(28 November 1998 ) A Malaysian Journal: Jackie / Merlihat Malaysia / vol. 09 Brands and Holidays Merlihat Malaysia (Observing Malaysia) vol. 09 Brands and Holidays [(C) Copyright 1998, J. Snell, San Jose State University & Universiti Putra ] [Malaysia. This is a continuing series of notes about our experiences living &] [working in Malaysia, during Jackie's 10-month Fullbright Fellowship to the ] [Universiti Putra Malaysia, just outside Kuala Lumpur. Copies may be freely ] [distributed, but must retain this preamble. Anyone wishing to be added to the] [distribution list, or removed from it, should send me a note. /Jackie ] [ ] Dear Friends, Nancie asked about what brands do we have here that she would recognize. The answer is "many". No one will be surprised to hear that American fast foods have made large inroads. McD and Pizza Hut are as common here as in the US. KFC, Kenny Rogers, A&W and Mary Brown (is that American?) are MORE successful here than in the US. Especially KFC, they are everywhere, as common as McD. Famous Amos cookies are everywhere, come to think of it I'm not sure if I've seen a Mrs. Fields in KL, but there are quite a few Hagan Dasz stores, Star Bucks recently opened in KL and has I think 7 stores in Singapore. The upscale shopping centers in KL and Singapura have all the chic US and European stores: Guess, Esprit, Armani, Marks & Spencer, Body Shop, and on and on, and Tower Records. In our immediate area, that is, the poor side of town, we have lots of KFC's and McD's, even a 7-11. Our closest shopping center also has a Bud's ice cream store, and a Dairy King, but aside from fast foods, doesn't have anything that I think you would recognize. There are a couple of TGIFriday's in the yuppie areas. In the grocery stores Nestle and Cadbury are very big. Most people here prefer Nescafe premixed w/sugar and creamer to brewed coffee. I usually order tea so that I don't get instant coffee. In the hotel in Sarawak we had a coffee pot and Nescafe in the room, but when we ordered coffee by room service they delivered a pot of Nescafe! Most things you are used to buying in a drug store can be found here - except anything made w/alcohol and tampons. Mouthwash, of course, cannot have alcohol, but also things that are only externally applied, like antiseptics and even perfume. I'm used to using rubbing alcohol as an antiseptic and even on mosquito bites, but brought only a small bottle. Of course there are substitutes... methylated something or other. In fact nearly every chain here you would recognize, except... One of our favorite restaurants I think is a chain. It is called Legends and is a traditional S. Indian banana-leaf restaurant, but cleaner and lighter, and even air-conditioned. Dave has mentioned it in his notes before as the cheapest place we eat regularly. It is very difficult to spend more than $3 USD for both of us for lunch or dinner. They serve on real banana leaves, which are large enough that you don't need a whole one to serve as a plate. It all looks very informal, tables are shared, and S. Indians eat with their fingers, as do Malays, but there are rules. Since the banana leaves are cut in half, some people get rectangular pieces, and some get a point on one end. The guest of honor (not applicable in our restaurant!) is supposed to get a pointed one, and the point goes to the left, so that the food is on the right for your right hand. We usually ask for silverware, but I've started using my fingers for 2 reasons. One is the staff seems to like it when we go local, and the other is that they do wash and reuse the leaves and I noticed if I try to cut my fish or chicken with a fork (like other restaurants here they give you a fork and a spoon rather than a knife and fork) it cuts the banana leaf, so they can't reuse it. When you finish, you fold your banana leaf over so your garbage doesn't show. Most restaurants here have sinks somewhere in the dining room, or just off, so you can wash your hands before and after eating. The Indians appear to think that the more you mush the food around with your fingers the better, they knead and knead and knead before putting it in their mouths. They tell us the food actually tastes different, and better, than eating with forks. For lunch Legends doesn't serve by menu, but servers come around with a large bowl of rice, which they keep scooping out 'til you say stop, and 3 other dishes that vary, usually one is a thick dal, often one is a cucumber salad, plus some other spicy vegetable and they give you a couple of soup-spoonsful of each. Then they come around with a server that has 3 bins of sauces for the rice, which are always the same. One is a thinner dal, one is called fish curry and one is called chicken curry. I say "called" because there isn't any chicken or fish in it, just sauce, but they are very tasty. You can get refills of any of those, and