Random Thoughts

There are so many differences here that I haven't mentioned.

People - 

There are so many nationalities that live in KL.  You have the Asians, Japanese and Chinese that seem more Americanized.  They wear the same kind of clothes that we wear and are free and easy.  The Malays are all Muslim by law and definition.  The men look the same as we do but the women wear head scarves that completely cover the hair.  Their clothes also cover their bodies, usually to the wrists and ankles but are dresses and pants mostly of darker colors.  The Indians are beautiful in their Saris.  The ones I see most of the time are big full pants, tight at the ankles with a sari that goes to the knees.   That is one of my favorite outfits and I want to get some.  I am not sure of the protocol about wearing them though.  The saddest thing I see is the orthodox Muslim women who are cover from head to foot and even their faces in burkas (not sure if that is the right term).

There are guards everywhere.  Every hotel, apartment complex, mall, etc.  They usher you here and there and away if necessary.  I saw one guard holding a shotgun at the mall.  That made me feel uncomfortable.

People are very courteous to you.  At the hotel, everyone from the guards, the doormen, the maids, the hotel staff always tell you good morning, good afternoon.  As they have gotten to know us and recognize us they'll say, "hello Mrs Tobi and Mr. Scott, how are you? Are you going out?  Have a nice evening."  They smile and are so pleasant.  

Food

The food is delicious.  We have so many ethnic choices, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Thai, Lebanese, Vietnamese and of course American and Malaysian among many others.  We have even heard of Mexican but also that they aren't very good.  The one thing that you will not find in any of these restaurants is pork of any kind.  You can get beef bacon, turkey ham but no real pork.  It is almost against the law.  You can buy pork in the grocery stores but is in a section all by itself and you have to buy it right there because no Muslim can even touch it.

Embassy

The Embassy is a nice place.  We have to follow rigid security rules.  My office is considered a comsec (secure communications) office.  You can't bring in any cell phones or ipods, radios or anything of that sort.  It is very small with two small offices for the Legat and Alat.  My desk is just outside of these offices in a very small space.  Surrounding me are the two computers I work on, one classified and the other unclassed and each of these has its own printer.  I have two fax machines one unclassed and the other secret.  I have a scanner, paper shredder and copier.  My office gets incredibly hot because of all these machines.  They completely surround me.  I also have a fan that I keep on all the time.  We actually have a comsec room that also has my supplies in it.  It has its own air conditioning and sometimes I just want to go and sit there but of course there is no room to do that.  We also have a full sized refrigerator.  I take water everyday and keep it in there.  Ah, nice cold water.  Because there is so little room, when we have boxes come in and before we can take care of them they are just stacked all over.  It is real tight quarters and all of our windows are completely covered up so it feels a bit like a cave but I actually like it.  

Taxis or Texis in Malaysian

Taxis are great!!  I have had pretty good success.  I at least get to work and get home everyday.  Sometimes the Taxis will pass me by.  I have heard that some drivers won't pick up a loan woman.  Sometimes they have no idea where the Ritz Carlton Hotel is, then I start telling them where it is nearby like a mall or another hotel they are familiar with.  I then just have to walk a short distance to get back to the hotel.  

Scott's Thoughts - 

On Sundays we attend the Kuala Lumpur Branch.  The meetings begin at 10:00am.  We were surprised to discover that there are actually about 200 members of the branch, of whom about 75 to 80 are usually in attendance on a given Sunday.  The large majority are local Malaysians (when we discuss the people and use the word Malaysian we are talking about their nationality, so there are Chinese Malaysians, Thai Malaysians, Philippino Malaysians, etc.; the local native population are called Malays.  All Malays are considered Muslim by definition.  The gospel cannot be taught to them, they cannot marry non-Muslims, and a Malay child cannot be adopted by a non-Muslim couple).  In our branch there are people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, China, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Nepal, etc.  The Branch President is an American whose business has kept him in SE Asia for about 15 years.  He is married to a Philippino woman.  There are about 4 or 5 American couples in the branch, most of whom are in Malaysia on business, although there is one other couple assigned to the Embassy, but they will be leaving soon.

We have already met some remarkable people in the branch.  Our gospel doctrine teacher is a woman of around 40 named Miow Lin Yap.  Miow Lin has been in the church for about 20 years, served a mission, etc.  She has never married, but has been a real driving force in the church here.  She told us on Sunday that the Church has just approved the translation of the Book of Mormon into Bahasa (Malaysian).  She will be helping in the translation.  She travels 60 miles to get to church.

Tobi has already received a visiting teaching assignment consisting of 6 sisters.  She's not real sure how she's going to do this, particularly since her companion doesn't have a car either.  These Asian sisters are no-nonsense and are on the ball.  

The District consists of 5 branches in West Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, as opposed to East Malaysia on the Island of Borneo).  The Church is not nearly as large here in West Malaysia where only about 10% of the population is Christian, as it is in the East where it's about 40%.  All 5 branches are conducted in English, partly due to the fact that there are no Church materials in Bahasa.  We are part of the Singapore Mission which today consists only of Singapore and Malaysia.  (We remember when my parents were called to the Singapore Mission but served in India.)

One side note, I was talking to Sister Friend at the Embassy today.  She told me she is so incredibly busy getting everything done for their imminent departure and I think she is the YW President and she is preparing for Youth Conference that will have about 160 youth that she asked to be released as a VT but they told her no.  Wow, how would that go over in our Ward back home.