The plan says that a minivan will drive me to the first biggest city in southern Thailand tomorrow noon and as the chinese new year is in 10 days the trains till Bangkok are fully booked for the next two weeks!
I am leaving Malaysia to clock in at one of the most popular and most visited country in the world, yet I have encountered a very interesting and complex country in the stops I have made actually.
The diversity is at the base of the conviviality of the malay peninsula where chinese eat at indian stalls (not with the hands though!!), where the call of prayer and the veils are part of everyday life and where lanterns and Ganesha can be found in the same street, the same street where the pork that is an important ingredient in chinese restaurants is not on the menu cause the muslims don't accept it!!
I have come across a country (in the two stops I have made..) where you are not sure what language to speak even if malay and english are considered the national languages, that confused me whether using terima kasih (thank you in malay language) or xie xie (chinese mandarin) or shukran (arabic) or nanri (tamil)...confusing and interesting also that the word for water in malay is "air", while the one for lady is "wanita" and for a fireman "bomba", that recall latin american spanish to me...
The mixture of cultures sharing the same flag but at the same time enjoying/living different values, religions and behaviours has been pretty impressive...yet unclear how can peacefully just happen!!
In a picture you could see a chinese blatantly spitting (something that you wouldn't see done from an indian person), a woman with veil driving a public bus, or some transvestite looking for clients in the centre of the town, actually at the corner where my hostel stands!!, (something not really common in muslim countries), a indian with afro hair (not very common either), and maybe the german or british tourist with shorts and tank top shopping at "seven eleven" buying a bottled fruit juice when just outside a lady is selling freshly squeezed or juiced ones!!
I am leaving Malaysia to clock in at one of the most popular and most visited country in the world, yet I have encountered a very interesting and complex country in the stops I have made actually.
The diversity is at the base of the conviviality of the malay peninsula where chinese eat at indian stalls (not with the hands though!!), where the call of prayer and the veils are part of everyday life and where lanterns and Ganesha can be found in the same street, the same street where the pork that is an important ingredient in chinese restaurants is not on the menu cause the muslims don't accept it!!
I have come across a country (in the two stops I have made..) where you are not sure what language to speak even if malay and english are considered the national languages, that confused me whether using terima kasih (thank you in malay language) or xie xie (chinese mandarin) or shukran (arabic) or nanri (tamil)...confusing and interesting also that the word for water in malay is "air", while the one for lady is "wanita" and for a fireman "bomba", that recall latin american spanish to me...
The mixture of cultures sharing the same flag but at the same time enjoying/living different values, religions and behaviours has been pretty impressive...yet unclear how can peacefully just happen!!
In a picture you could see a chinese blatantly spitting (something that you wouldn't see done from an indian person), a woman with veil driving a public bus, or some transvestite looking for clients in the centre of the town, actually at the corner where my hostel stands!!, (something not really common in muslim countries), a indian with afro hair (not very common either), and maybe the german or british tourist with shorts and tank top shopping at "seven eleven" buying a bottled fruit juice when just outside a lady is selling freshly squeezed or juiced ones!!
in case you didn't believe...
this wall painting in Bangsar, KL gives an idea?
birds cage - first floor right (very chinese!),
malaysian flags - first floor left (malay?!),
plenty of colourful small t-shirts and underwear, I suppose a large family? - second floor left (indian?!)
I liked this message alot!!!
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