 1 Malaysia general info
 2 Malaysia in a nutshell
 3 more info on Malaysia Peninsula
 4 Kuala Lumpur info
 4 more Malaysia info
 5 more Malay Peninsula info
 6 Malcca travel info
 7 Penang travel info
 8 Penang life
 9 Penang history
 10 Penang Indian Community

\1 Malaysia general info

Malaysia was created in 1963 through the merging of Malaya (independent in 1957) and the former British Singapore, both of which formed West Malaysia, and Sabah and Sarawak in north Borneo, which composed East Malaysia. The first three years of independence were marred by hostilities with Indonesia. Singapore separated from the union in 1965.

Malaysia is one of the most hassle-free countries to visit in SE Asia. Several decades of sustained economic growth and political stability have made it one of the most buoyant and wealthy countries in the region, and although political power (Malay) and economic clout (Chinese) are still traditionally divided along racial lines, Malaysia has moved towards a pluralist culture based on a vibrant and interesting fusion of Malay, Chinese, Indian and indigenous cultures and customs.

Most visitors to Malaysia stick to the Peninsula, where the insane headlong rush of Kuala Lumpur is offset by the colonially soothing Cameron Highlands Hill Station or the hedonistic torpor of Langkawi. Far fewer make it to Sarawak or Sabah, on the island of East Malaysia, with their spectacular wildlife, longhouses and the awe-inspiring Mt Kinabalu. It is in SE Asia, of peninsula and northern one-third of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia and the South China Sea, south o  Vietnam

Visas: Commonwealth citizens and most European nationals do not need visas for visits of less than three months. Visitors are usually issued an extendable 30 or 60-day visa on arrival.

Health risks: Dengue fever, hepatitis, malaria, rabies

When to Go - Malaysia is hot and humid all year so you're going to have sunshine and sweat pretty much whenever you visit. It is, however, best to avoid the Nov to Jan rainy season on Peninsula Malaysia's east coast if you want to enjoy the beaches. The time to see turtles on the east coast is between May and Sep.

Getting Around - Malaysian Airline System (MAS) is the main domestic airline, servicing both the peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak. Fares are reasonable but it's unlikely that you'll need to fly in Peninsula Malaysia unless you're in a real hurry. It's cheaper to fly to East Malaysia from Johor Bahru than from KL. In East Malaysia, flying is often the only quick way to get around. Note that flights in East Malaysia are frequently fully booked during school holidays and are prone to delays due to the vagaries of the weather.

Peninsula Malaysia has a fast, economical and widespread bus system, and this is generally the best way to get around. Sabah has excellent roads, and minibuses ply the main routes. Buses ply Sarawak's major trunk road, but hardly anywhere else. Peninsula Malaysia has a comfortable and sensibly priced railway system, but there are basically only two lines: one linking Singapore to Thailand via KL and Butterworth, and the other branching off this at Gemas and heading north-east to Kota Bharu. In Sabah, there's a narrow-gauge line through the Pegas River gorge from Tenom to Kota Kinabalu which is well worth catching.

In Peninsula Malaysia, long-distance taxis are twice the price of buses but they're a comparatively luxurious and efficient way to travel. If you want to get around by car, all major car-rental firms have KL offices. There are no boat services between Peninsula and East Malaysia, but fast boats ply the rivers of both Sabah and Sarawak.

Local taxis in Malaysia are metered. Rickshaws have all but disappeared in KL, but they are still a viable form of local transport in provincial areas. KL has a notoriously bad public transport system, and peak-hour travel in the city should be avoided at all cost.


\2 Malaysia in a nutshell

Cultures have been meeting and mixing in Malaysia since the very beginning of its history. More than fifteen hundred years ago a Malay kingdom in Bujang Valley welcomed traders from China and India. With the arrival of gold and silks, Buddhism and Hinduism also came to Malaysia. A thousand years later, Arab traders arrived in Malacca and brought with them the principles and practices of Islam. By the time the Portuguese arrived in Malaysia, the empire that they encountered was more cosmopolitan than their own.

Malaysia's cultural mosaic is marked by many different cultures, but several in particular have had especially lasting influence on the country. Chief among these is the ancient Malay culture, and the cultures of Malaysia's two most prominent trading partners throughout history--the Chinese, and the Indians. These three groups are joined by a dizzying array of indigenous tribes, many of which live in the forests and coastal areas of Borneo. Although each of these cultures has vigorously maintained its traditions and community structures, they have also blended together to create contemporary Malaysia's uniquely diverse heritage.

One example of the complexity with which Malaysia's immigrant populations have contributed to the nation's culture as a whole is the history of Chinese immigrants. The first Chinese to settle in the straits, primarily in and around Malacca, gradually adopted elements of Malaysian culture and intermarried with the Malaysian community. Known as babas and nonyas, they eventually produced a synthetic set of practices, beliefs, and arts, combining Malay and Chinese traditions in such a way as to create a new culture. Later Chinese, coming to exploit the tin and rubber booms, have preserved their culture much more meticulously. A city like Penang, for example, can often give one the impression of being in China rather than in Malaysia.

Another example of Malaysia's extraordinary cultural exchange the Malay wedding ceremony, which incorporates elements of the Hindu traditions of southern India; the bride and groom dress in gorgeous brocades, sit in state, and feed each other yellow rice with hands painted with henna. Muslims have adapted the Chinese custom of giving little red packets of money (ang pau) at festivals to their own needs; the packets given on Muslim holidays are green and have Arab writing on them.

You can go from a Malaysian kampung to a rubber plantation worked by Indians to Penang's Chinese kongsi and feel you've traveled through three nations. But in cities like Kuala Lumpur, you'll find everyone in a grand melange. In one house, a Chinese opera will be playing on the radio; in another they're preparing for Muslim prayers; in the next, the daughter of the household readies herself for classical Indian dance lessons.

Perhaps the easiest way to begin to understand the highly complex cultural interaction which is Malaysia is to look at the open door policy maintained during religious festivals. Although Malaysia's different cultural traditions are frequently maintained by seemingly self-contained ethnic communities, all of Malaysia's communities open their doors to members of other cultures during a religious festival--to tourists as well as neighbors. Such inclusiveness is more than just a way to break down cultural barriers and foster understanding. It is a positive celebration of a tradition of tolerance that has for millennia formed the basis of Malaysia's progress.

The Malay are Malaysia's largest ethnic group, accounting for over half the population and the national language. With the oldest indigenous peoples they form a group called bumiputera, which translates as "sons" or "princes of the soil." Almost all Malays are Muslims, though Islam here is less extreme than in the Middle East. Traditional Malay culture centers around the kampung, or village, though today one is just as likely to find Malays in the cities.

The Chinese traded with Malaysia for centuries, then settled in number during the 19th century when word of riches in the Nanyang, or "South Seas," spread across China. Though perhaps a stereotype, the Chinese are regarded as Malaysia's businessmen, having succeeded in many industries. When they first arrived, however, Chinese often worked the most grueling jobs like tin mining and railway construction. Most Chinese are Tao Buddhist and retain strong ties to their ancestral homeland. They form about 35 percent of the population.

Indians had been visiting Malaysia for over 2,000 years, but did not settle en masse until the 19th century. Most came from South India, fleeing a poor economy. Arriving in Malaysia, many worked as rubber tappers, while others built the infrastructure or worked as administrators and small businessmen. Today ten percent of Malaysia is Indian. Their culture -- with it's exquisite Hindu temples, cuisine, and colorful garments -- is visible throughout the land.

The oldest inhabitants of Malaysia are its tribal peoples. They account for about 5 percent of the total population, and represent a majority in Sarawak and Sabah. Though Malaysia's tribal people prefer to be categorized by their individual tribes, peninsular Malaysia blankets them under the term Orang Asli, or "Original People." In Sarawak, the dominant tribal groups are the Dayak, who typically live in longhouses and are either Iban (Sea Dayak) or Bidayuh (land Dayak). In Sabah, most tribes fall under the term Kadazan. All of Malaysia's tribal people generally share a strong spiritual tie to the rain forest.

History: Ancient Malaysia: 35,000 BC - 100 BC Historians often speak of Malaysia's ancient past as something "shrouded in mystery," a kind of black hole in Asian history. The truth is that there is not much archeological evidence or written records from ancient Malaysia; but it is likely that this situation will change. Many suspect that there are more prehistoric archeological sites along the coasts and in the jungles and hills, but given Malaysia's riotous vegetation it will take time to find them.

We do know that homo sapiens have been in Malaysia for a long time. The oldest known evidence of human habitation is a skull from the Niah Caves in Sarawak dating from 35,000 years before Christ. On the peninsula, stone age tools and implements from about 10,000 BC have been found, and some archeologists suggest that they were left there by the predecessors of the Negrito aborigines - one of the earliest groups to inhabit the peninsula.

We also know that about 2,500 years before Christ a much more technologically advanced group migrated to the peninsula from China. Called the Proto-Malays, they were seafarers and farmers, and their advances into the peninsula forced the Negritos into the hills and jungles. History's periodic waves of cultural evolution, however, soon created another group, the Deutero-Malays. They were a combination of many peoples - Indians, Chinese, Siamese, Arabs, and Proto-Malays - and they had risen by mastering the use of iron. Combined with the peoples of Indonesia, the Deutero-Malays formed the racial basis for the group which today we simply call the Malay.

Hindu Kingdoms, 100 BC - 1400 AD Early writings from India speak of a place called Savarnadvipa -- the Land of Gold. This mystical, fantastically wealthly kingdom was said to lie in a far away and unknown land, and legend holds that it was on an odyessy in search of Savarnadvipa that the first Indians were lured to the Malay Peninsula. Blown across the Bay of Bengal by the reliable winds of the southwest monsoon, they arrived in Kedah sometime around 100 BC. Whether or not the civilization they encountered there was the one from the ancient chronicles will probably never be known, but it is certain that the sailors considered the trip lucrative. From that point on, and ever-growing stream of Indian traders arrived in search of gold, aromatic wood, and spices.

Goods were not the only items exchanged in the peninsula's ports: the Indians also brought a pervasive culture. Hinduism and Buddhism swept through the land, bringing temples and Indian cultural traditions. Local kings, who sent emissaries to the subcontinent, were impressed by the efficiency of the Hindu courts, and soon began to refer to themselves as "rajahs." They integrated what they considered the best Indian governmental traditions with the existing structure, and historians typically refer to these kingdoms as "Indianised kingdoms." Today, the most visible example of the early Indian influence is in the Malay wedding ceremony, which is very similar that of the subcontinent.

Islam and the Golden Age of Malacca, 1400 AD - 1511 AD

Until the 15th century, the Hindu kingdoms of peninsular Malaysia were largely overshadowed by neighboring kingdoms in Cambodia and Indonesia. The strongest of these kingdoms was called Srivijaya, and the records of Chinese, Indian, and Arab traders laud it as the best trading port in the region. It was the first great maritime kingdom in the Malay archipelago  and other ports quickly emulated its success. At some time around the 13th century, as other entrepots emerged, Srivijaya's influence declined. The lack of a strong central power, coupled with the ever-present nuisance of pirates, amplified the need for secure, well-equipped port in the region. Fate would make this port the city of Malacca.

According to the Malay Annals, Malacca was founded in 1400 by a fleeing Palembang prince named Parameswara. Its rise from a village of royal refugees to a wealthy kingdom was swift. Perfectly located for trade, within 50 years it was the most influential port in Southeast Asia. At any one time, ships from a dozen kingdoms great and small could be seen in the harbor. With these traders came Islam, and Malacca's rulers now referred to themselves as "sultans." The sultans were the heads of a highly organized municipal government, whose main purpose was to facilitate trade. Every incoming ship was met by a multilingual harbor capitan, whose staff would see to all the vessel's needs. There were also gaurded storehouses where goods from the interior and abroad could be stored until traders arrived. Most importantly, Malacca was able to control what had always been the bane of trade in the Straits area - pirates. By building alliances with outlying tribes and ports, Malacca established a kind of regional "navy" that policed the local waters and escorted friendly vessels.

With the success and power it enjoyed, Malacca came to control the entire west coast of the Malay peninsula, the kingdom of Pahang, and much of Sumatra. At the height of its power, however, fate would ruin the city as quickly as it built it up. In 1511, the Portugeuse arrived, beginning a colonial legacy that would last well into the 20th century.

Colonial Malaysia 1511 AD - 1957 AD At the beginning of the 16th century, the eastern spice trade was routed through Egypt, and no non-Muslim vessel was permitted to dock in Arabian ports. The competing European powers, painfully aware of the need for an open trade route to India and the Far East, sought to establish their own trading ports at the source. In 1511, a Portuguese fleet led by Alfonso de Albuquerque sailed into Malacca's harbor, opened fire with cannon, and captured the city. Malacca's golden age had come to an end. The Portuguese constructed a massive fort in Malacca - A Famosa - which the Dutch captured in turn in 1641. This would give the Dutch an almost exclusive lock on the spice trade until 1785, when the British East India Company convinced the Sultan of Kedah to allow them to build a fort on the island of Penang. The British were mainly interested in having a safe port for ships on their way to China, but when France captured the Netherlands in 1795, England's role in the region would amplify. Rather than hand Malacca over to the French, the Dutch government in exile agreed to let England temporarily oversee the port. The British returned the city to the Dutch in 1808, but it was soon handed back to the British once again in a trade for Bencoleen, Sumatra. The Dutch still largely controlled the region, however, and in 1819 Britain sent Sir William Raffles to establish a trading post in Singapore. These three British colonies - Penang, Malacca, and Singapore - came to be known as the Straits Settlements.

While the European powers played their regional chess game, the local Malay sultanates continued on their own affairs. After Malacca was captured, the new Muslim trading center became Johor, then later on Perak. Both the Minangkabau Immigrants from Sumatra and the Bugi people from Celebes immigrated to the peninsula in large numbers, leavingn lasting cultural contributions. In the late 1860's, a number of Malay kingdoms began fighting each other for control of the throne of Perak, causing enough of a disturbance in the region to inspire Britain to intervene and essentially force the Malay rulers to sign a peace treaty known as the Pangkor Agreement in 1874. The treaty, unsurprisingly, gave Britain a much greater role in the region - a role it would need in order to maintain its monopoly on the vast amount of tin being mined in the peninsula.

Coupled with the power of the White Rajas in Borneo, Britain ruled over what was then called Malaya until the Japanese invaded and ousted them in 1942. During this time, large numbers of Chinese fled to the jungle and established an armed resistance which, after war's end, would become the basis for an infamous communist insurgency. In 1945, when W.W.II ended, Britain resumed control again, but Malaya's independence movement had matured and organized itself in an alliance under Tunku Abdul Rahman. When the British flag was finally lowered in Kuala Lumpur's Merdeka Square in 1957, Tunku became the first prime minister of Malaya.

Independence and Onward: 1957 - present day With 1957's independence, a new series of difficult decisions lay ahead of Malaya, the first of which was to determine exactly what territories would be included in the new state. In 1961, the term "Malaysia" came into being after Tunku convinced Singapore, Sabah, and Sarawak to join Malaya in a federal union (Singapore later opted out of the union, peacefully, in 1965). Afraid that the union would interfere with his expansionistic plans, Indonesia's president Sukharno launched attacks against Malaysia in Borneo and on the peninsula, all of which were unsuccessful.

Another immediate problem was the determination of a national identity. Malaysia was a mix of people from many races and cultures, and uniting them under a common flag was not an easy enterprise. Because Malays represented the majority, the constitution gave them permanent spots in the government, made Islam the national religion, and made Malay the national language; but the Chinese firmly dominated business and trade, and most Malay were suffering economic hardships. The government, controlled by the United Malay National Organization, passed the New Economic Policy, which attempted to increase economic opportunity for the Malay by establishing various quotas in their favor. Unsurprisingly, many Chinese opposed the new arrangement and formed a significant opposition party. In 1969, after the opposition party won a significant seats, riots swepts through Kuala Lumpur and the country was placed in a state of emergency for two years. It was a painful moment in the young nation's history that most Malaysians prefer to forget.

In the last two decades, Malaysia has undergone tremendous growth and prosperity, and has arguably made significant progress in race relations. Many attribute the country's success to the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohammed, who has led the country since 1981.

The People and Culture of Malaysia Ethnic Groups As Malaysia's name suggests, the Malays are the dominant ethnic group in the country, numbering over half the population of almost 21 million; while those of Chinese ancestry account for one third, and those of Indian descent about one third. The remainder comprises a remarkable diversity of indigenous peoples (aborigines), the crosscultural Baba Nonya from Melaka, and the Portuguese Eurasians who descended from Melaka's Portuguese conquerors of the 16th century.

Language Bahasa Malaysia is the official language of all Malaysians, although English, Tamil and Chinese dialects are widely spoken. Mixtures of these languages with Arabic, Sanskrit, Hindi, Turkish, Persian and Javanese words, to name only a few, is indicative of the mixture of cultural traditions in Malaysia.

Religion Islam, being the official religion of Malaysia, dominates the country. Besides Islam, virtually all of the world's major religions are represented, including Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism. Some ancient influences, like the traditional medicine men, or bomoh, whose chants are derived from ancient animist beliefs, still remain.

Culture Malaysia has an intriguing cultural heritage, enriched by the traditional festivals of the various races. Islamic holidays, such as the fasting month of Ramadan and the festivities at its close, are the most important yearly events in the Malay calendar. Chinese festivities of the New Year, the Lion Dances, complete with traditional street opera, are among the noisiest and most colorful on Malaysia's jam-packed calendar of cultural events. The Indian communities are well-known for their sacred temple dances, and their vibrant festivals and processions, especially during Thaipusam, where thousands of devotees pierce their bodies as an act of penitence. The indigenous tribes of Sabah and Sarawak hold harvest festivals, which are characterized by the consumption of rice wine, and much feasting and dancing.

With religion being a major part of the lifestyle of Malaysians, it is no small wonder that the main festivals of Malaysia are naturally religious in origin.

Visitors are welcome at these festivals, and it is good to remember that these are usually religious in nature and should be given the proper respect.

There are many festivals in Malaysia and it has been stated that there is probably a festival of some sort on every day of the year, somewhere in Malaysia. Most festivals take place according to the lunar calendar and, as a result, these festivals take place at different times in different years.

The lunar calendar which most of Asia uses is based on the movement of the moon, whereas, the Gregorian calendar used by the rest of the world is based on the movement of the sun.

----------------- Hari Raya Puasa is also commonly known as Hari Raya Aidilfitri. In Malay the word Hari Raya means A Great Day and Puasa derives from Sanskrit meaning fasting or abstention. So, Hari Raya Puasa literally means great day of fasting or in actual terms the festival marking the end of a period of fasting.

One of the tenets of Islam is to fast during the month of Ramadan, ninth month of the Muslim lunar calendar. This is a compulsory fast where faithful Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and other sensual pleasures from dawn to dusk. The virtuous aspects of life are emphasised during the month of Ramadan, a holy month.

Hari Raya Puasa is ascertained by the religious authorities by the sighting of the moon from several vantage points in Malaysia. The first day of Shawal, the tenth month of the Muslim lunar calendar is Hari Raya Puasa. Hari Raya Puasa is announced by the Keeper of the Royal Seal over all forms of media.

In Malaysia, Hari Raya Puasa is a public holiday celebrated over two days. It is ushered on the first day with prayers at the mosque early in the morning and a visit to the cemetery for prayers for the departed souls of loved ones. This festival marks an important time for Muslims to unite as a family in the exchange of love, blessings and forgiveness.

The Fifteenth Day after the Chinese New Year is known as Chap Goh Mei. It is the day marking the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations. The end of the New Year celebrations is the offering of prayers on a grand scale. A family dinner is also organized to conclude these celebrations.

------------- Similar to Chinese New Year, Chap Goh Mei is marked with the blast of fireworks and fire crackers. Red lanterns are also hung in homes to end this auspicious celebrations.

Chap Goh Mei is also regarded as a night of courtship, giving birth to the era of match-making. Young women decked in finery, would flock the temples in the hope of finding a prospective suitor. It is also believed that young girls would find compatible spouses if oranges or pebbles were cast into the sea. However, in modern day setting, this tradition is dying fast .

In many cities and towns, a Chinese cultural performance during the night ends the celebration of Chap Goh Mei. Lantern displays, lion dances and a colourful Chingay or flag-balancing procession takes place.

------------ Festivals of Malaysia- Nine Emperor Gods

The Festival of the Nine Emperor Gods falls on the ninth day of the ninth moon in the Chinese lunar calendar. Devotees flock to the temples throughout the country for this religious festival.

The Nine Emperor Gods are part of a spirit-medium cult known locally as Jieu Hwang Yeh. These Nine Deities are believed to dwell in the stars in heaven under the reign of Thien Hou - the Queen of Heaven.

On the eve of the ninth moon, temples of the Deities hold a ceremony to invoke and welcome the Jien Hwang Yeh. Since the arrival of the Nine Emperor Gods is believed to be through the waterways, processions are held from temples to the sea-shore or river to symbolise this belief. Devotees dressed in traditional white, carrying joss-sticks and candles, await the arrival of their Excellencies.

