Malaysia Today: Year 2001
=========================

Yokelin and I spent 10 days in January in Penang and Kuala Lumpur on the
way home from England to Sydney.  While she has been back in Malaysia
quite often in the last 10 years, I have not been there since 1991
when my mother died.  

A digression about my mother if you do not mind.  She was from the
Penang peranakan community (incidentally, so was my father), with the
most endearing superstitions that puzzled me for a long time until I
read more deeply into the history of South-east Asia.  She believed in
"datuks", not the kind that Sultans create these days, but the kindly
spirits of the deceased, usually old wise Malay men.  She also believed in
animistic spirits that inhabit trees, padangs (fields), etc., so that when
my brothers and I were little boys and had to go pee in the bush, she made
us ask the tree datuk for permission first.  She also subscribed to an
impressive list of "pantangs" (taboos, prohibitions, etc.) in pregnancies,
marriages, births, etc.  I remember she consulted the bidans (midwives)
who knew the details of these pantangs after the births of my younger
sisters.  It transpired from my readings that much of these are Malay
beliefs, which is perfectly understandable since the peranakan womenfolk
were originally Malay.  But these are really Hindu superstitions.  Why,
and how?  Well, if you recall what you had to learn about two great
empires, the Majapahit and the Sri Vijaya, these were Indian empires
which controlled South-east Asia for centuries long before the coming of
the western powers.  The Indian (Sanskrit) influence is so profound in
South-east Asia that much of it passes unnoticed.  I only recently realised
this myself when I became close friends with Indians in Australia who
had studied Sanskrit.  They had no difficulty in understanding these
names and phrases that I had thought were just standard Johor Malay:
"Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda", "Perdana Menteri", "Ankasapuri", 
"Bendahara".  All are Sanskrit!  Here is a rule: take any high-falutin'
Johor Malay phrase, and it is Sanskrit in origin.  The analogy to what
happened in Europe is striking: Latin/Greek is to any Modern European
Language as Sanskrit is to Malay or Thai.  What is even more amazing
is that Sanskrit and classical Greek are cousins in the Indo-European
family of languages.  The world is a lot smaller than we thought!
Indeed, I only learned 5 years ago from a book on Buddhism that the
Emperor Ashoka, who became a devout Buddhist after he achieved ascendancy
over India by brutal conquest, was a grandson of Chandragupta and his
Greek wife.  This wife was a daughter of one of Alexander the Great's
generals.  The effect of the Greek conquest of northern India was to
introduce Hellenic art forms into Hindu and Buddhist sculpture.

Malaysia is no longer the country of my youth, and not much of what
I was comfortable with when I worked there as a young engineer in the
late 60's has survived.  I grew up in Kuala Lumpur, but these days I get
lost in KL rather easily and am not game to drive in it.  However, I
still have many good friends there, and there is an emotional pull that
Malaysia still exerts on me.  Here is a funny test that a not too bright
British politician suggested to test the loyalty of the Pakistani
migrants to England: "when Pakistan plays England in a cricket test, for
whom will you cheer ("root" for my American friends, big laughs about
this Yank alternative for Aussies)?"  OK, OK, so let's apply this
cricket criterion to me, but substitute badminton for it.  For whom
would I cheer if Malaysia were to play Australia in badminton?  Answer:
I could not bear to watch, it would break my heart! 

