The jet lag is now getting beyond a joke, however a solution to break the cycle is at hand. To visit the Petronas Towers you have to arrive early in the morning to get a ticket. However as we found out 9AM wasn't quite early enough. So after a quick stop at Starbucks , located in a designer mall below the towers (we could have still been in Hong Kong) As I have given up caffeine I was on the orange juice. After reading an article in a magazine, prompted by my old boss who has also given up caffeine, I decided I was addicted to the stuff and have given it up. Probably just as well as I have enough trouble getting to sleep before 5AM at the moment as it is.
Guide book in hand we set off on a tour of the city and its many districts. These include the Colonial, the Indian and the Chinese districts not to forget of course the Malay areas. First stop was the Colonial area, 2007 is the 50th anniversary of when Britain handed back control of Malaysia to Malaysia. In the top photo is where the handover took place, an old cricket green complete with elitist drinking establishment in the form of a mock Tudor building.
It is probably worth listing a brief summary of how Malaysia as it is today came about.
1400s - Founding of Malacca by Parameswara.
1409 - Chinese Admiral Cheng Ho arrives in Malacca.
1511 - Malacca falls to the Portuguese.
1641 - The Dutch take Malacca from the Portuguese
1786 - The British occupy Penang.
1819 - British occupy Singapore.
1824 - Anglo-Dutch Treaty carves up Malay world into colonial spheres: Dutch cede Malacca to British and keeps Riau.
1826 - Singapore, Malacca Penang and Province Wellesley become Straits Settlements under British control.
1840s - The importance of tin increases, bringing an influx of Chinese tin miners to the western coast.
1841 - James Brooke established as Rajah of Sarawak.
1914-18 - World War I.
1941-45 - Japanese conquest and occupation.
1945 - British reoccupy Malaya.
1946 -Malayan Union scheme introduced but is opposed, formation of United Malay National Organisation (Umno); Sarawak and British North Borneo become Crown colonies.
1948 - Malayan Union scheme abandoned; Federation of Malaya inaugurated.
1948-60 -Communist uprising - The Emergency.
1952 - Municipal elections in Kuala Lumpur; Umno and Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) parties cooperate.
1953 - Alliance coalition comprising Umno, MCA and Malayan Indian Congress (MIC) formed.
1955 - First general elections in the peninsula; landslide win for the Alliance.
1956 - Tunku Abdul Rahman leads Merdeka Mission to London to negotiate for independence.
1957 -Malaya becomes independent, and the Union Jack is lowered for the last time
As a result of its history Malaysia is a complete mix of cultures but is a Muslim country, across from the cricket ground a better example of architecture to reflect this can be seen. The city as a whole isn't as modern as the Petronas towers would have you think.
On the outskirts of town in some of the Malay districts you can still find wooden stilted houses. Amongst the houses we found an awakening night market, including one stall selling Siamese fighting fish. Apparently its a popular sport here.
Highlights: Exploring Britain's colonial history
No comments:
Post a Comment