McCity

We finally cut the Chiang Mai umbilical cord and have made our way to Malaysia. Why we ended up here doesn’t really have a good explanation other then the flights were cheap in this direction and it was a logical stop over on the way to he beaches of Bali.

Our first destination was a resort outside the city of Kuala Lumpur. Turned out to be a very strange place. Located on the very top of the mountains, like a ski resort, was an amusement park surrounded by massive hotels, restaurants, a casino and a “Super Mall” So high in the mountains that we had to take a tramway to get there from our hotel. The reason we went there was to entertain the kids at the amusement park for a day or two, but a day was more then enough so we spent the remaining days at our hotel pool and tennis courts.

Staying at the hotel there on a mountaintop, in the jungle really offered no sense of doing anything “different” or worthy of “blogging” about the experience. In fact just the opposite; it felt like I could have been at any resort anywhere in the world. Same room, same pool, same corporate hotel experience that I’ve had countless other, not so memorable times. The only thing different was watching Muslim kids play, swim with their headscarf’s on. A curiosity at best.

It didn’t stop at the hotel either, the amusement park and adjoining mall, restaurants, and casinos were the same as well. Well not quite the same, this “super mall” was like one I never seen before. It was as if they consulted Michael Jackson for inspiration. You know, Neverland/Mall. Ultimately however it was the same; Buy this, buy that, same same. (See picture above, yes that is a mall). Needless to say the experience was disappointing. I know, I’m jaded, lucky the kids aren’t and they had a great time.

After four nights we headed to Kuala Lumpur for a look. We picked a hotel that was smack in the center of the city and I looked forward to seeing a city with/from a Muslim perspective. It occurred to me that this was my first visit to a truly Muslim country. As such, I decided that I wanted to visit the National Mosque and The Center for Islamic Arts. The kids decided that they wanted to see the Pertronis Twin Towers (aka; the 3rd tallest building in the world). Of course, we had to do that first.

I was surprised at just how modern and spectacular the towers were. Really beautiful, much more so then the pictures portray. My assumption was that KL was going to be a “Developing City” in a developing country. I was dead wrong. KL is really a very modern city with a vibrant, high-end commercial district complete with, well, everything one would expect from a modern city. Malaysia, like so many other Asian countries is booming and their riches are growing quickly.

We went inside the towers in hope to take an elevator to the top, what we found was the first six floors were, you guessed it, another f *#*”! super mall. At this point I was completely disillusioned. Here we were in the Capitol of Muslim Malaysia, expecting to experience a city with a different point of view and all I see is Gucci outlets, Cartier watches, Abercrombie & Fitch clothes, Nike, and on and on and on. Six floors of the same shops, same displays, same appeal, same same; capitalism, commercialism at its finest. The “Islamic perspective” that I was so keen for was relegated to the souvenir shops selling trinket replicas of the National Mosque, the Twin Towers and various other notable buildings of Islamic architecture. All made in China of course.

So that was it and it made me wonder what all the conflict is about? If the Muslims are embracing western culture (at least I used to consider as western culture) with such zeal, complete with all its conspicuous consumption, branding, image tailoring and all other things “western”. What are we fighting about? Seems as if the multinationals have already won. They are everywhere, imposing their version of the ideal image, creating demand for continued consumption, altering individual’s perspective of what is important, with seeming ease! They have won. They bypass political boundaries, and personal ideologies by appealing directly to a persons “need” to adorn themselves, and make themselves “special” (you know, special like everyone else) and ultimately to consume. Perhaps we should simply consult with these marketing gurus on how to reduce world tensions?

It’s not just Kuala Lumpur either. Syd has been watching the transformation of Shanghi and Beijing for the past ten years. The old, culturally homogenous cities have nearly vanished since United Airlines starting flying there. Markets replaced with malls, family restaurants (and recipes) replaced with McDonalds. It reminds me of a National Geographic article I read years back. The photographer was complaining about how the “T-shirt” had destroyed (replaced) traditional dress and as such photographs no longer captured the essence of the culture. Well that trend continues.

I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw a young Muslim girl, complete with headdress (scarf), walking through the mall wearing the “Just DO It” Nike shirt. (Wasn’t that ad campaign all about how independent, strong and "free willed" the individual is, women included) At least she wasn’t wearing the shirt that was the sequel. (Just DID It). Another image was the Muslim lady, wearing mostly black but with a bright pink Mickey Mouse purse. Cute, but ironic, especially if you know much about Disney and it’s subsidiaries. I guess I always see the irony, but that’s just me.


So that’s it. Basically all we did in Malaysia was see and do what we could have done anywhere. Any McCity. We didn’t mean too but because we did what tourist do we were trapped.