I went up to Penang to have a look around.  One thing that has not
changed is the density of motorcyclists.  A few minutes after
crossing over to Penang on the impressive (Korean-built) bridge
that now connects it to the mainland, I had to navigate through the
city to get to Tanjung Bunga where my brother Victor had lent me his
timeshare to enjoy.  At every traffic signal, the most itimidating
hordes of motocyclists would converge like noisy warriors ready to do
battle with cars.  Literally, they constituted two-wheeled phalanxes of
reckless kamikazis, and heaven help drivers like me used to some modicum
of civilised restraint.  But as days passed, Gresham's Law took effect.
You surely recall it -- "bad money drives out good money", meaning that
good counterfeits will circulate in place of the real thing.  Likewise,
I was soon driving as inconsiderately and recklessly as the locals, who
in turn had to drive like that because otherwise only the motorcyclists
would inherit the roads.  The BIG change for me in Penang is not the real
estate developments, many though there were.  It is this: the quality of
food has declined awfully, and their prices are paradoxically way up.
BIG TRAGEDY!  I had so looked forward to satiating my gluttony there,
but instead my karma was rescued from this sin by my disappointment.
I was told later that all the good hawkers had gone to KL, and in any
case the thrifty populace of Penang were not prepared to give in to
the inflation caused by their industrialization.  They stayed home to
enjoy their own peranakan cuisine, leaving the ersatz stuff to us
unwitting victims who wander into Gurney Drive without knowing better.
There was another feature that cried out for explanation.  Roads leading
to Tanjung Bunga seemed to be undergoing haphazzard repair, and in
sections that seemed to be unconnected and arbitrary.  Moreover, some had
the appearance of repairs that were not only incomplete, but ABANDONNED! I
asked around, and sure enough some locals confirmed that the "repairs" had
been starting and stopping for months and years in some locations.  Why?
I was given to understand that there is no uniform tendering system for
such repairs, and the under-capitalization of small contractors means
that often they go broke before the job is finished.

Our younger son Lyndon had preceded us to Malaysia by a few days, using
up his mom's frequent flyer points that had threatenned to expire a few
months back.  He was accompanied by his girl-friend Shelley, a lovely
Irish Australian lass.  A wonderful happening for me in this trip is the
new "phon" that I have acquired in their eyes.  "Phon" is an Ouriya (the
language of the Indian province of Ourisha) word derived from the
hissing sound of the cobra just before it strikes, and it means the awe
that is induced in spectators by one's alleged reputation, appearance,
or similar attribute.  In my case, my increased "phon" was due to a
number of incidents in which I seemed to be nonchalantly connected
with persons of great power, prestige or privilege in Malaysia.  Here
are examples.  In Penang, I happened to notice that Dr Koh Tsu Khoon is
the Chief Minister, and I drew Yokelin's attention to his portrait in
the hotel that proclaimed this.  We both knew him from our days in Ann
Arbor when he was a graduate student like us (he was in Chicago, but he
visited frequently).  Lyndon and Shelley were impressed.  Then in KL
when we visited the Royal Selangor Pewter showroom, I chatted with Datin
Chen (the CEO and grand-daughter of the founder), exchanging news about
mutual friends from high school.  More "phon" accrued to my aura!  Then
L and S discovered that the CEO of Telekom Malaysia, Ir Radzi Mansor, also
like Datin Chen my senior in high school, hosted me to lunch at the KL
Tower.  And later, Dr Hong Hai, the economist responsible for Singapore's
system of bidding for certificates to buy cars, and Dr Fong Chan Onn, 
Malaysia's Minister of Human Resources, had late supper with me.  Both
were my college mates.  Add to all these the following school buddies 
whom I met at some length: Prof Dr Zaidee Laidin, President of the IEM;  
Ir S.Baskaran, Director of Zaidun-Leeng; Dr Junid Saham, Management 
Consultant; Prof Dr K. Arinchandran of the NTU; Ir T. Tharman, Software
ands Communications Consultant.

I am of course grateful to the gods for my good fortune in basking in
the reflected glory of my friends.  But, seriously, there is a simple
explanation for it.  My generation was very privileged.  Around the time
I graduated from college there was not much competition to fill the
junior ranks of industry, commerce, government and universities in
Malaysia and Singapore.  Once we filled them, by dint of seniority we
rose to the top positions in due course (I opted out of the system by
choosing to pursue my career overseas).  There is no surprise in this,
nor is there any justification for self-congratulation.  I beg of you
this small favor!  Do not reveal to Lyndon and Shelley my confession --
permit me to enjoy this "phon" before them for a while until they
wise up to the natural inevitability of what they now mistakenly 
perceive to be the result of raw gift and talent :-).  Sadly, today
times are much harder for their generation.
 
