Postcard from Penang, Malaysia

3/19

From Jim:

Karen went home for Lauren and Peter's wedding, and I am missing her very much.

Malaysia is a predominately Moslem country – It was granted independence by the British in 1963 – and, from the beginning experienced problems due to the fact that the ethnic Chinese were much wealthier than the people whose ancestors were born in Malaysia – the Malays. The Malays set up a government that grants them special benefits with the goal of improving their economic position – and the Chinese are not especially happy about this situation. As a result, Singapore broke off from Malaysia (or was booted out, in a way) and became a separate country in 1965. So, at present, Singapore is a country which is actually the city of Singapore.

Malaysia consists of about 62% Malays, 24% ethnic Chinese (Malaysians whose ancestors came from China), and 7% ethnic Indians (Malaysians whose ancestors came from India).

Singapore has different demographics: about 77% are ethnic Chinese, only 8% are Malays, and 8% are ethnic Indians. Singapore is much wealthier than Malaysia. But Malaysia has experienced an economic boom in recent years – and Penang has tall buildings and has far less poverty than our previous ports of India, South Africa, and Brazil.

Malays tend to be Moslem while the Chinese are a mix of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. Most Indians, as in India, are Hindu – and they tend to be the same type (Tamils) as we met in Chennai. Penang differs from the rest of Malaysia in that it has a slightly greater percentage of Indians compared to Malays. Malaysia just completed a major election and the Chinese in Penang voted not the support the party in power – it is not clear if the government will be able to continue its policies of extending help to people whose ancestors were born in Malaysia.

Penang is an island (about half the size of Singapore) but is connected to the mainland by a long, long bridge (How long? Very, very long – I don't know exactly how long).

Penang does not have a harbor that allows our ship to dock – so we must take a tender (a small boat) to the dock. We are using our lifeboats from the ship as tenders which seem quite adequate for the task – one runs back and forth to the dock every half hour.