Boogie Nite

Last Friday we attended the Taylor's College Annual Dinner. The theme was "The '70s" and there were prizes for everything from a dance contest to best dressed to door prizes to just plain old gifts for every person in the room. This was a really impressive event.

There were over 1000 people, staff and family at the event. from 6:00 to 7:00 there were games and an open bar n the lobby of the banquet room. As people gathered we got to look at the costumes of those who were dressed in the theme; the 70s disco look was everywhere, and the cameras were popping. We're in a hurry right now with Randy coming so we'll throw up the pictures later.

At about 7:30 the owner and the president arrived dressed in glitter and "afro" wigs. They led the whole group into the room to "Stayin' Alive". The Bee Gees were big this evening.

The room was a massive affair and set up as a multimedia circus. The meal was a typical Chinese banquet that you might get at a wedding. There were about 10 courses, mostly fish based (including shark fin soup).

The entertainment was hosted by a professional MC but provided by staff members in the form of a dance contest. These groups had practiced long and hard and it showed. Over the course of the dinner there were also team building games and contests with some pretty large prizes. The door prizes were awarded on the basis of draws of 50 at a time from the names of those in attendance. Some of the prizes were large flat screen televisions, laptop computers, high tech cell phones and trips for two to seven days. Everything was paid for by the college. Awesome!

Carolyn and Joe Were Here

This past weekend Kim's cousin, Carolyn, and her husband, Joe MacKenzie, tacked a few days onto the end of their three week oriental cruise and flew in for three days. We managed to get Friday off at the school and we met them at the airport on Thursday evening. All went well and we sat up until 2:30 in the morning chatting.

On Friday we took the rental car out, albeit a little later than expected, and headed for Melaka. It was great to see the city through another set of eyes. Joe is a real history buff and his take on the various cultural successions was fun. We walked all the usual places, Chinatown, St. Paul Hill and the old town. We stopped for lunch a the Geographer Cafe and headed back to Subang Jaya about 5:00.

We arrived back just in time for our reservation at a new, and our personal favourite, Tomoe, a Japanese restaurant. After dinner we returned to the condo and Joe and Bill couldn't handle it so we went to bed. Carolyn and Kim stayed up to 2:30 again.

Saturday we started late again. We woke up to a swim in our pool and a leisurely breakfast. We traveled on to Putra Jaya where we tried to duplicate the tour that colleague Moaz took us on in August. Unfortunately, we got lost repeatedly and ended up just going where the whim led us. We saw many of the usual places. When we got to Petaling Street in Chinatown it turns out Joe is an excellent haggler; he ended up getting three fake Rolex watched for about a third of the price they were originally asking for just one. I'm glad he was on our side. We hopped the LRT and rode to KLCC; we watched the sunset as it highlighted the twin towers in the night time lights. We went over to the shopping mall under the towers for dinner in a Vietnamese restaurant. back home and this time everyone went to bed fairly early (midnight).

Sunday started much as did Saturday. We headed out with a stop at one of local mega malls. Joe couldn't believe that we actually have a hockey rink in the mall; he several pictures of the Zamboni cleaning and flooding. Then we went to Bukit Bintang (a tourist upscale shopping area) for a lunch and tour. Afterwards we drove out to the airport to see them off. It was a whirlwind tour but sooooo great to see them!

Pinang

If you look it up on a map it is probably spelled "Penang." That's the English version; the Malay spelling is "Pinang." More and more the country is trying to recover its heritage and shifting spelling to Bhasa Malaysia (the traditional language.)

This was Hari Raya and we had a four day holiday so we rented a car and set out to the north. The trip took us about six or seven hours; one and a half was spent trying to find the right highway out of KL and another hour was spent getting turned around and finding the hotel in Pinang. We were warned about the traffic but the driving was OK...certainly better than a Friday run to cottage country.

In George Town the roads are very confusing. Many streets are one way (Jalan Sehala). In addition the direction of the one way can change without warning in the middle of the length and you find yourself on a side road that has no name that you can see. No road is straight so you might start off travelling east and find you are going north west and then south west. It doesn't matter because you can't get your bearings and besides the name of the street has changes four times.

Pinang is an old settlement and is showing its age. George Town is the main city on the island and was the seat of British rule. There are many colonial buildings in the city and many more abandoned buildings. The city is a little grungy. But, many of the older colonial buildings are still in use and being refurbished. We walked around the old town on Friday night and toured one of the now famous Malaysian malls. We caught a cab back and the driver was quite delightful regaling us with warnings not to trust taxi drivers. We took a trishaw ride (that's a rickshaw powered by a man on a bicycle). The driver was a great tour guide and we saw a lot of the old city. One of the most fascinating was the Chinese Jetty. It is one of about eight. They are organized according to clan and the city of origin in China. They are built out over the water and are owned in perpetuity. It is truly fascinating to tour one (and only one is open to tourists).

