Happy Deepavali Malaysia

Me in my Saree

Today is Deepavali or Diwali (the Festival of Light). There has been a lot of talk about 1Malaysia by the government politicians and a lot of criticism by ordinary Malaysians who think it's one of the government's empty promises. Well, my girlfriend Cheryl and I decided to do it our own way by getting to know our fellow Malaysians who celebrate Deepavali. Putting aside the politicians and the critics, I think 1Malaysia stand a better chance of success if ordinary Malaysians show more interest and understanding in our respective cultures. Malaysia is, afterall, malay and chinese and indian and iban and penan ...all the spectrum of backgrounds we bring with us to this land. On Thursday, I took the LRT and got off the Masjid Jamek stop. A short stroll down the river, I came to the Masjid India area, named after the mosque built there. Masjid India is an area dominated mainly my Indian muslims. My mission was to find a saree and experience some of the Deepavali atmosphere there. It didn't disappoint.

Shortly after crossing the river, I started to hear hindi music and smell the jasmine flowers which were made into colourful garlands. There were girls having their hands painted with henna.

A Decorated Kolam

I found my saree in one of the shops. The shop owner was a lady with a very fine saree on. She smiled and made some comments about me to the shopkeeper in tamil. He then smiled at me. I guess it was something nice they said? She picked a size 34 top for me. I put it on and it was tight. She assured me that that is the wya it's supposed to be. I dared not argue. I then asked her what time would be best to visit the temple the next day. Happy with my new saree, I strolled further down the street. There were a lot of people. Many were sitting in the bright gold jewellery shops. Chennai Jewellery, Bombay Jewellery and so forth. Many stared at me as I squeezed through the crowd. I thought "hopefully in a generation or two, this will be a norm i.e.chinese Malaysians celebrating Deepavali".

I stopped at one of the stalls where I bought some gold and turqoise bangles. Next to it, I stopped and got myself some murukku. I left Masjid India two hours later and moved on back to the Masjid Jamek area.

Clad in our sarees, Cheryl and I joined the Indian crowd at the Sri Mariamman temple this morning. Obviously, we were drawing a lot of attention. I was happy to find two other chinese young men who were there to shoot some photos. I thought to myself that when I move back to Malaysia, photography will be a good way to learn more about this country.

Cheryl turned out to be the perfect companion for this experience. Not only is she a great yoga teacher, but her interest in Indian culture and philosophy brings her to India for her personal pilgrimages. At the temple, I simply follow her lead.

First, we took off our shoes and then we washed our feet. We started with the main prayer hall where the chief deity Sri Maha Mariamman is in the middle. There were devotees lined up on either side of the centre space. Two priests held silver trays in their hands. On the trays were an oil lamp, some flowers and red powder. Cheryl guided me when we stood in line to receive blessings from the priests.

I placed some donation money on the tray and placed my hands close to the litted lamp. The priest dropped some red powder on my palms. I then used to powder to dot my forehead. Blessed am I!

We proceeded to the smaller halls, each time bending down to touch the floor before we enter. Cheryl explained to me that this is how we pay respect to the ground we were stepping into. As we watch the devotees pray and chant, Cheryl explained how the rotation of the lamp in their hand symbolizes different things. Clockwise for the Gods and anti-clockwise for those who have passed away.

On one of the prayer halls, devotees circled the middle alter of jasmine flowers and oil lamps. I was told that one could circle it 9 times or 108 times as they chant. holding an oil lamp. I followed those who clasp their palms together when one of the devotees waved at me to join in. The moist and scent of jasmine was really hypnotising. I glanced up once and saw the chart on the wall showing the position of the nine planets within the hall. One of the devotees in front of me poked a hole into his counting paper each time he completed a circle.

As I completed the nine circles, a chinese man took photographs of me. It was quite hillarious as he whispered "I'm such a bad photographer!" each time I hear the click on his camera.

We left the hall into the open space when a group of indian boys asked us to take some pictures with them. Strange, isn't it? It was harmless fun, I guess.

We stayed a little longer discussing why there are no guided tours for such things in Malaysia. I know many of my foreigner friends would be interested in seeing this side of Malaysia rather than just going to a tourist spot to snap pictures. Well, the more cultured of my friends anyway.

