Malaysian reprieve

Of course, I have more to say about India. On the last day in India, someone said, "I will still be thinking about this India experience in Malaysia," and I thought, "I will still be thinking about this India experience when I am old." It is (I am sure) partly the contrast between the two places... but Malaysia is so relatively easy a place to be, relatively effortless and pleasant, but not as bland as that comparison makes it sound!

It is a Muslim country, in a refreshingly non-hostile and sweet style, and there are Buddhists and Hindus in large numbers; also a Christian minority. The ethnic groups are Malay, Chinese, Indian, and European. They seem to get along well enough; there is not the sense of hostility amongst groups that I have experienced in many other places. The PM recently restructured his cabinet to include those who have opposed him, a wise move given his recent loss of popular support, with protest centered in Penang, where we are. The protest has to do with the legally sanctioned preference given to Malay Muslims over other groups, and formal change in this policy seems to be around the corner.

But my delights have been the food and the artistic design sensibility! The 'hawker food' experience involves going into a large pavilion around the sides of which are various food vendor carts, then having a walk around to see what you like before sitting down to order. In KL I had Malaysian fried noodles with green onion, mushroom, and chopped fried chicken, and a limeade for about 2 dollars. Today in Penang I had Thai rice with chicken, onion, peppers, pineapple, and golden raisins--served on a banana leaf--a limeade, and a lychee honey date drink for dessert, again for 2 dollars. The food is famously delicious and eaten with the right hand.

The design sensibility is one I like very much, lots of vine and leaf motif, with bright colors and bold abstractions. I bought a contemporary pottery tea service in abstract vine and leaf and sea motif. I watched a cobbler custom make shoes from wood and leather, the odd bit of plastic, or bead, individually painting various motifs on each pair. Like much of the developing world, Malaysia has both glamour and grunge, but with a sweetness and tropicality that somehow emerge from these various traditions meeting up with each other on this jungle peninsula... You get the feeling that it could have been otherwise, but that these people have found their magic, and that they want to keep making it.