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Detailed travelogue on visiting the remotest inhabited islands in the world (Tristan da Cunha and St Helena), also South Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia. Very interested read, and indexed.
Remotest Islands in the World St Helena, Tristan da Cunha + S. Africa, Malaysia, mor
Larry2006-05-27 03:20:07
Displayed times (last time: )
time to
head for the gate, and soon I was being herded into a secured area with
everyone else waiting for the red-eye flight.
A few misc. things: the ambulances in KL are silent, with their sirens
turned off... the national language of the country is Bahasa Malaysia
(Malay), and many words seem to have been borrowed from English... the
sidewalks of KL aren't always smooth, but it's still a very walkable city --
though the traffic can be horrible... the local Chinese and Indian
population speak English (plus Malay and their own language as well) much
better than most Malays... and people jaywalk everywhere, even where
pedestrian overpasses have been built.
While efforts are sometimes made to bring the three major ethnic groups
in Malaysia (Malay, Chinese, Indian) together, one can sense tension beneath
the surface, and people tend to stay in groups of their own kind. There is
a rigid affirmative-action program in effect in the country guaranteeing
native Malays certain jobs and barring Chinese, Indian, and other non-Malays
from applying for them (in the paper, the available-jobs notices will often
mention if only a native Malay will be considered for the position).
Political power and policy is definitely set by (and for) native Malays,
though economic power is held mostly by the country's Chinese (non-Malays
are excluded from much of the political system, meaning many Chinese and
Indians have become entrepaneurs). There seems to be a sometimes-spoken,
sometimes-unspoken jealously between Malays and their more affluent
Chinese-Malaysian neighbors, and the politics of race and affirmative action
is a touchy subject in the country.
Recently, when the Election Appeals Committee of Siqiu (a
Malaysian-Chinese organization) commented that the special favoritism
granted native Malays should end, an uproar soon followed
...
See photographs from:
Indonesia Gallery
,
Malaysia Gallery
,
Singapore Gallery
,
South Africa Gallery
