Kuala Lumpur - A Cultural Feast

Colors of Malaysia Festival is just the start.

The buildings and trees flanking Merdeka Square in Kuala Lumpur glitter with thousands of tiny lights as the crowd waits with anticipation.

The opening ceremonies of Malaysia’s most spectacular event, Citrawarna 2000 or “Colours Of Malaysia” are about to commence. Timed to coincide with the King of Malaysia’s 74thbirthday celebrations, this is the first Citrawarna of the new millennium-an extravaganza of folk dances, traditional music and a parade of floats from Malaysia’s 13 states and the federal territory of uala Lumpur.

The band break into a spirited rendition of the national anthem to the backdrop of fireworks splaying across the night sky, and the gala begins. For the next three hours, you will be held spellbound as Merdeka Square becomes a shifting kaleidoscope of dancers in shimmering traditional costumes and elaborate head-dresses, martial arts performers, drummers and choristers. Chinese dragons, bullock carts and painted peacocks dip and be swayed, followed by a display of enormous, intricately decorated kites from Kelantan.

Folk dancers from Perak pound and stomp rice grains in a traditional Belotah performance, Indian classical themes are enacted by actors with elaborate make-up and kohl-rimmed eyes, and a tribal group from Sarawak whirls on stilts to the beat of drums. The color-splashed finale with all 4000 performers bowing to a wildly cheering audience, is a fitting culmination of our stay in Kuala Lumpur, a visit crammed with visual and sensory overload.
One might come to Malaysia with stereotypical images of a third-world country: crowded narrow streets, beggars, litter and noisy traffic.

But you will be wrong.

Kuala Lumpur is as sophisticated as any Western capital city. Orderly traffic flows along arterial six-lane freeways, public transport is fast and convenient, landscaped parks dot the cityscape, sidewalks are meticulously clean, and there is no evidence of anything remotely resembling a skid row neighborhood in the city core. There are no pan-handlers, hucksters, drug peddlers (the death penalty is rigidly enforced), and in a country where Islamic law is stern, there are no visible drunks on the streets.

Yet, for all that, Islam here isn’t as restrictive as in the Middle East. Women, clad in flowing Baju Kebayas with flowered scarves draped over their heads, play a prominent role in the city’s work-force. Nightclubs, pubs and trendy discotheques pound rock music and seethe with activity into the wee small hours, and the entertainment scene encompasses theatre performances, art gallery exhibitions and a variety of concerts from traditional to jazz. The magnificent Dewan Filharmonik Petronas Hall showcases the best in Western classical music.

KL’s architecture is no less stunning: mosques with onion-shaped Moorish domes, a national theatre with a blue winged roof—a smaller version of Sydney’s Opera House—and futuristic glass and concrete skyscrapers.

The 452-meter-high Petronas Twin Towers soaring against the city skyline like a gleaming steel-banded candelabrum. Currently the world’s tallest free-standing structures, they were built with oil money by the government-owned Petronas Corporation. The Twin Towers incorporate geometric designs symbolizing unity, harmony, stability and rationality, all important facets of Islam. In that sense the Towers are a fitting symbol for Kuala Lumpur whose slick exterior overlays Malaysia’s traditional Muslim culture.
Nowhere is the diversity of Malaysia’s people (Malay, Chinese and Indian) so evident as in KL’s street stall cuisine. One can tuck into Malaysian skewered, marinated and grilled chicken satays with lashings of peanut sauce and onions, Chinese spicy noodles, sweet and sour fish wrapped and steamed in banana leaves, Indian roti, and nasi lemak (rice cooked in coconut milk and served with anchovies, squid, eggs, cucumber and chili paste).

And let’s not forget the shopping.

Apart from a bewildering number of expensive, upscale shopping malls, Chinatown after 7.30 p.m. is a bargain hunter’s paradise. The street is closed to vehicular traffic, and I shoulder my way through narrow, thronged aisles flanked by booths offering “genuine fake” Gucci and Rolex watches, name-brand T-shirts, pirated software, CDs, electronic gadgetry, leather goods and jewelry.

Music blares, hawkers bawl or whisper seductively,“Best price, I give you, Madam, come look, look...” The heady smells of durian, mango, pineapple and sizzling spices all hang thickly on the humid night air. In the words of the haunting Citrawarna anthem, this is “truly Asia,” except that in fastidiously clean Kuala Lumpur, even the tap water is safe to drink.
Getting There:

Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines fly to Kuala Lumpur from Vancouver (check with your travel agent for fares/schedules).
Malaysian Airlines (1-800-552-9264) offers superb service and excellent cuisine on their daily flights out of Los Angeles.
Highlights: The fabulous Colours of Malaysia month-long festival takes place twice a year in May and September. Other worthwhile attractions in KL: The National Art Gallery, National Monument, National Theatre and the 91.6 hectare Lake Gardens with their amazing collection of orchids, hibiscus, butterflies, and birds.