In Kuala Lumpur, Protests Over Fuel Prices
In a drenching rain we've arrived in Kuala Lumpur, a city of 4.5 million with a pulsing, oil-fueled heart. What's new since I was last here in 2006? More shopping. The names that rich Asians love, like Hugo Boss, Cartier, and Juicy Couture, all lined up here in the famous Golden Triangle, where the Grand Millenium is our home for the next two nights. In the lobby a woman in a full length chador waited silently while her husband negotiated with the concierge and her kids tumbled in and out of their strollers.
On the way in from the airport, Sara our guide told us that there used to be a rainy season here. But now 'with that global change stuff' there is no longer any discernable rainy or dry period. It's more like rain, and the 'moody season' as she describes it, where the sun doesn't shine much and it's dreary.
We had to pass through two checkpoints, manned by friendly police and we asked them why. They didn't answer specifically but we knew these are due to the big protests in the city over, guess what?, fuel prices. The price of gas here is extraordinarily low, about .85 a liter, and it's just been jacked up to $1.50 or so a liter, more like Europe. And the politicians are making a lot of hay by speaking at rallies decrying the hike and demanding that the taxes be lowered. The current prime minister, Abdullah, has decided to cut short his second five-year term in 2010, naming a successor already, even though the people vote their leader into office.
The outskirts of KL are dotted with endless rows of identical subdivisions, dreary modules that all look the same and appear to be located in the absolute middle of nowhere. I asked Sara who would want to live out here, and who is building them. She said they were 'semi-private' which must mean that the government subsidizes them. She said there is an emerging industrial area out here so the workers will live here.
The older apartments here and in Kuching have a coating of mold that shows their age. Many of the buildings have this grim patina, a coating of black mold that makes them look much older than they must really be. As the rain pounds down and the thunder roars, I can see why all of that mold builds up.
On the way in from the airport, Sara our guide told us that there used to be a rainy season here. But now 'with that global change stuff' there is no longer any discernable rainy or dry period. It's more like rain, and the 'moody season' as she describes it, where the sun doesn't shine much and it's dreary.
We had to pass through two checkpoints, manned by friendly police and we asked them why. They didn't answer specifically but we knew these are due to the big protests in the city over, guess what?, fuel prices. The price of gas here is extraordinarily low, about .85 a liter, and it's just been jacked up to $1.50 or so a liter, more like Europe. And the politicians are making a lot of hay by speaking at rallies decrying the hike and demanding that the taxes be lowered. The current prime minister, Abdullah, has decided to cut short his second five-year term in 2010, naming a successor already, even though the people vote their leader into office.
The outskirts of KL are dotted with endless rows of identical subdivisions, dreary modules that all look the same and appear to be located in the absolute middle of nowhere. I asked Sara who would want to live out here, and who is building them. She said they were 'semi-private' which must mean that the government subsidizes them. She said there is an emerging industrial area out here so the workers will live here.
The older apartments here and in Kuching have a coating of mold that shows their age. Many of the buildings have this grim patina, a coating of black mold that makes them look much older than they must really be. As the rain pounds down and the thunder roars, I can see why all of that mold builds up.
posted by Max Hartshorne at 3:04 AM
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