unrest

We passed Batu Caves on the way back from Genting into KL and saw a huge crowd there. Later we heard that there had been a demonstration in KL. The Indian population from all over Malaysia held a rally at which they wished to petition the Queen (Elizabeth that is). An advocacy group here is suing England for 40 trillion ringgit (that's 12 or so trillion Canadian). They claim that the British brought Indians to Malaysia in the 1800s as indentured labour. They further claim that Britain failed to protect Indian interests when they granted independence in 1957. They want the queen to provide them legal representation for the law suit.

This is all very political and is based on a form of "affirmative action" that gives preferential treatment to the Malay race. It was originally meant to help raise the Malay out of poverty that came from their historical position as rural subsistence farmers. The Indians claim that they too are marginalized and should be granted equal treatment under the National Economic Policy (NEP) as it is called officially. Unofficially, it is called the "bumiputra" policy. 'bumi' means 'sons' or 'princes' and 'putra' means soil or earth. Literally translated it means 'princes of the soil'. The term is not exclusive to Malaysia. It is also used in Indonesia where a similar language is spoken. However, in Indonesia it is not a label for an official government policy of "affirmative action".

We had heard mention of the rally earlier in the week and we had run into police roadblocks. The rally was opposed by the police who set up road blocks around KL as early as Thursday in order to prevent the Indians from 'outstation' from getting to the protest in KL. They also shut down the LRT station near the British embassy. Then on Sunday they told the crowd to disperse and forced the issue with tear gas and chemical laced water cannon. We don't get much about this in the news media in Malaysia because it is not nice to talk about things that reflect badly on the country. In addition, the news outlets are licenced annually by the government and may not be renewed. To top it off much of the new media are wholly owned by one of the parties that make up the BN which is a coalition of parties that has governed since 1957. The BN is predominantly Malay/Muslim and it is not possible to be PM if you are not both. The minority and opposition parties also have their media outlets. Thus we were pleasantly surprised to see local reports of the incidents. The most reasonable and balanced view of things is available to us here via Al Jazeera on the Internet. (check the link for more)

Constitutionally, the people here have the right to peaceful assembly. This is subject to certain controls as a result of some emergency measures instituted in the 1960s as a result of some inter-racial rioting. At that time it is estimated by the most conservative figures that over 200 Chinese citizens were killed by Malays over the outcome of the general election. Some of the Chinese had gathered to celebrate a minor election victory and some of the Malay were insulted...and the fight was on. The emergency measures were never repealed and now all assemblies must apply for and receive police permission. These permits are almost never granted despite a local Human Rights Commission recommendation that they should be routinely granted. In the case of this recent incident the police are said to have claimed they feared that gangs were involved in the gathering and that violence would erupt.

You may also have heard about a rally on November 11 at Merdeka (Independence) Square. The opposition parties called the rally to demand election reform. In that case no permit was granted. The official reason was that it would interrupt traffic and cause local merchants to lose trade. The police then shut down streets for 10 blocks around the square. The rally was due to start at 10:30 AM and the police had the water cannon and tear gas in place by 10:00. The outcome was much the same as the most recent one. We were in Bali at the time and we saw the Al Jazeera report and video on television news there. When we returned to Malaysia we found there was and had been no local coverage.

We are safe and have never felt nor been in danger. The rallies are usually in a very limited area and we don't travel in those areas especially when difficulties are possible. Fortunately we have a colleague at the school who keeps us well informed.

This may all be a lead up to an expected general election in the next month. It is estimated that the election campaign will last less than three weeks so everyone gets started early.

Another Busy Week

Randy can't be kept down. Each day she does the dishes, laundry and tidies. We have decided to keep her here and Canada will have to do without. She often gets to the pool for a swim and follows us to the gym where she ties herself into a pretzel in the yoga class. On Wednesday she and our friend, Pam, went to the Malaysian Craft complex in KL and they walked all over the place for about seven hours. On Friday she and Kim went to Mid Valley Mall and walked the entire thing. It is the largest mall in Malaysia with some 5 km of corridor. They were looking for a dress or ideas for a dress for Kim to wear to Andrea's wedding. They came home with Christmas cards.
On Saturday we rented a taxi for the afternoon and travelled to Putrajaya, the administrative centre for Malaysia. Randy dressed for the pink mosque, as did we. We travelled on to the Batu Caves and climbed all 272 stairs. We have photographic proof that Kim and Randy made it and I took the photo (kind of like Ten Sing and Edmund Hillary). The cab driver was a very nice man but not such a great navigator. We saw numerous sections of KL that we had not intended...some of them twice. At the end he was to drop us off at Bukit Bintang but some missed communication (I know that's hard to believe) caused us to have him drop us at the LRT whence we took the LRT and Monorail to Bukit Bintang. We met friends Pam and Steve who took us to their favourite Indian restaurant (Chazal) for a wonderful meal. Afterwards we left them and we wandered off to explore a very crowded and fascinating shopping section. In short order we realized how long the day had been because the malls were closing. We weren't sure that ever happened.

