Yes I think I should have come out with this post sometime last month but thats what coming back to college does to you. And mind you ‘studies’ don’t have anything to do with this. Though long overdue, I have to get over with this. I just can’t keep the Part-I hanging without any sequel.
Strictly speaking this is an account of my stay in Malaysia, but since I am in love with Singapore and since Kuala Lampur and Singapore are separated by a mere 5 hours road trip, I shall write this post as an extension to my earlier one.
Now most people would prefer to take a cruise to Malaysia from Singapore, but we decided that a road journey would be more satisfying and we would be able to get a glimpse of the country side. The differences between the two nations became apparent right after we crossed the border. Whereas Sinagapore to me was a perfect nation, Malaysia seemed more closer home in the sense that it had its fair share of villages, slums and lower middle class apartments. The infrastructure and the greenery though presented a stark contrast to any place in India. The journey was amazingly smooth comparable to Rajdhani express in speed and comfort (God bless their highways!). Malaysia I was told was a Muslim nation but unlike the others it was a peaceful one where the majority Malay Muslims lived in peace with the Tamil Hindus and the Chinese Buddhists. The idea of an Islamic nation having people of other beliefs and no strife was a little difficult to digest. Of course later I was proved right.
In Malaysia we put up in a resort at Genting, a highland region housing the largest casino in Malaysia. That brings us to another interesting point. What is a large casino doing in an Islamic country?? Doesn’t Islam prohibit gambling?? Well yes it does and I did see large signs in front of the casino banning the entry of any Muslims. The reason why that casino is still up there is because of the money it rakes in from gambling. The owner of the casino is a Chinese, and from what I found out he has to shell out 20 million bucks to the ruling party every year to ensure the smooth running of his business. So here we have a largely muslim dominated party making major moolah indirectly from gambling.
We hired a Chinese cabbie during our stay in Malaysia. Michael, was one of the most entertaining and jovial person I’ve encountered in my life. He would keep the cab rides alive by his constant chatter, explaining to us how the system works in Malaysia. Through him I found out how in a ‘peaceful’ way Islam propagates its agendas.
“I have 3 children sir, 1 boy and 2 girls. Cannot afford to have more sir, the government does not support it, but if a Malay clerk have 6 children the government offers him loan so he can buy a new car”. Listening to Michael I realized how frustrated and suppressed he was. Not just him, this frustration seemed to exist in all the people I met belonging to the Buddhist or Hindu minorities. “The government gives all the powerful positions to the Malays and all the useless designations are given to us”. Later at night we dined with a local Chinese family, acquaintances of my dad. A conversation similar to the one we had ensued. “They demand that any new company that sets base in Malaysia give a 30% stake to the government. Then they place 30% of their own men in the organization. The top level will have Malays and so will the bottom level. You are stuck somewhere in the middle. The top don’t work the bottom don’t work and you have to do everything yourself”. I inquired about their religious practices. I had already seen the women garb themselves in a dupatta that covered their forehead but in no way was it fulfilling the purpose of the hijab that Islam requires. Michael had an amusing answer for this, ” These girls spend all day roaming around with their boyfriends but when they have to meet their mother the wear this silly head-dress to show that they are good Muslim girls”. This practice did seem queer, because it wasn’t serving the purpose of a burqua and all it did was make you sweat. Coming back to the conversation we were having at dinner -” They read namaaz 5 times a day, how do you expect you factory workers to work if they keep taking breaks to pray?!! Then they want the fridays off, they say they have to go to the mosque but always the women go shopping and the men play golf”.
Indeed Malaysia is a peaceful nation, there doesn’t seem to be any violence or forceful repression of any sort. Rather the government has adopted better ‘non-violent’ model to promote their agendas, using religion as a weapon to play politics ( and vice-versa). They call themselves a modern Muslim nation. But for a religion that takes pride in strict adherence to their practices, the ideology of the Malay Muslims seems neither here nor there, to be honest it seems confusing.
It is also sad seeing that most of the workers and cleaners were largely Indians, having no knowledge about their roots ( they serve dossa sized parathas with sambhar and paratha sized dossas with dal and the rice comes with bhindi!!). And we wonder why India is so filthy- All the sweepers are out cleaning other countries …
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