A Room With a View

As promised, I am delivering some pictures for those who are interested. The picture you see on the top left there is a view from my room. I had described it in passing as a "chateau." This perhaps was a bit misleading. It still is a chateau (three stories with an elevator--her father was afraid he would not be mobile in his waning years), but it is not, like one may imagine, perched on a grassy knoll with embankments on each side. Rather, it is clustered with many of the same type houses. The gated community is an interesting one. As I trolled the streets last night, I met with an older couple selling fruit and vegetables to the inhabitants of Damansara Heights from their truck. Li and Wohan (pronounced "lie" and "wohahn" respectively) come every Tuesday and Saturday to deliver produce to paying customers. One might be surprised to find many white neighbors here, ex-pats and the like, who stroll about, taking their children to the public pool and playground, chatting in their primrose front yards, etc. A security guard makes rounds regularly on a bike. Benches dot the streets at regular intervals for weary walkers or leisure seekers. It is still abominably hot however.

Interestingly, each house or "unit" as they like to call them in anthropology, has an automatic door for the cars and a manual one (that can only be unlocked from inside) for entry into the front yard. Thus, unlike gated communities even in the States, homes and yards are walled in twice over, leaving the wanderer "walled off" or shut out from within.

I don't think that this is really for security purposes, and I'll tell you why. Firstly, it's redundant. The community is already gated. The probabilities of another, highly wealthy homeowner in Damansara Heights stealing off with your television and jade collection under the cover of darkness is relatively nil. Secondly, the walls are not really designed for that sort of protection, per se. They are easily scalable and the door lock is a thin cylinder that hinges into a slot. Thirdly, a security guard patrols regularly on his bicycle, neighbors are almost always walking around or driving by. I simply don't see much of a reason for it.

This leads me to believe that there is a different underlying reason for such "double-walling." I believe it is largely psychological. In this manner, the homeowner may not only exclude the urban stranger (via the initial gate, with rottweilers and guards), but may also exclude, if he/she so chooses, other neighbors, so that there is a concentric circle of liminal delineation. One may even take this further to the privacy allowed by rooms. Thus the double-walling is a means of negotiating space within close confines. Land is a very valuable resource, yards small. Therefore that which is "mine" must be guarded psychologically from that which is "theirs." To put it more succinctly: those who can afford to wall themselves in close quarters do so for the comfort of privacy and voluntary exclusion/inclusion. At least this is what I think, and I haven't found any information suggesting the contrary.

Since Malaysia is still developing, it is interesting to leave a gated community to go, for example, grocery shopping. I have only been to small markets and the like. "Mini marts" seem to be for expedient snacks, etc. while the larger establishments are like the grocery stores we have in the States on a much smaller scale. Expensive furniture stores or restaurants, still sit alongside poor housing. As KL central is being revitalized, it is pushing out, slowly but surely, into the surrounding neighborhoods. As I said before, old infrastructure is being razed for new developments such as expensive condominiums and night clubs. I've even passed a Hindu temple still standing in front of a large, new shopping mall. Even so, the traditional Malaysian establishments (the small eateries that dot the city) are not absent. Today, for the first time, I had Nasi Lamak (the "National Treasure"). It is comprised of a ball of rice (which one eats with a spoon), a curry chili sauce on the side, nuts and fried fish strips (is the only way I can explain them) and a boiled egg, all served on a banana leaf. You can also order chicken or other such delectable treats with your meal. It is traditionally a breakfast food, so we had it for breakfast. I must say, it was quite good. To drink I had a little drink that can only be described as an iced, sweet lime concoction. Both my and Villie's meal, with chicken and drinks included, came to about 10 Ringgit (which, according to the current exchange rate, is around 3 USD). Not a bad deal, I'd say.

DVD's are cheap...when they're pirated. I am contemplating the box set of The Wire for about 400 Ringgit...which is essentially $115. If anyone knows how expensive and scarce even Season 1 of The Wire is, then you'd know how amazing the price is. Of course, you do have to sit through their little movie store promo...but that's the price you pay...for a lower price. Another thing of note: parking here is not free. Now what do I mean by that? I mean that almost all of the parking lots I have been to are controlled by automatic or manual tolls and/or parking meter stations. When you enter a lot of any kind you have to get a ticket. Depending on the lot, you either pay the ticket up front and stick it in your car, or, more often I've seen the ticket paid at the end of the stay. Therefore, if you don't have the money, you're stuck in the parking lot. I believe this is tax money (which almost every extraneous cost is here--"service tax" also goes to the government), but it's an interesting concept. In mall parking lots there is even a time limit to escape after paying for the ticket. Since those meters charge exponentially for time used, then to avoid people clocking in for an hour, paying for the ticket and staying for another five, there is a time limit from the point that you pay for your ticket to the point you exit the parking lot. Mall parking lots are generally confusing here--arrows go everywhere, random cones stand in the way, exit signs are posted at every corner pointing up and down. It's beyond me how anyone makes it out in 20 minutes, much less 10.

But people navigate. Unspoken rule of the road: the pedestrian does not have the right of way. If you come here and are planning to cross the road, STOP, and look both ways with cupped ears. It isn't like Italy where one really must cross in front of traffic and mingle with the motorcycles and tour buses careening inches away from your nose. Here, either the car won't stop (unlikely) or it will (much more likely) and someone will be angry (certain).

Well that's all for now folks. I promise I'll post again soon. I think the crystal clear swimming pool is calling my name at the moment.

P.S. If it's this beautiful in the city, then I am anxious to see the country.

Yours,
Trey