Malaysia, January 31, 2000
Malaysia is the Mix Master
Amazing. A multi-ethnic island without ethnic animosity
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I don't know yet if Penang is representative of Malaysia,
but even if the rest of the country is half as integrated, I'll be forever
in awe of the success this country is. Preconditioned by reading the
Autobiography of Malcolm X on the train ride from Thailand, I was shocked
at the harmonic diversity this island presents.
Unlike Thailand, where there is a scattering of very assimilated Chinese, Penang feels more Mainland Chinese than Hong Kong, yet it has more Indians than I've ever seen before. These two groups, with a Malay buffer and a handful of Indonesians and Europeans thrown in, get along on this island remarkably well. I've looked, read, and asked around, and the usual Hindu and Muslim Indian tension notwithstanding, there isn't any of the racial animosity I'd expect with such large ethnic populations. I've even seen a remarkable number of Chinese and Malay couples and mixed kids, though the Indians seem to stick more to themselves, romantically. Each ethnic group also has their specific specialty. All the hotels and most of the businesses are run by Chinese, Southern Chinese to be specific. Their shops, selling anything from odd Chinese medicines to the latest electronics, usually have signs in Chinese characters and English letters, with a little Buddhist shrine out front. The Indians control the restaurant trade on the island (Chinese food is mainly sold from kiosks), with every corner sporting at least three Indian restaurants packed on top of each other. You have to choose carefully, since there are many Northern (Muslim) and Southern (Hindu) restaurants right next to each other, and one will not have the same selection as the other. I have a 50% response rate in asking for lassie's (mango is my fav) so far. The Malays, which on this island are in the minority, usually run the government offices and civil services. At the post office, everyone was Malay, though the police force is multi-ethnic, with each minority policing itself. Luckily, I haven't dealt with the cops or any other part of the government yet, and I'd like to keep it that way. All this integration dates back to when Captain Francis Light, of the infamous British East India Company, was sent here in the late 1700's to keep trade routes to China open and grow spices for export to Britain. As was the custom of the British at the time, they imported Chinese and Indian laborers to work the plantations of pepper, nutmeg, and sugarcane. The immigrants soon took over the island from the locals, of which there weren't many to start with, and made it home. I'm happy to be leaving Georgetown and Penang Island today, for after three days here, I've seen enough. The beaches, while famous, are nothing like Thailand's, and the city is too small for me. Now I wanna get back to the mainland and see the real Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur! -- February 9, 2000 Update -- After I wrote this page, WeeCheng, a Singaporean with his own world-travel page, opened my eyes to the darker side of Malaysian relations that I, the quick-visit tourist didn't see. Here's his comments:
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