MALAYSIA

KUCHING
HELLO! I'm in Kuching, Malaysia. Since it's my first day here, I've decided to find out more about Kuching.

Kuching actually means cat in Malay, and it is the capital of Sarawak, one of the states in Malaysia. It is located in East Malaysia, that is why it is not possible for us to drive there from Singapore. It is the LARGEST city on the island of Borneo.(Source: Wikipedia)

Yesterday, the driver that drove us from the airport to our hotel told us a little about Kuching too. The main race in Kuching is Ibanese, which is actually a tribe. These Ibanese are usually Christians.

My first impression of Kuching is that it is a very laid back city. The night life here is not very vibrant.

Last night, I had my first taste of the cuisine in Kuching, We ate Hokkien Mee, Cantonese Mee, Bamboo clams, and "Mani Cai". Among all these, I have tried Hokkien Mee and the Cantonese Mee in Malaysia before. the dish "Mani Cai" is also available in many restaurants in Singapore, but the one here is cooked in a different style-it is fried instead of boiled. Kuching is very famous for their Bamboo Clams.

MALAYSIA

KUDA KEPANG

Mr Azahar showed us a video on the Kuda Kepang that day.

In the first part of the video, there was a group of female dancers who carried little horses(like the one seen above). The tempo of the drums were relatively slow, and to me it was just another Malay dance.

However, in the later part of the video, there was a group of male dancers with the same type of horse, and the dance looked rather similar to the female one. However,the males were made to breathe in some smoke, and the tempo of the drums quickened. Apparently, they were being possessed by spirits. The males started going a little "crazy" and "galloped" around the whole area. There was a male, whom I thought was the leader, and he started whipping the male dancers. The whipping sound was very loud, so it was probably very painful. I was wondering why the males didn't seem to be in agony. The people around there didn't display any shock at all, which made me even more bewildered. After awhile, there were fed glass pieces, and made to step in glass pieces. My friends all gasped with horror-I could tell that they were as shocked as I was. The males ran and shook their heads, and they didn't seem to be in pain at all. Mr Azahar said that they were probably in a trance. Eventually, some of the guys broke out from the trance(I think) as they laid on the ground, probably because the "spirit" had escaped from their bodies. I was really shocked.

HOW COULD THE AUDIENCE BEAR TO LOOK?

HOW COULD THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE OF THE PERFORMANCE TREAT THE GUYS LIKE THAT?

WHERE THE MALES WILLING TO GET POSSESSED?

WAS IT A WAY FOR THEM TO ACHIEVE A "GREATER SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIP" WITH THEIR GODS?

The video really left me confused, and the questions kept popping out in my mind. Therefore, I decided to do a search on it.

Basically, Kuda Kepang is a dance performed by Malaysians, mainly of Javanese descent. It is a legless horse-shaped puppet that is straddled by the performers.

Source: Wikipedia

Hmmm, so it didn't really answer my question): However, I think that...

The males were really in a trance and thus didn't feel any pain. They probably wanted a personal encounter with their gods, and agreed to do it. Even though we might think that the people in charge of their performance seem evil, but to them and the people who believe in this practice, they were probably respected. In my opinion, these people were to them, what priests were to Catholics, and monks to Buddhist. After all, to be able to be in charge of such a spiritual practice,they must have to have some social standing in society, for people to trust them to carry out the ritual properly.

You might probably disagree with what I've said, or don't even understand what I'm saying at all, but this is just my opinion of things(:

Although the practice of Kuda Kepang might seem ridiculous to us, I believe that there is a reason behind it, a reason that we do not know. At first, I thought that this practice was absolutely ridiculous, but after much thought, I have concluded that even though our cultures might seem different, we should accept each other's cultures!

Video on Kuda Kepang. ENJOY!

MALAYSIA

(flag courtesy of http://www.mapsofworld.com/images/world-countries-flags/malaysia-flag.gif)

Ok, so let's talk about Malaysia!

Malaysia is just above Singapore, so they're our closest neighbours! I'm a Malaysian, and my cousins live in Malaysia, so i visit Malaysia very often! Usually, I only visit Kuala Lumpur and Klang, Selangor. Malaysia is divided into two parts, Peninsula(East) Malaysia and East Malaysia.

The 13 states of Malaysia are:

1.Kuala Lumpur

2.Johor

3.Meleka

4.Perak

5.Pahang

6.Kelantan

7.Perlis

8.Selangor

9.Kedah

10.Negeri Sembilan

11.Sarawak

12.Sabah

13.Terengganu

The most famous landmark in Malaysia has to be the TWIN TOWERS!

Isn't it spectacular(:

(courtesy of http://touringmalaysia.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/petronas-towers-kl-malaysia.jpg)

The national anthem of Malaysia is actually called "NEGARAKU", which means my country! NEGARA=country KU=my!(:

i have visited East Malaysia, mainly Sabah:DIt was an interesting trip. However, I went for that trip 5 years ago, therefore I have forgotten some facts, but i always remember something about Sabah-their pineapples are REALLY GOOD!:D