A carnival-like atmosphere pervades the temple throughout the nine-day festival. During this period of time, the constant tinkling of a prayer bell and chants from the temple priests are heard. Most devotees stay at the temple, take vegetarian meals and recite continuous chanting of prayer.

A procession to send the Nine Emperor Gods home then takes place to complete the rites of this religious festival. --------------- Festivals of Malaysia- Deepavali

Deepavali is celebrated universally by Hindus and is observed as a public holiday in Malaysia. This festival falls between the month of October and November, the fourteenth day of the Tamil month of Aipasi. It is also known to many as the Festival of Lights.

The word "Deepavali" derives from the combination of the words Dipa and Gavali, the former meaning light and the latter meaning a row. Thus symbolising the rows of lights that can be seen at the houses of Hindu celebrants. As light dispels darkness, this festival symbolises the victory of good over evil.

At the dawn of Deepavali, Hindus perform the ritual oil bath which signifies a cleansing of the body and soul. Following this symbolic rite in purification which marks a new beginning, devotees visit the temple where shrines of Hindu deities are encircled with flower garlands.

The entrances of Hindu homes are decorated with the kolam, an intricate floral design on the ground which signifies religious believes. This religious connotation, revolves around the Goddess of Wealth, the deity Lakshimi. Many believe that the Goddess Lakshimi would only enter a home with a kolam at the entrance.

ENGLISH MALAY ENGLISH MALAY Welcome Selamat Datang Chicken Ayam Good Morning Selamat Pagi Vegitables Sayur Good Afternoon Selamat Petang Fish Ikan Good Night Selamat Malam Egg Telur Good Bye Selamat Jalan Salt Garam How Are You Apa Khabar Sugar Gula Fine Baik  Hot (spicy) Pedas Good Bagus Hot (heat) Panas I am sorry Maafkan saya  Cold Sejuk Help Tolong  Cofee Kopi Thank you Terimah Kasih  Milk Susu


\3 more info on Malaysia Peninsula

Travellers in SE Asia view Malaysia as more expensive, less exotic, less interesting than other countries such as Thailand and Indonesia and either skip Malaysia or stop off at a few towns while passing through. This is a shame as Malaysia has much to offer the visitor. - beaches (Perhentian & Tioman Islands) equal to those of Thailand, National Parks such as Taman Negara & Hill stations such as Cameron Highlands, ideal for jungle trekking. Historical & Cultural sites can be found in Penang & Melaka. Travel in Malaysia is easy & comfortable - Many people speak English. The standard of food, services & hygiene is high. Transport is cheap & efficient and it's easy to make friends with locals.

Language National: Bahasa Melayu, similar to Indonesian, romanic alphabet is used Foreign: Chinese/Indian dialects, English is widely understood.

Climate Hot and humid throughout the year,except in high areas such as Cameron Highland where it is cool year round. E.coast & Interior: Best season: Mar - Oct Monsoon : Nov - Feb: the Perhentian & Tioman Islands are difficult to reach during this period. W. coast: Best season: year round Rainy Season: May-Sep but can still rain heavily in December. High season: During Malaysian/Singaporean school & National holidays and European summer holidays, certain places become crowded. Transport and hotels may be difficult to book. Peak times are late Feb- early Mar, early Aug, early December, Christmas & New Year.

Basic Travel Costs Prices in RM Room (single): Penang-16, Meleka-15, KL-20 Food(rest)local 3+ Mineral Water1.5lt 2.00+ coffee(instant) 1.00+ coffee(real) 2+ Big Mac 3.6, meal 6.8 Coke can 1.50 Beer 3.60+ breakfast(Cont.) 4+ breakfast(Ame.) 6+ breakfast(local) 2.00+ Ice Cream 1+ toothpaste 2.20 Mars bar 1.60 OB32 mini tampons 12.20 Toilet Paper 0.50 T-shirts - 5.00+ post cards 0.50 FilmASA100 @36 - ? FilmASA200 @36 - ? Print 3R - ? Print 4R - ?

Banks/Exchange Currency: Ringgit= RM. RM1=100sen. Denominations : 1c,5c,10c,20c,50c,1,2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000?. Exchange Rate $1= RM 3.79 Now RM is fixed to US$. Black market: It is expected but no sign of black market yet. Non licenced money changers were all closed. Opening hours Bank: M-F 9/10:00-15/16:00 Sa9:30-11:30. !Attention Banks don't usually have exchange service on Sa. Moneychangers are open longer hours. Some open on Sundays. BANK/EXCHANGE : Any major CASH currency changeable in the main banks or moneychangers. Banks charge commission of RM5-10 per T/C transaction, plus RM0.15 per T/C. Moneychangers don't charge for T/C. Some does. Usually moneychangers offer better rates but this varies. Bank rate is higher for T/C's than cash, it is the opposite at moneychangers. But some offer same rate. Cash Advance: Visa, MC, is accepted in most banks without any additional charge. Rates at Airport: Similar to those in town. check the charging policy - Maybank CAsh no com. T/C com. RM10/check transaction + RM0.15 per T/C. Bank of Commerce charged RM2? per T/C, no transaction charge. Credit Cards: Accepted in many hotels (mid-level+), high class restaurants, dept. stores, some transport booking offices. ATM's Available in most cities. Maybank, Hong Kong Bank, main outlets. Visa, M/C, Cirrus.

Opening Hours All Government Dept. are closed from 12:45-14:45 on Fridays.

Immigration/Visa Visas are issued on arrival, 1, 2 or 3 months, depending on: nationality; how long you expect to stay; whether you arrive overland or by air. Visa Extention possible up to 3 months at immigration offices in KL, Penang & Johor Bahru. Warning Never attempt to smuggle drugs into this country, may face the death penalty if caught.

Border Crossings: Mainland Malaysia AIR Airport: Kuala Lumpur: KLIA, Penang: Bayen Lepas Airport Departure tax : International RM40, Domestic RM5 Usually included to the tickets. KLIA: KL Int'l Airport: New KL International Airport was opened on July 98. Located very far from the center of KL, 1.5 hrs by public transport. There are very few public facilities around it. Transport to town 1) KLIA-your hotel: "Airport Coach" RM 25 , 1hour , every 30 minbetween 05:30 and 22:15 from KL; 06:45-00:30 from KLIA-via Hentian Duta (Duta Bus Stn) 2) Express Coach. Catch it at "Chan Sow Lin" stn on "STAR" LRT line. (4 stops after Masjid Jamek stn, approx 2RM). From Chan Sow Lin coach to airport 10 RM ow 18 RM rt. once an hour between 06:30-20:30 3) KLIA to Nilai Train Station by city bus, RM2.00, 30min. Then change to Komuter Train to KL Main Station, RM4.5, 1hr. All buses/trains run every 30 min. The last bus from KLIA leaves at 22:30. Last train from KL Train Station leaves around 20:00. Last bus from Nilai KTM leaves 21:30 for KL Main stn LAND : BUS Many buses travel from Singapore and the cities in Thailand. Visas are automatically issued to most nationalities at border. from Singapore: Singapore-Johor Bahru(M),#170 S$1.20+ from Thailand: Keroh (Th) - Grik (M), Sungai Kolok(Th) - Rantau Panjang(M)

LAND: TRAIN Intl trains connect Malaysian cities to Thailand & Singapore. from Thailand: Visas issued at border. from Singapore: Visas issued at Singapore Train St. Singapore - Kuala Lumpur 3 times a day A/C express, 1st class -RM68/S$68, 2nd- RM34/S$34 3rd-S$19 .......approx 6 hours from Thailand: Bangkok(th)-Butterworth(m) Daily express 1st Cl. -RM$91, 2nd Cl. -RM$41 takes ?h This train connects with Kuala Lumpur (1st Cl.-RM55, 2nd Cl.-RM24)

SEA: BOAT Services to/from: Singapore, Thailand & Indonesia. from Singapore: Singapore(Changi Ferry trml)-Tanjong Belungkor (Johor state,M) 4 times a day OW -RM15/S$19; RT-RM27/S$26, dur: approx 45 min Singapore-Pulau Tioman (M) once a day from Tioman dep 08:30 from Singapore dep 13:00-14:30 (Berjaya Jetty) dur.: 4h30min ow from S$90 rt from S$148 depends on travel days. Does NOT operate during monsoon. From Tioman to Singapore approx 200RM ow from Indonesia: Medan (Belawan port,Sumatra, I)-Penang (M)Departs Penang M-Sa 8:30-9:00, Arrives Belawan 14-17:00 Class B, O/W RM90, R/T RM160. Embarkation fee RM6 The Fare includes transfer from Belawan port to Medan town. From Belawan every Tue-Sun 10:00 Dumai (Sumatra, I) > Melaka (M) Departs Melaka 10:00 (check in 2hrs before), arrives in Dumai at 15:00, costs RM80 O/W from Thailand: Satun (T)- Langkawi island (M) couple of boats daily ow RM18

National Transport Transport is efficient and reasonably priced.

AIR: Departure Tax: International = 40RM, Domestic = 5RM Domestic Airlines Malaysia Airlines(MAS) & Pelangi Air operate throughout Malaysia. "Discover Malaysia Pass" Flight pass issued by MAS, US$99 for 21 days up to 5 flights, covers only peninsula, Sabah & Sarawak. US$199 for 21days max 5 flights, covers entire Malaysia Conditions: You must fly into Malaysia with MAS and must either buy the pass abroad OR within 14 days of arrival.

TRAIN 2 routes, 1 along the West coast from Thailand to Singapore, The other through Central Malaysia to the NE coast. Connects with Thai & Singapore Railways. Equipped with A/C(very cold). Rail pass: 10-day($55) & 30-day($120) For students with ID under 30 years old 7-day($38), 14-day($50), 21-day($60) available at major train stations incl. Singapore station. This pass allows unlimited travel between Singapore and Bangkok.

BUS: An extensive, efficient service throughout Malaysia. Class varies from non A/C up to SVIP. A/C buses are very cold. Many tourist buses are also available. Warning Complaints about condition of minibuses and standard of driving on the Hat Yai (Thailand) - Penang route. !!!At the border Thai immigration officers collect 10-20 Baht/person from the minivans crossing to Malaysia-except from the first minivan that leaves Hat Yai at 09:30. This must be illegal as no ticket given for the collected fee, nor explanation for what reason should you pay.!

TAXI (shared): Usually have stands near bus stations. Leave when full. Quicker than buses. Usually cost twice the bus fare.

BOAT: Boat & ferry sevices are available. see local info.

Local Transport Bus In cities like KL & Penang,there are several different bus companies operating different charging policies. ie. Some charge fixed rates, some charge according to distance. Some give change, some don't give change. Taxi Metered taxis operate in KL. Check if meter is working. Non-metered in Penang. Trishaws 3-wheel bicycle taxi. Everywhere in Malaysia except the business district in KL. Bargain before you get in. Bicycle Rental bicycles are available from guesthouses & shops in most towns. Warning Traffic in town centers is very busy.

Mail/Telephone MAIL: POST OFFICE General opening hours: M-F 8:00-17:00, Sa 8:00-12:00 - check local info. Poste Restante available at GPO's in main towns. Mail Europe USA UK Japan Neighbor Post Card RM0.50 RM0.50 RM0.50 RM0.50 RM0.30 Letter RM0.90 RM1.1 RM0.90 RM0.55 RM0.40 Small Parcel 1kg sea 34.90 39.90 34.90 24.85 ?

TELEPHONE Telephone services are very good in Malaysia. International call discount rates available at weekends and certain other times. Telephone Office opening hours: - check local info. Local Call ( 3 min. ) RM0.10 Coin phones are everywhere.Generally domestic calls only but there are a few exceptions. Cardphone:- 10/20RM units. Several different systems operating - Uniphone, Telekom, Kadfon, Citifon Cards are not interchangable. (Warning Citifon operates in limited cities only). International calls possible from most cardphones. International Direct Dialling: 00 + country code + number. Int'l operator : 108 International Access Code: 00 (for Singapore 02) Collect call & charge ? AT & T USA Direct Call 800-0011 (from any phone) to call USA & 70 other countries. For cardholders only.

Charges: RM Europe USA UK Japan 3 min. 13.5 9 9.6 9.9 Reduced Rate: 10.8 6.9 7.5 8.7

Accommodation Accommodation in Malaysia is cheaper than Singapore, more expensive than Thailand. Traveler friendly hostel style accommodation is abundant in most popular destinations. Standards are very high except for those in Kuala Lumpur. Shared bath facilities are usual. Dorms charge from RM10, Single/Double rooms from RM15/30. If staying in accommodation located near Mosques you may be woken up early by religious "broadcasts" over loudspeakers. IYH: KL,Melaka and Port Dickson. dr RM10-20 Non member pay RM5 extra. membership RM34 for a year.

Food Food in Malaysia is delicious and cheap. There are many types - Malay, Chinese, Indian, Nonya(mixture of Malay & Chinese, influenced by neighboring countries, varies locally) as well as Western fast-food standards like McDonald's. MALAY CUISINE: Nasi campur Rice with a variety of small dishes Nasi goreng (fried rice),Nasi lemak (breakfast dish, rice + many other goodies) Nasi putih Nasi dagang rojak mixed vegatable salad with coconut sauce.apam steamed rice cake pulut inti, nonya kueh CHINESE CUISINE: Many different types of Chinese available. Claypot dishes are excellent, so is Haianese chicken - Sesame flavored chicken and rice. Sweet & savory Chinese steamed-buns are filling, make a cheap breakfast. INDIAN CUISINE: roti canai pancake served with curry, one of the tastiest, cheapest breakfast options RM1.50, murtabak NONYA CUISINE: Nonya kapitan, otak-otak,laksa noodle, served in very hot coconut-based soup or sauce with a garnish . assam laska DESERTS: shaved ice with syrup and your favorite toppings there's a wide selection DRINKS: Many different fruit juices available. They are usually served with ice. coffee very sweet & strong.kopi kosong black coffee kurang manis less sugar.

Customs Toilet Squat toilets are the norm but western style is increasing. Toilet paper is rare - cleaning by left hand is normal. Flush with hand bucket. Bathing Most Guest Houses have showers. Left hand Do not touch others with your left hand as it is considered dirty - see above for explanation. Touching head It is quite insulting to touch a persons head. Don't do it Tipping Not customary. Except porters, and at high class hotels & restaurants. Dress Casual dress is generally acceptable, women should consider modest casual dress. However religious sites require that arms and legs be covered. Women should also cover their head when entering Mosque areas. Many Malay women wear orthodox Muslim dress. Indoor footwear Footwear should be removed before entering some houses and temples. Try to observe local behavior. Bargaining Common practice in markets, street stalls, non-metered taxis, don't get aggressive, keep calm. Sunbathing No nude/topless bathing is allowed in Malaysia.

Health No one on our staff has any medical background therefore what follows is just a general guide. Medical standards are high throughout the Peninsular. Also many of the Local Chinese practices (Green cross sign) offer consultations, charging as little as RM7. Health Regulations: Yellow fever vaccinations are required for travelers arriving from infected areas. Vaccinations Not required in most of the peninsula. Cholera, Typhoid, Polio - if visiting rural areas.

Warning There was an outbreak of Cholera in Kuala Lumpur during late 1997. No cases occured in tourist areas.

Health Hazards: Malaria: Carried by mosquitoes. Not a problem, though Malaria tablets are recommended if traveling in the jungle areas of E. Malaysia. Hepatitis A: Contracted through contaminated water and food, More likely in areas with poor sanitation. Diarrhea: Contracted through contaminated water and food. Japanese Encephalitis: Carried by mosquitoes, found mainly in rural areas during rainy season. Aids: Contracted primarily through sexual intercourse and injection with contaminated needles. Sunstroke/Dehydration: The sun is extremely strong in this region. Precautions are recommended. Rabies: Carried by dogs, monkeys, bats. DO NOT approach these animals Drinking Water: The city water is supposed to be drinkable but many locals boil or buy bottled water. In rural areas definitely stick to bottled water. Ice: Generally OK. but be cautious. Food: Food hygiene is generally good - even at street stalls.

Shopping General opening hours: M-Sa 8/9:00-19/20:00. Moslim-owned shops may close early on F Credit cards are not common in the smaller style shops, but are often accepted in higher class shops and department stores. Alcohol is available however it is limited and expensive. Beer around 4RM a bottle, Bottles of spirits from some supermarkets. Souvenir: No special ones. T-Shirt RM4+, Postcard RM0.50. Lots of copy goods in market.

Other Voltage: Plug type 220-240v 50 cycles, 3 pin, English style plug. Multi-adapter available from some electrical stalls, RM4 Photo Developing: Film available everywhere. Developing quality is generally good. Cost of Development is about RM3-4, +RM0.3/3R print, RM0.4/4R print. Usually takes from 1hour - 1 day. English Newspapers: The New Straits Times, The Sun, The Star RM1-120.

Festivals/holidays 2001 PH: public holiday a Very complicated in Malaysia because of it's multi-cultural/religious society, Malay/Chinese/Indian -Moslim/Hindu/ Buddhist/Christian. Each town/state has its own holidays celebrating their governor/sultans` birthday. See local info. Dec 27* PH Hari Raya Puasa Muslim festival to celebrate the end of the Ramadan. Jan 1 PH New Year's Day Jan 24,25* PH Chinese New Year 15-days of festivities are held in Chinese communities. Shops close for 3-5 days. Feb 7* PH Thaipusam, Honoring the Hindu god, Lord Subramanian, Many followers pierce parts of their bodies such as their tongues. The most famous ceremony is held at Batu Cave, S from Kuala Lumpur. Mar 6* PH Hari Raya Haji(Qurban) Islam cerebration for the people who finish Haji, visiting Mecca Mar 26* PH Awal Muharram(Maal Hijrah? May 1 PH Labour Day(Hari Pekerja) May 18* PH Wesak Day The most important day for Buddhist communities. Celebration of Buddha's Birth/Enlightenment/Death June PH Maal Hijrah Muslim festival to celebrate Muhammad's return to Mecca. June 2* PH Hari Keputeraan SPB Yang di-pertuan Agong (Agong`s Birthday) Jun 7? PH Birthday of the King. Processions in KL Jun 4* PH Hari Keputeraan Nabi Muhammad S.A.W.?Maulidur Rasul? (Muhammad`s birthday) Jun 6? PH Dragon Boat Festival Commemoration of Chinese poet, Qu Yuan, who committed suicide to make a political statement. Aug 31 PH National Day Independence day (1957). Biggest celebrations take place in KL. Aug 13? Hungry Ghost festival Chinese festival involves the offering of food to spirits, visiting ghosts Aug 31 Hari Kebangsaan Sep 12 Moon cake Festival Chinese festival to celebrate the defeat of the Mongols. The mooncake is symbols because, according to legend, they were used to smuggle war secrets in. Oct ? Nine Emperor Gods' festival Celebration of the return to earth of '9 emperor spirits'. Nov 14 PH Deepavali Hindu festival of light. Dec 25 PH Christmas Day Dec 16 or 17 PH Hari Raya Puasa the End of Ramadan

Warning: Gambling scams in operation. Particularly in KUL. The standard con is 'friendly locals' invite you out, eventually they get around to showing you "how to win at gambling,..." then, of course you lose. Stupid as it sounds many people have been taken in and lost large sums of money.

Info for Japanese Cheap Japanese-style food is available, usually in Shopping Malls. Meidi Ya - Japanese style bakery & cafe has several branches in Kuala Lumpur. Yaohan Japanese supermarket, also has several branches in Kuala Lumpur. Shopping centers with branches of Japanese Department stores such as Sogo, Isetan, etc, often have Japanese restaurants & supermarkets, stocking imported Japanese foods.

Internet: Malaysia is a country where internet is growing in popularity. You can find facilities in most of the major tourist areas. Often there are internet "cafes" in big Shopping Malls. Average fee 5RM/hr

--------------------------------- Malaysia is on the Malay Peninsula in southeast Asia. The nation also includes Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo to the east. Its area slightly exceeds that of New Mexico. Most of Malaysia is covered by forest, with a mountain range running the length of the peninsula. Extensive forests provide ebony, sandalwood, teak, and other woods.

Malaysia consists of two parts: West Malaysia,. also called Peninsular Malaysia or Malaya (1990 est. pop. 14,400,000), 50,700 sq mi (131,313 sq km), on the Malay Peninsula and coextensive with the former Federation of Malaya, comprising the states of Perlis, Kedah, Pinang, Perak, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka (Malacca), and Johor, and one federal territory, Wilayah Persekutuan, which is coextensive with the city of Kuala Lumpur; and East Malaysia. (1990 est. pop. 3,410,000), 77,730 sq mi (201,320 sq km), comprising the states of Sabah and Sarawak (the former British colonies of North Borneo and Northwest Borneo) on the island of Borneo and one federal territory, comprising the island of Labuan. The two parts are separated by c.400 mi (640 km) of the South China Sea.