We took a taxi back to the condo. We'll have to return to BB for a proper tour at another time.

On Sunday we thought to get an early start and head up to the Genting Highl;ands. We didn't. We got to KL Sentral about 12:00 and could only book the bus to Genting for 2:00. We took off for Bangsar (sort of the Yorkville area but larger). We had lunch and while I read the paper Randy and Kim toured around. They found a number of bridal shops so a return to Bangsar is also on the cards. Speaking of cards, we found a kiosk representing two companies that print wedding invitations. We have their business cards and we'll be in touch with them as well.

We caught the bus and rode forty-five minutes into the hills north of KL. The elevation change is significant (ear pop and everything). The vision that became Genting Highlands Resort must have seemed almost impossible in 1965. Today there are three large hotels (6000+rooms) two large theme parks and a gigantic casino perched on a mountaintop. The temperature is moderated from the lowlands and we almost recognized the feel of early autumn. From the lower bus depot we took a 3.4 km cable car ride the top. Bill was disappointed that it didn't end in snow. The views, though, were well worth the ride. After a couple of hours looking around we'd had enough smoke. Everywhere is a smoking zone and many people take advantage of it. By 6:00 we all had burning eyes and throats. We hopped the cable car back down and headed for home.

Randy in Singapore

This woman really gets around. Starting in Canada she has now visited five countries in two weeks (Canada, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia/Bali, Singapore). If we count four hours in the Shanghai airport we could make it six.

Friday evening we left KL Sentral, the main railway station, at 10:00 PM. We each had an upper berth which was humorous to say the least. Getting in and out was real adventure. The rocking of the train was soothing but the air conditioning was cranked up and the car felt like a meat locker. our muscles were cramping up it was so cold. In the middle of the night Randy got up to look for the club car and a little warmth. She said that the other sleeping cars were quite comfortable. We were just unlucky, I guess. At 6:30 AM the porter woke everyone to pass out immigration cards for Singapore. We all got up and filled them out because it was warmer than the available alternatives. We were checked on the train by Malaysian officials and we disembarked on entry into Singapore territory for their immigration check. Afterwards we decided to sit in the club car and drink hot coffee rather than return to our berths.

On arrival we cabbed it to the hotel and left our luggage with the concierge. We had breakfast and by then our rooms were ready so we checked in and went for a walk in Chinatown. Randy and Kim drove some hard bargains and came away with a pile of gifts and souvenirs. Randy was worried about us repeating tours we had already taken but we had not been to Chinatown.

We returned to the hotel for a rest and refresher. At 5:00 we took the hotel shuttle to Raffles Hotel. This is where they invented the Singapore Sling and Bill temporarily suspended his non-drinking policy to enjoy the flavour. The hotel is a later 19th century establishment that retains the glory of colonial Britain. It still maintains many of the policies of the day including no shorts for gentlemen. We could never afford to stay there.

We travelled to Clark Quay, which is one of our favourite places. We took a 45 minute river tour on a bum boat and followed up with a dinner at a patio restaurant cantilevered over the river. We then took a walk to the far side of the river and discovered to our surprise that our hotel was adjacent to the river. We walked up to the Fullerton, another old and expensive hotel that is housed in the former main post office building. This again was a throwback to British colonial days but less so than Raffles.

We had a cab drop us at Orchard Road. We were in luck because this was the first night of the Christmas lights. This is a big celebration here and Orchard Road is the shopping capital of Singapore. The street was ablaze and the crowds were immense. We walked for an hour and had our heads on swivels. Apparently the same thing happens in Hong Kong and they leave the lights up until Chinese New Year during the first week of February.