I don't think it costs extra. Then they come around with trays of fried fish and chicken, which you pay for by the piece. I don't know how much the basic meal costs, I only know it is less than 75 US cents each because the mango lassi is 2.5 RM (about 65 cents), so we once figured out about half the price of our meal was the drinks. At dinner they have a menu, I think we've described the dosa in another newsletter, which Dave always orders, but I want to try everything before we leave. If you have been reading about the APEC summit, it's happening just about in our back yard. One of the things that is different around here is the juxtaposition of rich & poor. KL definitely has some rich and some poor neighborhoods, but you also see mansions right next door to shacks. The Palace of the Golden Horses is having many of the official APEC meetings, as well as several other hotels out here near Cyberjaya. Palace of the Golden Horses is a very lavish 5 star hotel. Malaysian's are very proud of it and will tell you all the famous people that have stayed there, e.g. Queen Elizabeth. It is very ostentatious, but I kind of like it from the outside, even though it has more minarets than all of Saudi Arabia. On the inside I think it's kind of tacky, they've made stuff cheaply in order to make it BIG. I like it's sister hotel, across a manmade lake, and one rung down on the posh scale, which is semi-traditional architecture and much more tasteful and "real". Holidays. You never know when they are coming around here. Well, SOME of them are scheduled in advance. I've already been warned that not much work happens around here from the beginning of Ramadan through Chinese new Year. This year Ramadan starts about a week before Christmas. During Ramadan Muslims must fast during daylight. So they get up early to eat a big meal before daybreak, and there's lots of eating all evening long, and the women cook nearly all night long. At the end of Ramadan is Hari Raya, a big feasting day, as well as visiting. Other holidays aren't so predictable. Near the end of the Commonwealth games, which was around the end of September, Mahathir said he might call a holiday because of how successful MY's athletes had been in the games. On Saturday (we work ½ days on Sat.) some people were saying we might not have work on Monday, and others were saying, no Monday was still games, we might not have work on Tuesday. I just kept asking "When will we know? How will we know?" I had meetings scheduled and had to make back-up plans in case we didn't have work that day. In fact, he called the following Monday a holiday, so people got a 2 day weekend. In October we also got an extra holiday, I learned of it about a week ahead, others knew a bit longer. The Sultan of Selangor called a holiday because his wife was being made Tungu. The sultan is in his 80's, his wife is in her 20's and was a commoner. Tungu made her officially royalty. People chuckle a little about their difference in ages, but say he had to get married for official duties because his last wife died. Muslims are allowed up to 4 wives at a time, but having more than one at a time seems to be pretty commonly frowned upon around here, and not that common. Royals, in particular, are in a funny position, because though they are Muslim, their claims to the crown(s) go back farther than the adoption of Islam here. There is much made of adat, following traditional customs, for ordinary people, but adat is a mixture of Islamic and pre-Islamic (Hindu, and even pre-Hindu times) customs. The royal women do not usually wear head scarves, for instance. While many Americans think of Islam as a very traditional culture (read "backward looking" with all it's negative connotations for Americans), here being more strictly Muslim is usually seen as more educated and sophisticated. The kampong (village) people are Muslim, but they also still believe in many ghosts and spirits. In fact, soon after we arrived the campus had to change caterers because the cooks had decided the kitchen was inhabited by ghosts. They had even tried having an exorcism, but it didn't work. I wish I could have seen that! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Jackie Snell 6/ 98 - 3/ 99: jaq@admin.upm.edu.my University Business Centre Off: +60(3)9485-649 4th Floor Admin. Bldg. Fax: +60(3)9433-513 Universiti Putra Malaysia Mobile: +60(19)9457-239 43400 Serdang, Selangor MALAYSIA Dave's Mobile: +60(19)3299-445 Marketing Department After 3/99: snell_j@cob.sjsu.edu San Jose State University Off: +1(408)924 3484 One Washington Square Fax: +1(408)924 3445 San Jose, CA 95192-0069 USA =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Dave Crocker Tel: +60 (19) 3299 445 Post Office Box 296, U.P.M. Serdang, Selangor 43400 MALAYSIA Brandenburg Consulting Tel: +1 (408) 246 8253 Fax: +1(408)273 6464 675 Spruce Dr., Sunnyvale, CA 94086 USA