West Malaysia is bordered on the north by Thailand, on the east by the South China Sea, on the south by Singapore (separated by the narrow Johore Strait), and on the west by the Strait of Malacca and the Andaman Sea. East Malaysia is bordered on the north by the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea, on the east by the Celebes Sea, and on the south and west by Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo). Along the coast within Sarawak is the independent nation of Brunei. Both East and West Malaysia have mountainous interiors and coastal plains. The highest point is Mt. Kinabalu (13,455 ft/4,101 m) in Sabah. The longest of the country's many rivers are the Rajang (c.350 mi/560 km) in Sarawak, the Kinabatangan (c.350 mi/560 km) in Sabah, and the Pahang (c.200 mi/320 km) in West Malaysia. Lying close to the equator, Malaysia has a tropical rainy climate. Over two thirds of the land area is forested.

Although it makes up only 31% of the country's area, West Malaysia has more than 80% of its people. Of the total population, most of which is concentrated on the west coast, almost 60% are of Malay or indigenous descent, over 25% are Chinese, and some 10% are Indian or Pakistani. In West Malaysia, Malays comprise about one half of the population, Chinese one third, and Indians and Pakistanis one tenth. In East Malaysia, the two largest groups are the Chinese and the Ibans (Sea Dayaks), an indigenous people, who together make up about three fifths of the total. Conflict between the ethnic groups, particularly between Malays and Chinese, has played a large role in Malaysian history.

Nearly all of the Malays are Muslims, and Islam is the national religion. The majority of Chinese are Buddhists, and the majority of Indians are Hindu. The official language is Bahasa Malaysia (Malay), although English is used in the legal system. Chinese (largely Mandarin), Tamil, and regional ethnic languages and dialects are also widely spoken. Malaysia's institutions of higher education include the Univ. of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, the Univ. of Malaysia and the International Islamic Univ., both in Selangor, the Technological Univ. of Malaysia in Johor Bahru, and the Multimedia University in Cyberjaya.

Govt - Constitutional monarchy.

History - The ancestors of the people that now inhabit the Malaysian peninsula first migrated to the area between 2500 and 1500 B.C. Those living in the coastal regions had early contact with Chinese and Indians; seafaring traders from India brought with them Hinduism, which was blended with the local animist beliefs. As Muslims conquered India, they spread the religion of Islam to Malaysia. In the 15th century A.D., Islam acquired a firm hold on the region when the Hindu ruler of the powerful city-state of Malacca, Parameswara Dewa Shah, was overthrown by his Muslim half-brother, Mudzaffar Shah.

British and Dutch interest in the region grew in the 1800s, with the British East India Company establishing a trading settlement on the island of Singapore. Trade soared, with Singapore's population growing from only 5,000 in 1820 to nearly 100,000 in just 50 years. In the 1880s, Britain formally established protectorates in Malaysia. At about the same time, rubber trees were introduced from Brazil. With the mass production of automobiles, rubber became a valuable export, and laborers were brought in from India to work the rubber plantations.

Following the Japanese occupation of Malaysia during World War II, a growing nationalist movement prompted the British to establish the semi-autonomous Federation of Malaya in 1948. But Communist guerrillas took to the jungles to begin a war of national liberation against the British, who declared a state of emergency to quell the insurgency, which lasted until 1960. The independent state of Malaysia came into existence on Sept. 16, 1963, as a federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah (North Borneo), and Sarawak. In 1965, Singapore withdrew from the federation to become a separate nation. Since 1966, the 11 states of former Malaya have been known as West Malaysia, and Sabah and Sarawak have been known as East Malaysia.

By the late 1960s Malaysia was torn by communal rioting directed against Chinese and Indians, who controlled a disproportionate share of the country's wealth. Beginning in 1968, the government moved to achieve greater economic balance through a national economic policy. Malaysia was significantly affected in 1978 by the boat people fleeing Vietnam. Because the refugees were mostly ethnic Chinese, the government was apprehensive about any increase in a minority that previously had been the source of internal conflict in the country. In April 1988, it announced that within the year it would cease accepting refugees. In the 1980s, Dr. Mohamed Mahathir succeeded Datuk Hussein as prime minister. Mahathir instituted economic reforms that would transform Malaysia into one of the so-called Asian Tigers. Throughout the 1990s, Mahathir embarked on a massive project to build a new capital from scratch in an attempt to bypass congested Kuala Lumpur.

Beginning in 1997 and continuing through the next year, Malaysia suffered from the Asian currency crisis. Mahathir blamed market speculators for the crisis, and many of his ambitious building projects had to be placed on hold. Instead of following the economic prescriptions of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, the prime minister opted for fixed exchange rates and capital controls. In late 1999, Malyasia was on the road to economic recovery, and it appeared Mahathir's measures were working.

In Sept. 1998 Mahathir sacked his heir apparent, Anwar Ibrahim, from his posts as deputy prime minister and finance minister, after a disagreement over how to deal with the country's economic problems. In defiance, Anwar launched a reform movement attacking the government. The prime minister then jailed Anwar, who was beaten and charged with trumped-up corruption and sex crimes. Anwar was convicted of sodomy, corruption, and abuse of power in two separate trials and sentenced to a total of 15 years in jail. Five of the charges were dropped in 2001, but Anwar's unusually harsh sentence was not reduced. Malaysia's rigid Internal Security Act, which allows police to detain anyone considered a security risk for up to two years without a trial, was put to the test in Aug. when a judge ruled that four opposition activistsand Anwar supporterswho were jailed under the act could appeal and present exculpatory evidence.

Malaysia's economy stalled in 2001 as the demand for semiconductors and other information technology products slipped worldwide, fueling speculation that the country was headed for recession. The grim economic outlook cast a pall on Mahathir Mohamad's 20th year as prime minister. He assumed the role of finance minister in May, after Daim Zainuddin resigned the post.


\4 more Malaysia info

Intro. Malaysia's fast-growing capital, Kuala Lumpur (or just KL) makes much the same initial impression as does Singapore, with high-rise hotels and air-conditioned shopping malls, and characterful ethnic areas like Chinatown and Little India. The seat of government for the federation, KL is also the social and economic driving force of a nation eager to better itself, a fact reflected in the growing number of designer bars and restaurants in the city, and in the booming manufacturing industries surrounding it.

A light rail transit system around KL is the latest sign that it is gearing up for a mass influx of visitors for the 1998 Commonwealth Games. But this is a city firmly rooted in tradition, where modern Malay executives might have a cellular phone to hand, but will never miss Friday prayers. And although the city is changing quickly - the skyline appears to be redesigned annually - life on the busy streets still has a raw feel, with markets and food stalls crowded in amongst new banks and businesses.

Less than three hours south of the capital lies the birthplace of Malay civilization, Melaka, a must on anybody's itinerary. Much further up the west coast is the first British settlement, the island of Penang, with old colonial buildings and a vibrant Chinatown district adorning its capital, Georgetown. In between KL and Melaka is a string of old tin-mining towns, such as Ipoh and Taiping, which provided the engine of economic change in the nineteenth century. For a taste of Old England, head for the hill stations of Fraser's Hill,

Cameron Highlands and Maxwell Hill, where cooler temps and lush countryside provide ample opportunities for walks, rounds of golf and cream teas. North of Penang, there's a more Malay feel to the country, with Alor Setar forming the last stronghold before the Thai border. This far north, the premier tourist destination is Pulau Langkawi, a popular duty-free island.

Routes down the Peninsula's east coast are more relaxing, running past the sleepy kampungs of the mainland - Merang, Cherating and Marang - and the stunning islands of Pulau Perhentian, Pulau Redang and Pulau Tioman. The state capitals of Kota Bharu, near the northeastern Thai border, and Kuala Terengganu, further south, are show-cases for the best of Malay traditions, craft production and performing arts.

Crossing the Peninsula's mountainous interior by road or rail allows you to venture into the unsullied tropical rainforests of Taman Negara. The park's four thousand sq kms has enough to keep you occupied for weeks: trails, salt-lick hides for animal-watching, a high canopy walkway, limestone caves and waterfalls. Other interior routes can take in a ride on the jungle railway, which links east and west coasts, and visits to the southern lakes, which retain communities of indigenous Malays.

Across the sea from the Peninsula are the Bornean states of Sarawak and Sabah. For most travellers, their first taste of Sarawak is Kuching, the old colonial capital, and then the Iban longhouses of the Batang Ai and Batang Lupar river systems, or the Bidayuh longhouses close to the Kalimantan border. Sibu, much further to the north on the Rajang river, is the starting-point for the most exciting trips, to more authentic Iban longhouses.

In the north of the state, Gunung Mulu National Park is the principal destination, its extraordinary razor-sharp limestone needles providing demanding climbing. More remote still are the rarely explored Kelabit Highlands, further to the east, where the mountain air is refreshingly cool and flora and fauna is abundant.

The main reason for a trip to Sabah is to conquer the 4101-metre granite peak of Mount Kinabalu, which is set in its own national park, though the lively modern capital Kota Kinabalu and its idyllic offshore islands have their moments, too. Beyond this, Sabah is worth a visit for its wildlife: turtles, orang-utans, proboscis monkeys and hornbills are just a few of the exotic residents of the jungle, while oceanic Pulau Sipadan has a host of sharks, fishes and turtles.

In Sep 1998 the country hosted the Commonwealth Games but the public relations aspect of the competition came unstuck when students and citizens protested against the unfair sacking and later imprisonment of deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim. Continuing street protests, calling for the resignation of Dr Matahir Mohamad, have unsettled Malayasia's reputation as one of the most politically stable of SE Asian countries.

Malaysia is a multicultural society, with Malays, Chinese and Indians living side by side. The Malays are the lar- gest community. They are Muslims, speak Bahasa and are largely responsible for the political fortunes of the country. The Chinese comprise about a third of the popu-lation. They are Buddhists and Taoists, speak Hokkein, Hakka and Cantonese, and are dominant in the business community. The Indians account for about 10% of the population. They are mainly Hindu Tamils from southern India, they speak Tamil, Malayalam, and some Hindi, and live mainly in the larger towns on the west coast of the peninsula. There is also a sizeable Sikh community.

Eurasians and indigenous tribes make up the remaining pop. Despite Bahasa Malaysia being the official language, when members of these different communities talk to each other, they generally speak English, which was recently reinstated as the language of instruction in tertiary education.

The main indigenous tribe is the Iban of Sarawak, who number 395,000. They are largely longhouse dwellers and live along the Rejang and Baram rivers. The Bidayuh (107,000) are concentrated on Sarawak's Skrang River. The Orang Asli (80,000) live in small scattered groups in Peninsular Malaysia. Traditionally nomadic agriculturalists, many have been absorbed into modern Malaysia.

Malaysian music is heavily influenced by Chinese and Islamic forms. The music is based largely around the gendang (drum), but includes percussion instruments (some made of shells), flutes, trumpets and gongs. The country has a strong tradition of dance and dance dramas, some of Thai, Indian and Portuguese origin. Other artistic forms include wayang kulit (shadow-puppets), silat (a stylised martial art) and crafts such as batik, weaving and silver and brasswork.

The festival of Thaipusam in late January is one of the most dramatic Hindu festivals (now banned in India) during which devotees honour Lord Subramaniam with acts of amazing masochism - definitely not for the squeamish. In KL, devotees march to nearby Batu Caves; in Penang, the event is celebrated at the Waterfall Temple. The Kota Belud Tamu Besar is a huge tribal gathering held in May at Kota Belud near Kota Kinabalu in Sabah. It includes a massive market, traditional ceremonies, ornately decorated horsemen, medicine men and tribal handicrafts. A smaller tamu is held in Kota Belud every Sunday if you're not visiting during May.

Facts for the Traveller Visas: Commonwealth citizens and most European nationals do not need visas for visits of less than three months. Visitors are usually issued an extendable 30 or 60-day visa on arrival. Health risks: Dengue fever, hepatitis, malaria, rabies

Time: GMT/UTC plus eight hours Electricity: 220-240V, 50 Hz Weights & Measures: Metric (see the conversion table.) Tourism: 6.5 million visitors in 1993 (320,000 visited East Malaysia)

If you're travelling on a budget, you can get by in Peninsular Malaysia on about US$20-25 a day. This meens staying in the cheeper Chinese hotels, eating in local rests or street stalls and travelling mainly by bus. If you're travelling with a partner, your lodging expenses will be minmal.

If you want to stay in comfortable hotels with pvt baths, eat out at mid-range restaurants and catch taxis to get about out locally, expect to spend around US$65 a day. Those more interested in creature comforts than their credit card limit can live in relative luxury on US$100 a day. Note that Sabah is more expensive than Peninsular Malaysia, so add about 30% to your budget when spend/ing time there.

Malaysia is hot and humid all year so you're going to have sun and sweat most of the time. Avoid the rainy season on Peninsula Malaysia's east coast Nov to Jan. The time to see turtles on the east coast is between May and Sep.

Malaysia Animal life The forests and scrublands are inhabited by a large variety of animal life. Mammals on the peninsula include the elephant, tiger, seladang (or Malayan gaur, a massive wild ox), Sumatran rhinoceros, tapir (a hoofed and snouted quadruped), wild pig, and many species of deer, including the pelandok, or chevrotain (a small, deerlike ruminant). Crocodiles, monitor lizards, and cobras also are indigenous to the country, while the green sea turtle and the giant leathery turtle nest regularly on the beaches of the east coast.

Animal life in East Malaysia is even more varied than it is on the peninsula. In addition to the peninsular species, East Malaysia is also the home of the fast-disappearing orangutan and rhinoceros, the sun bear (also called the honey bear), and the unique proboscis monkey--a reddish tree-living species. There also are vast numbers of cave swifts, whose nests are regularly collected and sold as the main ingredient of bird's nest soup.

Settlement patterns The people of Malaysia are predominantly rural. Their settlements are similar in appearance and pattern to those of their rural counterparts elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The basic unit in both East and Peninsular Malaysia is the kampong (village, or community of houses), consisting of dwellings on stilts.

The houses of Peninsular Malaysia usually are built of wood, and traditionally they have a thatched roofing called atap that is woven from the leaves of the nipa palm (a species also used for basketry); increasingly common are roofs of corrugated metal. Each house is surrounded by a grove of coconut palms and banana, papaya, and other fruit trees. The four main types of Malay settlement--fishing villages, paddy (wet-rice) villages, cash-crop villages, and mixed-crop villages--despite their variations, conform to the same basic pattern. Most other rural settlements on the peninsula are associated with peoples who have settled in the country since the early 19th century. The earliest of these were the mining camps, which sprang up in the tin fields in the west. Some have since grown into large towns, but others--especially in the Kinta River valley--still remain small. The British introduced the plantation system of agriculture, and the subsequent cultivation of rubber and the oil palm changed the face of rural Peninsular Malaysia. Added to the landscape was the plantation, or estate, settlement, typically a group of buildings consisting of the processing factory and storehouse, the labourers' quarters, and the manager's house.

New Villages represent a type of settlement that is unique to Peninsular Malaysia. These originally were simply groups of buildings that were established as defensive sites near roads between 1948 and 1960, during the Emergency, the formal name for the period when the British administration was engaged in suppressing the communist guerrilla uprising. With the end of the Emergency in 1960, some of the New Villages were abandoned, but most of them became permanent settlements. A more recent and significant government program has involved the resettlement of poor Malays into forest areas, which are cleared and planted in rubber trees and oil palms; since the mid-1950s, more than 100,000 families have been resettled.

About three-fourths of the population of East Malaysia is still rural, and it is in the rural areas that the greatest variety of settlement types is encountered. This variety is a direct reflection of the considerable ethnic diversity of the population and of the fact that indigenous as well as immigrant groups are settled in the rural areas. The non-Malay indigenous ethnic groups--including the Iban (Sea Dayak), Bidayuh (Land Dayak), Kenyah, Kayan, and Murut--are thinly scattered in the foothill country and, to some extent, in the coastal lowlands as well. They are primarily shifting cultivators and live in locations on or near riverbanks. Their traditional dwelling is the longhouse, which is more commonly found in Sarawak than in Sabah. Each longhouse is raised on stilts and is composed of a number of rooms, known as bileks; each bilek houses a family. A longhouse can grow by accretions of related families, and an Iban longhouse may in time reach a length of 40 or more bileks. Some groups, such as the Melanau of Sarawak and the Kadazan of Sabah, have abandoned the longhouse settlement form, adopting instead the single-family dwelling of the Malays.

The Malays and Melanau of East Malaysia share many common characteristics with their rural counterparts on the peninsula. They tend to be riverine and coastal peoples, with an economy based on agriculture and fishing. Many live in kampongs set in the midst of coconut palms, mangroves, or other swamp trees. Their houses generally are built on stilts. The Melanau live in the large delta swamp region between Bintulu and Rajang. The rural Chinese in Sarawak have settled in the region between the coast and the uplands, usually in homesteads strung along both sides of the roads, where they grow cash crops in smallholdings. Their houses are commonly built at ground level and thus are easily distinguishable from the stilt-raised dwellings of the indigenous peoples.

The cities and large towns of Peninsular Malaysia were built up during the colonial and postcolonial periods and are distributed mainly in the tin and rubber belt along the west side of the peninsula. The towns are associated with mining, purchasing, processing, distributing, exporting, and administrative functions, and each town usually performs several of these functions. Some towns are located at coastal or riverine sites, emphasizing the early importance of water transport, while more modern towns have been built in inland areas served by road, rail, and air transport.

There is a growing number of satellite towns such as Petaling Jaya (outside Kuala Lumpur), although most of the towns of Peninsular Malaysia are unplanned, having grown up around small nuclei. Urban land use generally is mixed, and buildings are put to multiple uses. Streets, built for a more leisurely era, are narrow and often congested. In the larger centres, such as Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, and George Town (Pinang, or Penang), distinct central business districts similar to those in Western cities have emerged. These are characterized by heavy population and traffic densities, high land values, and a concentration of shopping, banking, insurance, entertainment, and other facilities.

Urbanization in East Malaysia has proceeded slowly. Only a small percentage of people live in towns. The largest towns are Kuching, Sibu, and Miri in Sarawak and Sandakan, Kota Kinabalu, and Tawau in Sabah. The large towns invariably are located on coastal or riverine sites. The layout and appearance of these towns are markedly similar: a wharf area, rows of Chinese shop-houses in the central business districts, more substantial buildings in the governmental administrative area, and one or more timber and atap kampongs built on the riverbanks.

