East Eats West

Proton Car - Malaysia's own car brand

Malaysia has a National Automobile Policy that tries to boast its own fledging car-industry. The two brands are Perodua and Proton and they combine Malaysian design with Mitsubishi engines. In order to make the industry internationally competitive the government just lowered duties and the cars became 5-7 percent cheaper. Nevertheless are cars very expensive and foreign cars are still subject to high import duties.

Picture: A small Proton Saavy car.

Malaysia on the move to become a first world country

On the 31.03.2006 the prime minister of Malaysia presented the 9th Malaysia Plan (9MP), the five-year roadmap in order to become a first world country by 2020. With India and China growing at top speed the will to grow for Malaysia’s 25 people seems to have accelerated. According to the plan Malaysia wants to grow 6 percent every year mainly through tourism, agriculture and attracting foreign businesses as in the Penang Free International Zone and in improving its infrastructure and increasing competition Malaysia will try to compete globally. That all sounds very familiar to Chinese and Indian efforts but there are also a distinct Malaysian feature to the 9MP mainly concerning race. Malaysia’s goal to reach a 30 percent ownership of enterprises by Malays has not been reached and the positive racial discrimination seems to push bright Non-Malay Malaysian abroad leading to a brain-drain. The racial segregation of Malaysia will surely create further tension and the government still prefers segregation to integration. Maybe they should think about a Swiss “Röschtigraben”?

Any given night in Georgetown, Penang

When it comes to pure nocturnal charm Hoi An in Vietnam is hard to beat: I love the feel of this ancient Chinese trading town with its distinct Chinese heritage houses and red silk lanterns at night and I can almost physically feel the spirits while standing on the Japanese bridge. Georgetown has a similar but less dense and composed feel than Hoi An with seedy establishments residing shoulder to shoulder with ancient Chinese shop houses. But regarding strange encounters in the streets of Georgetown, Penang beats Hoi An by far. Let me explain: I loved to stroll after 9pm through the dimly lit alleys and observe the street life of old Chinese men in their underwear, a group of Chinese playing Mah-jong and the tempting Indian ladies invitingly licking their tongues and offering their services to any lonely man. Wandering with open eyes and heart it is always interesting to see what restless souls one meets on the streets of Georgetown. On a given night I first met my singing masseur offering me his services in the street, I then was spat at by a disturbed and scruffy looking Indian and finally a Muslim missionary at a mosque tried to convert me to Islam and told me that judgement day is near with the free-sex everywhere and women lying in the sun almost naked. He also confided to me that he does not like the personality of Jews but works for a Jewish bank. Just when I was to enter my hotel lobby a skinny Chinese with a badge saying “Want to loose weight? Ask me” smiled at me and started to move into my direction with a big pouch slung around his shoulders. I quickly entered the hotel and narrowly escaped him.

The future of travelling

After being on the road for almost eight months, having visited nine countries, stayed in dozens of hotels and eaten in even more restaurants, I have become a self-professed travel expert and I can see how things in the travel-industry are slowly changing. Why is it changing: well, mostly because of the internet and globalization. The internet, as in so many other industries, is slowly undermining traditional business models and giving more power, read information, to the consumers. Let me highlight a few major changes that are underway in the travel-industry:

• Internet: The internet lies at the heart of the consumer democracy, allowing travellers to do their own research on destinations, compare prices and directly book online. Hotel-Websites and low-cost airlines simplify the booking process tremendously
• Wanted a home abroad: When I travel for a longer period the monotony of hotels becomes annoying, the hassle at airports nerve-racking and I appreciate more and more staying with friends while experiencing their way of life. Feeling at home is key.
• Bye, bye travel agencies: I only use travel-agencies in two cases: for convenience like arranging flights and VISAs for a modest fee or in countries like India where I am unfamiliar (and anyhow will get ripped-off). I certainly do not want full packages anymore; I want the freedom of self-determination. At the same time more and more destinations are starting to market themselves like India.
• The right vibe: I have been travelling for years through Asia and I know which places I like and what kind of experience I am looking for. Sometimes I feel like soaking in a plush spa and sometimes I prefer to rough it up outdoors. I want more than just picture-perfect locations; I want authentic experiences in culture, history, politics and religion. No more mass-tourism and herding around but free mixing of luxury and budget-travelling. The choice is mine!
• Booking locally and instantly: In South-East Asia it is particularly easy to travel with an ever increasing array of services from accommodation and food to transport. Why should I book in advance and pay more for a middle-agent?

