Our field study group arrived in Kuala Lampur yesterday after a long bus ride from Singapore. Malaysia is all around a much different place than Singapore which is surprising to me for how close by it is. Kuala Lampur seems to be much more disorganized and dirtier than Singapore. This isn’t necesarily a bad thing, I feel as though it’s what gives this city it’s distinct character and is what makes it different from other places. Here, there is chaos in the streets. Much more cars are present than in Singapore and there are hundreds and hundreds of mopeds whizzing down the roads. There is a constant smell of durian and 2-stroke oil while walking along the streets to our destinations. Our tour guide, a maylay local one day mentioned that he didnt like Singapore as much as malaysia because it “was too clean and organized.” I still can’t tell if he was saying this because he meant it, or because he wishes Kuala Lampur was as cookie cutter as Singapore is. The world may never know. Anyway, it’s been a fun time here in Malaysia. For as poor as many of the people seem to be here, I was surprised to see that the malls here exclusively carry all of the highest end luxury brands. This was interesting to me. I presume that the gap between the rich and the poor is very large here.