In this cultural travelogue, I explore the western part of Peninsular Malaysia, make a return trip to Kota Bharu <my.htm>, and give an impression of Singapore. The comments here are not organized linearly in a geographical sense, but are directed to some extent by the direction I journeyed through the land: I stopped off in Singapore on the way to Indonesia <id.htm>, entered Malaysia at Kuala Lumpur, took a train to Kota Bharu, then to Singapore, followed by a bus to Johor Bahru, Muar, and Melaka before returning to Singapore. As always, my wife, Karen's insights and innate skills were extremely helpful. Western Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore seem weighed down by the legacy of the British Straits Settlements. In Malaysia, political power that once rested with the British now resides almost exclusive in the dominant Malay population. The Chinese, who were a major economic force in the Straits Settlements, extended their dominance by filling in the void left with the British withdrawal. The Indian population in both countries is significant, but too small to pose a threat to the other two groups in either country. The British East India Company and the Straits Settlements helped promote these demographics though Chinese settlement in the areas predates the British arrival by centuries. Dilapidated houses from a century ago, British mail boxes, signs in a phonetic English, and highways lined with palm tree plantations live on as symbols of that Straits Settlements era. The tudung of the Malay women, the statue adorned pyramid temples of the Hindu Indians, and the businesses of the Chinese are the most easily identifiable symbols of these communities in the cities I visited. Another feature of this area that is significant to someone from outside the region is the heat. The humid heat of the area cannot but affect the lifestyle of everyone who lives in this region yet to explain how with only cursory experience would be of no value. Having been to China and seen relatively homogenous* Chinese communities throughout the world, my interest was drawn more to the Malay and, less visible Indian*+ communities so please forgive me this intentional omission. *I use the term "homogenous" with some trepidation, fearing that I might be misunderstood. The local environs has had an affect on Chinese communities whereever they be, but I think more important is the fact that the Chinese Diaspora originates from the provinces of Fujian [Fukian] and Guangdong [Canton] of the southeastern coastal area of China and that the differences between Chinese in these two provinces, and even within Guangdong itself, may be more significant than the impact of the local environs on how these people live. *+ I use the term Indian here as it represents the historical boundaries of India prior to independence having been achieved. A place that is labeled "very cosmopolitan" is one that has an international flavor and as such lacks a localized characteristic. You might say that major international airports are quintessentially "very cosmopolitan." Airports are unique in that the people who can be found there may be from vastly different cultures, but they are also very similar by virtue of the fact that they come from a relatively narrow segment of the economy where they reside. In most cases this would lead one to argue that the similarities between those who are patrons of international airports have more in common with each other than they do with a larger segment of the country from which they originate. This supposition has definable limits. I was in search of food when Karen encountered a group of Muslims. It's really misleading to say couples because when Karen saw them, the men were all huddled together talking, while the women were all huddled together in a separate group several feet away. The men wore white clothing and caps. The women were all in black. It took Karen several minutes to realize that the women were not all with their backs to her because they were completely covered in black. They wore black gloves, black, loose fitting gowns and black veils. It was only after some study that we realized there was some difference in the way the individual women dressed, and then it could only be said that this difference was limited to their veils. Some of the veils had a rectangle of space cut out where their eyes were, others merely had small perforations in this area of their veil making it completely impossible for an observer to see their eyes and somewhat difficult for the woman to see where she was walking. When one of these women was preparing to step off of a people-mover to walk on a small portion before the people-mover continued on, she had to pull her veil as she looked down to avoid miss-stepping. In the remote Northeastern corner of Peninsular Malaysia such a sight might be more expected, but it is not. Even in the relatively orthodox Muslim city of Kota Bharu, the clothing of the Malays is bright and fashion conscious. It's because of this that an appearance of more conservative Muslims stand out. Walking through the night market in KB, I saw a mother and daughter were in full purdah with their faces covered, except for their eyes, as they sat down to eat dinner with the rest of their family. By chance we sat nearby and overcome by curiosity, I decided I had to see how they ate their food covered up so. From where we sat, I could see that the mother was still feeding her child, but I could also see the daughter's hands moving to her food. When we were finished with our meal I made a detour to educate myself in the most discrete way I could think of. I'm not sure how discrete I was, but the family didn't seem to notice and all I needed was a glimpse to learn that she had removed her face veil. Her jilbab (scarf covering her head) was pulled forward extending perhaps a foot or so in front of her face to completely conceal her face - as a tent - while she ate. Kuala Lumpur. Attitudes vary and what is typical of Muslim Malays may tend more to the following scenario. While I was walking along the waterfront to get from one side of Johor Bahru to the other, I sat and took a pause to look about me. I noticed two young couples get out of a car and approach the area near where I sat. One of the young men, I learned his name was Said, was very friendly so I ventured a question. I asked him why one of the two women was wearing a tudung and the other was not. He replied, "oh, no," and motioned with his hands and head that he didn't like the tudung. When I asked him why, suggesting that it might be too conservative, he said "yes." Said was dressed fairly "modern," was well off enough to drive a car , and didn't place his hand on his chest after shaking hands with someone as I was used to seeing in comparatively conservative Kota Bharu. He also seemed to bask in the glory, before his friends, of walking up to a Western person, and talking to him by name because he told me "goodbye Mister John" several times after he had rejoined his friends and I had begun to walk away. Although Said's preferences may be skewed towards the cosmopolitan lifestyle and affluence of the West, the tudung is only a common sight in Kota Bharu were Muslim women are required to wear it by law (though the enforcement of this law seems to fluctuate). Its ironic that the habits of Roman Catholic nuns, which have lent them the irreverent term "penguins," is so similar to the fashion of those Muslim women in Southeast Asia who don the tudung or jilbab. A simple explanation of the Muslim desire for a woman to wear a tudung or jilbab was offered on a sign in Kota Bharu written in Arabic, Malay, and English: "And say thou unto the believing women that they shall lower their sights and guard their modesty and shall not disclose their adornment except with appeareth thereof; and they shall draw their scarves over their bosoms." Buddhists choose to remove the beauty found in a woman's hair by simply removing the hair of a devout woman, while both Christians and Muslims have chosen the tudung to conceal a woman's beauty in her hair from all, but her husband. The point being, I suppose, that men are attracted and distracted by the natural beauty of a woman unconcealed.


\5 more Malay Peninsula info

The long, narrow, and rugged Malay Peninsula extends to the south and southwest from Myanmar and Thailand. The Malaysian portion of it is about 500 miles long andat its broadest east-west axisabout 200 miles wide. About half of Peninsular Malaysia is covered by granite and other igneous rocks, one-third is covered by stratified rocks older than the granite, and the remainder is covered by alluvium. At least half the land area is more than 500 feet (150 metres) above sea level. Peninsular Malaysia is dominated by its mountainous core, which consists of a number of roughly parallel mountain ranges aligned north-south.

The most prominent of these is the Main Range, which is about 300 miles long and has peaks rising to elevations of more than 7,000 feet. Karst landscapes, limestone hills with characteristically steep, whitish gray sides, stunted vegetation, caves created by the dissolving action of water, and subterranean passagesare distinctive landmarks in central and northern Peninsular Malaysia. Bordering the mountainous core are the coastal lowlands, 10 to 50 miles wide along the west coast of the peninsula but narrower and discontinuous along the east coast.

Settlement and development have taken place primarily along the west coast. East Malaysia is an elongated strip of land approximately 700 miles long with a maximum width of about 170 miles. The coastline of 1,400 miles is paralleled inland by a 900-mile land boundary with Kalimantan. For most of its length, the relief consists of three topographic features. The first is the flat coastal plain. In Sarawak, where the coastline is regular, the plain averages 20 to 40 miles in width, while in Sabah, where the coastline is rugged and deeply indented, it is only 10 to 20 miles wide.

Inland from the coastal plain is the second topographic feature, the hill-and-valley region. Elevations there generally are less than 1,000 feet, but isolated groups of hills reach heights of 2,500 feet or more. The terrain in this region is usually irregular, with steep-sided hills and narrow valleys. The third topographic feature is the mountainous backbone that forms the divide between East Malaysia and Kalimantan. This region, which is higher and nearer the coast in Sabah than in Sarawak, is composed of an eroded and ill-defined complex of plateaus, ravines, gorges, and mountain ranges. The summits of the ranges are between 4,000 and 7,000 feet. Mount Kinabalu, at 13,455 feet (4,101 metres) the highest peak in Malaysia, towers above this mountain complex.

Drainage Peninsular Malaysia is drained by an intricate system of rivers and streams. The longest riverthe Pahangis only 270 miles long. Streams flow year-round because of the constant rains, but the volume of water transported fluctuates with the localized and torrential nature of the rainfall. In the western part of the peninsula such heavy rainfalls may occur at any time of year, but in the eastern part they are more likely to occur during the northeast monsoon (Nov to Mar). Prolonged rains often cause floods, especially in areas where the natural regimes of the rivers have been disrupted by uncontrolled mining or agricultural activities.

As in Peninsular Malaysia, the drainage pattern of East Malaysia is set by the interior highlands, which also form the watershed between Malaysia and Indonesia. The rivers, also perennial because of the year-round rainfall, form a dense network covering the entire region. The longest river in Sarawak, the Rajang, is about 350 miles long and is navigable by shallow-draft boats for about 150 miles from its mouth; its counterpart in Sabah, the Kinabatangan, is of comparable length but is navigable for only about 120 miles from its mouth. The rivers are important because they provide a means of communication between the coast and the interior. Settlement also has taken place along the rivers, as it did on the peninsula in an earlier period.

History Political transformation The occupation of Malaya and Borneo by Japan (194245) during World War II generated tremendous changes in those territories. Their economies were disrupted, and communal tensions were exacerbated because Malays and Chinese reacted differently to Japanese control. The Japanese desperately needed access to the natural resources of Southeast Asia; they invaded Malaya in December 1941, having neutralized American military power in Hawaii (Pearl Harbor) and the Philippines, and shortly controlled the peninsula, Singapore, and Borneo. Pro-communist, predominantly Chinese guerrillas waged resistance in Malaya, and a brief Chinese-led revolt also erupted in North Borneo.

In many places increasing politicization and conflict within and among ethnic groups developed as a result of economic hardship and selective repression; the rule of the Brookes and of the North Borneo Company was permanently undermined, while in Malaya some Chinese and Malays saw that British domination was not inevitable. Nonetheless, most people welcomed the Japanese defeat in 1945. After the end of the war, Sarawak and North Borneo became British crown colonies, but Sarawak faced a turbulent political situation.

Many Malays opposed the termination of Brooke rule and Sarawak's cession to Britain; the resulting sociopolitical divisions persisted for years. With the establishment of the British North Borneo colony, the capital was moved to Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu). Some local self-government was introduced in Malaya. The major generator of political organizing, however, was a British proposal to form a single Malayan Union, incorporating all the Malayan territories except Singapore, that would diminish state autonomy and accord equal political and citizenship rights to non-Malays.

A tremendous upsurge of Malay political feeling against this plan, led by Dato Onn bin Ja'afar, resulted in the creation in 1946 of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) as a vehicle for Malay nationalism and political assertiveness. Strikes, demonstrations, and boycotts doomed the scheme, and the British began to negotiate with the UMNO about the Malayan future. The negotiations resulted in the creation of the Federation of Malaya in 1948, which unified the territories but provided special guarantees of Malay rights, including the position of the sultans.

These developments alarmed the more radical and impoverished sectors of the Chinese community. In 1948 the Communist Party of Malayaa mostly Chinese movement formed in 1930 that had provided the backbone of the anti-Japanese resistancewent into the jungles and began a guerrilla insurgency to defeat the colonial government, sparking a 12-year period of unrest known as the Emergency. The communists waged a violent and ultimately unsuccessful struggle supported by only a minority of the Chinese community. The British struggled to suppress the insurgency by military means, including an unpopular strategy that forcibly moved many rural Chinese into tightly controlled New Villages. Although this policy isolated villagers from guerrillas, it also increased the government's unpopularity.

The British finally achieved success when, under the leadership of British high commissioner Sir Gerald Templer, they began addressing political and economic grievances as well, increasingly isolating the rebels. Promising independence, British officials began negotiating with the various ethnic leaders, including the UMNO and the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA), formed in 1949 by wealthy Chinese businessmen. A coalition consisting of the UMNO (led by the aristocratic moderate Tunku Abdul Rahman), the MCA, and the Malayan Indian Congress contested the national legislative elections held in 1955 and won all but one seat; this established a permanent political pattern of a ruling coalitionknown first as the Alliance Party and later as the National Frontthat united ethnically based, mostly elite-led parties of moderate to conservative political leanings, with the UMNO as the major force.

On Aug. 31, 1957, the Federation of Malaya achieved independence (merdeka) under an Alliance government headed by Tunku Abdul Rahman as prime minister. Singapore, with its predominantly Chinese population, remained outside the federation as a British crown colony. The arrangement tended to favour the Malays politically, with UMNO leaders holding most federal and state offices and the kingship (yang di-pertuan agong) rotating among the various Malay sultans, but the Chinese were granted liberal citizenship rights and maintained strong economic power.

Kuala Lumpur became the federal capital. New currents also were emerging in Borneo. Colonial rule succeeded in rebuilding and expanding the economies of the two colonies, with rubber and timber providing the basis for postwar economic growth. Health and education facilities only slowly permeated outside the towns. Political consciousness began to spread, however, as elections were held for local councils. During the 1950s the development of radio broadcasting and newspapers particularly stimulated the Kadazan community to become involved in Sabah politics, while, in Sarawak, Chinese and Malay leaders formed the first political parties theresome espousing multiethnic identitiesin expectation of independence.

Political activity accelerated with the mooting of the proposal for a federated Malaysian state by Malayan and British officials in 1961, and new parties formed in Sabah representing the Kadazan, Chinese, and Muslim communities. Statewide elections were held in Sabah and Sarawak, with most of the parties accepting independence through merger with Malaysia; that sentiment increased after the Philippines claimed Sabah, based on former Sulu suzerainty.

British leaders proposed a Malaysian federation as a way of terminating their now burdensome colonial rule over Singapore, Sarawak, and Sabah, even though these states were historically and ethnically distinct from Malaya and from each other. It was in many ways to be a marriage of convenience. Malaya was closely linked economically with bustling Singapore, and the Malays felt a kinship to the various Muslim groups in Borneo.

Tunku Abdul Rahman believed the federation could defuse potential leftist Chinese activity while balancing the Chinese majority in Singapore with the non-Chinese majorities of the Borneo states. Malaya already contained a Chinese minority of nearly 40 percent, with Malays barely in the majority there. Hence, on Sept. 16, 1963, the Federation of Malaysia was formed, with Sarawak and Sabah (East Malaysia) shifting from a Bornean to a peninsular orientation. Brunei, which had been invited to join, chose to remain a British protectorate and later became independent as a small, oil-rich Malay sultanate.

Malaysia The new, hurriedly formed nation faced many political problems, including a period of Indonesian military opposition that ended in 1966, sporadic communist insurgency in Sarawak, periodic East Malaysian disenchantment over Malayan domination and federal policies, and the secession of Singapore from the Federation (at Malaysia's urging) in 1965. The latter event resulted from increasing friction between the mostly Malay federal leaders and the mostly Chinese state leaders, especially Singapore's independent-minded chief minister, Lee Kuan Yew, who disagreed on national goals.

Under Lee's autocratic direction and freewheeling economic policies, Singapore became a highly prosperous but tightly controlled city-state, and relations with Malaysia gradually improved. Both countries became founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967. The secession of Singapore allowed the UMNO to exercise more influence over federal policies, even if it did not end political uncertainties.

Communal tensions on the peninsula following a heated election generated riots and a nationwide state of emergency in 196970. Many non-Malays resented the government's attempts to build national unity and identity, such as increasing the use of the Malay language in education and public life. Government policies aimed at redistributing more wealth to Malays, as well as a growing Islamic revival, particularly worried the Chinese. The New Economic Policy, launched in 1971 and renewed as the New Development Policy in 1991, was designed to greatly increase Malay wealth and economic potential.

Beginning in the late 1970s, the Islamic fundamentalist revival, or dakwah movement, increasingly attracted the support of young Malays who had become alienated by the growth of a Westernized, materialistic society, and this generated divisions within Malay society. Rural development policies reduced poverty rates, but large pockets of urban and especially rural poverty persisted, with many regional and ethnic inequities in the distribution of wealth. Radical critics of the government (including communists, socialists, Islamic militants, and progressive intellectuals) were politically marginalized or sometimes detained.

For Sarawak and Sabah, politics within Malaysia has proved a turbulent experience. The decision to join was made in haste, and many people continued to resent the loss of their autonomy, especially control over growing petroleum revenues. Political crises have occurred periodically in Sarawak, although it has been governed since 1970 by a Malay-dominated, pro-federal but multiethnic coalition that represented a triumph of peninsular alliance-style politics. By the mid-1980s, however, some Iban leaders had challenged the coalition for being too accommodating to wealthy Malay and Chinese interests.

The govt encouraged the assimilation of Sarawak society with that of the peninsula and dramatically increased the exploitation of timber resources, sometimes at the expense of powerless interior peoples. Sabah politics also have proved to be contentious, with chronic tensions between Muslim and non-Muslim groups. Between 1967 and 1975 Chief Minister Tun Mustapha ruled the state with an iron hand, co-opting or repressing opponents, promoting Islam, and challenging federal policies. The multiethnic coalition that replaced Mustapha continued to preside over rapid economic growth purchased by the exploitation of Sabah's bountiful natural resources.

Communal tensions surfaced again in 1987, when a Christian Kadazan-led party swept into power and followed policies opposed by federal leaders. Although peninsular sociopolitical patterns increasingly influenced Sabah and Sarawak, the states remained unique within the Malaysian system. Since 1963 Malaysia has maintained a quasi-democratic parliamentary political system that includes regular elections and moderate political diversity but also some restrictions on civil liberties, including a ban on public discussion of sensitive issues.

Tunku Abdul Rahman was succeeded as prime minister by Tun Abdul Razak in 1970. On Abdul Razak's death in 1976 another UMNO leader, Datuk Hussein Onn, replaced him. In 1981 Mahathir bin Muhammed became prime minister, the first nonaristocrat to hold that office. Mahathir's assertive style and controversial policies generated a major split in the UMNO; in 1988 Mahathir outmaneuvered his opponents, dissolving the UMNO and forming a new Malay party, UMNO Baru (New UMNO). Government and business leaders have managed to develop a prosperous, diversified economy, although commodity exports have remained important and certain areas have experienced severe environmental problems.

Malaysia's literacy rates have risen dramatically, and the government has constructed an extensive public education system. The large and expanding urban middle class has become increasingly multiethnic, with a growing percentage of non-Malays fluent in the national language. Although development policies have been criticized as lacking ethnic and regional balance, Malaysia nonetheless has achieved considerable success at creating national unity and sociopolitical stability out of deep regional and ethnic divisions.

The colonization of Malaysia Malaya - Except for Malacca, there was little Western influence in Malaya and northern Borneo until the late 18th century, when Britain became interested in the area. The British sought a source for goods to be sold in China, and in 1786 the English East India Company acquired Penang (or Pinang) Island, off Malaya's northwest coast, from the sultan of Kedah. The island soon became a major trading entrept with a chiefly Chinese population. British representative Sir Stamford Raffles occupied Singapore Island off the southern tip of the peninsula in 1819, acquiring trading rights in 1824; a strategic location at the southern end of the Strait of Malacca and a fine harbour made Singapore the centre for Britain's economic and political thrust in the peninsula. The British attracted Chinese immigrants to the sparsely populated island, and soon the mainly Chinese port became the region's dominant city and a major base for Chinese economic activity in Southeast Asia. By then the major industrial capitalist power in Europe, Britain next obtained Malacca from the Dutch in 1824 and thereafter governed the three major ports of the Strait of Malacca, which collectively were named the Straits Settlements. The British Colonial Office took direct control in 1867.

With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the full effect of European technological superiority swept over Southeast Asia. The feuding Malay states were little prepared, with the exception of Johor, which was led by the modernizing sultan Abu Bakar. The other state administrations generally were weak and failed to cope with their mounting problems, including the steady immigration of Chinese. By the early 19th century, the Chinesewho were being driven to emigrate by increasing poverty and instability in their homelandbegan settling in large numbers in the sultanates along the peninsula's west coast, where they cooperated with local Malay rulers to mine tin.

The Chinese organized themselves into tightly knit communities and formed alliances with competing Malay chiefs, and Chinese factions fought wars with each other for control of minerals. Chinese settlers also established towns like Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh, which later grew into major cities. The Chinese and Malays increasingly became leading elements in an inadequately integrated sociopolitical structure, a framework that produced chronic communal friction.

British investors were soon attracted to Malaya's potential mineral wealth, but they were concerned about the political unrest. As a result, local British officials began intervening in various Malayan sultanates by the 1870s, establishing political influence (sometimes employing force or the threat of force) through a system of British residents (advisers). Initial intervention into Malayan internal affairs was crude and incompetent; the first British resident to Perak was murdered by Malays outraged at his assertive actions.

Gradually, the British refined their techniques and appointed more able reps; notable among these was Sir Frank Swettenham, who in 1896 became the first resident-general of a Malay federation of Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, and Pahang, with KUL as the capital. By 1909 the British had pressured Siam into transferring sovereignty over the northern Malay states of Kedah, Terengganu, Kelantan, and Perlis. Johor was compelled to accept a British resident in 1914. These sultanates remained outside the federation. Britain had now achieved formal or informal colonial control over nine sultanates, but it pledged not to interfere in matters of religion, customs, and the symbolic political role of the sultans. The various states kept their separate identities but were increasingly integrated to form British Malaya.

Sarawak - Sarawak's history also entered a new stage when the English adventurer James (later Sir James) Brooke intervened in a revolt against Brunei control and was appointed raja (governor) of the Sarawak River basin in 1841 by the Brunei sultan. Brooke inaugurated a century of rule by a remarkable English family and a new form of imperial endeavour. Simultaneously traditional Bornean potentates, benevolent autocrats, and cautious modernizers, the Brookes viewed themselves as protectors of Sarawak's people. Brooke spent his final years consolidating his control of surrounding districts and defending his government against various challenges.

Although the first raja's political and financial position was often precarious, Sarawak eventually acquired the status of an independent state under British protection. Relations with Britain, however, were often strained, chiefly because of a consistent Brooke policy of incorporating territory at the expense of the declining Brunei sultanate. The present boundaries of Sarawak were achieved by 1906, but by then the once-powerful Brunei also had become a British protectorate.

--------------------------------------------------------- Malysia's new intl a/p at Sepang, 50km (31mi) south of KUL - opened Jun98. Most tourists either fly into Sepang, arr overland from Thailand or SIN. However, Penang also has intl flts, and Kuching in Sarawak and Tawau in Sabah have flts to/from Kalimantan.

There is a departure tax of M$40 on intl flts, but if you buy your ticket in Malaysia the tax is already included in the ticket price.

Peninsula Malaysia has a fast, economical and widespread bus system, and this is generally the best way to get around. Sabah has excellent roads, and minibuses ply the main routes. Buses ply Sarawak's major trunk road, but hardly anywhere else.

Peninsula Malaysia has a comfortable and sensibly priced RR system, but there are basically only two lines: one linking Singapore to Thailand via KL and Butterworth, and the other branching off this at Gemas and heading NE to Kota Bharu. In Sabah, there's a narrow-gauge line through the Pegas River gorge from Tenom to Kota Kinabalu which is well worth catching.

In Peninsula Malaysia, long-distance taxis are twice the price of buses but they're a comparatively luxurious and efficient way to travel. If you want to get around by car, all major car-rental firms have KL offices. There are no boat services between Peninsula and East Malaysia, but fast boats ply the rivers of both Sabah and Sarawak.

