Southern Trends and the Malaysian Melting Pot

Thailand is filthy rich. Not when compared to European nations and other Western countries, but when compared with their neighbors to the east, namely Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, the Kingdom is thriving. Baht is practically leaking out their ears. The stark economic discrepancy between these countries is unbelievable considering their close proximity. While kids in Cambodia pick through the leftover scraps from a tourist’s dinner, Thai kids, less than fifty kilometers away, are eating their fill at KFC in a huge air conditioned shopping mall.

The wealth in Thailand also seems to grow the further south you travel. This may have something to do with the popular and over-touristed islands and beaches, but the trend also continues down into Malaysia. Motorbikes have been almost completely replaced by cars while cheap guesthouses have been replaced by not-as-cheap Chinese hotels. The increasing wealth trend continues into Kuala Lumpur before it supposedly climaxes in Singapore (I’ll be able to confirm in about a week). Hum, why am I traveling this direction?

Another interesting trend throughout Southern Thailand and Malaysia is an increase in Muslims. They own and operate many of Thailand’s beach and island resorts and I’ve encountered more and more peek-a-boo married woman (I can see your eyeballs!) and scarf-clad girls the past few weeks. Islam is the official religion in Malaysia and the higher concentration of Muslims in Southern Thailand is likely a significant motivating factor for the recent terrorist bombings in the region. (Don’t know much about it, but it seems that they’re pissed off about being governed by non-Muslim Thais and want their own state).

Equally tenuous, but without the big fiery murderous mess, Malaysia is experiencing plenty of their own racial discrimination and unrest. Talking to an Indian cabbie the other day in Ipoh, I learned that Indian and Chinese citizens in Malaysia are granted privileges and not rights. Malays, which are ethnic Malaysians, make up only 60% of the country’s population, while 3rd and 4th generation Indian and Chinese immigrants make up 40%. After immigrating to Malaysia 100+ years ago, the current Indian and Chinese population was born here, and are granted ‘citizen’ status, but have no rights. On the financial front, a house that costs 80,000 Ringgits for a Malay buyer will cost 100,000 Ringgits (~$30K US) for an Indian or Chinese buyer, regardless of the seller.

Malaysia is an economically thriving Asian melting pot with diversity abounds, but the legal inequalities are a recipe for strife. They’ve had a few scuffles in the past, but we’ll just have to see how long it takes the Chinese and Indians to get sufficiently pissed off again.

Language is kind of funny here because the Indians don’t want to learn Chinese, the Chinese don’t want to learn Hindi, and Malays don’t want to learn either one, so everyone just uses English as a common ground. Malay is the official language, but English has become ubiquitous.

In other news, monsoon season totally rules. Every day for almost exactly 2 hours, starting at almost exactly 3pm, a torrential downpour goes ape shit. Quite entertaining.

[1st image is restaurant "Golden Stream" in Ipoh, Malaysia; 2nd image is the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 3rd image from Battambang, Cambodia - dont have any good pics of Malaysian monsoon action yet.]