Slightly Interesting Cambodian Facts (27) Cambodian Housemaids

There are approximately 30,000 Cambodians working legally in Malaysia.

Most of those are Cambodian women working as housemaids.

A further 1,000 maids per month are likely to be sent to Malaysia once a memorandum of understanding between the two governments is signed in a few months.

The signing of the memorandum will result in the Cambodian government lifting the ban on its citizens working in Malaysia as maids. The ban was a result of some horrific cases of Cambodian maids being abused by their employers

What Wat? Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, Malacca, Malaysia

A once a week look at wats and other places of worship within the region,

Welcome to Malaysia

"Taxi, taxi!" said the taxi-men as we stepped off the bus at Kuala Lumpur's Sentral station.

Haggling is prohibited and taxis are metered. That didn't matter though as the drivers furiously tried to negotiate prices to our hotel.

But instead we found a booth, bought a ticket and were pointed to a taxi. Simple!

Except the driver kept demanding extra ringit: passengers were included in the price of the ticket he reckoned, but bags were extra!

We ignored him, he was angry and he blew the chance of a tip.

Welcome to Malaysia!

Malaysian Food at Last

Last time we were in Malaysia we had difficulty finding Malaysian food; a religious holiday meant that most of the Muslim restaurants were closed. So we could get Chinese and Taiwanese food but not a Nasi Lemak; Japanese and Korean was available but we couldn't get a Mee Goreng and; Italian, Spanish and Thai food was everywhere but a Roti Canai was nowhere to be seen.

Thankfully it has been different this time and we've made the most of it.

Roti Canai? Grabbed at a small hole-in-the-wall kind of place along with a sweet, stretched tea and it was delicious. As was the chicken curry and yellow rice, and the Mee Goreng and  prawn Sambal. The Nasi Lemaks have been delicious as has been the Nasi Paru (Cow lung, apparently) and the Mee Jawa. A rough looking canteen turned out a superb Gado Gado and a decent Mee Goreng.

And a glutton's sampling plate of Malaysian desserts was a real success.

Schools Out!

Exams marked. Results given. Some student tears shed. (but not many)

School is now out for a month. Hooray! Malaysia beckons and we will arrive in K.L. Wednesday morning. Both looking forward to some rest and a short trip down to the Portuguese-influenced town of Malacca.

Blogging should resume (unless a few pool-side cocktails get in the way) by the end of the week.

Singapore Superior

It seems in Singapore the type of deodorant you use reveals your national identity and your country's developmental status.

Whilst travelling through rectently, I tried to purchase a crystal deodorant stone.
One pharmacy assistant's eyebrows raised.

'Oh no', she said. 'We are advanced here. We use roll-on deodorants.
You will only find those sorts of deodorants in Malaysia. We are far more developed.'

How snobby! And nevermind that the crystal works a whole lot better and is without the irritating aluminium.

Interestingly, the Thai also produces it's own crystal which, presumably in the eyes of the Singaporeans, shows their lack of development and/or class, too.

H1N1: A Lone Battle

Although the battle to control H1N1 is all but lost there are still at least some in Malaysia determined not to catch the virus. Here, the owners of a luxury car dealership require anyone entering their premises to subject themselves to a temperature scan.

That’s probably not going to gain them any extra business but it’s one less reason for employees to call in a ‘sickie.’

Born Muslim

In Malaysia a young woman will soon be thrashed with a cane. Found by Malaysia’s morality police drinking a beer in a hotel bar, she was sentenced by the Islamic Sharia court to 6 strokes of the cane. Earlier this year Malaysian Muslims were initially banned- the decision was reversed- from attending a Black Eyed Peas rock concert.

Last year a Kelantan state council issued a directive seeking to discourage Muslim women from wearing make-up, loose-fitting blouses and high-heels. In a number of other states couples found to be sitting too close together or holding hands are prosecuted and fined for providing distractions to the ‘Islamic way.’

Non-Muslim Malaysians- they constitute about 45% of the population- can drink beer. Non-Muslim Malaysians can attend rock concerts. And non-Muslim Malaysians can dress much as they please, sit next to each other and hold hands.

Such freedom is surely attractive to at least some Malaysian Muslims and the temptation to leave the faith must be strong. But leaving Islam is all but impossible; a child born into the faith is automatically considered Muslim and their religious affiliation is noted on their national I.D. card, which is issued to every citizen upon reaching the age of twelve. To change this status a Muslim must apply to an Islamic court. These courts aren’t big on allowing people to leave their faith; they have yet to allow a single Malaysian Muslim to depart from the faith. Recourse to a civil court is not allowed.

So if they wish to change their faith; choose to have no faith; dress with freedom; hold hands in public; or simply have an icy-cold beer on a hot and humid day; they cannot. If a Malaysian is born into an Islamic family they are, from birth until death, considered by law to be Muslim. They are all but owned by Islam.

Jailhouse Art

On a recent visit to Malaysia I photographed some of the paintings on the exterior walls of the now closed Pudu Jail in Kuala Lumpur.

The murals, for which he won an award, were painted by former inmate Khong Yen Chong in the early 1980's, They extend for 260 metres around the compound and used 2000 litres of paint.

It is quite something to look at however, some muslim locals thought it curious that I was photographing a prison wall!














The entrance to the prison features another painted wall that is more in keeping with the environment. This projects the severe consequences of drug trafficking in Malaysia, in both English and Bahasa Malaysia. These consequences are, of course still the same in Malaysia today.

Sadly some don't learn the harsh sentences handed out to drug-couriers in most Southeast Asian countries; an Australian has just been sentenced to life after being caught at Bangkok's airport with a quantity of heroin strapped to his body.

English in Malaysia

For more than two years there has been intense debate within Malaysia about the place of English within the education system. Up until very recently it was government policy that the subjects of science and maths be taught in English; this policy was put into place because of concerns that English language skills were largely deficient and this was for some part holding the development of the country back.

However, many Malaysians complained that all that was happening was that standards in maths and science were now falling. Most of these complaints were from the majority Malay population rather than from those of Chinese and Indian descent whose superior English skills ensured that they also did well in science and maths. And the reason for this superiority; who knows? But being that we all share the same potential for learning it would be a good bet that the Chinese and Indians have a higher regard for education and simply work harder. That this is so is borne out by the fact that most of the top students at high school and university come from the minority populations of the Chinese and to a lesser extent, the Indians.

In the meantime science and maths will now be taught in the national Malay language, Bahasa Malaysia, with the instruction of English to be increased by 70%. Those decisions may well improve English, maths and science skills but I would be amazed if it narrows the gap in achievement between the Malay and the Chinese and Indian minorities. That requires a change in attitude and hard work.