My Malaysia Issue 3 (take 2)

Insight from Kuantan (February 2006): Issue 3

Where have the past several months gone? We’ve been gone…to Italy in October, China and Hong Kong in November, Canada in December/January and New Zealand in February! We are chalking up the air miles and thus no time to write my thoughts! It has been wonderful hearing from you, either in the fall or over the Christmas season…please keep your letters and e-mails coming this way!

Downtown Guangzhou, China (left)

Chen Clan Ancestral Hall (part of Guangdong Museum of Folk Art) right

Water traffic in Hong Kong harbour

Downtown Hong Kong with Victoria Peak

I have been asked about local wildlife: I think our resident bat has moved on, but there is a skinny tabby cat who wanders by the patio door occasionally. Sometimes she gives herself a bath while balancing on our wall!

One day I was startled by a stray cat which leaped out of a garbage can as I was walking along the road! Twice I have seen great hornbill birds in the trees around the neighbourhood (that was impressive!) and also twice I have seen monitor lizards (about 2 feet long, similar to a small alligator but very skittish). At dusk, there are lots of monkeys on the road near the Hyatt-people come to feed them, but they are rather pesky and can attack if provoked. I am told there are wild boars by one of the beaches, but I haven’t seen one yet, nor have I seen any snakes (yeah! How long will that last?). Our favourite beach up the coast has herds of goats running around the fields and among the houses in the area! The little kids are adorable!

Goat family at Beserah Beach, near Kuantan

I saw a hearse one day downtown-it was a white panel van with glass sides and back doors, flashing lights on top and a loudspeaker announcing something from it…perhaps the deceased’s name? It was a sight, to be sure! Another sight we witnessed several times in December whenever we were at the airport, was the “official” send-off for those Muslims attending the Hajj in Mecca. For every person making the journey, there must have been several hundred well-wishers! Our little airport was so crammed with people, that security and police were there as traffic controllers inside the building!

People have wondered what sorts of costs we incur, so here are a few samples in CAD:
City water bill between $2.50 and $9.00 (we have yet to figure this one out!)
Electricity bill between $151 and $211
5 gal. bottled water $3.00
Dry cleaning three items once cost $6.59
Daily newspaper (KL)$9.83 for the month
Camry fill-up $17.19
Groceries between $200-300 monthly (depending on who is here!)

So there you have it, but not everything is cheap, and remember the average salary in Malaysia is less than 2,000 MR (or $614 CAD) per month!

Lightbulbs: OK everyone, when was the last time you changed a lightbulb inside or outside your home? How about two or more? Would you believe we average between 12 and 40 per month? (No, I didn’t think so, but I’ve been keeping track and it is quite true!) We’ve started buying them by the case at a local electric shop! Perhaps we need to buy shares in Phillips?

I’ve cut out articles from our daily paper which I find of interest…one was titled, “Eternally annoying Malaysia traits”. Specifically the author was complaining about those people who do not RSVP to a function, but show up anyway, thus messing up the seating arrangements and leaving the staff scrambling to set up more tables1 Another is “Malaysia time”, not unlike “Southern time” (you know, “I’m fixin’ to do it…”). Quote: “It is perfectly normal for an invitation to state the time of arrival of guests at 7:30 p.m. when the event in fact would only start at 8:30 p.m. Even so, it is still common to see some guests making their grand entrance at 8:50 p.m.” This happened to us at a function in KL last December when the King and Queen of Malaysia were expected to attend. In fact, the King ended up golfing somewhere, the Queen was perhaps watching him, so they sent the Princess in their place! She was about 30 minutes late and held everyone up! The article goes on to say that the favourite Malaysian excuse for being late is, the traffic jam. For not turning up at work, the excuse is food poisoning, apparently!

Along the same line, is the Asian penchant for being (what Westerners consider) rude. We have noticed how Asians think it is perfectly OK to ask how much one earns, what an item costs and how old you are! This drives my ex-pat friends up the wall, particularly the Brits! The absolute worse offence is to comment on one’s personal appearance (i.e.”You must have eaten too much over Chinese New Year—you are looking fat today!”). Then there are the people who rush into an elevator or onto a subway train before letting others off…most frustrating in the KL airport when you are lugging suitcases! This article was written in conjunction with a review of the book, “Talk to the Hand” by Lynne Truss, about “The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door”. (She is the author of “Eats, Shoots and Leaves”.) I have one British friend who carries the article around in her purse to show her Asian friends when they make rude comments about her looks, dress, what-have-you! Such occurrences continue to amuse us no end!

Finally, another driving story: I was returning home from a step class one morning when I encountered a police check at a road block. I was asked to show my license, both my International Permit and my Louisiana one. The police officer looked at me then my picture and asked, “Is Louisiana your name?” A British friend was stopped the same day, and all she was asked was her age!

The monsoon season (which we mostly missed this year) is coming to an end, with the China Sea much calmer, the days often sunny and clear with just a little breeze, but still hot (28-30+C range). The tourists are returning to the Hyatt (we could hardly find an empty lounge chair by the pool on the weekend!) and plans are being made to go diving/snorkeling up the coast in April. The flowers are starting to bloom again-red ginger, tiny yellow jungle orchids and pretty orangey-red canna (not at all like our lilies) in our garden for starters. Soon we will have been here a whole year…hard to believe! It is going to get increasingly difficult to find you stories that are a little off-beat, I think! Until next time…

Lotus pond beside terrace