browser icon
You are using an insecure version of your web browser. Please update your browser!
Using an outdated browser makes your computer unsafe. For a safer, faster, more enjoyable user experience, please update your browser today or try a newer browser.

Stopover in Kuala Lumpur

Posted by on 1. November 2011

We found a ridiculously cheap flight to New Zealand from Kuala Lumpur – 80€ for both of us… So we swapped the jungle of Borneo for the urban jungle of Kuala Lumpur, or KL as everyone here calls it, to strategically place ourselves at the AirAsia hub, and explore the Malaysian capital for a few days before heading out to Christchurch.

We were hosted by Sasha, a former Malay airforce pilot, and heard his incredible stories about patrolling the airspace between Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia, and securing commercial passenger flights. He then worked a bit for Airbus in Toulouse, and now, at only 32, he runs his own business consulting and supplying spare parts to Air Asia in Malaysia. Listening to his accounts, at times he left us wondering what we have done with our lives so far… We loved staying with him, seeing the modern Malaysia through his eyes and of course the pool in the luxury apartment complex he lived in was not bad either.

In the few days we had in KL, we really noticed what a melting pot of cultures this city (and somewhat also the whole country) is. The Chinese minority sets up huge markets, builts Budhhist temples and the Chinese restaurants, bookstores and even hospitals make you think you are actually in China. But around the next corner, there might be India for you. We visited the Batu caves together with Abbey, a Malay of Indian descent. The ceremonies in the Hindu temples inside the gigantic natural caves seemed to belong to a different country and time. Abbey himself is actually not Hindu, but Christian, and told us a lot about how he feels living as a non-Muslim Malay in modern Malaysia. His somewhat bitter summary ‚This is the only country in the world that protects its majority, not the minorities‘ is very telling. He told us how the government creates incentives for people to convert to Islam, and only Muslims are eligible for certain state benefits. Generally, we saw many women with headscarfs, some even wearing burkas. We were told Malaysia used to be a lot more liberal in that respect, but that the Muslim government has recently made an effort to distinguish the Muslim Malays more from from the Malays of Indian or Chinese descent, that these days make up almost half of Malaysia’s population. The situation is certainly a lot more complex and hard to grasp on a short visit. We look forward to coming back for a bit after our trip to ‚down under‘ and see, learn and taste more of Malaysia.

Flattr this!

Schreibe einen Kommentar

Deine E-Mail-Adresse wird nicht veröffentlicht. Erforderliche Felder sind mit * markiert