May 2, 2007

Johor Bahru (MALAYSIA)

Day Trip to Johor Bahru

After my Circuits and Electronics exam I grabbed a quick bite to eat and showered before meeting several Singaporean friends for  a day trip to Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Singapore and Johor Bahru are only 500 meters apart, but the differences are dramatic: whereas Singapore is now one of the world's most efficient, clean, and well-run cities, Johor Bahru is a backwater by comparison.

Tell people in Singapore you are visiting Johor Bahru and they will reply the same way, "Be careful, they will rob you at gunpoint there! They just don't care there!" Singaporeans are prone to over-exaggerate risks, which is a logical by product of living in a risk-free country. The truth is the dangers of Johor Bahru are no different from any other city, but in my opinion, Singaporeans are ideal targets because they aren't used to being En Garde.

Such fears don't stop Singaporeans from pouring across the border to eat cheap seafood, buy petrol, and smuggle cigarettes or chewing gum back into the compound they fondly call home.

I cleared Singapore customs without any problems, which was a relief because I never completed (or initiated) the process of collecting my student identity card. It isn't often one can pull one over on the draconian government of Singapore, so I am not shy about patting myself on the back for keeping 80 dollars out of the wallets of the politicians.

Singaporean ministers hold the Guinness record for being the highest paid politicians. The government, which recently awarded itself another pay raise (despite the consternation of the populace), argues multi-million dollar paychecks attract top talent from the business world, and high pay means they "don't do corruption." I am apprehensive about going into too many details about this argument for fear of reprisals or lawsuits (it's not a joke in Singapore), but suffice to say there are startling connections between the awarding of government contracts and which politicians are majority shareholders or chairmen on the board.

Enough political talk. Singapore is a world and a half away for most people, and for those who actually live there, well, they already know everything I could write.

Anyway, we re-boarded a public bus and crossed the only public bridge connecting Singapore and Malaysia. The ride was not very exciting, but I did get a glimpse of the enormous pipes that supply roughly half of Singapore's water. This is the half I choose to drink as part of the other half comes from "recycled water." In other words, what goes in must come out, but in Singapore they take this one step farther by putting it back in!

After clearing Malaysian customs, we began walking through the city. I must have been in Singapore for too long because I was somewhat turned off by the grime and trash. We made our way to a shopping mall and looking at backpacks and other travel supplies. I convinced both friends to backpack Europe this summer, and they will be leaving in a little over a week.

There isn't really a whole lot else to say about Johor Bahru, except that the food is "damn good and damn cheap".

We crossed back into Singapore later in the evening and met a friend who was kind enough to cook for us. Between a bottle of wine and a bottle of vodka we celebrated the end of exams, and I stayed up to watch AC Milan dismantle Manchester United in a lopsided affair.

A final note: A common mistake is for people to think Malay is the name of a person from Malaysia, when in fact it is the name of a race. People are easily offended if referred to as a Malay when in fact they are, say, a Chinese living in Malaysia.