Kota Bharu to Terengganu

« Return to Malaysia

After the hour drive back to Kuala Terengganu, we went off to the Central Market, where I checked out turtle eggs, tasted fresh tamarind and pointed with my thumb (as is custom in Malaysia) at the strange fruits and delicacies spread out on the tables. Nobody could eat, as it was still an hour to sunset. So Zaidi took me to the packed Ramadan market, where locals picks up their dinner in little plastic bags before breaking their fast. Tables displayed a staggering array of curries, fish, rice, sweets, soya milk drinks, noodles and cakes. People buy rather than cook during Ramadan, and the market was vibrating with the motions of the hungry. Zaidi bought some traditional Terengganu fare, including Nasi Dagang (a tuna curry with sticky rice), BBQ’d chicken on bamboo with a spicy satay sauce, sweet and spicy noodles, a grilled fish, gravies, spring rolls and sweetened soya milk. In the swing of things, I’ve been eating only breakfast and dinner since arriving in Malaysia, so wolfed everything down at the Travellers CafÈ when a muffled sound signaled the end of the fast. Zaidi was devastated that I would be leaving Malaysia on November 1st, the day before Ramadan ends. “It’s such a special day,” he explained. “Every one opens their house to everybody, and you can visit and meet so many people!” Once again, my timing just didn’t seem to pan out as I would have liked.

We popped into Chinatown, where Zaidi once again the left the car open with the engine running. The crime is almost non-existent in Terengganu. Overall, the laws are pretty tight in Malaysia, especially when it comes to drugs, where trafficking results in an automatic death penalty. The newspaper had daily reports about an Australian who was bust with 400grams of heroin in Singapore, and despite pleadings from the Australian government, was about to be hanged. “When your mother punishes you for not doing your homework, she does it because she wants only the best for you,” explains Zaidi. In the same positive light, he thinks the harsh drug laws are there because the government knows that keeping drugs out the country is in the best interests of its people. Unlike Canada, Malaysia doesn’t have too many freethinking liberals to contend with the consequences on civil liberty and personal freedoms. Meanwhile the news all week led with the incoming Asian Bird Flu pandemic. PANIC!! We’re all going to DIE!! According to the media, the bird flu has the potential to kill MILLIONS! Thus far, 60 people have died, all of who came into close contact (i.e. worked with) birds. Meanwhile, thousands are dying from lack of aid in Pakistan, AIDS is wiping out most of Africa, cancer kills millions each year, and the media is convinced that birds are the biggest threat to mankind? I hope I’m wrong, but the panic-fear headlines recall the SARS “pandemic” a few years ago. Remember SARS? It was going to kill us all. That being said, a visit to a bird park in Thailand at the moment sits in a cell beside trekking in Somalia on the death row of tourism. The prime minister’s wife died this week (cancer), there has been some dispute over car taxes, someone got mugged somewhere but the real news took place in Chelsea. Malaysians are completely nuts about football. There is more coverage of English soccer here than I even saw when I lived in London. Malays know football managers by their first names, and talk of Rooney and Henri lovingly, as if they were family members. It seemed a little odd and out of place, like fish crackers, or Condoleezza Rice’s eyebrows.

With no westerners around, it felt exotic to walk around the streets and get constantly stared at. I would make eye contact, crack a smile and the Malays, bless them, would always smile warmly back. The women all wear headscarves, but there is no ninja action going on here. In my visit to Islamic countries these past months, I have learnt that there are many faces of Islam. Just like the architecture of the mosques changed from Turkey to Dubai to India to Malaysia, so do the local customs with regard to dress and interpretation of the Koran. The Malaysians are generally peaceful and more tolerant of others. Unfortunately this is not the case in Indonesia, which has more Muslims than any other country on the planet. Once again, ethnic violence is flaring up in Bali and beyond. Here, I got the feeling that religious tension is out the way; Malaysians are getting on with building their first-world country, complete with Cyberjaya - a high-tech city being developed with Bill Gates on the advisory board.

Unfortunately, I felt like the right person at the right place at the wrong time. With the monsoon spraying about, I could not even visit the islands with the clear blue water and white beaches, such as Redang or the legendary Perhentian Islands. I’ll have to come back one day to explore them. For Modern Gonzo, I could just get a taste of Malaysia, which, like its food, turned out to be full of flavours, sometimes sour, spicy, and deliciously sweet.

Grand Hotel
Kuala Terengganu

Gonzo Gallery for Kota Bharu to Terengganu

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