On Saturday we took a chance and the car and drove the entire perimeter of the island. In the highland spine of the island the roads are very narrow and winding. This causes some trepidation as the local drivers view the lanes and white lines as merely suggestions. The vistas however were truly breathtaking. We ended up in Air Hitam, a small market town attached to the Kek Lok Si temple. It makes you think of what medieval Europe might have been like with the towns that cluster around the local abbey or cathedral. The temple is a major Bhuddist shrine as well as a major tourist attraction so the people and the traffic are overwhelming. The tourist trade is alive and well inside the shrine, so you have to walk through all the hawkers to get to the religious area. A note of interest: for a fee the monks will paint your name and or message on a roof tile which is then used in the construction of another part of the temple. Quite enterprising!

On Sunday we took another tour around old town. Because this was Hari Raya weekend most tourist attractions were closed so we did not get into the fort. Afterwards we headed for Subang Jaya. On the way we noticed that the Cameron Highlands were not too far away. Only a minor detour. We left the main road and headed up. We were a little low on gas so we decided to stop at the first gas station. Unfortunately there are none. We travelled about 60 km on fumes.

The Highlands is quite an agricultural area. It is known for the tea plantations built into the mountain sides. There are also fruit and vegetable stands and pluck yourself (pick your own...not the rude version you were thinking). Because of the holiday the roads were extremely crowded. The scenery is beautiful and every turn on the mountain roads provides another great view. The roads are twisting and winding with switchbacks and hairpin turns every hundred yards. Along the way we saw a number of kampungs (camps or hick towns). These seemed to be inhabited mainly by the aboriginal population.

Once back on the main highway we felt like we were well on the way home. Due to rain, darkness and poor signage we ended up being forced off the highway and had to guess our way through KL to finally arrive home late Sunday evening.

All in all it was a great experience.

Malaysia

We would like to tell you a bit about Malaysia. It is a fabulously interesting, intricate and complex nation. It is modern and 3rd world at the same time. It is technologically advanced and frustratingly backwards. It is global and insular at the same time. The national leaders have dreams and visions of being a 1st world country by 2020 and they are working hard to achieve that goal but often they are clinging to old 3rd world ways.

Politics/Religion
The first prime minister (shown above announcing independence) who won Independence from the British in 1957 set the modern wheels in motion. He was evidently a visionary for his country and is remembered here as something akin to royalty. He negotiated independence from Britain in much the way as Canadian fathers of confederation did. We had to deal with the rights and issues of French Catholics and English Protestants in order to guarantee each their rights. In Malaysia they had to deal with similar issues for Malay Muslims, Chinese citizens and Indian citizens; it has been an interesting road for the country. In 1970 they set about raising the living, educational and cultural status of the Malays and the indigenous people through a policy known in the region as “bumiputra”. Today, some of the policies are no longer benefiting the Chinese and Indian population and though now educated and advanced many Malays are very reliant on a government hand out to improve themselves. The previous prime minister was very strong internally and advanced the policy by trying to reduce the handouts. He had good internal relations but often offended the external world, particularly the U.S. and Australia. The present prime minister (the fifth) has a little of both qualities – he knows what’s good for the country and is also a world player.

Politics here is very much race and therefore religion based. Malaysia is a Muslim country. The King and the royal entourage are Muslims and the UMNO, United Muslim National Organization, is the Muslim governing political party. However there are very large Chinese and Indian populations in Malaysia. Locals state that very generally speaking the Chinese own and run the big companies, the Indians are the labourers and the Malays are trying very hard and are given government support to find equal or greater status in the work force. While the British ruled Malaysia children learned all of their subjects in English, but after Independence the Prime Minister wanted everyone to be very Malaysian so as of 1983 all children learned everything in Bahasa Malaysia (Malaysian language). Today the students we teach are struggling with English while their grandparents generally have better English skills. The present Prime Minister has just brought English back into the schools and starting this year all maths and sciences are to be taught in English. His goal of creating a proud Malaysian country was admirable but it actually has set the past 2 generations back on the global front.

The Muslim community is celebrating Ramadan from mid September until October 12. For one month they fast from before sun up to after sun down. They may eat all the breakfast & dinner they like but only before 7:00 am and after 7:10 pm. The restaurants are packed at about 7:00 p.m. and Muslims will order their meals and then sit and wait until the exact minute when a very subtle nod from waiters or a change in the music will signal the time to break their fast – Berbuka Puasa. They very quietly and slowly begin to eat. It really is quite a discipline to witness. Unfortunately our students are extremely tired especially by the last class of the day. They will celebrate Hari Raya for four days – October 12 to October 15th. It sort of reminds of us Advent and the lead up to Christmas or Lent and Easter. The stores are teaming with Hari Raya cards, lights, decorations and foods. People are buying new outfits to wear for Hari Raya – just like Christmas (or Easter). We have the Friday & Monday off!!

