Saigon to Superior: Old Empires' Outpost

Singapore Pride

Next stop on our honeymoon: Singapore. Modern, wealthy, hushed—and the word clean simply doesn’t do justice to just how sparkling every last inch of this city-state is. Chinese, Indians, and Malays efficiently weave their way through immaculate subways and a world-class economy, harmoniously working together through a shared British past while deferring to their benevolent dictator leader.

Printed on the airport wall in bold letters was, “Death to all drug traffickers under Singapore law,” while the subway brandished grisly pictures of a corpse with the warning, “Jaywalking kills.” Yet the place was friendly and pleasant, with plenty of well-heeled jaywalkers to put my rebellious inner American at ease.

The well kept secret of the region, however, is the country next door – Malaysia is a laid-back gem. Though its constitution is rooted in Islam, its heart is rooted in easy smiles that state clearly, “We can all get along.” As in Singapore, Chinese, Indian, and Malay neighborhoods sit side by side, their architecture, food, and aromas mingling with the relics of ancient Hindu, Muslim, and Christian empires. Unlike Singapore, Malaysia has a funky liveliness in the air, accented by groups of rickshaw drivers lounging about town plazas between fares, and alleyways filled with street vendors hawking a rainbow of wares.

We began our stay in the country at Tony’s Guest House in Malacca - the ancient trade center and former outpost of Hindu, Muslim, and European Empires. Today, Malaccans spend their time in a relaxed nostalgia for by-gone days while the world’s busiest shipping lane now churns right by. Tony is retired, and though he often tells his bemused neighbors that he is just collecting firewood, he actually spends his days turning these scraps into a unique painter’s canvas while also running a guest house, chatting up tourists, and serving coffee to his fellow retirees who, he jokes, are bored out of their skulls. In our tidy room hung two of his works on worn boards – one of a tree frog peering from a limb and the other a naked gunmen assailing another nude guy who is clearly much more endowed than he. Tony was a character.

Passing our first morning with him over a three-hour cup of coffee, Tony chatted us up about America, world issues, and the events in his backyard: “Here, we have a sizeable middle class and everyone gets along. We have a retirement system and health care. My Indian and Muslim friends come to my house for Chinese New Year, my Muslim friends and I go to our Indian friends’ houses for Divali, and my Indian friends and I go to our Muslim friends’ houses for Ramadan. Though I can’t figure out why Muslims feel they have to pray five times a day…Who are they showing off for? I am Buddhist. Heck, I could be praying while sitting at this table right now. What good is the next life if you cannot enjoy this one?”

Tony’s sentiments were echoed by a Malaysian boat captain who led us on a river tour through the heart of Malacca – although, rather than sharing his thoughts in the privacy of his kitchen, he used his microphone to share with the whole neighborhood his theory about Muslim men’s propensity for tricking their women into embracing the merits of multiple wives. No one seemed to be offended, an attitude perhaps voiced best by a middle-aged Sikh gentleman with whom we later shared a bus ride. Comparing Malaysians to the laid-back Canadians he went to college with in Nova Scotia, he stated, “Malaysians are a lot like the folks in Halifax. Simple people who just like to drink and kick back.”

Yet one can’t help but notice another Malaysia just a few hours away in Kuala Lumpur, rooted not so much in a different political outlook as a thriving economic engine that has sprouted some of the tallest buildings in the world. As in Malacca, Muslims are clearly the silent majority, their strong influence even reflected in the Islamic curves of the towering skyscrapers that are built upon the many oil investments coming from the Middle East. Yet inside the five-story marbled shopping malls within, mini-skirted Westerners and hijab-clad Malays browse comfortably alongside one another in front of Victoria’s Secret and the food court pizza counter.

We read about race riots in Malaysia in 1968, and the conciliatory efforts of a populace that seemed eager to mend and move on. We also found in the country’s newspapers a resurgence of support for Islamic law and the exclusion of citizens who fall outside the Muslim faith, a sentiment also described candidly by a fellow traveler who described her mom as an English Rose and her dad as Malay. I couldn’t help but notice how Malaysian and American support of racial tolerance seemed to rise and fall at similar periods in time. Our day-to-day interactions with Malaysia’s diverse populace, however, seemed to embody a healthy tolerance that I hope is not compromised by America’s recent missteps on the world stage and at home.

Our own observations in Malacca and Kuala Lumpur sum up our view of Malaysia in the following terms – funky and worldly, pluralistic and opinionated, relaxed and looking forward, diverse and rooted in one’s own kind; Islamic; and in an everyday sort of way, tolerant. If Turkey serves as Islam’s gateway to the West, it is clear that Malaysia is its gateway to the East.

7/30/08