All in all, we left quite happy. Hinduism is truly an open religion. It is not money focussed. It is open to everyone. I felt very welcomed at Sri Mariamman today. I would recommend any visitor to Malaysia this special opportunity to share the experience of The Festival Of Light.

Pasar Malam

Need a pair of socks and some shorts? And some fruits? And some beddings? What about dinner? Or traditional oitment? Did you say an alarm clock? You can most probably get all of these at a Pasar Malam.



One of the things I include in my annual trip home to Malaysia is the pasar malam. It translates to Night Market from the malay language. From my travels, one of the most interesting places to meet some locals and see how the locals live, is a market.

So yes, I am suggesting that if you visit Kuala Lumpur (KL), you can get off the tourist path and visit one of these markets. Firstly, these are not dressed up for tourists. Secondly, nothing is priced as if they are for tourists. And finally, these places are easy to find. At these markets I am suggesting, people would leave you to your own unless you ask for help.

Before I go further, a little about Pasar Malam in KL. These night markets are held in different suburbs on different nights of the week, typically from 6pm tp 10pm. As a result, the same of group of vendors may set up stall in 4-5 markets during the week. What you can find in the markets depends very much on which suburb it is and who frequents them.

Most tourists in KL find their way to China Town where there are about two streets filled with stalls selling different things. Well, that is all fine but honestly, it's more interesting to see the locals at a Pasar Malam instead. My favourite Pasar Malams are the one at Taman Tun Dr Ismail (Sundays), SS2 (Mondays) and SS2 (Thursdays).

Taman Tun Dr Ismail is about 15 minutes drive from KL city. It costs about RM10 to get there from KLCC without traffic by taxi.

Taman Tun, or TTDI as the locals call it, is an upper middle class suburb where properties have been appreciating in market value consistently since the 1970s. The Pasar Malam here is smaller than that at SS2. However, since the patronage at TTDI is a good mix of the different races, you can find a better mix of locals and products.

This pasar malam is very popular with housewives who come to stock up supplies for the work week. They buy things like fruits, cookies and snacks.

What I love about the pasar malam is that my senses are awaken throughout. The noises of people bargaining, vendors shouting out the offer of the day, the smell of food and all the colours and people around.

I normally do not have dinner but take a walk along the street at a Pasar Malam and eat tit-bits and local tropical fruits. You find things like the malay kuih (cakes) which are typically made from coconut and pandan (screwpine leaves), fresh sugarcane or longan juice. My favourite is the home made soy milk and some chinese cooling herb tea.

SS2 is a mainly a chinese area. Here, you find bustling shops and eateries which are opened throughout the night. The rows of massage and beauty parlors, electronic shops, chinese medical hall and coffee shops forms the main square. You really get to see the chinese at their best and worst entrepreneur games. SS2 is where eager business people come to sell. Only in SS2 that you will find eat-all-you-can durian buffets, old fashion gold jewellery shops guarded by small armed men.

The pasar malams at SS2 (section 2) are very popular especially with the young. Here, the stalls stretched out over four streets. Similarly, it costs about RM10 from the city or you can walk from the Taman Bahagia LRT station.

At the SS2 markets, there are more food but also a lot of the latest craze and gadgets. You can find things like fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, toads, plumbing tools, chinese medicine, Taiwanese tofa and milk tea, pirated DVDs and softwares, clothes, accessories. The list goes on. This is actually a good place to get some cheap clothes you're willing to chuck away later.

Once, my Danish friend found a pair of gloves which Malaysian women buy to cover their hands while driving. Yes. We have an obsession with staying fair skinned.

In fact, recently, some foreigners from Myanmar and Pakistan started selling things like bamboo lamps and pashmir scarves there.

A word of advice on the pirated DVDs. There are the cheap ones where the movie is recorded with someone holding the camcorder in a cinema. I cannot understand why anyone would pay anything for this. But...just ask, in case.

Once I hosted a friend from Hong Kong. After seeing my mum bargain, he wanted to have a go at it himself. So we gave him a rule-of-thumb i.e. 50% off the quoted price. Well, we forgot to tell him the exceptions. Surely, he should have known better not to bargain for an RM2 coconut jam (the locals call it "kaya").

So here you go. If you do not want to do the touristy thing and be harassed, go to a neighbourhood Pasar Malam when you're in KL.