Malaysians put out unwelcome
mat By Muhammad Cohen
EAST SABAH, Malaysia - Malaysia's
government has laid out the red carpet for the
world's tourists for the 50th anniversary of the
country's independence. But the message about
treating these invited guests cordially apparently
hasn't gotten through to some of the country's top
tourist destinations. And blame for the poor
reception can be laid at the doorstep of the
Malaysian government itself.
Aside from
microstates Singapore and Brunei, Malaysia is the
richest and most developed country in Southeast
Asia. In addition
to
demographic good fortune, Malaysia's progress owes
much to pro-business government policies and
initiatives that industrialized and expanded its
original agricultural and resource export economy.
Many of Malaysia's tourist attractions, such as
Petronas Towers and last week's Kuala Lumpur
International Literary Festival, owe a debt to the
nation's relative affluence and advancement.
But skyscrapers and other urban delights
are hardly unique to Malaysia. Every major Asian
city has the same international designer shops in
its malls, flogging its creations at similar
prices. If you're looking for nightlife, nearby
Bangkok beats Kuala Lumpur hands down. Local music
and theater are better in Manila, while Singapore
attracts a greater variety and frequency of
international shows.
Natural
advantage Malaysia can claim to stand out
from the regional tourism competition with its
natural endowments. Development has made Malaysia
more efficient than neighboring Indonesia and
Thailand at denuding its forests and paving its
paddies. But development also means surviving
natural wonders have adequate infrastructural
support for visitors, from Air Asia flights to
air-conditioned rooms.
No part of Malaysia
has more natural wonders than Sabah, which lives
up to its designation in the tourism literature as
"Malaysia's solar-powered theme park". Sabah's
crown jewel is Southeast Asia's tallest peak,
Mount Kinabalu. But East Sabah is packed with the
widest variety of attractions, including the
world's most popular place to see orangutans in
their native habitat, at Sepilok, ancient
unspoiled forests at Maliau Basin and Danum
Valley, a chance to bathe with elephants along the
floodplain of the Kinabatangan River, and what's
arguably the world's best dive site at Tun Sakaran
Marine Park.
At these locations, and a
dozen more, tourism professionals offer guided
excursions that will take you seamlessly from the
airport to hotels to attractions. Step outside
that cocoon, however, and you're likely to find
shocking levels of rudeness toward foreign guests.
Rather than a helping hand, at times you're likely
to encounter the local equivalent of an
outstretched middle finger. These incidents were
far more common and unmistakable on a recent trip
than when this correspondent visited these same
parts of Malaysia a decade ago.
Tourism
taxes The episodes went beyond the usual
overcharging for transport or insistence on
offering the most expensive product or service. In
Tawau, a border town that has the closest air
connections for diving around Sipidan, clerks in a
bookstore avoided me when I entered, then taunted
me when I inquired about buying a map of Sabah, an
item the store stocked for sale.
In Lahad
Datu, gateway to spectacular nature trekking and
game viewing in four different directions,
waitresses refused to serve me until compelled by
managers, and even then had to be goaded to bring
each item included in the meal - the rice, the
vegetables, the chili sauce - that other customers
received on a single tray with their main dish. At
a bus-ticket booth, a tout pushed me out of the
way in the middle of an inquiry - pretty routine -
and a clerk in the booth defended him.
I
could rarely pass a night market or open-air
warung without a racial remark in the local
language being directed my way. In most cases, it
was young people who were the most offensive. To
be sure, I received a good deal of Malaysian
hospitality from a variety of people, rich and
poor, young and old. But the unpleasant
experiences were so frequent and so similar that
they defied coincidence. They also defied the
usual explanations offered for them.
The
first excuse was that these runaway clerks and
wait staff hid out of embarrassment because they
didn't speak English. It is true that English was
more widely and better spoken a decade ago than
now, as the primary-school medium of instruction
has changed to Bahasa Melayu. But I spoke Bahasa
Melayu's close cousin, Bahasa Indonesia, languages
as close as British and American English. Even
then, staff still hid when alone or continued
their ridicule and abuse in groups.
Blame the immigrants The second
excuse was a global favorite: it's not Malaysian
citizens but rather illegal immigrants that are
rude and abusive. That's a more interesting
argument, since East Sabah has a long land and sea
border with Indonesia as well as passenger-boat
service and a lively smuggling trade across the
Sulu Sea to the Philippines and with historical
ties to both. Indonesian migrant workers supply
much of the labor at local oil-palm plantations.
However, there are a couple of problems
with that explanation. First, the frequent insults
that were made in this correspondent's direction
were voiced in Bahasa Melayu, not Indonesian
slang. During six weeks spent in the neighboring
Indonesian portion of Borneo, rarely did I face
this type of hostility. People in Kalimantan are
generally poorer, less educated and less exposed
to foreign visitors, but they managed to be
outwardly friendly far more frequently. The
difference is no doubt related to the values the
Malaysian government espouses.
The
official Tourism Malaysia website proudly declares
the nation "a bubbling, bustling melting pot of
races and religions, where Malays, Indians,
Chinese and many other ethnic groups live together
in peace and harmony". In reality, over its five
decades of independence, Malaysian government
policies have enshrined race as a key factor in
the national character.
Amazing Race
Asia Malaysia's institutionalized racism in
the form of preferences for Malays and
restrictions on Chinese and others in government
employment, university places and other benefits
teaches that there are real differences between
races, and all races are unequal, whether it's by
natural endowment or national legislation.
Malaysia's Islamization over the past decade
has arguably made matters worse and likely
contributed to the hostility. Even though Muslim
Malays just barely constitute a majority of the
population, the government has proudly proclaimed
Malaysia an Islamic state. It's strictly political
Islam: the ruling United National Malays
Organization invokes religion to counter
Islamic-party challenges.
Islamization
also serves as convenient shorthand for generic,
amorphous anti-Westernism. That's particularly
ironic given Malaysia's numerous homages to the
West, from its US-inspired flag to its urban
elite's embrace of Western materialism and English
Premier League football. The elite may be immune
to its own propaganda, but it seems to work at the
grassroots, beaches and rainforests.
Islamization's main effect isn't to unite
the country but to highlight differences, whether
it's with your Chinese neighbors or that Westerner
ordering local fare. At half a century, Malaysia
can be proud of its economic progress and
remaining natural beauty, but arguably has a long
way to go in the social sphere. Speaking as one
50-year-old to another, I can tell Malaysia it's
never too late to learn. The first lesson might be
to get its national house in better order before
it invites guests.
Former broadcast
news producer Muhammad Cohen is special
correspondent for Macau Business and author of
Hong Kong On Air (Blacksmith Books), a
novel set during the 1997 handover and Asian
economic meltdown featuring television news, love,
betrayal, high finance and cheap lingerie.
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