Events The major Islamic events are connected with Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim calendar. The major Malaysian festival is Hari Raya Puasa, which marks the end of Ramadan with three days of joyful celebrations. Hari Raya Haji marks the successful completion of the hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) with a two-day feast of cakes and sweets. Chinese New Year, in January or February, is welcomed in with dances, parades and much good cheer. The festival of Thaipusam in late January is one of the most dramatic Hindu festivals (now banned in India) during which devotees honour Lord Subramaniam with acts of amazing masochism - definitely not for the squeamish. In KL, devotees march to nearby Batu Caves; in Penang, the event is celebrated at the Waterfall Temple. The Kota Belud Tamu Besar is a huge tribal gathering held in May at Kota Belud near Kota Kinabalu in Sabah. It includes a massive market, traditional ceremonies, ornately decorated horsemen, medicine men and tribal handicrafts. A smaller tamu is held in Kota Belud every Sunday if you're not visiting during May.


\6 Malcca travel info

Malacca is located on the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia facing the Straits of Malacca, about 147 kilometres from Kuala Lumpur between the states of Negeri Sembilan and Johor. It covers an area of 1,638 sq. metres and is divided into three region namely Alor Gajah, Central Malacca and Jasin.

If you are in West Malaysia, the best way to get to Malacca is using the North-South highway linking Alor Star in the north to Johor Bahru in the south. The highway is well equipped with stop overs and resting places for the weary drivers.

Malacca is well-known for its baba & nyonya style spicy cooking which normally gets served with rich coconut milk. There are numerous specialist baba & nyonya restaurants in town and the suburb area where they serve the mouth watering food, not only known to be the best in Malacca, but in the South East Asia region too.

The baba-nyonya food is not the only delicacies around, there's the "satay celup" (Satay stick with raw meat/Vegas dipped in hot boiling satay sauce for cooking), "ikan bakar" which literally means barbecue fish served in grilled aluminium foil or banana leaf heavily marinated with spices that tingle the senses. Not forgetting the odd looking chicken ball rice (a rice pudding shaped like a golf ball) which you dip with chilly to consume its wholesome goodness. Also there's another local favourite - the oyster omelette served in stir fried egg, spring onions and sweet or spicy paste.

For the more adventurous and able to withstand spicy food, there's the portuguese village with a few specialty "tongue burning" dishes, the dishes that will get your stomach growling whole night after a heavy meal.

There's also a restaurant behind some obscure back lane which serves the soft-shell crab, yes !!!! ... a crab dish that you can eat the flesh together with the shell intact. This place has limited seating and one needs to book 3 days in advance to reserve a place.

LOCAL DELICACIES After a delicious meal, there isn't another more refreshing drink to quench your thirst. The "Cin-Cau", a kind of dark grass jelly drink which has a cooling effect is popularly served at restaurants. For that icy-cool feeling, indulge in the "ice kacang" , a refreshment made of shaved ice with red beans, nuts, jelly etc. Also not forgetting the "cendol", a kind a pandan flavoured jelly served in coconut milk. Someone even improvise on the "cendol" and invented the "durian" flavoured cendol. This is extremely popular with the local tourist but the aroma maybe a bit too pungent for overseas visitors.

There are many variation for cendol desserts offered, one of the best was the shaved ice red bean paste cendol in rich coconut milk. It's served in a small stall with barely 5 tables and every weekend afternoon, folks are literally queuing up to get a seat at the stall. The cost? Only a mere RM 1.

Another local favourite is the "Bubur Cha Cha, a sweet dessert made from steamed sweet potatoes, yam, white beans, tapioca jelly in coconut milk.

In the next part, we will bring you to an unforgettable taste bud adventure, we will pinpoint the shops where you can get these desserts for a song. So stay tuned and come back to visit again.

--------------------------- USEFUL TRAVEL INFORMATION

GETTING TO MALAYSIA Malaysia is easily accessible with more than 30 major international airlines operating services to the airports of Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching while Port Klang and Penang are its main entry points by sea. There are excellent road and rail links.

ENTRY FORMALITIES Visitors to Malaysia must be in possession of valid passport/travel documents with a minimum validity of 6 months beyond the period of intended stay.

VISA REQUIREMENTS Commonwealth citizens (with exceptions) do not need a visa to enter Malaysia. Nationals of ASEAN countries do not require a visa for a social and business visit not exceeding one month.

CUSTOMS Items such as video equipment, cameras, radio cassette players, watches, pens, lighters, perfumes and cosmetics are duty free in Malaysia. Visitors bringing in dutiable goods may have to pay a deposit for temporary importation, refundable on departure

AIRPORT TAX An airport tax of RM5.00 and RM40.00 is charged upon departure for all pasengers of domestic and international flights, respectively.

DRUG TRAFFICKING Trafficking in illegal drugs carries the death penalty.

BUSINESS HOURS Government offices are open from 8 a.m. up to 4.15 p.m. on Monday - Friday and 8 a.m. up to 12.45p.m. on Saturdays with Sunday a day of rest. Banking hours are generally from 10 a.m. up to 3 p.m. from Monday to Friday and 9.30 a.m. up to 11 a.m. on Saturdays. Department stores and supermarkets are open daily from 10 a.m. up to 10 p.m.

LANGUAGE Bahasa Malaysia is the national language but English is widely spoken. Other main languages are Chinese and Tamil.

CLIMATE Generally warm throughout the year with temperature ranging from 21 ?C to 32 ?C. Humidity is high all year round.

WHAT TO WEAR Light, cool and casual clothing is recommended all year round.

TIME Malaysia is 8 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and 16 hours ahead of United States Pacific Standard time.

NEW CURRENCY CONTROL LAW With effect from 1 October 1998, all travellers are required to fill in the Travellers Declaration Form (TDF) on arrival/departure. Residents and Non-Residents are allowed to bring in not more than RM1,000 in cash and an unlimited amount of foreign currency.

AIR TRAVEL Malaysia Airlines System has a sales office in City Bayview hotel building in Jalan Bendahara. Tel : 06-2830654 & 06-2829597. Pelangi Airways has regular flights from Malacca to Pekan Baru on Tue, Thu, Fri & Sun at 12:35 am. Tel : 06-3174685 & 06-3174175

SEA TRAVEL Madai Shipping & Tunas Rupat Follow Me Express each operate a daily ferry service to Dumai, Sumatra. Dumai Shipping Tel : 06-2840671 Tunas Rupat Express Tel : 06-2832506

Parameswara Tour operate a river cruise daily from 10 a.m. - tide permiting. Island boat service : To Pulau Besar & return, To Pualu Upeh & return. Tel : 06-2836538.

LAND TRAVEL Malacca has express buses operating to all major towns in the country & to Singapore. All fares are government approved. There are also municipal town buses serving the main points in the district. All bus services operate from two main bus terminals off Jalan Hang Tuah, next to the Ocean supermarket. For more information about bus fares and schedules, click here. The taxi centre is also nearby (located at Jalan Tun Ali). For long distance travel, cab booking can be made at 06-2823630. USEFUL TELEPHONE CONTACTS :

Police Headquarters : 2822222 Police (Tourist) 2703238 General Hospital 2822344 Fire Brigade 994 Immigration Office 2824958 General Post Office 2833844

If the ultra-modern architecture and forward-looking citizens of Kuala Lumpur symbolize Malaysia's hopes for the future, then the quiet, seaside city of Malacca, about 150 kms to the south, is the guardian charged with the reflective task of preserving its past. Five hundred years ago, an extraordinary empire rose and fell here, its power and dreams suddenly caught off-gaurd by the dawn of the Colonial Era.

The city was so coveted by the European powers that the Portuguese writer Barbarosa wrote "Whoever is Lord in Malacca has his hand on the throat of Venice." It was a major port along the spice-route, and its harbor bristled with the sails and masts of Chinese junks and spice-laden vessels from all over the hemisphere. Because the city was originally built of wood, there are no crumbling and stately reminders of the power once wielded by the Malaccan Sultanate, but along shores of the Malacca River the scene has probably changed little. Sloping rooftops of traditional Malay houses still hang over the water, and seem to call out sleepily from the past. The river side is a part of the city that seems to have defied the Portuguese, who captured the city in 1511 and occupied it for well over a century.

The Portuguese influence is visible in the city's architecture. As they did in other colonies, they taxed buildings relative to their width, a policy that accounts for the deceptively thin facades along the colonial streets. A building no more than twelve feet across can easily extend backwards two hundred feet, its hidden interior a linear succession of high-ceilinged rooms and courtyards.

On the streets themselves, however, it is the Chinese influence that is felt most. As they have done for hundreds of years, Chinese merchants advertise the wares inside their shop houses with bright red characters. Open air fruit, vegetable, and fish markets sing with cadences of people bargaining in Mandarin. On the edge of the city is the largest Chinese graveyard outside of China itself, a sprawling zone of fields, trees, and uterus-shaped tombstones. Because of the huge cemetery and the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (the oldest Chinese temple in Malaysia) there is an entire industry in Malacca that produces goods exclusively for the dead - paper simulacra that families burn as offerings to their lost loved ones. Because the spirits need cash in the next world, piles of multi-colored currency with the word "Hell Note" hang on display in what seems like every other shop. If your ghosts like to travel, you can get them first class tickets on Hell Airlines or, if they are Wall Street types, cellular phones and computers. You can buy a dead person just about anything in Malacca.

Over the centuries, the Chinese and local Malay cultures in Malacca intertwined, eventually producing a completey unique society, the Baba-Nyona. This fascinating microculture reached its height around the turn-of-the-century, and Malacca's Baba-Nyonya Heritiage Museum preserves typical Baba-Nyona household.

--------------------------------------------------------- MALACCA'S "BEST' PEPPER STEAK WHEN you visit Malacca, why not stay at the Shah's Beach Resort in Tanjong Kling?

It is just nine km from town, where you can explore 600 years of history in the various styles of architecture and antiques. The boutique-style, family-run hotel is set in a quiet kampung where you can relax to the sound of waves.

The hotel's swimming pool lies next to beautifully-landscaped, tropical gardens with fully-grown palm trees. The hotel has 91 rms, a rest, an open-air cafe, as well as facilities for banquets and seminars for up to 200 people.

The Parameswara Rest or terrace coffeehouse offers guests a variety of Western, Malaysian and continental cuisines. It claims that its black pepper steak is the best in Malacca.

For hotel rates, call the resort at 02-06-315-3121.

Melaka Christ Church in Melaka city, Malaysia formerly MALACCA, town and port, West Malaysia (Malaya), on the Strait of Malacca, at the mouth of the sluggish Melaka River. The city was founded about 1400, when Paramesvara, the ruler of Tumasik (now Singapore), fled from the forces of the Javanese kingdom of Majapahit and found refuge at the site, then a small fishing village. There he founded a Malay kingdom the kings of which, aided by the Chinese, extended their power over the peninsula. The port became a major stopping place for traders to replenish their food supplies and obtain fresh water from the hill springs. Malay rule ended in 1511, when Alfonso d'Albuquerque, viceroy of the Portuguese Indies, conquered Malacca. During the 16th century Malacca developed into the most important trading port in Southeast Asia. Indian, Arab, and European merchants regularly visited there, and the Portuguese realized enormous profits from the especially lucrative spice trade that passed through the port.

A period of Dutch rule, which began in 1641, was interrupted by the British in 1795. The rivalry was settled in favour of the British by the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of London (1824), and Malacca became one of the original Straits Settlements (with Penang and Singapore) in 1826.

Heavy silting of the Malacca estuary, combined with the rise of Singapore, led to Malacca's decline. Modern harbour facilities are limited to offshore anchorage. The river's mouth is protected against silting by two groynes (low walls) projecting outward for 1/2 mile (0.8 km). Melaka remains significant, however, as an exporter of rubber from its hinterland and as an importer of general cargo (sugar and rice).

The surrounding region has a number of fruit and coconut small holdings, but rubber is its primary export. Rubber has come under highly commercialized production because of Malacca's early overseas-trading economy. Malaccan Chinese were the first to venture into commercial rubber production (1898), and there are now large Chinese estates and smallholdings in the region.

The town of Melaka presents a sleepy, unhurried atmosphere; its single-storied houses include many dating from the Dutch and Portuguese colonial periods. Its residents are mostly Chinese, many of whom have, through intermarriage, adopted the dress and speech of the Malays. This mixed strain, known as Baba Chinese, together with Malay-Portuguese-Dutch admixtures, is unique in Malaysian ethnography.

A low hill on the river's southern bank is occupied by the ruins of the Old Fort, designed by Albuquerque. The Portuguese also built St. Paul's Church (1521), now a ruin, which held the body of St. Francis Xavier until its removal in 1553 to Goa, India. The Stadthuys (Town Hall) is an example of mid-17th century Dutch architecture. Christ Church, St. John's Fort, a cultural museum, Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, and a Chinese cemetery with graves dating from the Ming dynasty are also there. The town has an airport and road links to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
 

 GH/Mundanes  Emgcy #  Budget lodging & food in Taman Melaka Raya area. Bus# 17. Wee east of Tamen Mahkota. Mostly on 2nd and 3rd fl.

Robin's Nest GH, Jl Melaka Raya 1 Traveller's Lodge, 214B Tamen Meleka Raya RM20. Trilogy GH, Amy Home Stay, Central Htl* 31 Jl Bendahara. Majestic Htl* 188 Jl Bunga Raya Chong Hoe Htl* 26 Jl Tukang Emas. May Chiang* 52 Jl Munshi. Eastern Heritage, 8 Jl Bukit. New Cathay, May Chiang, Chong Hoe Htl, $15.

In 1997 cut and slash forest fires from Indonesia fogged SW malasia from SIN to KUL.

 If the modern architecture and forward-looking citizens of KUL symbolize Malaysia's hopes for the future, then the quiet, seaside city of Malacca, about 150 km to the south, is the guardian charged with the reflective task of preserving its past. Five hundred years ago, an extraordinary empire rose and fell here, its power and dreams suddenly caught off-gaurd by the dawn of the Colonial Era.

The city was so coveted by the European powers that the Portuguese writer Barbarosa wrote "Whoever is Lord in Malacca has his hand on the throat of Venice." It was a major port along the spice-route, and its harbor bristled with the sails and masts of Chinese junks and spice-laden vessels from all over the hemisphere. Because the city was originally built of wood, there are no crumbling and stately reminders of the power once wielded by the Malaccan Sultanate, but along shores of the Malacca River the scene has probably changed little. Sloping rooftops of traditional Malay houses still hang over the water, and seem to call out sleepily from the past. The river side is a part of the city that seems to have defied the Portuguese, who captured the city in 1511 and occupied it for well over a century.

The Portuguese influence is visible in the city's architecture. As they did in other colonies, they taxed buildings relative to their width, a policy that accounts for the deceptively thin facades along the colonial streets. A building no more than twelve feet across can easily extend backwards two hundred feet, its hidden interior a linear succession of high-ceilinged rooms and courtyards.

On the streets themselves, however, it is the Chinese influence that is felt most. As they have done for hundreds of years, Chinese merchants advertise the wares inside their shop houses with bright red characters. Open air fruit, vegetable, and fish markets sing with cadences of people bargaining in Mandarin. On the edge of the city is the largest Chinese graveyard outside of China itself, a sprawling zone of fields, trees, and uterus-shaped tombstones. Because of the huge cemetery and the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (oldest Chinese temple in Malaysia) there is an entire industry in Malacca that produces goods exclusively for the dead - paper simulacra that families burn as offerings to their lost loved ones. Because the spirits need cash in the next world, piles of multi-colored currency with the word "Hell Note" hang on display in what seems like every other shop. If your ghosts like to travel, you can get them first class tickets on Hell Airlines or, if they are Wall Street types, cellular phones and computers. You can buy a dead person just about anything in Malacca.

Over the centuries, the Chinese and local Malay cultures in Malacca intertwined, eventually producing a completey unique society, the Baba-Nyona. This microculture reached its height around the turn of the century, and Malacca's Baba-Nyonya Heritiage Museum preserves typical Baba-Nyona household.

 Melaka is an interesting blend of Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and British influences and is considered Malaysia's most historic city. It was once the most important trading port in the region but is now little more than a sleepy backwater. Ancient-looking junks still sail up the river, imbuing the waterfront with a timeless charm, and the city remains full of intriguing Chinese streets, antique shops, temples and nostalgic reminders of the now-departed European colonial powers.

The most imposing relic of the Dutch period in Melaka is the massive pink town hall, Stadthuys, built between 1641 and 1660. It's believed to be the oldest Dutch building in Asia and displays all the characteristic features of Dutch colonial architecture (heavy weighty doors and pleasant louvred windows). The bldg houses govt offices and an excellent Ethnographic Museum which highlights aspects of local history and culture. The imposing ruins of St Paul's Church, built by the Portuguese over 400 years ago, stand in a beautiful setting atop St Paul's Hill. It was regularly visited by St Francis Xavier, who was buried here for a short period before being trans-ferred to Goa in India. The church fell into disuse when the Dutch arrived but is still surrounded by old Dutch tombstones. The Brits, with great sensitivity, used the church as a gunpowder store.

For those who prefer their religious architecture to be a little more colourful, the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple in the old part of the city is the oldest Chinese temple in Malaysia. It was founded in 1646 and all of the materials and all of the artisans who built it were imported from China. The old part of Melaka is a fascinating area to wander around, and this is where you'll find many of Melaka's famous antique shops; a stroll along Jalan Hang Jebat will pass the best of them.

------------------------------------- Melaka Melaka is an interesting blend of Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and British influences and is considered Malaysia's most historic city. It was once the most important trading port in the region but is now little more than a sleepy backwater. Ancient-looking junks still sail up the river, imbuing the waterfront with a timeless charm, and the city remains full of intriguing Chinese streets, antique shops, temples and nostalgic reminders of the now-departed European colonial powers.

The most imposing relic of the Dutch period in Melaka is the massive pink town hall, Stadthuys, built between 1641 and 1660. It's believed to be the oldest Dutch building in Asia and displays all the characteristic features of Dutch colonial architecture (read incredibly weighty doors and pleasant louvred windows). The building houses government offices and an excellent Ethnographic Museum which highlights aspects of local history and culture. The imposing ruins of St Paul's Church, built by the Portuguese over 400 years ago, stand in a beautiful setting atop St Paul's Hill. It was regularly visited by St Francis Xavier, who was buried here for a short period before being transferred to Goa in India. The church fell into disuse when the Dutch arrived but is still surrounded by old Dutch tombstones. The Brits, with great sensitivity, used the church as a gunpowder store.

For those who prefer their religious architecture to be a little more colourful, the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple in the old part of the city is the oldest Chinese temple in Malaysia. It was founded in 1646 and all of the materials and all of the artisans who built it were imported from China. The old part of Melaka is a fascinating area to wander around, and this is where you'll find many of Melaka's famous antique shops; a stroll along Jalan Hang Jebat will pass the best of them.

 Melaka or Malacca , state (1991 pop. 504,502), 640 sq mi (1,658 sq km), Malaysia, S Malay Peninsula, on the Strait of Malacca. Formerly one of the Straits Settlements, it was constituted a state of Malaya in 1957 (see Malaysia). Nearly half the population are Malay; about two fifths are Chinese. The capital, on the strait, is the historic city of Melaka. or Malacca (1991 pop. 112,873). Until the 17th cent., Malacca was one of the leading commercial centers of the East Asia. It was founded c.1400 by a Malay prince who had been driven from Singapore after a brief reign there.

The city quickly gained wealth as a center of trade with China, Indonesia, India, and the Middle East. Its sultans, aided by the decline of the Madjapahit empire of Java and by the friendship of China, extended their power over the nearby coast of Sumatra and over the Malay Peninsula as far north as Kedah and Pattani. More importantly, Gujarati traders introduced Islam to the Malay world through Malacca. In 1511, Malacca was captured by the Portuguese under Alfonso de Albuquerque. The sultan fled first to Pahang and then to Johor. In the mid-16th cent. St. Francis Xavier preached in Malacca. Portugal's control was frequently contested by Aceh and Johor. In the early 17th cent. the Dutch entered the region, allied themselves with Johor, and captured Malacca in 1641 after a long siege.

They utilized the city more as a fortress guarding the strait than as a trading port. The Dutch retained nominal control until 1824, although during the wars of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic period (17951818) the British occupied Malacca at the request of the Dutch government-in-exile. In 1824 the Dutch formally transferred Malacca to Great Britain. The modern city, of slight economic importance, retains traces of its past in its Portuguese and Dutch buildings and Portuguese-Eurasian community. The majority of the city's inhabitants are Chinese, who have acquired many Malay customs.


