AS WE SEE YOU

Tuesday, August 12, 2008


If there is a microcosm for the world growing without "US", it is Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Funded by oil, influenced by colonialism and Islam, run by the emigrated Chinese, and worked by the emigrated Southeast Asians and emigrated Indians, KL is hyper-reality to Dubai's sur-reality. It is a spectacular and gritty place, with towering luxury condos and scrap metal roofed shanties only a few meters apart. Legions of motorbikers whiz around lanes clogged with status-symbol cars, their drivers each looking at the other with both disdain and envy. Its people are polyglottal, often speaking Malay, reading Chinese or Arabic, and working in English. On our second day, we spent the morning walking past the National Mosque and touring the excellent Museum of Islamic Arts, and the afternoon climbing 272 stairs to the Batu caves, a geological marvel converted into Hindu temple. At both holy sites, we saw tourists faithful to the other. For our three dinners, we ate satays, shawerma, and sushi. (and not for the alliterative convenience)

Our hotel was right in the shadow of the iconic Petronas Towers, connected to a massive supremely upscale mall. I have little interest in shopping but in a country where neither temperature nor humidity ever dip below eighty, a regular and convenient respite from the heat was irresistibly appealing. On Saturday night, it seemed that a good half the city's three million residents had arrived. Women completely concealed in burkas glided past trios of girls undressed for the club. Tourists and single men lined the rails and just took it all in. Hesitant to go out again after a long day, we tried to acquire a local dinner in the food court, but eventually found ourselves almost dizzy with confusion and frustration at the size of the crowds and the lack of queues. We retreated to a small Japanese supermarket, part of the Isetan department store, and bought reasonable sushi and Kettle Chips, which were hands down the best US export in KL.

On Friday, we toured the sites of the city using the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus, which was irregular, slow and too big for the city. Once we had paid $12 for our day-long ticket, however, we were reluctant to give up and try the taxis and trains. KL, I should note, also has a monorail that seems purely for entertainment value. I am still looking for an exception.

We particularly enjoyed the Bird and Butterfly parks, which allowed us to see some of the exotic fauna native to Southeast Asia. A walk through the insect hall convinced my wife and I that we would probably not need to schedule a trip to the Cameron Highlands, home of the sort of creepy crawlies best left to the Discovery Channel. The insects weren't the only menacing animalia, however. We were amazed by the sight of the Great Hornbill, which seemed to be a toucan with its beak turned inside-out and terrifying. We also visited the pen of the Southern Cassowary, whose head bore a disturbing resemblance to that of a velociraptor.

We toured the Central Market and Chinatown, where the contrast to the mega-mall next to our hotel was tremendous. The mega-mall featured brands from everywhere not Malaysia, the Central Market featured the Indian, Chinese and Southeast Asian products typical of this country's particular blend. Saris and batik sarongs, Zodiac statuary and video games, stone chess sets and tourist kitsch all had their place. Instead of the mega-mall's perfume and disinfectant, the Central Market featured incense and sizzling spices. The people here looked much the same as those in the mega-mall, but there they walked while they watched and were watched, here they were busy shopping and selling.

Leaving KL meant an hour-long ride on its new super-highways, past enormous new sub-divisions, around the new centers for federal government (Putrajaya) and multi-national technology corporations (Cyberjaya), then out through groves of palm trees and finally out through the jungle itself. I asked our cabbie why the airport was so far from the city and he said, "We want room for expansion. To grow."
Posted by Mr. AB at 6:33 PM