Day 53 – Cultural Pre-port

Oct 20th

Admed Rahimi, the interport student, shared with us the ins and outs of Malaysia. The official language is Bahasa Melayu, but they also speak Chinese, Tamil and English. Malaysian heritage stems from a mix of foreign interests in the area, including Dutch, Chinese, Portuguese and Indian. Accordingly, there is an undeniable tension between groups: Malays, Chinese, Indians and indigenous Orang Asli ('Original People'). Regardless, a new Malay culture is beginning to emerge. The salem, or the clasping the hands, is the Muslim equivalent of a handshake. Symbols of bad luck are 4444, 444, 44, 4, 9413 and the color black. Signs of good luck are 8888, 888, 88, 8, 168, 668 and red or yellow. A pineapple is a sing of good fortune. He also told us to wear conservative clothing, avoid displays of affection, avoid using your left hand and there are extremely harsh penalties for littering in Kuala Lumpur. Stella, a student who lived there for three years, filled us in one the top 5 things to do and warned us about the mandatory death penalty for drug use. Apparently, a Chinese man was killed when they found drugs in a packet someone had handed him. She also recommended we take a warm layer, since drivers think passengers are perishable and need to be kept refrigerated.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was watching a Bollywood film after cultural pre-port. My “low” was walking into two separate walls while in the midst of the same conversation with Goldie.