kuala lumpur

I'm back in Kuala Lumpur, and have been for a couple of days. The flight back from Brunei was smooth and without any problems.

Yesterday I took it pretty easy but did walk over to the Dartaran Merdeka (Independence Square) in the afternoon to see the old British colonial buildings, which are built in a mixture of Tudor, Victorian, and Moorish styles. The Sultan Abdul Samad Building is gorgeous. Once the home of the British Secretariat it is now Malaysia's Supreme Court (which is why I saw so many barristers in robes wandering around). I also went to the Central Market and looked around for a while, perhaps because it was so hot and the indoor space was so well air-conditioned. They've got some nice tourist fare on display.

Today I've been to the National History Museum. Admittedly I'm sick to death of museums, but the visit was very useful and important in giving me some orientation on recent Malay history, politics, geography, and religion, and it was really worth going.

Ever wondered why Malaysia used to be called Malaya, and why that changed? Until 1963 what we know today as West Malaysia was called Malaya. The name changed because in 1963 Malaya's recently independent political leaders agreed to unite as one with Sarawak (at that time South British Borneo), Sabah (at that time North British Borneo), and Singapore, all becoming one big new country. The new country needed a new name and Malaya was altered to Malaysia, the 'si' slotted in to stand for Singapore. Things didn't work out of course, Singapore was kicked out of the union two years later after much arguing and disappointment, but Malaya, Sarawak, and Sabah are all still happily together under the name of Malaysia.

I also learnt that Malaya (as it then was) became independent from the British in 1957, that Islam was introduced by Arabian traders five hundred years ago, and that there are nine sultans of West Malaysia (one from each state) who take it in turns on rotation to be the constitutional king and head of state (they rule alternately in five year terms). The position of King operates in much the same way as in the UK, and the Malaysian Parliament positioned below is very similar in style and form to ours too (a colonial legacy I suppose).

Once I'd finished my lesson at the museum I caught the Putra LRT over to the Petronas Twin Towers, the most famous building in the country, and a national icon. The towers are currently the tallest twin towers in the world, and lay claim to being the world's tallest high rise of the twentieth century. They are spectacular to behold. I arrived too late to go up to the viewing deck, and plan to go back first thing in the morning.

After this I went to, and up, another extremely tall building: the Menara Kuala Lumpur, a communications tower four hundred and twenty one metres high (one thousand three hundred and eighty one feet) which like the Petronas Towers was built in the 1990s. I sat on a bench at the top looking out over the sky line for quite a while and took some photographs of Kuala Lumpur. I watched a thunder storm come and go, a toddler have a tantrum, and had a chat with the woman in the gift shop about the location of the official residence of the Malaysian Prime Minister.

I've been staying at the Backpackers Travellers Inn since I arrived back. They've been very kind in dealing with the back log of misery and chaos that was my dirty washing (couldn't afford to get it done in Brunei and had to keep holding on and on and on).

I'm about to go for a wander around China Town for something to eat, and I may pop in to the Reggae Bar for a Carlsberg. I ought to pop in: it's Wednesday night, that's reggae night.

Full name: Federation of Malaysia
Population: 25.3 million (UN, 2005)
Capital: Kuala Lumpur
Area: 329,847 sq km (127,355 sq miles)
Major languages: Malay (official), English, Chinese dialects, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam
Major religions: Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism
Life expectancy: 71 years (men), 75 years (women)
Monetary unit: 1 ringgit = 100 sen
Main exports: Electronic equipment, petroleum and liquefied natural gas, chemicals, palm oil, wood and wood products, rubber, textiles
GNI per capita: US $4,960 (World Bank, 2006)
Internet domain: .my
International dialling code: +60