Dishwashers/Clothes Dryers
Kim has done an informal survey of students and staff and to date she has not found one person or family who owns a dishwasher or clothes dryer. We are not talking the Kampungs – the hick towns – we’re talking middle & upper class families. We think we have an industry we could sell here …. Well maybe not!

Interesting things about Malaysia:
o Advanced technology in cell phones and computers
o Awkward banking systems – most places do not accept debit cards and the paper work to do anything in a bank is mind boggling
o There are mega malls everywhere. It is estimated there are more malls per capita here than in the US. They are modern theme park complexes.
o They definitely need a Staples & a Canadian Tire though!
o Their sewer and drainage systems are interesting. Cement drainage ditches run the perimeter of all building, houses and along all streets. Some are covered but most are open. When it rains for 30 minutes each day these drain ditches run with a fury. I sincerely asked early in our stay if any one ever fell into them & I was given a shocked response of “NO” and a look as if I was crazy to even think it!
o WHIMS and Occupational Health and Safety have not found their way to Malaysia. We once saw a construction worker using a huge hand held cement saw while wearing flip flops!
o The Petronas Towers in KL really are a spectacular sight.
o The people here are the quietest, most polite, generous and calm society we have ever had the pleasure to meet. We have never seen an angry student or driver or shopper or bus passenger or …
o The driving here is crazy. Motor bikes weave in & out of traffic everywhere. Motor bikes often drive the wrong way, use side walks and they park any where and every where. We have seen families of 4 on little motor bikes. We are not talking big BMW or Harley bikes – these are small motor bikes (just bigger than a scooter)
o The hawker stalls are everywhere. These are little “rustic” stands with an umbrella over head and a table & pot or pan or deep fryer and a huge variety of fried or stewed food. People line up at the grungiest of them for lunch/ diner/ snacks/ breakfast. They are always busy. And the food is very, very cheap. We have bought a few things from stands but we have not eaten too much hawker food. We are not sure our systems are ready for it yet.
o Most restaurants do not serve alcohol because most are owned or run by Muslims. If there is liquor available it is minimal and very expensive.
o Durian fruit is very popular but it really, really stinks. You can smell it from a great distance. When you walk into a grocery store that sells it (some do not) you can smell it as soon as you step in the door. We will probably NOT try it! I know this is short sighted and not adventurous – but we’ve made up our minds!!
o The fruits and vegetables at the markets are wonderful - not so great at the supermarkets. There are some markets around but they’re not as plentiful or convenient as European markets.

A Weekend in Melaka

The weekend of September 22/23 we decided to rent a car & drive to Melaka. What a great experience. Melaka is a major city about 2 hours away from KL. What a fabulous city. It is the historical centre of Malaysia with Dutch, Portuguese and British influences as well as Chinese & Malaysian. It used to be the centre of politics and finance but KL has now taken over that role. It is a small city but filled with so much to see & do.

In the 1500’s Melaka (formerly Malacca) was the biggest trading, commercial and cultural spot in South East Asia with one of the busiest ports. It adopted Islam in the late 1400’s which began the Melaka Malay culture with a new Malay language, a superior court system and a royal lineage. It was taken over by the Portuguese in 1511. The Dutch rose to power and captured the city in 1641. There are still small Portuguese and Dutch influences left in the city. The Chinese flocked to Melaka and often became more successful in business than the Europeans. Many Chinese married Malay women & created a new racial mix – the Peranakan – or the Baba- Nonya. This is still a very prominent group in Malaysia today. The British took over in 1795 and remained there until 1957. The British influence is also still very evident especially when speaking to people of our age who have British accents and of course they still drive on the left side of the road. In 1957 the Malaysians were able to gain independence & take back control of their own country. They put on a great push to develop the Malaysian culture again. Melaka went through years of mismanagement under European rule and the once bustling international port of Melaka started to decline. In 1957 the prime minister made the announcement of Independence for Malaysia from British rule from the government building in the heart of the city. The building is now the Museum of Independence – great tour! Today it is a lovely city to visit.

We had a great time touring & visiting the historic sights. It was soooo hot and half way through the day we started to use our umbrellas to block the sun – much better. China town has some of the most interesting shops (a lot of souvenir shops too) where people are still manually working at a trade. See the pictures of the man making hand made sheet metal items, the lady packaging tea by hand and the clogs that are still being made & worn by many workers in Melaka. There are 4 – 5 small temples and mosques with in a small area each with the amazing details and histories. We even saw a Tamil Methodist Church in the district.