When in Kuala Lumpur, being Malaysia a Muslin country, you do have to exercise some common sense. Not that it's dangerous or anything alike; It's just that the culture is really different and it's not hard to find oneself in an uncomfortable gaffe. For example, Muslin women are not supposed to have any physical contact with men other than their husbands. So, if you try to shake their hands when you get introduced, you will find yourself in a social gaffe. Since in the business world shaking hands is normal (unless you're in Japan) some Muslin business women are used to it and consider it acceptable. But in any case, wait for them to extend their hands and you will avoid looking silly.
I'm not sure if I mentioned but recently in the local papers, an article was discussing what should constitute 'improper or lewd behaviour'. The question was raised after a young couple was arrested and fined in KL for holding hands in a park. Last Valentine's Day I also read that the police was arresting couples who were making out in cars and forcing them to get married. A Muslin friend, whose sister is married to an Englishman, tells me she - the sister - gets constantly nagged by officials asking for marriage certificates. If she fails to produce them, which she never does, she could be in trouble. Yep. There you go. Cultural differences.
I've been told they have some sort of 'moral enforcement agents' that go around, sometimes in disguise, watching out for bad or inappropriate conduct of members of the Muslin community. They say they are not concerned with foreigners, focusing just in preserving the interest of their own people. But I hear contradictory comments on that.
Regardless all these do's and don’ts, Kuala Lumpur is quite fine... Until it rains! Once it starts raining, the city becomes a chaos and things get really complicated. It was just past 5pm when I started packing my stuff to get back to the hotel. That's when I heard it... Loud and clear. Frightening. Mr Murphy's laughter. "Oh, SHOOT" I said to myself. And before I could do anything else, it was pouring outside. It was damn hot the entire day and it had to rain exactly when I was about to leave, of course.
I had to wait for one hour till the rains subsided. It did not stop, but at least I could get outside and wait for a taxi on the taxi stand. But wait, it's not over yet. I was waiting there for half an hour, already soaked, when the rains started to get strong again. I gave up. Decided I would be better off sitting here and accessing the internet. It's almost 8pm and I am still here, at the bank, typing this just to avoid being bored to death. I guess I should try again. Maybe I am luckier this time.
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