We were up early and had breakfast before checking out. We left our luggage with the hotel again and took Randy on a short tour of the Singapore subway system. This is a sleek modern system that can certainly teach Toronto a thing or two. We caught the Hop On Hop Off bus and toured the whole circuit (about an hour and a half). Then by over to Sentosa Island. This is a Singaporean holiday resort. In terms of distance it is like Torontonians going to Centre Island but it has been developed into a major resort area; and the growth continues with several major projects. Kim and I were thrilled to be able to get back to the Images of Singapore display. This is a wonderful review of the history and culture of the city-state. Afterwards we took the cable car back to the mainland to get a bird's eye view of the city.

We caught a lunch in the plaza across from the hotel and then took a cab to the bus depot. Five hours later we were back in KL and the difference in cleanliness was apparent to our noses...we were home!

Bali - A Weekend in Paradise

Maybe not! Bali has the veneer of a tropical paradise and, if one sticks to the tourist beach areas, the illusion can be maintained. Kim wanted her illusions left untouched.

We landed in the late evening unsure if we had a room. A phone call from the local booking agent confirmed our reservation and we taxied over. The ride took us through some rather dismal areas of town. The roads were very narrow and most establishments (hotels and homes) are surrounded by greying concrete walls. The Lokha hotel is nice enough but is located on a very busy and very narrow street that accesses the beach. The grounds are carved out of a very small lot for a hotel, but the achievement is impressive. The three story walk up and the room were acceptable but the location left much to be desired.

After dinner we walked to the beach (about 200 metres). The shops along the street reminded us of Wasaga Beach on a poor day, although the street was clean. We found a beach side hotel with the tropical paradise grounds that we all recall from an Elvis film. We decided to stay the evening at Lokha but we booked Saturday evening at the Mandira.

Before we left for our walk on Friday evening we had the concierge at the Lokha book an all day tour for us. On Saturday morning we had breakfast, checked out, and moved to the Mandira. We had the concierge there contact the tour company and we were picked up at 8:15 at our new place. The tour lasted 12 hours and would have been longer but we were all too tired to go to the dinner that was laid on. The tour was another gem. We had a van with a driver and a personal tour guide. The guide was very entertaining and informative. I don't think he realized his malapropism when he was telling us about the "handicraps".

The tour covered a large portion of the island along with several craft houses for batik, silver, wood, and painting. We were treated to two cultural dance performance, a look at the terraced rice fields and a more or less close up of the two volcanoes. We also visited several temples and a monkey forest. While Indonesia is predominantly Muslim Bali is in fact 90% Hindu. The Hindu belief structure was explained to us in detail by our Hindu guide.

We were also warned about the hawkers who are among the most aggressive we have seen. We were told not to touch anything. Once you touch the hawkers will consider it sold and the price will escalate. They will come right into the vehicle to collect (hands head and shoulders, anyway). The best policy is to ignore them. They try to play on one's sense of politeness by continually calling, "Excuse me!" but don't make eye contact or you are through.

A big part of the tourist trade is kickbacks. We were treated to several tradesmen's homes and shops (as mentioned) where the instruction was informative and sales pitches were only slightly less intense than the hawkers. Despite this and with the counsel of our guide we were able to negotiate what we considered very good deals. The sellers probably thought that they too got the better deal, so everyone is happy.

Sunday was spent watching the surfers on the beach and lying around the pool and the tropical paradise grounds of the Mandira. The day included a spa treatment a lunch near the beach in a cool sea breeze.

Kim's illusions are intact!

Bangkok

Bangkok is known as "Venice of the East."

After class on Tuesday we grabbed a cab and picked up Randy. We had a flight to Bangkok. Kim and I had a couple of days off because of the Indian new year called Deepavali. We took a bus to the airport and flew out at 6:45. on landing in Bangkok we were shown to an information booth that happened to double as a local tour provider. We got directions and a river tour for 1200 Baht (about $12.00 each Canadian) We walked away from the booth wondering if we had just been taken.

A 30 minute taxi ride across the city of 10 million plus got to our hotel that was still on the edge of the city. At 7:30 the next morning our tour guide met us at the lobby with a van and a driver. We challenged rush hour traffic and got to the pier at the river in an hour or so. The river tour took us into the canal system where we viewed the homes and temples. Temples are everywhere. Over 90% of Thailand is Buddhist. After the boat tour we were taken to several commercial establishments. Apparently both the cab drivers and the tour providers subsidize by taking kick backs from these establishments. We had asked for a tailor. Shou (our guide) took us to James Fashion which was named number one in National Geographic. We didn't actually see the article :-) Kim and I each purchased three pair of pants. Originally they were asking 20000 Baht but Kim talked them down to 15000 plus two ties for Bill.

