A Day in Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia - August 08, 2006
The stunning Petronas Twin Towers.Our time in Malaysia has unfortunately become more of a quick stopover as we continue our transit to Thailand from Singapore. We spent the day in Malaysia's largest city and capital, Kuala Lumpur.
The immediate impression that hits you arriving into Kuala Lumpur is that this city is ready for something big. I did not discover until after visiting that the country actually has a set of written goals to become a first-world nation by 2020, as well as developing Kuala Lumpur into a "World-Class City."
The physical landscape of KL has changed drastically in the last 15-20 years with the emergence of numerous mega-projects including the Petronas Twin Towers, once the tallest building(s) in the world. The towers were quite possibly the most beautiful structures both of us have ever seen, inside and out. Inspiration for the design of the towers came from motifs found in Islamic art, a reflection of Malaysia's Muslim heritage (By constitutional definition, all Malays are Muslim).
During our visit to the Petronas Towers we saw many tourists from all over the world. Coming from America where dress codes are nearly nonexistent (outside of a boarding school) it was a bit of a shock to see the clothing worn by many of the visiting middle eastern women. Even in the incredibly hot and humid weather, many of the Arab women wore black chadors that hid all but their eyes. The chadors had no hand openings or closures. The garments themselves attracted a bit of attention, but not nearly to the degree of the contrasting oddity of seeing the nonexistent dress code of their accompanying men (ie. Tshirts, shorts and sandals) in the same setting. It was honestly a lot to take in, and I felt as if I had been teleported backward several hundred years back in history (minus the fact that Starbucks and 7-11 probably weren't around). Speaking of 7-11, they are absolutely everywhere...possibly even around the same magnitude as McDonalds. Who knew they were such a global force in the quickie mart industry?!
We'll continue our journey tonight towards the border Thailand, where we'll then settle in Hat Yai for a few days in order to try and find and purchase used motorcycles for our trek through SE Asia.
barry said...G'day Guys, Interesting site - but the photo entitled "A Muslim Couple Enjoying a Snack" does not show a Malay couple, but a tourist couple from the Middle East. Very Few Malay women wear black headscarfs and almost none the chador. They tend to wear long colouful "tent" dresses and a coloured headscarf. Many wear jeans and a long sleeved blouse plus the headscarf.Depending upon the material these are quite cool and no where near as restrictive as the chador.
Debi said...What Barry said is true. Most Malay women wear colourful dresses with matching headscarves. Malay women don't always cover their heads--it's up to the individual. Malaysia has been trying to increase tourism by advertising in the Middle East. The couple in the picture is Middle Eastern.
Sze Fei said...Hi! Nice site you've got here. Being Malaysian, I'm a bit surprised that you mention that many women wear black chadors. The fact is that most Malaysian Muslims usually only don the "tudung" or headscarf, and they come in a variety of colors. I hope to clear a misconception some people may have of Malaysia. The people of Malaysia are called Malaysians and Malays are the predominant race. There are also Chinese, Indian and other races living in Malaysia.
Lee said...Thank you all for your insightful comments. Part of the purpose of this site is to educate others and we really appreciate you all taking the time to clarify the information regarding the dress and the culture. We apologize for any misinformation this specific blog may have brought or misjudgements may have been made. A more appropriate title for this blog might be "Naive Traveler's Observations From One Day in Kuala Lumpur." But, the only reason for this misconception was only due to the fact that every one of the 30-35 women sighted wearing a chador was covered head to toe...making it rather difficult to make a clear assessment on the race or ethnicity. At any rate, this is just more of a reminder to us to continue to gather as much data as possible before a blog is posted for "all" to see :) Cheers, Lee
said...the picture in ur page is actually an Arab not a Malaysian
azka said...if u looking for malay poeple culture, u can go east coast penisular malaysia (pantai timur) like 'kelantan or terengganu' for looking variety/pure malay culture and amazing place..
Marina said...Yep, the couple is definitely Middle Eastern, no doubt about it. They are NOT Malysians.
laFemme said...yep I'm from the middle east and can probably vouch for that (they're not Malaysian), they even look like they're from the Gulf region to be precise. By the way if you see the husband wearing shorts and T-shirt while she's wearing an Abaya (you called it chador) it most probably means that she's more religious/conservative than him (I know many women who are), unlike the many misconceptions by the west thinking that he probably forced her to do that and that she has no brain whatsoever.
Hall said...1. The spelling of Kuala Lumpur incorrect. It's U not A. 2. Those women in black chadors are Arabs. 3. Although Islam is the official religion and Malays are the dominant race in our country, Malaysia is NOT a Muslim country.