Thank you, Malaysia for giving me a new sense of hope in the nation.

I was born in Kuala Lumpur and migrated to my current country of residence in 2009 when the situation seemed pretty grim back then. I was also hoping and praying every day that I would be granted permanent residency as I was desperate to GTFO from being bullied in school every day - but that’s a story for another time. I have been visiting Malaysia once every few years since then and each time I visited, things didn’t seem to have improved. This year, a friend from Form 1 invited me to his wedding, so I flew to Malaysia and spent two weeks in the country. During this visit however, the *tanah air* felt… *different*.

I stayed in the heart of KL, along Jalan Sultan Ismail close to a monorail station. Many places I frequented as a kid like Brickfields and Semua House have been renovated and decked out. I saw that Bukit Bintang has been cleaned up. When I was a kid, the area was a mess - potholes everywhere, the place was dirty, and there was the omnipresent threat of pickpockets and snatch-thieves. I expected the area to be a dump like it was before, but to my surprise, it looked a lot neater now. I still kept a close eye on my pockets and always made sure my wife positioned her handbag between myself and her, just to be safe. Having said that, I saw many women wearing their handbags seemingly without worry - maybe snatch-thefts have decreased? Perhaps I was paranoid; who knows?

Since the MRT minus the Circle Line has been constructed, getting around without a car is now much easier. As a train enthusiast I’m happy that the Klang Valley now has a more complete rapid transit network. The road network, however, hasn’t improved much - peak hour traffic is still utterly chaotic, and the only difference between now and then is the presence of a bazillion more elevated motorways that don’t help much - a classic example of Braess’s Paradox.

I left Malaysia before reaching the legal age to drive, so this was also my first time driving on Klang Valley’s roads. Growing up, my parents would always say that Malaysia’s roads are carnage - full of selfish and inconsiderate drivers. I drove in regional Malaysia in 2020 from Ipoh to the Cameron Highlands and found it quite pleasant, though that isn’t necessarily a carbon copy of traffic patterns typical of the Klang Valley. As a result I was scared at first, until I bit the bullet. After driving on Klang Valley’s roads for some time, I theorised that driving in Malaysia is not a pleasant experience not primarily because Malaysia has bad drivers - rather, the design of Malaysia’s roads will trap you in the wrong lane, often without you realising until it’s too late. The confusing interchanges can also really do your head in. As a result, it’s common for people to change lanes *at the last moment*, effectively jumping queues and slowing down traffic because they had no choice. There’s also a lot less road rage than I expected because I think everyone realises they’re in the same boat, and getting upset would be pointless. Waze has hiccups more often than not on Klang Valley’s roads, which doesn't help. While traffic on Malaysian roads is less predictable and less orderly compared to where I currently reside, it’s not as bad as I expected - I reckon that the problems my father had on Malaysian roads were mostly because he isn’t a good driver to begin with, and my mother simply thought Melbourne was a better place to drive. 

Growing up, my parents mostly took me to Chinese restaurants so I had little exposure to Malay food. My spice tolerance as a child was pretty weak too, which further discouraged me from eating Malay and Tamil cuisines. In recent years however, I wanted to expand my understanding of Malay food and culture. My friend who was getting married is Malay, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity for my wife and I to experience a full-on Malay wedding, especially when I haven’t attended one ever since I was a little kid. The wedding was absolutely beautiful - my friend and his wife were *bagai pinang dibelah dua*. 

My parents - my father in particular - would constantly bring up the topic of race relations. I reckon his mentality mostly stemmed from having witnessed the 1969 riots and was frequently *ejek*’d by his former coworker who was actually a Yemeni LARPing as a Malay. As a result I adopted his mentality as a kid - until I decided to put all biases aside and found that most Malay people are actually really nice; I spoke BM with them and treated them politely, and they always reciprocated. The reality is that every race has a vocal minority of bigots, and they don’t speak for the entire race. As a person with Peranakan heritage, I enjoy food that’s piquant and made with fragrant ingredients - and Malay cuisine is an example that fits the bill perfectly. During the trip, many of the restaurants I dined at were Malay restaurants. I'd always tell the cashier “makanan sedap” right after paying, as positive feedback and a gesture of goodwill. I really liked eating at Lemang To'Ki in Bentong and Kak Zah in Chow Kit - some of my best dining experiences during my visit.

As mentioned before I’m a train enthusiast, so I’m glad to see improvements being made to the country’s rail network. Besides the MRT, there will be a new ETS service to JB come August. I took the ETS to Butterworth back in 2020 and found it amazing - a big jump from diesel locomotive-hauled services common during my parents' time. I could see the ECRL being constructed while driving on the E8 - I’ll definitely return in 2027 when it starts operations so I can travel to the East Coast with ease via rail and hopefully cross the border into Thailand, something that’s on my bucket list. 

It was great visiting, and now I have an even better reason to revisit. Would I move back? I really don’t know. While I’m pretty content with where I am now, I can’t predict the future. Only God knows.

Until next time.