Malaysia

Visited: October 2016

Duration of visit: 4 days

Capital city: Kuala Lumpur

Population: 32.5 million (2016)

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

• Kuala Lumpur – hot pot of cultures, races, food tastes, attractions and lifestyles.
• Impressive Petronas Twin Towers – built of reinforced concrete, steel and glass, used to be the tallest building in the world.
• Batu Caves – an important Hindu shrine dedicated to Lord Murugan, the god of war.
• Efficient and inexpensive public transportation system of buses, monorail, light rail transit and commuter trains take you anywhere.
• Shopping malls, markets and diverse range of culinary choises.

After several hundred years of European colonialism (Dutch, Portuguese and British), Malaysia finally got its independence in 1957. One of the most developed countries in Southeast Asia is predominantly Muslim. Mosques are found in every city, but there are also Buddhist temples and other religious monuments due to high presence of Buddhists and Hindus.

Malaysia is one of the most multicultural nations in Southeast Asia, comprised of 3 main races: Malays, Chinese and Indians. It has a constitutional monarchy with a unique system of a unique kings’ election. A food capital of Asia, a gastronomic delight that offers an opportunity to taste a remarkable fusion of different culinary specialties.

My first memories of Malaysia go back to 1989, when watching the movie Dadah Is Death, based on the tragically true story of an English and Australian men, condemned to death for transporting drugs in Malaysia.

The country has some of the strictest drug laws in the world, enforcing the death penalty for those who sell drugs. And they are very serious about that.

Malaysia was one of the few countries in the region that I didn’t visit during my Asian Big Tour in 1999-2000, therefore, I gave it a chance in combination with Singapore in 2016. Both countries were united under Malaysia flag from 1963 to 1965, when Singapore was expelled from the Federation.

I travelled on a bus from Singapore on Johor Causeway, crossing the border to the city of Johor Baru, when got in touch with Malaysia for the first time. I was surprised with the industrial zones containing hundreds of factories, warehouse and logistic centers that are located along the main highway.

Plastic manufacturing, electronics and food processing are the main activities, beside tourism and finance sector, which converted Johor Baru into the fastest growing city in the country.

The capital of Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur, is home to some 8 million people, a melting pot of Indian, Chinese, Malay, and Western influences. This mix of cultures has created a metropolitan city, where chaos is under control, security at very high level, logistics efficient and inexpensive.

A well-structured and accessible public transportation system of buses, monorail, light rail transit and commuter trains take you anywhere. Extensive shopping malls, street markets and variety of food options are a norm in Asia.

Probably the most outstanding part of my trip was the visit of Petronas Towers.

I remember listening and reading for years about the highest building in the world, before Malaysia hit the international news for other remarkable achievements or events. It is surprising how such a small country could win the competition to build the highest structure in the world, before other superpowers that might be interested in this kind of competition showed their strength.

The Petronas Twin Towers are the emblem of Kuala Lumpur, even though they are not even top 10 highest buildings in the world any more. The megastructure that hosts the headquarters of Petronas, the national petroleum company of Malaysia, is still claiming the record for the tallest twin towers in the world.

The pride of Malaysia symbolizes its growth as an industrialized nation.

The towers were designed by the Argentine-born American architect Cesar Pelli, who put together the concept deriving from Islamic art.

This unique idea is based on a Muslim symbol known as Rub el Hizb, which can be found on many emblems and flags of Islamic countries. An eight-lobed circular structure that contains 88 stories of occupiable space and a pyramid-shaped pinnacle surmounted by a slender steel spire.

The Twin Towers were built very fast. The construction commenced in 1994. With an average speed of one floor every 4 days, the towers were finished in 1998, as planned.

Both towers rise to a height of 451.9 meters. Each building is supported by 16 large columns around its perimeter, the exterior sheathing consists of stainless steel and glass. A skybridge two stories tall links the two towers between the 41^st and 42^nd stories at a distance of 58 meters.

Between 1998 and 2004, Petronas Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in the world until they lost their preeminent status after a spire was put in place atop the Taipei 101.

The central location of Petronas Twin Towers makes it complicated to take a good photo. My camera’s angle was also too narrow to catch an image of the whole megastructure. Enterprising street vendors offered wide-angle lenses that can be attached to phones and thus capture the entire building in one shot. I negotiated hard with one of the vendors, paid him a fair price, shook hands, exchanged smiles and took the perfect photo.