There is irony in this too.  Among my cohorts in high school were two
enormously talented girls -- Rafidah Aziz and Marina Yusoff.  Marina and
I worked together in the editorial board of the school newspaper, the 
Seladang.  Rafidah was a keen debater I had faced sometimes.  They are
now on opposite sides of politics in Malaysia.  Rafidah is the Minister
of International Trade, while Marina is in Keadilan, the opposition
party headed by Wan Azizah, the opthalmologist wife of jailed ex-deputy
PM Anwar Ibrahim.  I often wonder whether they sometimes think wistfully
back to a more innocent and happier time when they were schoolmates.
I treasure my memories of times with my friends, and if I had to face
them as opponents in politics it would wrench my soul.  I am grateful
I am not in that game.

As a measure of how unrecognizable KL has become, the hill on which KL
Tower (Radzi is boss of the outfit that owns it!) sits also hosted the
house where Zaidee lived.  My classmates and I used to bike often to his
house, but it is now safe to confess that his charming sisters were
a major attraction for the visits.  (Today, riding a bicycle in KL is an
act of suicidal bravado.)  Well, all those lovely houses are no more.
The real estate became too valuable for the government to maintain as
"quarters" for its civil servants.  Across that hill is Bukit Nanas,
the home of two distinguished Catholic high schools, St Johns (boys)
and the Convent (girls).  The Convent was the Alma Mater of my paternal
grandmother and my grandaunts, and also of Yokelin.  If you sense its
historic dimension, you are correct.  Many of Malaysia's high-achieving
women were from there.  Likewise, St Johns produced some of Malaysia's
finest sons.  Now, coming from me, an old Victorian, this has to be
some concession!  I have a suspicion that Bukit Nanas has been saved
from the fate of many other hills simply by the fact that its alumni
are both sentimental and influential.

Outside of major cities like KL, not a lot has happened in years.  After
driving through a few small towns, I can just imagine that my buddy
Poolo who now lives in Melbourne can go back to his hometown Segamat in
the state of Johor and he would recognize 90% of it even after having
left it over 40 years ago.  This unbalanced development seems to be
common to the second world.  I must remember to ask my sociologist
friends for an explanation.
 
The politics of Malaysia is, as I had also observed about Greece, based
on patronage.  There is a superficiality of democracy.  Scratch below
that and you find a compromised judiciary, a muzzled press, and a
compliant business community.  If you do not rock the boat, you will do
fine.  But if you worry about the under-privileged, and you make noise
about inequity, several things will happen.  First, whatever your ethnic
group, you will be accused of "stirring up racial passions".  Then you
will find that your employers become nervous that you are on their
payroll.  Or, if you run a business, the contracts dry up.  Next, your
income tax returns from past years are audited.  You get the drift.
These things used to be very effective, but are much less so today.  The
main reason is that the "play the Malays against the Chinese, or vice
versa" game is now so transparent that only the most obtuse cannot see
through it.  I don't know how Malaysia will evolve into a modern
democracy, but it will in the course of time.  Its neighbor Singapore,
by the way, is no democracy either.  The three things you find below the
surface in Malaysia, you will find in Singapore too.  Income disparity
and the distortion of power that it entails are just as bad as in
Malaysia.  Its government invented a marvellous weapon to silence its
critics -- it sues them for defamation and invariably wins in the courts
of Singapore, thus bankrupting these foolhardy spirits.  If I lived
there, I would be a natural coward.  But Singapore too will evolve into 
a true democracy.  When the Malaysians and Singpaoreans fulfill this 
ancient Athenian dream, I am going to get so smashed in my celebration
that you will be embarrassed to admit you ever knew me!