Malaysia sojourn

I have been in Kuala Lumpur for the last two weeks. This is my first visit to Malaysia and being on a business trip, my experiences have been limited to car trips, offices, food courts and a few shopping malls. What I could make out of car windows is that Malaysia is an amazingly beautiful country. It is far less crowded than its neighbors and therefore has a bounty of lush green open spaces; beautiful seas, and misty mountains.

Malaysia is the place where people usually begin their day with Nasi Lemak for breakfast (that’s coconut rice with beef/ mutton/ chicken curry). And the good mood usually stays throughout the day. Most people know English decently well (unlike Singapore where conversing in English may sometimes be challenging). And despite their traditional attire, Malay women seem to constitute much of the workforce- at all levels. There’s a lot of similarities with USA- huge open spaces, highways, car culture. Every sentence ends with a sweet “La”.

And the infrastructure is well beyond what Indian cities can achieve in the next twenty years. Every road is clean without a spot. And though traffic jams are common in the city center, affordable AC taxi rides make it more bearable. And yes, you can also get Mecca Cola in Malaysia.

I will be spending many more weeks in Malaysia; more on this country later.