The Gottlieb Duttweiler Institut in Rüschlikon, Switzerland, did a study for the Swiss travel agent Kuoni and came up with the following future trends in the travel industry:

• Individualized mass-tourims – An individually tailored holiday-mix
• Sun, sand and terror – Against environmentally unfriendly holidays and for more safety
• More inclusive and tailor-made – the raise of holiday megahubs with a total offering
• Comfort, cuddling and control – A home far away from home at exotic destinations
• Meeting and mating – Finding your partner during your holidays
• Holiday as emotionally health treatment – Reload the batteries and give emotional support

For further ideas and insights see the two studies by Mercer Management and the GDI.

You are super-rich, now what? Make the world a better place!

The world is getting richer as Fortune’s Billionaire List and as Cap Gemini’s global wealth study proof. But as we all know getting monetarily richer does not automatically mean that we are getting happier at the same speed: there are diminishing returns of increasing wealth as for example American self-help groups for depressed millionaires show. The USA with its technological epicentre of Silicon Valley is one of the global wealth creation-machines through entrepreneurism. It creates in a short-time amazingly rich people according to the rags-to-riches story (just think about Bill Gates). But what to do with your billions and millions after you bought yourself a couple of houses, cars, yachts and a private jet? It looks like ancient religious values give some advice: a Muslim has to follow five pillars of his faith, one of which is giving alms to people in need; Buddha taught that the one who compassionately gives will receive and enlarge his karma; Jesus Christ taught that the one who gives will be given. And this is exactly what the world’s mega-riches are doing: giving away their money. For example there is the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation against Malaria and the Soros Foundation for civil society. In the Silicon Valley, home of the world’s brightest and richest entrepreneurs, many have started their own foundations like Jeff Skoll, the first employee and president of Ebay, with his Skoll Foundation for social entrepreneurship.

The world is definitely getting richer but is it also getting happier? The first step to happiness if you are rich is paradoxically giving away your money. And ancient religious scriptures and rules give a hint or two how to ethically behave, what to strive for and how to become happy despite Croesus’ wealth. 

 

The dangers of love in Malaysia

On the surface moderate Malaysia is a rapidly developing and increasingly rich South-East Asian country. Kuala Lumpur is bristling with skyscrapers and city-life and Malaysian are spending. At the same time Malaysia is a Muslim country with a government-endorsed positive discrimination of Malaysian with Indian and Chinese roots. According to friends one can go to a night-club in Kuala Lumpur and see the Chinese getting drunk on whiskey on one side of the club and the Muslim Malays drinking fruit-juice on the other side. Muslim caught drinking alcohol still can receive corporal punishment and strict rules about inter-sex contact exist.

I met an American who has lived for a longtime in Penang. He was even married to a Muslim Malay and became Muslim himself (otherwise he could not marry her). After a decade and a half of marriage he got divorced and started dating a Christian woman. One evening when they sat together at home eating pizza the police raided his house and he got arrested for meeting extramarital a non-Muslim woman. He got dragged before court and threatened with two years imprisonment but eventually got out on bail.

For example should I be dating a Muslim Malaysian girl and we would be found together in the same room at close proximity and alone, she as a Muslim but not me could be arrested and acquitted for extramarital close proximity with a non-Muslim.

