May 15, 2005
I am in a room overlooking the Straits of Malacca, which is in the news. A third of the world’s shipping passes through here, which makes it a potential source of terrorist activity. Across the Straits is Aceh, one of the most turbulent areas of Indonesia. It’s historically true too, which is why the Portuguese, the Dutch, then the British, seized and held the city. The history is still here–the Portuguese gate and church (St. Xavier preached here and was buried here, briefly); the Dutch statehouse and church, and the British church. As was typical of the British colonies, the Chinese came and traded. One of the most charming features of Melaka is the Chinese district, which looks pretty much as it did 100 years ago.
Today was a real treat for us (at least me) because it’s the Buddha’s birthday, and in the oldest Chinese temple in town, we were able to bathe the Buddha and as a consequence, wash away our sins from the past year.
Yesterday we had a “free day”—for which I arranged a bus that took us to a rain forest near KL, which is run by the forest institute of Malaysia. It was almost like scout camp, with a large hill (500 feet up) to get us to a canopy above the forest (we could see the Petronas Twin Towers, which was the highest building in the world until recently), and like Canyon Camp, it was hot and humid (it always is in this part of the world). From the forest, we went to a waterfall and saw what the locals do on a weekend–picnic and swim in the river, and of course we joined in. Last night, we went to a Malaysian/tourist dance show, with a buffet that satisfied almost everyone in our group. Some of the dancing resembles the Chinese dancing I have seen, some the Indonesian, and some the Indian, as befits a country that prides itself on racial harmony among those three peoples.
On our bus rides, we’ve seen a a beautifully green country , which means it rains a lot, whose economy has shifted from palm oil and tin and rubber to more and more manufacturing and services. Almost half the population is in services (there’re a lot of small shops and restaurants), but a quarter is still in agriculture, compared with about 2% in the US.
It says a lot about the growth of this country that they have a national car–the proton–with a population of only 28 million.