I have already visited quite a few tall buildings around the world, but the Petronas Twin Towers completely captivated me. Not only because of the exceptional height, but also because of the outstanding design and combination of materials used in the construction.

I dedicated several hours to study the towers from different perspectives.

The National Mosque of Malaysia was constructed on the site of a church that was purchased by the Government in 1961. It was built between 1963 and 1965 to celebrate Malaysia’s independence.

The main features of the mosque are the 73-metre high minaret and the 16-pointed star concrete main roof.

The umbrella, a symbol of the tropics, features prominently in two ways: the main roof resembles an open umbrella, while the minaret’s cap is a folded one. This bold and modern mosque in reinforced concrete symbolizes the aspirations of a newly independent nation, receiving up to 15,000 believers during prayer time.

The number of visitors during my visit was significantly lower.

Dressing code is as usual in mosques. Women receive a purple robe and black hijab to cover all but the face completely, while my long shorts over the knees were accepted. Peace and tranquility filled me when I walked through the interior of the mosque.

A pleasant retreat from the vibrant city.

One of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India – Batu Caves – are located only a short ride from Kuala Lumpur. The caves are inside limestone cliffs and filled up with Hindu shrines and temples.

A visit starts with a climb up 272 steps, from the ground up to the entrance of the main caves. A spiritual walk might have brought me closer to the gods, but it can be quite a challenge for unfit people. An enormous 43 meters tall golden statue of Murugan at the bottom of the stairs is the largest statue devoted to him in Malaysia and the third biggest in the world.

The Batu Caves temple complex consists of three main and several smaller caves. The biggest, known as Temple or Cathedral Cave, features ornate Hindu shrines with depictions bringing legends to life and has a high ceiling that opens up to the sky.

The Thaipusam Festival, in January or February, draws huge crowd of visitors, pilgrims or tourists paying homage to Lord Murugan. At the time of the celebration, during the full moon in the 10^th month of the Hindu calendar, over a million people gather around.

Symbolizing the triumph of good over evil, Thaipusam is celebrated by the Tamil community in Sri Lanka, India, Singapore, and Mauritius. Apparently, devotees pierce themselves with pins and spikes, hang pots and fruit off of their chests with hooks, and pull chariots or have people hanging onto a heavy rope attached to their backs by hooks.

This could serve as a strong incentive to return to Batu Caves and attend this particular festival in the future.

As in some other Asian countries, food in Malaysia plays a very important role in the identity and daily life. Malaysian cuisine consists of cooking traditions and practices that reflect the multi-ethnic makeup of its population, where three major ethnic groups are strongly present: Malays, Chinese and Indians.

Adding it a seasoning by history of colonization from the Thai, Portuguese and British, Malaysian food turns out to be a melting pot of flavors. There are many similarities among Singaporean, Indonesian and Malaysian dishes thanks to their shared histories, proximity, and similar ethnic makeup.

Nasi lemak is considered the national dish of Malaysia. It consists of glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf.

Nasi lemak is commonly found at hawker centers or food stalls – open-air food complexes, where individual food stalls prepare dishes to eat on site.

The government idea to move street vendors to fixed locations, increase hygiene and control the quality of ingredients and services probably benefited especially the customers. For hawkers the idea of moving from the original location and directly compete with others in a predetermined place was not that popular.

Hawkers centers later transferred into food courts in shopping malls that offer similar concepts, but in more organized, sanitized version. A different variety of meals are offered at reasonable prices, served quickly and exhibited in front of the consumers’ eyes.

I usually first wondered around to check the offer, observed which was the busiest place and ordered the dishes. Since I don’t eat meat and dislike spicy food, sometimes the range of dishes was limited.

Most of the dishes are light and a portion of normal size didn’t keep me full for the rest of the day. It is not uncommon that people eat 4 to 6 times per day.

Although my visit to Malaysia was limited only to Kuala Lumpur and its surroundings, I can admit that the country hasn’t made a special impact on me. It might be true that I would need to explore other places outside of the capital, but even Kuala Lumpur itself wasn’t as outstanding experience as for example nearby Singapore that was part of the same trip.

There are some exceptions, though.

The Petronas Twin Towers are one of the most memorable architectural achievements in my memories and will stay the first association to Malaysia for a long time.