The man of the Jungle

The 12 hour stop in Kuala Lumpur is not the ideal time frame to try to discover one of the biggest cities in south east Asia, but you get what you can.  Getting into KL i was instantly struck by how modern the city is.  Malaysia is incredibly rich in oil and natural mineral resources, and the government has managed to spend a lot of money on making KL a modern metropolis that would meet and defeat any western standards.  You will still see signs in toilets instructing the locals not to squat on the toilet seat, but thats just part of the hilarity of SEA countries.  McButch, one of those signs on your bathroom door would suit you perfectly.  I was also immediately struck by the ammount of prostitutes in the city.  Malaysia is a conservative country, but that is counteracted by the modern metropolis of KL.  Most modern metropolis' come with their share of scandalous activity, in KL its the prostitution that is rampant.  Interestingly, prostitution is an offense which is mostly punishable by becoming a complete outcast in society, void of friends and family here.  Drug possession is a much more serious offense here, punishable by being beaten with a cane, sometimes to death.  I was hissed at a lot by the prostitutes, they hiss at you as if they are shooing away a begging cat, and strangely, some of the prostitutes were white...strange. 

Free for all

Anyway, the Petronas towers really are cool stuff, they were the tallest building(s) in the world until 2004 when the Taipei 101 was built.  I took some cool photos of them at night when they really are at their most amazing.  I was up at 6am to catch my 11:30 flight to Borneo with Scott and Laura, for some reason they decided to build the KL airport some 100km from the city and it takes about two days to get there.

Giant Petronas

The trip to Borneo with Scott and Laura was brief but fun.  Dont have a whole lot of stories to tell.  We went for a day of snorkeling at a really nice marine park near Kota Kinabalu.  The water was turquoise blue and the visibility was good enough for some really nice underwater views.  Loads of crazy coral and Technicolor fishies.  We must have been out there or a couple hours, as even after a healthy application of sunblock, we all came back a little roasty.  We also visited the 'men of the jungle'  Orang-utan is the name given to the apes by ethnic Malay people, it is literally translated in English as 'man of the jungle'  Orang-utans must be the most human apes I've ever seen in action.  We watched them feed in the jungle, and boy are the mature male ones impressive.  Mature males are about the size of a mature human male but posses eight times the strength of one man, and can rip a man in two without really breaking a sweat.  Sadly, so much of the jungle of Borneo has been cut down for palm oil plantations.  Malaysia is the worlds largest producer of palm oil, and the state of Sabah, where the orangutans live is the biggest producing state in Malaysia.  The government and NGO's have only recently realized what is happening to the jungle here, and are just starting to take some action. 

Graceful movers

I did have a very interesting conversation with a Chinese-Malay man at dinner the other night.  He was highly critical of the Malay governemnt for essentially being racist.  He described to me how difficult it is for Chinese and Indian ethnicities in Malaysia to have businesses, get into university, and maintain a stable life.  For example, in order to register a business legally, a Malay person needs to do it.  Also, 75% of all spots in university are reserved for ethnic Malay, the rest for Chinese and Indians.  He was sad that the government here does not take care of its people despite the reality that Malaysia is such a multiracial country.  He was a highly educated man too, he studied mechanical engineering in the UK and then went to work there, but came back home to Malaysia to start his business and raise a family.  After years and years of strugglnig with his business while starting a family, he was just about out of money.  Some of this he blames on the governments unfriendliness toward chinese business owners, and his woes have trickled down to his son.  He expressed that his son was not the brightest guy, but he was hard working.  However, he didnt want his son to succeed in school, because then he would want to go to college.  Due to the quotas for Indian and Chinese students, it is very competative for Chinese to get into universities in Malaysia, so the only hope would be to send his son abroad.  This he can't afford in a million years.  He hopes to send his son to Singapore to work where the average wage is 8 times what it is in Malaysia.  It was an interesting dinner conversation especially for me because for once we got to talk about the local government rather than how the US government ruins the world. 

Inspection time

Ill be hanging in Kota Kinabalu for a couple days, then Kristina and I will be reunited for a couple weeks here, and really get a chance to dig into 'wild' Borneo.  Ill get some photos up tomorrow .

Jungle Canopy

Scott and Laura go snorkeling

Striking a pose

What more can you want?