\7 Penang travel info

state (1991 pop. 1,065,075), c.400 sq mi (1,040 sq km), Malaysia, on the Strait of Malacca. It consists of Pulau Pinang (an island of 108 sq mi/280 sq km), formerly known as Georgetown; and Province Wellesley (292 sq mi/756 sq km), a strip of territory on the Malay Peninsula adjacent to Pulau Pinang. On the island is the capital, the city of Pinang, also known as Georgetown (1991 pop. 219,376); it is Malaysia's second-busiest port. It was founded in 1786 by British merchants and was ruled by Great Britain until it became part of what is now Malaysia in 1957. The island has large tin-smelting works, and large areas are devoted to rice and rubber. Well over half the inhabitants of the state are Chinese. Indians are less numerous; less than a third are Malays. Pinang Island was the first British settlement on the Malay Peninsula. It was occupied in 1786 by Francis Light of the British East India Company with the permission of the sultan of Kedah. After an unsuccessful attempt to retake the island (1791), the sultan agreed on a settlement from the British of an annual stipend, and in 1800 he also ceded Province Wellesley. Pinang, together with Province Wellesley, Malacca, and Singapore, became known as the Straits Settlements. Under the British, Pinang grew rapidly in commercial importance, although it was surpassed by Singapore. Pinang joined the Federation of Malaya in 1948.

TRAVEL Air. The Penang International Airport is 16km from Georgetown. Cathay Pacific, Eva Air, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, and Thai International offer connecting flights.

Rail. Butterworth is a major station on the north-south railway from Singapore to Bangkok. The ferry terminal to Penang island is within walking distance from the station.

Road. The North-South Expressway is an excellent freeway linking Alor Setar, in the north of Peninsular Malaysia, through Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru in the south.

Penang may jolly well be the best place on earth but it is far from perfect. In casting shadows on our glowing tribute to Penang, we hope to present a more balanced perspective. Scroll down and make your own contributions in I Also Want to Complain

Why PEN sucks... From: Steve Phillips istana@brunet.bn You want to know why Penang sucks? Well I will tell you why Penang sucks. Penang sucks because the only people who can actually make a difference in Penang are people who have lived there all of their lives, yet these people have not been out into the real world.

From:Mohan satay@pacbell.net Why does Penang have so many cats without tails? And they all seem to want to eat my 'char koay teow' at the stalls!

From: Adrienne D. dedavid@pc.jaring.my You mentioned patches of pink on the Hills. One day as well, that haven, that jewel at the heart of Penang, the Botanical Gardens (Kebun Bunga) will be one huge patch of pink, when enthusiastic landscapers have replaced ALL of the grass with crazy pink paving.

From: Dr. Leong Doctor at General Hospital, Penang Too many Ah-Tu-Ah-Kows (Hokkien slang for Riff-Raffs) in Penang.

From: Valerie Soo Boutique owner "Penang people not civic-conscious at all-la; simply throw rubbish everywhere. Soon we become tong sampah of the Orient."

Penang traffic and Penang drivers Non existent in the past, traffic jams are becoming more frequent. While it may not as bad as that of other major cities, these occurances are enough to cause distress among Penangites used to her easy-going pace.Currently a one-way system traffic flow has been implemented, but this solution is only temporary as the number of cars on the road are ever-increasing. There are also work in progress for coastal roads and future plans of a LRT system.

Compounding the traffic problem are the famous and legendary Penang drivers

The scarring of our hills It is estimated that 50% of Penang still retains its forest cover. This is not a bad figure, but the property boom has seen frantic developments that is unparalleled in our history.

The final straw was when they started to carve and shave our beloved hills. The most sacred of hills, the Penang hill(s) is now patches of pink - which has more to do with illegal land clearing by farmers than property development. Existing plans to develop Penang Hill are being reviewed, but the lesser hills are not so privileged.

Treatment of heritage buildings The destruction of Hotel Metropole (a.k.a. Asdang House) by an errant developer evoked a huge cry from the concerned public. While the State has tightened its laws on building regulations and conservation, several properties on prime land - chiefly those on Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, face an uncertain future.

Old Chinese Cafe

Oval island off the NW coast of peninsular Malaya. In alternating seasons of NE and SW winds, the incidence of rain is affected by the "shadow" of the hilly interior. In Georgetown the rainfall aver 105 in annually with max in Oct and May, no month having less than 3 in. Mean monthly temps at the coast are 80 F (27 C). A coast road encircles the island. From the mainland the island can be reached either by ferry or by a modern 5 mi bridge, connecting Perai on the mainland to Glugo. There is an intl airport in the SE corner of Penang near the town of Bayan Lepas.

Long one of Asia's busiest shipping centres, Penang in the late 20th cen became Malaysia's prime tourist centre, with luxury and tourist resort hotels mainly on the north coast at Batu Feringgi.

The island's strategic location in the northern part of the Strait of Malacca led Captain Francis Light of Britain's East India Company to found a British colony there in 1786. The British occupation was made legal in 1791 by a treaty with the sultan of Kedah; the adjacent mainland area was added in 1800. In 1826 Penang combined with Malacca and SIN to form the Straits Settlements.

In the beginning, the island (called Prince of Wales Island until after 1867) was virtually uninhabited and had excellent shelter and water for sailing vessels plying the India-China run. It quickly attracted a cosmopolitan population of Chinese, Indians, Sumatrans, and Burmans and rapidly surpassed any other trading post in western Malaya. From the mid-19th century Penang became a market and point of transit for the valuable tin and rubber of the mainland.

Although the countryside contined to be Malay, Malay influence, tradition, and economic life almost disapp-eared from the urban and port areas, where Penang became predominantly Chinese by race and European in manner and economic outlook. In 1948 the island became part of the Federation of Malaya, later Malaysia.

Francis Light b. c. 1740,, Suffolk, Eng. d. Oct. 21, 1794, Penang Island British naval officer who was responsible for acquiring Penang (Pinang) Island in the Strait of Malacca as a British naval base. Light served in the Royal Navy from 1759 until 1763. In command of a merchant ship, he went in 1771 to the northern Malay state of Kedah, where he won the confidence of the sultan, Mohammed.

About that time England, at war with France, was looking for a suitable naval outpost along the Malay Peninsula. By Mar 1786 the East India Company, apparently at Light's urging, settled on Penang as the site. Light conducted the negotiations with Mohammed's son, Sultan Abdullah of Kedah, who was threatened by the powerful states of Siam and Burma. Abdullah agreed to English occupation in exchange for support against other SE Asian powers.

Penang was annexed on Aug. 11, 1786, but the British allowed Siam to take over control of Kedah early in the 19th century. Light governed the settlement, which was declared a free port. His generous land grants and encouragement of trade attracted a number of immigrants, particularly Chinese, and the area soon prospered.

PENANG ISLAND of Malaysia, lying off the NW coast of peninsular Malaya, from which it is separated by a strait whose smallest width is 2.5 mi (4 km). Its area is about 113 sq mi (293 sq km) roughly oval, with a granitic, mountainous interior (highest pt 2428 ft) and narrow coastal plains, most extensive in the NE, wher the port, Georgetown, uses the sheltered harbourage of the strait.

Oldest British settlement in Malaysia. Long one of Asia's busiest shipping ctrs, Penang in the late 20th cen became Malaysia's prime port and tourist center, mainly on the north coast at Batu Feringgi.

The island's strategic location in the northern part of the Strait of Malacca led Capt Francis Light of Britain's East India Co to found a colony there in 1786. The British occupation was made legal in 1791 by a treaty with the sultan of Kedah; the adjacent mainland area was added in 1800. In 1826 Penang combined with Malacca and Singapore to form the Straits Settlements.

In the beginning, the island (Prince of Wales until 1867) was virtually uninhabited and had excellent shelter and water for sailing vessels plying the India-China run. It quickly attracted a cosmopolitan population of Chinese, Indians, Sumatrans, and Burmans and rapidly surpassed any other trading post in western Malaya.

From the mid-19th cen Penang became a market and point of transit for the valuable tin and rubber of the mainland. Although the countryside contined to be Malay, Malay influence, tradition, and economic life almost dis-appeared from the urban and port areas, where Penang became predominantly Chinese by race and European in manner and economic outlook. In 1948 the island became part of the Fed of Malaya, later Malaysia.

The island's pop grows rice, vegs, and fruit. During the alternating seasons of NE and SW winds, the incidence of rain is affected by the "shadow" of the hilly interior. In Georgetown the rainfall aver 105 in (2700 mm) annually with maxima in Oct & May, no month having less than 3in (76 mm). Mean monthly temp at the coast are 80F (27C).

A coast road encircles the island. From the mainland the island can be reached either by ferry or by a modern bridge, some 5.2 mi long, connecting Perai on the mainland to Glugo. There is an international airport in the SE corner of Penang near the town of Bayan Lepas.

Pulau Pinang, off the NW coast of peninsular Malaya, separated by a strait whose smallest width is 4 km. Its area is about 113 square miles (293 square km. Penang is roughly oval, with a granitic, mountainous interior (highest point 2428 ft) and narrow coastal plains, most extensive in the NE, where Malaysia's chief port,

GeorgeTown, uses the sheltered harbourage of the strait. Long one of Asia's busiest shipping centres, Penang in the late 20th cen became Malaysia's prime tourist centre, with luxury and tourist resort hotels mainly on the north coast at Batu Feringgi.

The island's strategic location in the northern part of the Strait of Malacca led Captain Francis Light of Britain's East India Company to found a British colony there in 1786. The British occupation was made legal in 1791 by a treaty with the sultan of Kedah; the adjacent mainland area was added in 1800. In 1826 Penang combined with Malacca and SIN to form the Straits Settlements.

In the beginning, the island (called Prince of Wales Island until after 1867) was virtually uninhabited and had excellent shelter and water for sailing vessels plying the India-China run. It quickly attracted a cosmopolitan population of Chinese, Indians, Sumatrans, and Burmans and rapidly surpassed any other trading post in western Malaya.

From the mid-19th cen Penang became a market and point of transit for the valuable tin and rubber of the mainland. Although the countryside contined to be Malay, Malay influence, tradition, and economic life almost disappeared from the urban and port areas, where Penang became predominantly Chinese by race and European in manner and economic outlook. In 1948 the island became part of the Federation of Malaya, later Malaysia.

The island's rural population grows rice, vegetables, and fruit. During the alternating seasons of northeast and southwest winds, the incidence of rain is affected by the "shadow" of the hilly interior. In GeorgeTown the rainfall averages 105 in annually with maxima in Oct and May, no month having less than 3 inches (76 mm). Mean monthly temps at the coast are 80 F (27 C).

A coast road encircles the island. From the mainland the island can be reached either by ferry or by a modern bridge, some 5.2 miles (8.4 km) in length, connecting Perai on the mainland to Glugo. There is an intl airport in the southeast corner of Penang near the town of Bayan Lepas.

Penang and Cebu, Two very cheap countries roll out the welcoming sand by Alan Solomon. Jan 10, 1999 CHI Trib.

When we considered the possibilities for our Asia on Sale exploration, there were obvious, obligatory destinations. Penang, in Malaysia, and Cebu, one of the Philippine islands, were neither obvious nor obligatory -- but, after opening stops in busy Tokyo, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore, we figured we deserved a beach.

Not only are Penang and Cebu two of the more popular beach-resort places in the region, they fit our profile: Malaysia's ringgit and the Philippines' piso had fallen dramatically in value, their economies were feeling the pinch, and they both needed our business. And for texture, both countries were dealing with bits of home-grown turmoil. Malaysia was wrestling with a political trial that was causing intl sniping as well as some interior demonstrations; the Philippines were being pestered by insurgents and other post-Marcos realities.

Penang Trishaw drivers await the call in George Town. "There are two ways to become rich in the Philippines," said a Cebu taxi driver. "Politics and kidnapping." Fortunately for our purposes, the Malaysian nervousness was in Kuala Lumpur, and the Philippines' kidnappers operate primarily in Mindanao. We were protected from both by distance. Neither was protected from us.

Penang, "Pearl of the Orient," is kind of like Acapulco for Aussies, Japanese, Brits, Germans and Scandinavians. It is resorts, ranging from good to lavish, with access to beaches, primarly Batu Ferringhi, which is named after a rock. Like Acapulco, it's also a city, specifically George Town, Penang's capital and the oldest municipality (1786) in Malaysia. Most of Penang's million people live here. To carry the Acapulco thing a step farther, George Town is also a cruise-ship port. As a city George Town is a whole lot more interesting than Acapulco.

Here's all you need to know about George Town. Chicken satay (10 skewers -- my wife and I each had five), accompanied by that wonderful spicy peanut sauce; char koay teow, a medium order of this stir-fried mix of prawns, noodles, bean sprouts, egg and spices (we shared that); Hokkien lor mee, a slightly spicy soup with noodles, egg slices and chunks of some kind of meat (we each had our own); a free sample from a friendly vendor of rojak, fresh fruit cubes topped with a sweet, dark sauce made of sugar and shrimp paste (shared); and two ice cream cones, one strawberry and one mango. My wife had the mango.

Penang is famous for its hawker-stall cuisine, and it should be. It's also really cheap. Penang was on sale before it was On Sale in 97, when the exchange rate dropped was around 2.5 ringgits to the dollar - it's locked in, by edict, at 3.8 now - that Gurney Drive meal would have cost a whopping $5.80.

George Town hotels have long been among Asia's bargains, and the combination of the depressed ringgit and the depressed economy have had their effect.

And, OK, George Town is more than cheap food and cut-rate hotels. Much more. It's Singapore before Singapore got sandblasted. The shophouses that Singapore has turned into boutiques are still shophouses in George Town. Back alleys are still back alleys. Hawker stalls, or street stalls or whatever you want to call these portable restaurants, are mostly still on the streets, convenient to the shopkeepers and shoppers (and tourists) they serve.

In Singapore, trishaws -- man-powered bike-rickshaw combinations -- are trotted out mainly for tour groups. In George Town, locals actually use them to get places, and so do tourists; we paid one driver $5 to pedal us around the city for an hour -- and probably could have haggled that price down.

Chinatown's Campbell Street is doomed to become a pedes-trian mall by Mar 2000, despite merchants' protests, George Town knows its strengths. The trick will be honoring its heritage while keeping the city from crumbling. "It can't be too clean," insisted one jeweler. "If it's too clean, it's artificial."

A Hindu worshiper pauses at a shrine in the Sri Mariamann Temple, George Town. It dates to 1883.

------- ATTRACTIONS OF PENANG As a Penangite and a Malaysian since childbirth, I would like to introduce to you the exciting places and food that I have encountered. Penang which is also known as "The Pearl of the Orient" is an island together with a section of the mainland of Peninsular Malaysia. Penang is one of the states of Malaysia and it is on the island where you will discover the old charm of Penang with the heritage buildings, long white sandy beaches which are longer as clean as they used to be and of course, great hawkers food.!!! Yum, Yum ,Yum.......... Penang's hawkers food is reasonably price although it is also ever increasing. Most Penangites miss Penang food whenever they are away from the island.

The oldest school in Malaysia,ie the Penang Free School (PFS), which is situated on Jalan Masjid Negeri (Green Lane) where I was educated during my secondary education. Penang Free School is established in 1816 and to all those Old Frees located all over the world send me an mail since both ET and I are from PFS. We can talk about good and bad memories about the school. We may also grant some free space to advertise yourself.

PENANG'S COMMON ATTRACTIONS Kek Lok Si Temple - Great place to visit and ever improving Butterfly Farm - Beware of scorpions Botancial Gardens - Monkeys, monkeys, everywhere and good flora Reclining Buddha and Burmese Temple Bird Park - located in Seberang Jaya Beaches - Tanjung Bungah, Batu Ferringhi (great beach with lots of good hotels and watersports), Teluk Bahang Snake Temple - the snakes are getting less due to development Penang Hill - try hiking the hill and great night view Penang Ferry - try taking the Penang Ferry especially at night Fort Cornwallis - An old fort with some cannons with lots of heritage building in the area Gurney Drive - lots of hawker food Penang Bridge - third longest in the world KOMTAR , Midlands One Stop Center, Sunshine square - shopping

PENANG'S UNCOMMON ATTRACTIONS Waterfalls - Chin Farm and Titi Kerawang Isolated Beaches - Monkey Beach (Pantai Keracut) and Muka Head Balik Pulau - durians and laksa (asam and siamese laksa) Mengkuang Dam - Bukit Mertajam Cherok Tokun - with great view of Menkuang Dam Light House at Muka Head - try hiking at night to the light house Chulia Street - Lots of Budget Hotels and cheap hawkers good Batu Maung - Fresh seafood in the middle of the sea Point 84 of the Penang Hill - hike up from Botanical Gardens using jungle/jeep track with free drinks and snacks provided

PENANG'S HAWKERS FOOD Good hawkers food is actually spread all over the island and recommendations are based on my personal liking. Be more adventurous and try yourself !!! Hokkien Mee (Prawn Mee) - Pulau Tikus (opp. Polis Station) - moring , Air Itam Road (opp BBMB) - afternoon Fried Koay Teow - Sister Fried Koay Teow Macalister Road (roundabout)- morning, Chulia Street - night , Cintra Street - night Asam Laksa - Air Itam Market - afternoon & night, Balik Pulau Market - morning & afternoon Koay Teow Soup - Hutton Lane, Burmah Road (near Rex Theatre) Curry Mee - Taman Free School - afternoon, Chowrasta Market - morning, Burmah Road - night More to come, when I have more time to write and eat. For more detail information on Penang, try the Visit Penang's Homepage.

ATTRACTIONS OF MALAYSIA I have invisited a number of places of Peninsular Malaysia but not Sabah & Sarawak. So I will only be able to tell you interesting places in Peninsular Malaysia.

Langkawi Island - KEDAH An island with a clusture of many other islands which I have visited a few times. Round the island is recommended although some of interesting places have lost its colours. Please discover for yourself the boring places. Langkawi Island is also duty free although the shopping places are very limited. Island hopping is a better bet with a nice lake at Pulau Dayang Bunting ( for those who has problem getting pregnant) and Pulau Payar which is marine park and a great place for snorkeling and scuba diving. There are also a lot of resorts on the island and I recommend Sheraton Perdana which is quiet , absolutely relaxing and great service. In addition, this is the only resort that I have been who has a gym and jacuzzi facing the sea. What a way to have a good workout !

Pangkor Island - PERAK Less commercialised as compared to Langkawi. But still worth a visit with a different type of ferry ride. Recommended to cycle in the island. For round island, plese use a motorbike as some of the slopes are rather steep.

Ipoh - PERAK Cleanest city in the country with some caves viewing and Cantonese food.

Kuala Lumpur Capital city of Malaysia. Plenty of things to do especially shopping. Shop till you drop !! You can also visit the KL Tower which I have not done so myself or visit the Merdeka Square especially on Saturday night where the place is lighted. A lot of night spots for people who does not sleep at night.

Fraser Hill Cool place that is all you get. Nothing much to do.

Genting Highlands Casino with a theme park. Great place for adults and children.

Kelantan Must visit the central market of Kota Bahru where the place is full of colours if view from the top. The best drunken prawn I have taken was in Kota Bahru town. The taste is absolutely unforgettable. There are a lot cheap chalets in Pantai Cinta Berahi.

Small main city of PEN Isle is in the east center of the island accessible by ferry from Butterworth every 15min, 24hrs. The Dutch ceded the island to the British in 1874. 60 sen to cross on ferry to PEN. Ferry is faster, cheeper and breezier. Bridge in SE near A/P is 8mi long. It is 70 km round the isle. 170km NW/Ipoh, 360mi N of KUL.

Penang is off the NW coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It consists of: (1) Penang Island (2) A strip of land on the mainland known as Province Wellesley or Seberang Perai. In Malay (Bahasa Malaysia), Penang is known as Pulau Pinang (Island of Betel Nut).

Malaysia is a multiracial country. In Penang, the 3 main races are Chinese, Malay & Indian. The national language is Bahasa Malaysia. English is widely used.

MAIN EVENTS June : Penang Intl Dragon Boat Festival July : Festival of Flora; City on Parade; Penang Beach Carnival August : Penang Food Festival September : Lantern Festival Nov/Dec : Pesta Pulau Pinang

Marina Yeoh yeohpl@pc.jaring.my

Kuan Yin Teng Temple right in the centre of the old part of Georgetown is nowhere near as impressive, but it's one of the most popular temples in the city and there are often worshippers burning paper money at the furnaces, night-time puppet shows or Chinese theatre performances. For the best view of the city and the island, catch the funicular railway up Penang Hill which rises 830m (2722ft) above Georgetown and provides cool relief from the sticky heat below. There are pleasant gardens, a hotel, a Hindu temple and a mosque at the top. The view is particularly good at dusk when Georgetown, far below, begins to light up.

 Little India, Sri Mariamann Temple, between Labuls Chulia and downtown banks and post office: Lebuh Queen/Chulia. Built 1883. Middle of Indian community. Noted Indian rest across the street.

Kek Lok Si Temple: Take bus from along Lebul Chulia to get to this largest of Buddhist temples in Malaysia. Take off your shoes at central sanctuary. Do not take photos of monks. Buy stuff on the way down unless you love to carry shit.

 Batu Ferringhi, 8mi NW of georgetown. Use to be in with 60s faded glory hotels. That was then, now there's Pattaya. You might wanna see it if you like Miami each.

