[November, 1995] Something of the identity of Kota Bharu, the capital of the peninsular Malaysian state of Kelantan, can be gleaned from flipping through the phone directory. In just over seven hundred pages of names listed in the directory, nearly ten percent begin with the name Mohammed and another five percent begin with the name Abdullah. Where this pattern is contradicted most noticeably it is with names like Chen, Low, Lok, and Wong which are also heavily represented in the book. Kelantan is the only state in Malaysia not run by the ruling party. Instead it is run by an opposition party which has assured that Kelantan is the most noticeably Islamic state in Malaysia. According to some it also means that Kelantan has suffered neglect from the ruling part in Kuala Lumpur who is punishing the Kelantan people for voting the opposition party into power.

In the neighboring Philippines, the ethnically related Filipino people normally eat with a spoon and fork, using the fork to push food into the spoon and eating it from the spoon. In the privacy of their own homes, Filipinos often eat with their hands in a traditional manner. In Thailand they used the same utensils, but traditionally ate with their hands as well. The Spanish and American colonial rulers put an end to eating-with-your-hands in the Philippines and King Chulalongkorn probably did away with it in Thailand during his reign of "modernization". In Malaysia, my wife, Karen (who was raised in the Philippines) was glad to learn, they not only eat with a spoon and fork, but even encourage people to eat with their hands in public. There is one rule that applies, and I'm sure always did apply in the eating-with-your-hands countries, don't eat with your left hand because that is the hand you use to wipe your butt when in the bathroom (toilet paper is not universal!).

The facial characteristics of the people we saw in Kota Bharu were noticeably different from the people of the various areas of Thailand we had been to. This probably wouldn't be surprising to Malaysians or Thai people, but it was for me having been raised in an America where I can't remember having ever heard anything about Southeast Asia in my formal education from kindergarten through high school (the Vietnam War was mentioned but never discussed openly). I would be hard pressed to explain these physical differences now that I have said they exist, but suffice here to say that there is a difference. Undoubtedly the difference has been maintained by contrasting religious beliefs that inhibit intermarriage even if there are cultural similarities between the people. Both countries consider it bad to point with your feet which are unclean or to touch somebody else's head because it is the most sacrosanct part of the body. I'm sure that underlying these relatively superficial points are more profound cultural similarities perhaps even nativistic beliefs that have been covered over with more recent influences.

I asked the desk clerk, a Malaysian women, at our hotel who spoke English well if Malaysians were taught English in school. She told me that people in the state of Kelantan were not generally conversant in English, and that she was from a different state where she had learned English at a convent school. She then explained, embarrassed, that she had to wear the head scarf of a Muslim woman because it was the law and that she was once fined 10 ringgit for not wearing it while at work. She explained that she was having a difficult time getting used to wearing it. Kelantan is a conservative Muslim state and has proclaimed that all Muslim women must wear the head scarves when working, though they are not legally required to outside of work. Muslim men have no similar requirement affecting their attire. I saw a policewoman without a scarf and was later informed that policewoman have to wear regulation hats so they are therefore exempt from the scarf rule. We also saw a couple of young women working in a restaurant kitchen that was partially visible to patrons, and the women were not wearing the scarves either but they were not so easily seen.

One night we went to an outdoor market which was popular for the food stands that sold a variety of inexpensive, delicious Malaysian food. When we arrived there was a man walking through the area with a loudspeaker. He seemed to be advising everyone that it was time for prayers. We followed the men who were walking to a mosque which was next to the market, and noticed that the women scattered in the other direction towards retail shops across the street. There was a tarp raised by poles which covered the prayer mats where men that could not fit inside the mosque where the were led in prayer in the warm evening air. After observing the ritual prayers we walked back towards the market, but were told we could not enter the market by a guard who apologized and said the market would open up in a few minutes after the prayers were over.

Looking around it was clear that there were differing degrees of devoutness in the attire of the women. One woman was in the full purdah, only her eyes and some of her sandaled feet were visible. She was only one of maybe a few hundred women we saw that night who was dressed so. Some of the women wore head scarves that were held together by decorative broaches underneath their chins so that no skin of the neck was visible and their arms were typically covered as well. Others, probably in a similar position to the woman at our hotel, wore the scarf loosely and didn't seem to have any other clothes on the resembled a uniform as such.

At first glance the attire of Muslim Malaysian women appears to be conservative, but this is an illusion. The scarves and the cut of the dresses are borrowings from the Middle East that have been altered in a notably Southeast Asian, or more particularly, Malaysian way. The dresses are made of sheer silk so that they can cover much of a woman's skin without being stifling in the tropical environment, and the bright floral patterns blend well with the visual surroundings. Because the fabric is silk and decorated so beautifully it appears to caress the bodies of these women in a subtle, sensuous way. We looked at the fabric for these dresses at markets in Kota Bharu where the dresses are made after the cloth is purchased, and running my hand against the fabric I could not help but wonder what a luxury it accorded the Malaysian men whose wives dressed in this fabric. The contrast with photos I have seen of other Islamic areas were the larger women are covered from head to toe with a black or other neutral toned clothe that provides only a small opening for their eyes could not be greater.

Having entered Malaysia with a mild gastro-intestinal disorder which had not been aidd much by a freezing night's ride aboard an air-conditioned Thai train, and was now accompanied by a headache, I decided to visit a Malaysian hospital. I was amazed with the efficiency of my visit. Within less than an hour and a half, I had checked in, seen my doctor, had a lab test performed, seen the doctor again, had my prescription filled and was out the door. For those who have travelled to areas where white-skinned Westerners are often given preferential treatment, let me add that this was not the case here. My most critical complaint with my visit had to be directed at the bathroom which was only slightly better than the ones I had seen in China (visit China section for a more thorough explanation), but the visit with all the services provided to me cost a paltry few dollars.

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