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MALAYSIA
Melaka (21.2. - 22.2.) In On February 21, we took a "luxury" bus (only 3 wide seats in each row) from Singapore to Melaka (about 4h). In the afternoon, we set out to explore the historical center of the town. It took us only a few hours, since it is really condensed in a small area. The heart of the old city is Dutch square, which is dominated by a dark-red city hall Stadthuys (built 1641-1660) and big red church (built in 1753). Behind the town house is a hill with remains of the Church of St. Paul that was built by the Portuguese in 1571. There also used to stand a Portuguese fort A'Famosa here, of which only one gate, Porta de Santiago, remains. On the other side of the hill is a museum. It is located in a replica of the original Sultan Palace. From the Museum, we walked to a large Chinese cemetery on one side of the town. We were curious to see if the style of graves is the same here as it is in China. Yes, we concluded, it was. On our return to hotel, we stopped in China Town for dinner. The grilled chicken with rice balls was excellent. The next day, on February 22, we visited a very interesting and somewhat strange Museum of Enduring Beauty. The expositions demonstrated and explained various approaches of different cultures to body decorations and beautifications. Some of the methods appeared very cruel and certainly painful. The procedures ranged form nose piercing and ear-lob stretching to scull deformations performed on newborns, teeth filing, creation of permanent scars as a kind of face and body decorations or feet binding from the times when small feet used to be in fashion in imperial China. After visiting the museum, we had the same great grilled chicken with rice balls for lunch in China Town and then caught a bus Kuala Lumpur in the afternoon. Kuala Lumpur (23.2.-24.2.) In On February 23, we took a taxi to Merdeka Square. In 1897, the British built an administrative building called Abdul Samada Building there, which represents a very interesting mix of European and Islamic architecture. Conveniently for the British, a club and a cricket field where located just across the street. From there, we walked to the famous Masjid Jamek Mosque (the Friday Mosque, built in 1907) nearby. In order to be allowed to enter, Jitka had to borrow a scarf from the mosque keeper and cover her hair. Even then we were not allowed to enter the mosque itself; just wonder around the complex. The place seemed to serve as a place of relaxation. We saw many men sitting or even sleeping on a terrace in front of the mosque. This place felt like an oasis in the middle of a hectic city. We returned to the hotel through China Town, which was a typical blend of little shops, street restaurants, temples and red lampions. On February 24, we visited the excellent Museum of the Islamic Art. We especially liked the exposition that shows models of the most important mosques in the whole world. However, we were able to discover that their model of the mosque in Xi'an, China was inaccurate, which made us question the accuracy of all the other models. In the afternoon, we were caught in a heavy downpour in a nearby park, where we ended up not visiting touristy attractions like the Bird ZOO or the Butterfly Garden. Once the rain stopped, we continued to see the Petronas Towers, the world's tallest buildings (452m). The towers became a symbol of Kuala Lumpur and a pride of the Malaysian nation. Unfortunately, we came too late in the day to be allowed to go to the top.
Notes about Malaysia: Malaysia is an Islamic country and we heard from many non-Muslim inhabitants that the government is unfairly favoring Muslims and discriminating people of other religions. There are many Chinese in Malaysia. While they have no or little representation in the government, they do dominate the trade and control Malaysian economy. Without knowing the statistics, we clearly felt that after Singapore, Malaysia is the second most developed country in Asia. It is also said to be the most developed Muslim country in the world.
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Malaysia Population: 22
600 000 Population growth:
1,91% Literacy rate: 97,6%
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1405,
Chinese admiral Cheng Ho landed in Melaka. He brought with him gifts
from the emperor and offered the city protection against the Siamese.
The city accepted and soon traders and settlers from
China followed. In the 15th century, Melaka became the largest port in
South-East Asia. It was a center of trade with spices between China,
India, Siam and Indonesia. This soon attracted the Europeans. In 1511,
Portuguese conquered the city. In 1641 the Dutch took it from them
and eventually, in 1824, the British gained control over this important
port. Today, the importance of this place is long gone, but the old city
center with its colonial buildings, mosques, temples and churches
testifies to the important history of this town.
the
1860s, a group of prospectors looking for copper landed at the confluence
of the Sungai Klang and Sungai Gombak rivers and named the place Kuala Lumpur -
"the
muddy confluence". Since then, KL - as the locals call Kuala Lumpur -
grew into a modern cosmopolitan city in which one can find both modern
high-rise buildings as well as colonial houses with distinct elements of
Islamic
architecture. In addition to Malay people, many Chinese and Indian
people live here and their cultural influence culminates in their
quarters, China Town and Little India. Malaysia
is an Islamic country and vast majority of its inhabitants are Muslims.