KUALA LUMPU, MALASIA

 March 18, 2023

Weather: low 90s, partly cloudy, humid and smoggy


Malaysia was constituted in 1965 after they expelled Singapore (too many Chinese on the island).  It now consists of the Malaya peninsula and parts of Northwestern Borneo and Sarawak.  It is a constitutional monarchy with three branches of government similar to ours.   In 1994 the elected King was relegated to figurehead status and the Prime Minister, Cabinet and Legislature became the power centers.   The population is roughly 65% Muslim, 15% Chinese, 10% Indian and 10% everything else.   The people mostly live in high-rise apartments, but there are still some two-story residences mixed in.  


The professor who gave us a history lesson on Malaysia named his lecture “Amok” (like running amok).   Over their short history as an independent country they have had to endure a lot of corruption, leadership turnover and infighting.   It’s interesting to compare the recent history of Malaysia (fits and starts) with Singapore (stable and prosperous).   Bet the Malaysians wishes they hadn’t booted Singapore out of the Federation in 1965 and Singapore is glad they did.  


That said the Malaysian economy has grown steadily over the last 30 years and poverty has declined significantly.   The biggest drivers of their economy are electronics, petroleum, agriculture and tourism in that order.  


We visited Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital.   It is about an hour and half drive from the port where we docked—LOTS of traffic but it moves well.   It is a large city with a population of about 2 million.   We visited the Blue Mosque, a war memorial park, an observation deck high above the city with a panoramic view, and an artist center that specializes in batik clothing.   We had lunch in a local hotel that offered an extravagant buffet of Malaysian, Indian, and Chinese dishes.  Like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur has striking modern architecture intermingled with buildings from the British colonial period.   



Blue Mosque..capacity 24,000 worshipers.   Second largest mosque in SE Asia

                                                

                                                Dome of Blue Mosque



War Memorial by same artist who did the Iwo Jima statue in Washington DC


                                    


                                            Kuala Lumpur's first Mosque


     Observation needle on the right is where we saw panorama views of the city

 

                   Buildings with plant growth on balconies help absorb pollution

 
                      

One of the panorama views from the observation needle

                                              Another view from the needle


                                  One of the most distinctive buildings in KL


Petronas twin towers are the tallest twin towers in the world (88 stories).  Each tower was built by a different contractor from different countries.   The bridge connecting the two towers near the top offers a fire escape for each.   We noticed other buildings with that design feature. 





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BARCELONA, SPAIN

Image
April 30, 2023 Partly cloudy, high 68 deg F Barcelona is one of our favorite cities in the world.   It is a very walkable city with distinct neighborhoods such as the Old Town where Picasso’s museum and former residence is located, Gothic Quarter, an extensive beach and harbor area and the modern area where Gaudi’s basilica, La Sagrada Familia, is located.   Barcelona has some of the most striking architecture in the world. It is the Capital of the community of Catalonia, a part of Spain that has a distinct culture.   Many Catalonians speak their own language - Catalan - that some say sounds like a combination of French and Spanish. We have had the good fortune to visit Barcelona twice before.   We decided to go on our own in the morning and walked about a mile each way on the street called La Rambla in the Gothic Quarter.   It is a favorite for tourists and locals alike with shops, hotels, restaurants lining both sides of a fairly wide treelined walkway.   In the afternoon we toured L
Read more

END OF JOURNEY - FRANCE AND ENGLAND

Image
May 6 through May 8, 2023 Overcast and in the 60s Well all good things must come to an end.   Rich caught a cold and we decided not to do the 10 hour tour of Normandy from LaHavre France.    We really wanted to see the WWII Memorial and the beaches where the Allies landed and turned the tide of the war, but we’re sure our fellow guests wouldn’t have liked a 2 hour - each way - bus ride with Rich hacking away.      Our next stop was Dover England on Sunday and we took a tour of Canterbury, the town that has so many stories to tell.   Romans built the town around 200 AD and later abandoned it.   In the late 6th century, the King of the region where Canterbury is located converted to Christianity and supported the building of the first cathedral in Canterbury.   It became one of the most important centers of Christian religion outside of Rome.   In 1174 Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in the cathedral.  For his followers Canterbury became the most important destination for pilgrims
Read more

COSTA RICA

Image
 December 31, 2022 Our ship docked in Puntarenas, the primary port city on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. Costa Rica is a small country, about the size of Switzerland with a population of about 5.2 million people.  It has a long standing and stable democracy and according to the World Happiness Report is the 12th happiest nation in the world!  Costa Rica abolished their military in 1949 and is one of a few countries in the world that doesn't have a standing army. A bus took us from Puntarenas up, up into a rain forest in near-by mountains where a guide led us on a walk through the forest(jungle) and across hanging bridges, one of which was said to be the longest in Costa Rica.   We lucked out with the weather as it was mostly sunny.   Most days rain, drizzle or mist is the order of the day.  We saw howler monkeys, beautiful birds, a mean-looking tarantula and lush vegetation of all kinds.   After the walk we boarded a tram that took us higher into the mountains where we could loo
Read more