 Penang is one of the 13 states of the Federation of Malaysia and is situated on the NW coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is bounded on the north and east by the state of Kedah, to the South by the State of Perak and to the west by the Straits of Malacca and Sumatra (Indonesia).

Penang consists of the island of Penang (also known as Pulau Pinang in Bahasa Malaysia) and a coastal strip on the mainland known as Province Wellesley. The island covering an area of 285 square kilometres, is separated from the mainland by a channel. Island and mainland are linked by the 13.5 km long Penang Bridge; apart from this, a 24-hour ferry service plies the channel.

Population Penang has a population of approximately 1 million people, over half of whom live on the island. The population is multi-racial consisting of Malays, Chinese, Indians and other minority ethnic groups.

Languages Bahasa Malaysia (or Malay) is the national language and is the medium of instruction in schools and universities. English is widely spoken and understood and is taught as a second language in schools. Reflecting the multiracial population, many Asian languages and dialects are spoken. The local people also speak Mandarin and other Chinese dialects, Thai, Tamil and other Indian dialects.

Religion Islam is the official state religion but the Constitution permits complete freedom of worship. Other major religions widely practised are Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Toaism.

Local Government Penang, like the other states of Malaysia, has its own state government. However, the federal government (elected once every five years), is located in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.

In Penang, the head of state is the Yang DiPertua Negeri (Governor) who is appointed by the DYMM Sri Paduka Baginda Yang Di Pertuan Agong [i.e. the King, who incidently is elected amongst and by the Sultans of the various states, which makes Malaysia the only country in the world with an elected monarchy]. He exercises the legislative powers of the state government on the advice of the legislative council which is headed by the Chief Minister. [Similarly, the Yang Di Pertuan Agong exercises the legislative powers of the federal government on the advice of the Parliament which is headed by the Prime Minister, which makes Malaysia a constitutional monarchy.]

While the Executive Council is the highest administrative body in the state, it is responsible to the Legislative Assembly, which holds election once every five years. The state secretariat and other state/central government departments assist the Executive Council in the administrationof the state.

At the local government level, the state is divided into 2 local authorities, one on the island and the other on the mainland, namely the Municipal Councils of Penang Island and Province Wellesley respectively.

Economy Penang is a major growth centre, serving the fast developing north-western states of Peninsular Malaysia. Traditionally established as a trading commercial and entrepot centre, it has developed excellent banking and insurance facilities with over 30 local and international banking and insurance companies.

In recent years, the manufacturing sector has seen very rapid growth along with other tertiary activities. Four free trade zones and four industrial estates have been developed for industries.

Tourism is the leading growth sector in the state. In fact Penang is the foremost tourist destination centre in the country.

Other economic activities include agriculture, livestock, fisheries and construction. ------ A former British trading post in the 18th century, Penang offers one of the most culturally diverse settings in the region. What makes the Penang experience even more unique is that Penang also offers sunny beaches and historic buildings, intact with their former grandeur enclosed in the island itself.

Islam is the official state religion but the Constitution permits complete freedom of worship. Other major religions widely practised are Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Toaism.

Penang, like the other states of Malaysia, has its own state government. However, the federal government (elected once every five years), is located in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.

Penang is a major growth centre, serving the fast developing north-western states of Peninsular Malaysia.

Tourism is the leading growth sector in the state. In fact Penang is the foremost tourist destination centre in the country.

The main shopping centres are in Penang Road, Burmah Road, Midland Park, Bayan Baru, Tanjung Tokong and Campbell Street in the city.

Four of the more prominent shopping complexes on the island is: Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak (KOMTAR). Midlands Park Centre, Bukit Jambul Complex, and Island Plaza.

Bona fide tourists, whose stay does not exceed 14 days, can purchase goods at special prices from duty-free shops. These shops display the `duty-free' sign.

Roadside shops are Penang's most popular bargaining centres. Prices are negotiable and reasonable, depending on one's skill at bargaining. Prices are fixed in the larger dept stores.

The following shopping hints may be useful to visitors: Duty-free goods: These include video cassette recorders, TV sets, mini-compos, cameras and watches. Shoppers will be required to bring along their air tickets and passports. Most duty-free shops can be found at KOMTAR, Midlands Park Centre, Bukit Jambul Complex, Island Plaza, Penang Road and Campbell Street. Purchases must be taken out of the country upon departure.

Pewterware: Pewter items are made of 97 per cent refined tin blended with antimony and copper. They make excellent gifts or souvenirs. The more popular items include coffee sets, beer mugs, vases, pitchers, wall and table clocks. These are available at the company's showrooms at Penang International Airport, Farquhar Street, Midlands Park Centre, Bukit Jambul Complex, Island Plaza and Weld Quay and also at shops along Penang Road.

Batik: Popular batik items include shirts and dresses, scarves, tablecloths, bedspreads, beachwear and toys. Batik material can be purchased by the metre/yard. Most factories allow visitors to have a look at their operations and to buy directly from their showrooms. Batik material and ready made clothing items are also available in shops along Penang Road, Campbell Street, Teluk Bahang and in Tanjong Bungah and Batu Ferringhi.


\8 Penang life

The Island that Parties Discos, pubs, spas, bars, lounges, yuppie hangouts, cultural shows or just enjoying the clear starry night; Penang may be a lovely island in the sun but it is even brighter and livelier after dark. The island seems to come alive with the setting of the sun, and islanders and tourists alike party the night through to welcome the dawning of another spectacularly beautiful day in this tropical paradise in the sun. Penang does have it all with nightlife to rival the best around the globe.

Here's how you do it all from sunset till dawn. As the sun takes its rest, relax and soak away all your sweat at Penang's numerous spas in town offering Jacuzzi, spa tubs and massages. The delightful Goldmine Spa, at Prime Plaza along Burma Road offers one of the best watery relaxation spots with its superb facilities and even better standard of service to help smooth away all those worry lines and put a big smile on your face. All smiley and dressed to kill, you'll be all ready to hit the nightspots.

Join the yuppies at their hangout north of the island in Pulau Tikus, literally the "Rat Isle". The "rat" here refers to the varmints, which made a pest of themselves in the past. Nowadays, Pulau Tikus usually refers to the middle-class suburb where the nights are bright and the only creatures of the night you'll see are your fellow species.

Located in Georgetown, its main street is where Burma Road forms a junction with Cantonment Road. Formerly the dwelling place of several historic communities like the Eurasians, Siamese, Arabs and Straits Chinese, Pulau Tikus is now home to Penang's middle-class expatriates. Popular nightspots and places to wine and dine are all along the prestigious Belissa Row. These are the shops which attract yuppies and the young and beautiful like moths to a flame. The night is indeed very young when you join the fun and party-loving rat pack in their merry-making. A place to take note of while in Belissa Row is the ultra-hot and modern Modesto. This Italian discotheque will definitely raise your temperature.

Other cool places which band together to add the "oomph!" to the Pulau Tikus nightlife are the chic Orange Caf? & Bar, classy Al Fresco Italiano, authentic Ristaronte Bella Italia, fantastic Babylon Bistro, not to mention the deliciously beautiful Chi Ki Nyonya Bistro. And don't forget the brightly lit Safari with its huge and attention-grabbing grounds. And that's not all as the popular German restaurant, Wunderbar, and the X Pub can be found tucked away behind a petrol station in a huge restored old bungalow.

One is a lonely number so if you're on your own, pick up a fun and energetic yuppie and head out to the Songbird Karaoke at 1-Stop Midlands Plaza, still in the Pulau Tikus area. This terrific and entertaining place will make your voice and imagination fly on the wings of fun and you'll be sure to recommend it to a future fellow songbird!

For more privacy, check out the Cititel Penang's Crystal KTV Karaoke Lounge with private rooms and sing your heart out. If all the "hollering" makes you thirsty; just drop in to the SOHO pub next door to Cititel. The drinks and cocktails at this partying oasis will be sure to prep you up.

If a great many rounds of drinks are more your cup of tea, er..meaning jug of beer, head straight for the numerous other watering holes along Gottlieb Road. All lined up opposite the Penang Chinese Girls' School; these pubs, dance clubs and concept cafes, including the Screwball, will be a lesson in fun you'll never forget.

There are other hot and savvy nightspots around town calling out to be done. The VOR Amphitheatre is a must go, with its cabaret shows featuring terrific dances by fascinating dancers and hilarious comedy numbers. The largest dance club on the island, VOR Amphitheatre has a seating capacity of over 1200 on 3 levels. It also offers hearty morsels of delicious Chinese and western food in their respective tastefully decorated restaurants.

All is not lost for the "critter of the night" on a budget. Make your way to the Hong Kong Bar at Chulia Street. Right in the midst of Penang's former red light district, the raunchy bar is no pushover with its carefree, party-loving crowd of American and Australian Navy personnel out for their "cuppa" spiked with fun.

You haven't danced in Penang until you've danced at the Amazonz Palais Galactique. This unique "land" where its inhabitants "move to the groove" features a complete concept of the "entertainment city" with state-of-the-art sound and laser shows. It also plays host to numerous interesting pageants and visiting performers will keep you spellbound as you experience this discotheque's myriad of dining experiences.

If you're out to really paint the town red, then do drop into 20 Leith St, "Penang's only pub, wine bar and Japanese bistro with a totally antique setting". Check out the bar decorated with gilded Chinese bridal bed carvings. Step outside into the open forecourt into the lights of the historical Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion opposite.

If a peaceful night counting the stars is all you ask for, then Gurney Drive is the perfect place to be. This very popular esplanade is 2km long and at its western end is a hawker centre with a tremendous variety of stalls. Two night-time festivals held annually at Gurney Drive are the Loy Krathong and the Festival of the Nine Emperor Gods.

You can also count the stars and enjoy the cooling sea breeze at Tanjung Bungah where several old sea side restaurants like the Hollywood offers open air dining under the sea almond trees. If you'd like to spend the night with the spectacular display of cultural shows, the impressive Pinang Cultural Centre in Teluk Bahang offers lovely cultural shows and songs from Malaysian culture. It serves authentic Malay food with charming Malaysian hospitality. Or you can take a peek at the Eden Seaside Village and Eden Feringghi Resort in Batu Ferringhi.

------------------------------- The island of Penang, described as the 'Pearl of the Orient', lies just off the NW coast of Peninsular Malay-sia. Recently a network of expanded tourist facilities has been created. As well as being a particularly beautiful tropical island of palm trees and sandy beaches, it is also the main intl gateway to northern Malaysia. It was the natural harbour that first attracted the British to Penang in the late 18th century, and the port is still one of the most important in the country.

There is a regular ferry service between the island and the town of Butterworth on the mainland. The third-longest bridge in the world links Penang to the mainland.

For those who want a single-centre holiday, Penang is a good choice, enabling the visitor to see something of Malaysian life in the town and small villages, as well as offering some of the most beautiful beaches in the country. Some of the most attractive beaches are situated along Batu Feringgi on the north coast. The island's main hotels are along this strip, although new international hotels have recently appeared close to the airport and also in Georgetown.

Georgetown: Georgetown, the island's one town, is made up of Malay, Chinese, Thai, Indian and European cultures. The main shopping is on Campbell Street and Canarvon Street. Worth visiting are Khoo Kongsi, an old Chinese clan house, Fort Cornwallis, a British 18th-century fortress, Penang Museum and Art Gallery and the many churches, temples and mosques found throughout the town.

Elsewhere: Penang has more than just beaches; one of the most unusual attractions is the Snake Temple, which swarms with venomous snakes, but visitors will be relieved to know that they are heavily drugged with incense. Wat Chayamangkalaram Temple contains an enormous gold-plated reclining Buddha, which at 33 metres long, is believed to be the third largest in the world. Penang Bird Park is a must for bird lovers' and horticultural enthusiasts alike. The landscaped park in Seberang Jaya is home to over 400 species of birds. Specially designed aviaries are placed among man-made islands with beautiful waterfalls and gardens ablaze with ornamental flowers and tropical greenery. A wide variety of orchid and hibiscus can also be seen. Over 100 species of butterflies and insects can be seen in the gardens of Panang Butterfly Farm in Teluk Bahang. The farm is open daily to visitors. In the centre of the island is Penang Hill, with a 700m (2300ft) summit, offering splendid views and leisure walks.

---------------------------- more n betta PENang The West Coast of Malaysia PENANG

Description : A big Island with atmosphere, historical sights, good temples and nice resorts by the so-so beach.

Comments : You should not come to Penang for the beaches but rather the small streets full of charm and life's sights.

What to do? - In Georgetown : Visit the Tourist Office / Feel like in India or China / Change religions at various temples, churches, Wat or Mosque / Burn hell money or colorful shaped dragon incense / Follow the Penang Heritage Trail around historical colonial buildings (start at Fort Cornwallis, R1) / Walk the relaxed esplanade and feel the sea breeze / Loose your way in the small streets / Meet Francis Light, the founder of Penang and see an old Roll's Royce with stories to tell (by the museum) / Tour old houses / See a sacred tree and walk small Chinese fishing village on stilts (on the water front opp. Lebuh Armenian) / Get an elevator ride to the panoramic floor of the huge Komtar Kompleks (R5) / Admire the City Hall by night / Degust seafood / Enjoy the night scene / Once a year (but not after the above), run the international bridge marathon (see other annual events below) - On the Island : Take a funicular (R4 return) to cool off at Penang Hill and enjoy the view, the relaxed gardens, the aviary and the temples / Then walk down the Hill toward the Botanical Garden / Visit the largest Buddhist Temple in Malaysia : Kek Lok Si Temple / See how snakes get high with incense at the old snake Temple (3.2km from airport) / See lots of colorful butterflies or birds / Explore the fishing village of Teluk Bahang / From there, walk Batu Ferrinhi "Foreigner's Rock", from one beach resort to the other, spotting local & western tourists on holidays / Get high with parasailing / Cross the longest bridge in Asia / Plenty of other possible discoveries on this big island if time to explore...

What you may not like ? The beggars & sights of destitute / The traffic, noise & pollution on some streets / The souvenirs stalls at the big Temple / Having to read Malay to follow the Heritage Trail / The snake touts & hordes of tourists at the Snake Temple / The disappointing beaches, far from looking as good as on the leaflets / The difference of price for foreigners at the Museum ("They came from all over the world but had to pay twice as much to visit the museum") or Butterfly Farm (R15 !) / Waiting too long for a bus /

How long ? Three days would be a minimum to feel the atmosphere

Where to stay ? In Georgetown, the interesting part of the Island :

- Around "Little India" : Victoria Street Hotel (604 2645677), 278 Lebuh Victoria, 5mn from the Ferry / Dorm (2 on bunk bed) 10, Sgl or Dbl 22 or 28, w. AC 35 / Go there for the small dorm, the spotless rooms w. carpet, the little "extra" and to see the place once it is completed / What you may not like : the tiny basic rooms w. inside windows

 DB Hostel (04 2634794), 9Lebuh Gereja (Church Street), 10mn from Ferry / Dorm (12 or 4) 7 or 8, Sgl 16, Dbl bunk bed 20, Dbl 22-25, w. AC 32, w. shower 38 / Laundry R3 per kg / Internet R6 per hour / Go there for the clean rooms, the 5th floor rooftop sitting area, the HW shower, the safety and to meet other backpackers / What you may not like : the bad room isolation, the rather poor service (two hours wait to have a room prepared) and the R2 luggage room

Eng Loh Hotel (2623342), 48 Church St, just after the above / Dorm 8, Room 18, w. shower (but no toilet) 25 / Go there for the largest rooms, the old Chinese atmosphere and to negotiate the prices down / What you may not like : the R18 room with peeping holes in the wall and the old decrepit look

 Coral Hostel (04 2644909), 99-101 King Street, off Chulia St / Indian management / A new place which should become soon the backpackers' favorite / Dorm w. balcony (16) 7, Sgl 14, Dbl 20-28, w. AC 40, Family room (4-5 people) w. shower & AC 60 / Backpacker's services : water, fridge, toaster, relaxed balcony, video, satellite TV, free luggage room, cheapest internet (R3 per hour) / Go there for the nice & friendly atmosphere, the clean rooms & the cheapest boat tickets to Medan (Indonesia) / What you may not like : the too small rooms or the too big dorm and the expected busyness...

Golden Plaza Hotel (604 2630560, plazahostel@hotmail.com), 32 Leboh Ah Quee, just South-West of the above / Dorm w. terrace (24) 8, Dorm (2,3,4) 10, Sgl 18-20, Dbl 25-30, w. AC 35-45 / Laundry R3 per kg / Internet R6 per hour / Go there for the small dorm, the outside window in all the rooms, the relaxed terrace w. view and the backpacker's services (laser movie, free locker, newspaper,...) / What you may not like : the small & basic rooms and the not so clean common bathrooms.

 Broadway Hostel (04 2628550), 35 Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, north of Lebuh Pasar / Dorm (4 or 5) 7, Sgl, Dbl or Trpl 20,25 or 30, Family room w. AC but no window 40 / Go there for the small dorm and the clean & bright rooms (all w. window) w. view / What you may not like (or like ?) : the lack of backpackers' facilities

Newsia Hostel (2643930), 27 Chulia Street / Dorm (10 or 14) w. shower 6, Room 15(1) or 20(2) / Go there for the clean rooms & to check the place once it is finished / What you may not like : the probable price increase (to 7/18/25) once the work is completed - In Chinatown area, on Love Lane, a small street off Lebuh Chulia :

 Oasis Hotel (604 2616778), No23, North of Lorond Stewart / Charming house within & with gardens / Dorm (4 or 8) 8, Room w. lavatory 20-25, w. shower 30 / 10% discount if Sgl occupancy / Go there for the quiet & relaxed atmosphere, the clean rooms w. some charm or if you love cats & fishes / What you may not like : the lack of good isolation and the door closing at midnight

Wan Hai Hotel (604 2616853), No35, south of the above / Dorm (6) 8, Room 18-20 / Big rooms but very badly isolated (half wall only), grotty and not too clean. The dorm was simply disgusting...

 Love Lane Inn (4129002), No54, opposite the above / English management / Dorm (a lot of beds) 8, Sgl 16 to 20, Dbl 25 to 30, Trpl 35 to 45 / Free coffee & tea from 7 to 11am / Go there for the relaxed atmosphere, the clean rooms, the guestbooks full of tips and to get good info on Penang or your next destination / What you may not like : the cigarettes atmosphere & the basic rooms / Thks to Matthieu Delbo (France) for the add. info

Pin Seng Hotel (2619004), No82, south of the above / A small house a bit off the street / Room 18, w. shower 25 / Go there for the rather clean rooms at good prices / What you may not like : the half walls and disturbing the manager with your stupid questions...

- On Lebuh Chulia, a noisy street with lots of traffic Eng Aun Hotel (2612333), No380 / Off the main road by a lively restaurant w. pool table / Dorm w. lavatory (8) 8, Sgl or Dbl 22 or 25, w. shower 22(1) or 25(2) / Some rooms w. lavatory / Go there for the high ceiling rooms w. some charm / What you may not like : the small dorm and the basic & not so clean rooms

Swiss Hotel (8074899), opp. the above / Also off the noisy road / Sgl or Dbl w. lavatory 20 or 30, w. AC 40 / The rooms are big enough and the house has got some charm but the walls are slim & incomplete and the place lack backpackers' atmosphere

 Blue Diamond Hotel (04 2611089), No422 / Dorm (4) 8, Sgl or Dbl 20 or 25, w. shower 25 or 30, w. AC 45 / A bit off the street by a restaurant w. pool table / Go there for the charming house w. some sculpted walls, the high ceiling clean rooms or if claustrophobic / What you may not like : the old look & furniture, the incomplete walls and the outside light switch

Eastern Hotel (04 2614597), No509 / Room w. lavatory 22, w. shower 35 / Rather clean but noisy as next to the road and bad isolation Hang Chaw Hotel, by the above / Sgl or Dbl w. lavatory 22 or 28 / Some charm & rather clean but lack the backpacker's touch & noisy.

 White House Hotel (604 2632385), 72 Jalan Penang / Room w. HW shower (but no toilet) 25, w. AC 35 / Go there for the big clean rooms well furnished / What you may not like: it is often full and the rooms on the street are noisy

Cathay Hotel (04 2626271), 15 Leith Street, a more quiet street / Beautiful white house / Room w. shower, local TV and old telephone 57.5, w. AC 69 / Go there for a bit of colonial luxury

- For people who can not stand a city, there are a few cheap accommodations at Teluk Bahang, an interesting fishing village with a dirty beach. Those include Miss Loh's (dorm R8, rooms 20-30) and Fisherman Village GH.

Where to eat ? Plenty of small Indian or Chinese restaurants in town. The Esplanade Food Centre was a disappointment with inflated prices for basic food. But I did not test all the hawkers' offerings so I may have been unlucky.

