Notes on Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Sultan Abdul Samad Building

Me and the Petronas Twin Towers

Independence Square, KL

The flight from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur was fine. Very quick at about 50 minutes. But on landing in KL I was disappointed to experience the worst immigration queues of all my travels. I spent almost as long in the line to get into the country as I did flying there. It meant I arrived in KL with a look of thunder on my face, feeling generally fed up with the whole idea of this round-the-world trip. But then the airport express train came out from underground into lush green Malaysian forest, the sun was shining, and I just couldn’t help but smile. I am so lucky to be having this experience and must remember to treasure it, no matter the small bumps along the way.
My first impression of KL is sunshine. Blue skies at last. And though it’s about 32 degrees, it’s a drier heat than in Singapore, so it’s quite comfortable. The great weather made the whole city, especially the famous Petronas Twin Towers shimmer. I think they are awesome, imposing structures and definitely rank as a world landmark.
The city is not a walker’s paradise. You can forget your underpasses here. In Kuala Lumpur it’s jaywalk or nothing. The traffic lights appear to be more of a suggestion than a rule for all parties concerned. Nobody pays any heed to them. Scurrying across multi-lane traffic should be no problem for a true Dubliner – we’re terrible for crossing illegally in Ireland. But I’ve become accustomed to the Japanese way of waiting for the green man even on an empty street with nary a car in sight.
I took a coffee and sat by the beautiful fountain in the KLCC centre just under the Petronas towers. The best people watching spot I’ve seen so far. So many interesting cultural sights. Like the woman in full black burka. And I mean full – not even an eye slit – she had a gauze veil and wore black gloves. This woman, covered head to toe, was sitting on the stone step holding a Starbucks take out coffee. And periodically she would just put it under the veil and take a drink. And I didn’t want to cause offense by staring but I just couldn’t help it. The mix of two cultures – the symbols of American hegemony and strict Islamic tradition seemed to sit so comfortably with her. There was no contradiction. She was just a woman drinking a coffee. It’s amazing: the human capacity to accept multiple identities and rationalise our lifestyles. Like I said, great people watching.
As for the shopping centre itself, it was huge and thronging. I’m not saying anything new here, but the world has clearly become a global shopping mall. With M&S and Zara and Gap and Starbucks, it was like any other shopping centre anywhere around the world. But when you see O’Brien’s Irish Sandwich shops sat there with the rest of them (they are all over Singapore, too) you can’t help but feel it’s globalisation gone too far. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a little twinge of patriotic pride, but come on. I’ve travelled half way round the world and the shopping centre looks just like it was on Grafton Street in Dublin. Even more so because all the staff have Asian faces here, too!
I’ve seen a lot of colonial footprints on my travels so far, but by far the funniest was the sign outside a hotel in KL advertising a ‘Tiffin’ set. I don’t think I could order tiffin with a straight face. I’d feel like I was one some back BBC sitcom from the 70s.
Shame of the day: absent-mindedly walking into the women’s toilets in a predominantly Muslim country where 50% of the women the veil to protect their modesty. I was so embarrassed slash shocked. I was probably lucky I didn’t get in trouble either. The woman who saw me coming in just laughed and said, ‘Next door!’ The shame!
In a twenty minute monorail ride in KL, I saw a mosque, a Chinese shrine, a Hindu temple and a Methodist church all pass by in quick succession. I think this country has earned its multicultural credentials.
Back at the hotel, watching the Islamic prayers being shown on TV was a kick. It must be the way people feel when they come to Ireland and see the Angelus being televised on RTE1 every day.
The highpoint of my first day in Malaysia was leaving the gleaming towers and fountains of the KLCC centre to go back to my hotel, walking through Little India with the Bollywood music blaring and all the small stalls and strange food and smells, and just feeling like I was in some Mastercard ad or something.