Also Laos has a law against extra-marital close contact between women and men. Read more here: http://easteatswest.typepad.com/east_eats_west/2005/12/ladies_make_you.html

Castleworkshops or how to restore a Swiss castle

At the book inauguration at the E&O hotel (see previous blog) I met the English couple James and Julie who used to live for a long-time in Switzerland. They generously invited me to some local street food in a food stall and I learned that they restored during years an ancient and mighty castle owned by a Swiss banker in the French part of Switzerland (click here to see pictures). The two are actually designers and restorers of old houses and castles and their company's name is Castleworkshops. James learned his trade after he graduated from arts school and made his living as an antique dealer in London. He learned how to restore old furniture and specific ancient techniques. Today they work as a pair as designers and restores out of Paris.

Check out their website at: www.castleworkshops.com

Book inauguration of “More than merchants or the story of Germans and Swiss in Penang” by Khoo Salma Nasution

On the 28th of March I attended the book inauguration of Khoo Salma Nasution’s book “More than merchants – a history of German-speaking Community in Penang” hosted by the Swiss and German embassies under the patronage of the governor of Penang. Khoo Salma described in a vivid presentation at the venerable E&O Hotel the influence of especially the Germans who lived in Penang as traders, merchants, engineers and photographers, sometimes heavily influencing the history of Penang. Germans oversaw the enlargement of the port, up to then a quiet backwater, into a busy trading port for ships from Sumatra to Europe. During the world wars the Germans were brought to camps or sometimes even deported. In the Second World War the Germans operated a submarine port for their famous “Wolfspack” in a joint-venture with the Japanese. The local Swiss did deals with the Germans and acquired their business in order to prevent confiscation.

Picture: On the left is the Swiss ambassador Dr.Urs Stemmler, in the middle the author Khoo Salma and to the right the governor of Penang

The ancient Cheong Fatt Tze Blue Mansion in Georgetown, Penang

Everyone knows the railway and steel tycoons Rockefeller and Carnegie from the USA. But do you know Cheong Fatt Tze? He is the equivalent of the American robber barons and the Chinese version of the rag-to-riches story. He came from Guandong province and started to work as a water-carrier and eventually started his own businesses quickly spreading into all sorts of trades according to his credo:  “whatever people need, he will provide it”. He even became a Chinese Mandarin (Chinese minister), held a wide array of government posts and met the rich and powerful in the 19th century in East and West. According to his status he had eight wives and houses in China, Malaysia and Singapore, whereof the house in Georgetown, Penang, dubbed the Maison Bleu or Blue Mansion because of its Indigo-blue paint, is the most awe-inspiring one with 38 rooms, 5 courtyards, 220 windows and 7 staircases. The 19th century house which took 8 years to build is an eclectic mix of a Chinese floorplan with Scottish ironworks and Art Nouveau colored glass. As befit a true Chinese the house was built according to Feng Shui principles with a courtyard collecting water (Feng) and being the center of Chi (positive force) and boasting many windows which let through Shui (wind). The rear side of the house is raised to resemble a little hill (dragon’s back) and the opposite the road five attached shop-houses housed the servant quarters and the kitchen, effectively prohibiting anyone building in front of his magnificent and mighty home. During that time it was fashionable to build in the Indo-Anglo-style but he knew that a traditional Chinese house would be difficult to sell and therefore preserve his heritage.

The house offers excellent tours by Joann and is open every day at 11am and 3pm. The is also a Bed & Breakfast with 17 beautiful rooms. For further details see their website: http://www.cheongfatttzemansion.com/1intro-01.htm

Miyako Japanese Restaurant Georgetown, Penang

Penang is about eating and drinking out and the choice of food and restaurants is bewildering. If you feel like having a healthy lunch of raw fish I can highly recommend Penang's oldest Japanese restaurant Miyako on 103 Penang Road. The co-owner Soo Chee Yong used to work in Japan and has been running the restaurant for over a decade. He imports all the high quality fish from Japan and the prices for a bento or sashimi set are hard to beat, starting as low as 15 ringgit. The many Japanese customers are a proof for the quality of the food served!