Internet ? The cheapest place in town is at Coral Hostel : R3 per hour (min. R1 for 15mn). Other places at R4 per hour include Richard Tailor (open 11 to 21:30, close Sunday) at 521 Chulia St or Omegatech (open 9:30 to midnight) just after the Oriental Hotel on Lebuh Leith

A religious street ? The nicest temples are along Lebuh Pitt, from (empty) St George's Church in the North to Acheen St Mosque in the South via :

- Kuan Yin Teng "Goddess of Mercy" Temple (Chinese) : a not so great but busy temple built in 1800. A good place to watch paper or incense burning to hell or heaven

- Sri Mariamman Temple (South-Indian) on Lebuh Queen : a very colorful temple built in 1883 and featuring the priceless statue of Lord Subramaniam. Be properly dressed and ask permission before entering.

- Kapitan Kling Mosque : an original orange structure built in the early 19th century

- Yap Temple (Chinese) on Lebuh Armenia : a small temple with great stone carvings

- Khoo Kongsi Temple (Chinese), a bit off the street : a magnificent hall with intricate carvings. Open 9 to 17, except Sat to 13:00, close on Sunday. Ask permission to enter at the Kongsi Office. / It is unfortunately being restored and should not re-open before 2002.

Festivals & events ? Chap Goh Meh w. the orange throwing ceremony (Feb or March) / International Triathlon (May) / Dragon Boat Festival (June) / Flora Festival (July) / City on parade (July) / Beach Carnival (July) / Food Festival (August) / Lantern Festival (Sept) / Trade Fair & exhibitions (Nov & Dec)

Buses around ? Buses leave from either Pengkalan Weld near the Ferry Terminal or on the GF of Komtar. The later is a very unpleasant place to wait for a bus and you sometimes have to wait quite a bit... Bring your gas mask !

- To Penang Hill : Bus No130 to Air Itam (0.95) then No 8 to Penang Hill Railway (0.60), then the funicular (R4 return, 6:30 to 21:30) - To Botanical Garden (free, 7 to 19) : Bus No7 (0.70 to 0.90) - To snake temple (free to enter, not to handle a snake) : Bus No66 (0.90 to 1.40) - Over Penang Bridge : Bus No18 do the trip for R2 - To Battu Ferringhi & Teluk Bahang : white & blue bus No 93 (1.70)

How to leave Penang ? Express buses from Penang leave from the GF of the huge Komtar Kompleks (most buses from the City Bus Station or the jetty will go there, R0.6, 15mn). More buses leave from Butterworth, at the bus station by the ferry pier (free ferry from Penang to Butterworth, 20mn)

Boats to Langkawi leave daily at 8am (return at 17:30). The 2 hours trip cost R35 one way or R60 return.

Boats to Medan in Sumatra (Indonesia) leave daily except Sunday at 8:00, 8:30 or 9:00 depending on the Company (return at 10am). The 4.5 hours trip cost R96 one way (incl. R6 port tax) or R166 return (plus Indonesian tax). Most western travelers are allowed a 60 days stay without visa so there is little need to visit the Indonesian Consulate. The boats companies are located near the Tourist Office but all GH can arrange for tickets. Coral Hostel can even get you a discount to Medan...

Bus Schedules ? From Butterworth : To Price Class D. Time Nb Freq. Hat Yai 20 or 25 ac ? 14 1 na Kota Bharu 19.5/24 ac/vip 8 10,22/9,21 2/2 na Kamunting 4 ac 75mn 6:30 to 20:45 a lot 30mn Lumut 10.3 ac 4 9:30,14:30,18 3 na Ipoh 8-10 ac 2 8:30,9:15,11,13,14,17:30,18:30 a few na Cameron High. 15 ac 6 8:30,14:30 2 na KL 16.6-17.2/20 ac/vip 4.5 8:30 to 24:30/8:45 to 24:45 a few hour Singapore 40 vip 10 '20:30,21:30,22 3 na

Notes : To Hat Yai, SE Express (3312323) cheapest at R20 / To Kota Bharu, VIP not from Penang / To Lumut via Kuala Kangsar / To KL, a few companies

From Penang : To Price Class D. Time Nb Freq. Kota Bharu 19.5 ac 8 9,21 2 na Ipoh 10-12 ac 2.5 8:15,9:15,11:15,15 to 21:15 10 na/hour Cameron High. 14 ac 6.5 8,15:30 2 na KL 18-20/22.1 ac/vip 5 8:15 to 18:15, 23/10,16,24 +/3 hour/na Melaka 25 ac ? 20:30 1 na Singapore 38 ac 10.5 '9,21 2 na

From Penang to Thailand : Minibus can be arranged from most of the GH, at various prices however To Price D. Time Nb Freq. Hat Yai 20 4 5,8:30,12,15:30 4 na Krabi 30 8 5,8:30,12 3 na Surat Thani 30 8 5,8:30,12 3 na Phuket 41 12 5,8:30,12 3 na Ko Phi Phi 44 12 5 1 na Ko Samui 44 10 5 1 na Ko Pha-Ngan 50 15 5,8:30 2 na Bangkok 74 20 5,8:30,12 3 na

The trip to Kota Bharu: Night/Nowhere / R19.5 / 7.5 hrs / Shaking AC Bus Following my usual habits, I arrived at the bus station much too early. This gave me the opportunity to enjoy once again a breath of fresh gas : the buses were indeed waiting with the motor running but the doors closed. This situation infuriated a local ecologist : "Would it be possible to do that in your country ? Of course not, Europe is much cleaner isn't it ? Here, nobody seems to care..." We left Penang on time and headed toward Butterworth's station via the longest bridge in Asia. While the boat crossing takes 20mn, the road trip took twice as long, the bridge being 8km to the south.

The bus filled up with local people at Butterworth and we left full at 10:10. There was no TV, the radio was not switched on and the lights went off rapidly so it looked like we would get some sleep. We did not ! The road was so twisted and the bus driver so excited by caffeine that the were constantly reminded of the centrifugal force. At midnight, all the lights went on as the driver decided to get another dose of caffeine at a road restaurant. Actually, probably more than one shot as the bus remained still for more than an hour. Well equipped with an eyes mask, this was a great opportunity to dream a bit.

We stopped one more time at 4am and touts jumped on the bus to promote a so called "short cut" to the Perhentian Islands. "How much does it cost ?" - "Only R45..." We all went back to our seats... We arrived in Kota Bharu Central Station at 4:30 and were immediately under the heavy assault of taxi drivers offering R26 rides to Kuala Besut's pier for 4 passengers maximum. - "What time does the boat leave ?" - "8am but you can rest in my GH before" Fair deal if true as the speed boat was really leaving at 9am and the slow boat at 10am... Anyway, I was not planning to go to the island this day so I left the other westerners discuss with their new friends and went to look for a GH. The bus station & night market area were at that time invaded by huge rats but they were nice enough to let me go through...

PENANG Malaysia N/90days Bayan Lepas 12mi/SW. PEN Yellow city bus# 83, 66 E# A:999, M:229-3333 T:60+4 Take 24 hr ferry from RR stn across to Penang. City bus# 84/88 Jeti/Komtar up Lebul Chulia. Gen Hosp: 04-229-3333

GH: Hong Ping (Rm 2/306),Oasis across the St. Lbh Chulia. Eat: Yasmeen curry. Steamboat (Jl Rangoon) & Supertanker rest in Komtar.

Komtar,Sri Mariamman. Eastern & Oriental Htl,Farquhar St. #1 city bus on Lebul Chulia to Kek Lok Si & Penang Hill.

Super VIP buses at Komtar to Ipoh and KUL. Daily ferries to Belawan, Medan, Langkawi.

PEN/KUL 360mi/N. Buses always late, use train or SUPER VIP buses to KUL.

URL: cs.usm.my/penang_island/tourist.html


\9 Penang history

Penang gets its name from the areca nut palm (the 'pinang' palm) which grows in abundance on the island.

The 177 sq mi island of Penang, off Peninsula Malaysia's NW coast, is the oldest British settlement in Malaysia and one of the country's premier resort areas. The island's beaches are somewhat overrated but what makes the Island really tick is the vibrant and intriguing city of Georgetown (pop 400,000) on the island's NE coast. This city has more Chinese flavour than either Singapore or HKG, and in its older seem as tho the clock stopped at least 50 years ago. Georgetown is a compact city and it's a delight to wander around.

You can still see the time-worn walls of Fort Cornwallis in the centre of Georgetown where the first Briton, Capt Light, set foot in 1786 on what was then a virtually uninhabited island. He established a free port here and the stone fort was finished a few decades later. The area within the fort is now a park liberally sprinkled with cannons, many of them retrieved from local pirates. Seri Rambai, the largest and most important cannon has a chequered history dating back to 1600. It's famed for its procreative powers, and childless women are recommended to place flowers in the barrel of `the big one' and offer special prayers.

Penang has many kongsis (clan houses that operate partly as temples and partly as meeting halls for Chinese of the same clan or surname) but Khoo Kongsi is easily the finest. The original building was so magnificent and elaborate that no-one was surprised when the roof caught fire on the very night it was completed. This misfortune was taken merely as a sign that the building had been too grandiose, so a marginally less magnificent structure was built. One wonders at the opulence of the original since the present structure is a dazzling mix of dragons, statues, paintings, lamps, coloured tiles and carvings.

Penang today bears the mark of an early history of successive foreign influences - from the early Indian Civilization that took root in northern Malaya to that of the Portugese, Dutch and later the British who came to this part of the world in search of spices and stayed to participate in the lucrative trade.

The history of modern Penang can be traced back to 1786 when Francis Light managed to persuade the Sultan of Kedah to cede "Pulau Pinang" (island of the Betel nut) to the British East India Company. Light landed at the site of the present Esplanade and according to legend, fired gold coins into the surrounding jungle to induce his men to clear the area. The island was originally named Prince of Wales Island and the settlement that soon grew up was named Georgetown after King George III.

In 1832, Penang formed part of the Straits Settlement with Malacca and Singapore. It flourished and grew to be a major trading post for a lucrative trade in tea, spices, china and cloth. Penang's fortune also rose from exporting the produce of the mainland, rich with tin and cash crops. Malaya's tin-miners and rubber magnates built their opulent mansions on this island and sent their children to the schools here.

For more than a hundred years, Penang remained under British Colonial rule until 1957 when it gained independence and became one of the states of the newly formed Federation of Malaya and later Malaysia in 1963.

From the beginning, Penang attracted enterprising people from all over Asia to trade, settle, and build a city of strong civic pride and great traditions.

Slowly, over two centuries, the original Pearl of the Orient was cultivated.

In the 1700s, Penang which already had a thriving settlement of traders, was viewed as an excellent location for a harbour to repair ships damaged by storms during monsoons in the Bay of Bengal and as a source of fresh water.

In 1786, following negotiations with the Sultan of Kedah, the administration of the island was handed over to the East India Trading Company. In 1800 a strip of land on the mainland was ceded by the Sultan of Kedah and named Province Wellesley.

Penang, The Pearl Of the Orient, is the most culturally diverse East Asia holiday destination of choice today. Established as a British trading outpost in 1786, founded by Sir Francis Light. It's rapid development as a trading post soon attracted settlers from throughout the world. Today, Penang's historic capital, Georgetown, with a bustling pop of 400,000 has the largest pool of heritage architecture of any town in the region.

Penang is essentially peopled by Asia's three major groups, the Malay, Chinese and Indians. Their cultural traditions flourish and their festivals continue to be celebrated with verve. Combining the best of a modern city conveniences and a small town friendliness, Penang's beaches, hill stations and old-world atmosphere transport its visitors to an exotic and gracious past - that is why 2 million visitors continue to insist on the Penang Experience each year. So why not be one of them too?

Geography; Penang is one of the 13 states of Malaysia and is situated on the NW coast of the peninsular and bounded on the north and east by the State of Kedah, to the south by the State of Perak, and to the west by the Straits of Malacca and Sumatra. Linked by the Penang Bridge and a 24-hour ferry service, is Penang Island and Seberang Perai, mainland.

Climate; Penang has an equatorial climate which is quite uniform through the yr. The climate is warm and humid. The aver temp is 28 deg C. There are no reconisable hot or cold seasons and the mean annual rainfall of approx. 267cm is evenly distributed throughout the year, though Sep-Nov may be considered the wettest months with heavy showers. So remember to bring raincoats and umbrellas when visiting Penang.

Language; Malay (Bahasa Malaysia) is the national lang and is the medium of instruction in schools and univ. English is widely spoken and understood and is taught as the second lang. Reflecting the multiracial pop, many Asian lang and dialects are spoken. The local people also speak Mandarin and other Chinese dialects (inc Hokkien, Hakka and Cantonese), Thai, Tamil and other dialects including Telegu, Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam and Punjabi.

Chronology 1786 : Francis Light landed at Penang Island at the site of the present Esplanade. Island was named Prince of Wales originally & the town was named Georgetown after King George III. 1800 : Sultan of Kedah Provinve Wellesley was named after the Gabenor of India. 1832 : Penang formes part of the Straits Settlement with Malacca & Singapore. 1957 : Penang gained independence after a hundred years under British Colonial. It becomes one of the states of the Fed of Malaya in 1957 & later Malaysia in 1963.


\10 Penang Indian Community

The Little India of George Town, Himanshu Bhatt explores a thriving community that is a unique piece of the mosaic Not many visitors and tourists to George Town's famous Little India enclave know that the area's name was adopted by the local authorities only nine years ago.

Since 1985, the island is joined to the mainland by the Penang Bridge, one of the longest bridges in the world. Alternatively, travellers arriving from the mainland can hop onto the ferry and take a 20-minute ride across. There are also international flights that connect directly to the international airport on the island.

But whatever it is named, visitors hardly fail to sense the remarkable nostalgic charm and almost innocent simplicity of the area. And no wonder. Little India breathes a rich living history that spans over two centuries. Culture here throbs with antiquity and tradition.

The area has now become a magnet for heritage enthusiasts, international conservationists and tourists. Little India, with its intriguing inner city surroundings that comprise a copious collection of historic attractions of the colonial era such as a 19th century fort, courthouse, church, mosques, Hindu temples and Chinese clan enclaves, entices a great deal of fascination and interest.

To the hundreds of residents and workers who ply here, the area bears a simple unspoken homeliness. For the people of Little India, the charming area has always been very much a part of their lives. The dynamism of the diff trades renders a fascinating cornucopia of living activity depicting a rich, unique Malaysian culture.

Music stores blare movie songs in Hindi and Tamil next to shops bedecked with flowing silk sarees. Rows of pre-war terrace shophouses teem with seemingly everything Indian - from pottery and stainless steel cutlery to spices and sundries, from jewellery to flower garlands.

There are barbers and astrologers, millers and grocers, money changers and fruit sellers, South Indian rests and herb dealers. The sheer colour, vestige and energy make the community stand in romantic defiance against the waves of industrialisation and development that have swept through most parts of Penang over the years.

One of the most imposing landmarks in the area is the 167-year old Sri Mahamariamman Temple in Queen Street, probably better known for the scores of fluttering pigeons that flock its entrance than for the fact that it is Penang island's first Hindu temple. Tucked away at a quiet corner of Little India, the temple's ornate sculpt-ures depicting Hindu gods and mythology, and its peculiar solitude lend it an instant, poignant air of solace.

"The area is not just important for heritage," says Penang Heritage Trust secretary Khoo Salma Nasution. "It contains a special living community that should not be displaced. What we have here is an existing historic community." "We have to adopt special incentives to encourage the community to stay on, or we risk having a special part of our culture and history disappearing."

Khoo's fears are not unfounded. Some say the recent repeal of the Rent Control Act on New Year's Day 2000 offers the most critical turning point for Little India. Many worry that the rentals in the shophouses will skyrocket, leading to an exodus of tenants from the area.

Both local traders and heritage conservationists are urgently addressing the issue. The repeal threatens to disperse more than just the local economy - it may destroy an entire tradition.

But many hope that the cultural and commercial draw of the area may still prove too robust for locals to risk moving away elsewhere. Little India remains an attractive place to invest in. There is almost always a ready and lucrative market here.

However, some senior citizens, such as 73-year old Harbans Singh Kalra, are apprehensive about the ability of Little India's current crop of young traders to maintain the rigorous business standards set by earlier generations.

Kalra migrated here with his father in the 40s as a spirited 25-year old from Bangkok. They operated a business, importing and exporting betelnuts, at an office in Beach Street for many years.

"In those days, people were willing to work hard and long for good business. But times have changed. Youngsters today are different. They want instant rewards and are less willing to work hard."

Traditional herbal medicine dealer P.P. Govindan, who has operated in the area since 1962, also has a word of caution for Little India's new generation.

"Youngsters today indulge in excessive drinking and smoking. Such activities are harmful not only to the body, but also to mind and spirit," he says.

Govindan offers "Ayurvedic" medicine for various ailments from his small ground-floor shophouse premise in China Street. Many people come to him, he says, because they find modern western medicinal treatment ineffective.

"Foreign tourists and locals, including the Chinese, come for cures on ailments such as asthma, cough, hear failure, sinus, migraine and eye problems." Govindan is proud to make available an ancient science of healing to modern islanders from his old shop crammed with shelves of bottled medicines.

"Ayurvedic medicines have been used by our people for thousands of years. They contain no chemicals and do not cause side-effects," he stresses, forefinger lifted in an arresting pose of elderly wisdom.

Few of Little India's myriad personalities over the ages can match the striking character of the late Jivatram Binwani, a traditional palmist more affectionately known in the locality as "Kakaji" till his passing away last year.

Enchantingly eccentric, Kakaji used to sit in an office stacked with scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, old magazines and astrology books, on the first floor of a creaky wooden shophouse in Penang Street.

His clients, who included businessmen, housewives, lawyers and lottery seekers, were usually caught rooted to their chairs as he delivered advice in forceful, robust spurts.

"If the government is serious about preserving Little India," he once said. "It should allow more Indian stalls and hawkers along the streets. The area must have a carnival mood at all times."

"We should have more dance and music schools, fortune tellers and Ayurvedic centres. These are riches we have inherited from our forefathers."

"So long as we do not forget our culture, our roots, Little India will always be very, very special in our hearts."

The History of Little India The origin of George Town's Little India dates back to the early 19th century when, spurred by British colonialists, South Indian traders and labourers arrived in large numbers to work in Penang. Many settled near the island's port in an area built over the years into a network of streets that was to be the cradle of the inner city...

... This meticulously regimented network was among the earliest parts of George Town planned under the administration of Sir Francis Light, the English founder of Penang. The area is hence now referred to as the "Francis Light Grid" - a rectangular network bordered by Leith Street, Beach Street, Chulia Street and Pitt Street (now Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling).

Streets within the grid were pertinently named to reflect the period during which they were built. Names such as Market Street, King Street, Queen Street and Penang Street - all now form the heart of Little India - are still used today.

Heritage researcher and author Khoo Salma Nasution notes that Muslim sailors and stevedores from south India lived along parts of King Street which the Tamils call "Padavukara Tharuva" or "the Street of Boatmen".

Market Street, which now forms the heart of the Indian enclave, was called "Kadai Teru" or "Street of Shops". The British called it "Chola Place" or "Little Madras". Several other Indian communities, mainly merchants and traders, also arrived in large numbers over the years. These included the Gujaratis, Punjabis, Malayalees and Telugus.

Many of these were traders who set up their businesses within the grid, contributing to the area's throbbing cultural milieu. It was in fact very common until only a few years ago, for folks to live on the top floor of their shophouses while operating their businesses on the ground floor.

According to Khoo, who is also Penang Heritage Trust secretary, George Town was a popular stop for Indians on their way to work in Kuala Lumpur and the rubber plantations in other parts of the peninsula. Many however stayed on, contributing to the gradual establishment of a large Indian community here.

The early part of this century saw two major Indian village settlements sprouting up at Chulia Street, across the King Street junction. Veteran Tamil writer Anthony Muthu, 70, remembers the childhood days he spent at the two neighbouring villages of Kampung Yelai or "Village of Leaves" and Kampung Poyelai or "Village of Tobacco".

"During the 30s, Tamil stage dramas were regularly performed at an open area next to the villages, attracting large crowds," says Muthu, who also fondly remembers electric trams and passenger rickshaws, more popularly then known as the jin-rickshaw, towed by Chinese runners with towels on their shoulders.

The largest influx of Indians and their myriad trades occurred during the early part of the twentieth century. The area then briefly underwent a slight change during the Japanese occupation of the Second World War, when economic activities lulled a bit. The Japanese presence was very much felt in Little India. A few Japanese-owned shops were set up in China Street and King Street. The shops were novelties then. Elderly residents today still remember Japanese shopkeepers displaying dozens of small boxes filled with toys that were sold for between a quarter cent and one cent.

A gradual incursion of modern trades, albeit run by Indians, slowly seeped into the area during the next few decades, but many of the traditional enterprises remained. Spice and onion traders also featured prominently during the 40s and 50s. The streets used to be lined with rows and rows of betelnuts and spices laid out to dry in the sun.

As development set in on the island, many traders moved on to deal in other commodities while their offsprings turned to other professions.

But perhaps the most pivotal sign - in true Penang style - that the area needed to reckon with the country's rapid development came sometime in the late 70s - the narrow streets of Little India were all turned one-way.