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June 21, 2006
Farewell to Malaysia
LOCATION: Kangar, Malaysia
SEE WHERE WE ARE!
Longitude: N: 6°26’66.
Latitude: E: 100°12’22.
Miles This Leg: 720
The good news is that 90% of sight has returned to my right eye. Too bad, I was looking forward to the pirate patch look...
So my time in Malaysia is fast coming to a close here. Only 25kms away is the border with Thailand. A new country, new culture. New sights and sounds...stay tuned.
People often ask which is my favourite country on the expedition so far - an impossible question to answer of course as they are all so varied in a myriad of different ways. But Malaysia has I think been the most friendly. I have experienced nothing but goodwill from the people here. I try hard to imagine an English lorry driver or an American trucker leaning out the window while passing a foreigner on a bike and say "Welcome to my country!". It happens, but not that often. Here it has happened 7-8 times in a morning. And it's not just an excuse to get a response from you and then have a giggle as you're riding away - like in Indonesia at times. It's all seems, at least on the surface, to be genuine. Even the children I pass have been delightfully pleasant. And they're not the ones usually to pull the punches, especially in this day and age where the old ways of respect are fast disappearing in the face of the onward march of modern culture.
I asked someone over dinner the other evening how this was so and the explanation included going back to the colonial era and how the Brits managed communities here for the better usage of the country's raw materials. Instead of pitting peoples of different cultural backgrounds against one another in the 'divide and conquer' policy used in other parts of the world - in particular neighbouring Indonesia by the VOC, the Brits encouraged the locals in each village to work together. Of course there was somewhat of an ulterior motive - to exploit the rich natural resources more effectively. But the legacy today does seem to be one that sees people of all faiths - Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and Hindus - living peacefully together.
So thanks Malaysia. I've had a truly magical time here and look forward to returning after the expedition has ended and spending more time here to get know the people and places better.
jason
Posted on June 21, 2006 3:40 AM