Afterwards we visited a lapidary company. Thailand is renowned for its gemstones. Then on to an oriental rug company where we got an education in the science and art of hand knotted area rugs. These are actually made in Kashmir, India and I have no idea why they are in business in Bangkok. We returned to the hotel to rest up. But first we booked another tour with Shou to go to a buffet dinner and a Thai cultural show. This was also complete with a driver who picked us up at the hotel. The dinner was good but the preamble and the show where amazing.

When we returned to the hotel we were met by a young tailor from James who gave us a fitting of the first draft of the pants. The service is fantastic!

In the morning we took the sky train to James Thompson House Museum. Jim Thompson is a legend in Thailand. He's an American who was here during the war (WWII) and fell in love with the place. He returned to live here during the 50s. The Thai silk trade was a cottage industry and it was dying. He took samples to New York to show to the editor of Vogue magazine. The local designers fell in love with it and the passion transferred to Paris, London and Milan. Thompson returned to Bangkok and set up business, becoming a silk mogul. He also love the Thai traditional architecture and bought up several houses to be transplanted to his property in Bangkok. This is the museum now.

We were to meet our tailor back at the hotel but there was slowness in the manufacture. We checked out and wanted to visit the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. the doorman recommended that we hire a taxi for the day. we were introduced to a delightful young Thia driver who spoke English, albeit limited. He drove us and our luggage around Bangkok and accompanied us on a walk through of the temple and the palace. Pictures don't do it justice. Afterwards we went through the regular round of haggling with local traders before returning with our driver to James fashion for a final fitting. Some small alterations to Kim's pants were necessary and we sipped tea while waiting. Afterwards our driver dropped us at the airport. We were back in our condo by 11:00 pm.

We highly recommend Bangkok and we will return!

We will post pictures later because we now have to prepare for a weekend in Bali. We're only home for 14 hours....November 26 and the pictures are up. Take a look at the right..........

Randy's Here!

Randy arrived safely on Friday, November 2. The family reunion was great and we spent a long evening talking (into the night) until everyone needed some sleep.

On Saturday we got a slow start, but that seems to be par for the course. We got up for a late breakfast and a swim. We went to KL and showed Randy around. We drove into KL because we had to return our rental car but we decided not to repeat our mistakes of Carolyn and Joe's visit. Randy thanks you for being the guinea pigs. We rode the Hop-on-Hop-off bus throughout the city and finished up at Central market with a list of places to go back and visit.

Later we took the LRT (subway to the Toronto people) to KLCC to view the Petronas Towers. We went to Kim's favourite, the Skybar at Traders Hotel. It overlooks the park at KLCC. We watched as night fell and we enjoyed appetizers and wine while capturing many photos. Afterwards we walked over to the shopping mall intending to have dinner. We rediscovered a little gelato shop and indulged so that dinner was no longer required. After some shopping we caught the LRT back to the main rail station and took a cab back to the condo. We intended to stay up to talk but everyone fell asleep over the latest glass of wine.

On Sunday we were up early to attend church with our friends Matthew and Serena. Afterwards Matthew dropped us at Sunway Pyramid so we could show Randy the local mall life (and the ice rink). We then taught Randy about cabs and trains so she would be able to make her way around KL. Randy is a very fast learner.

We visited the National Museum. Kim and I should have made this stop long ago. It is a very informative place covering all of the history of Malaysia. Afterwards we walked through the Lake Gardens park to the National Mosque. Kim and Randy had to dress "modestly" in order to enter. We then moved on to Merdeka Square. We took a cab to the KL Tower, which is their version of the CN Tower. Our intent of dinner there was stymied because you apparently have to book three days in advance for the revolving restaurant (who knew?). We went to the Mandarin Oriental for a wonderful dinner beside the KLCC park. An LRT, train and taxi ride got us back to the condo, but weariness overtook us and we were asleep early.

On Monday Kim and I went back to work while Randy ventured out on her own to KL. She visited the Aquaria and shopped around KLCC. We met that evening at a local mall and had dinner, did a little shopping and returned home to another evening of talking. It has been great!