Finn vs. Malaysia

It is said that those who have high expectations are quickly disappointed. Therefore, someone who has no expectations can only be pleasantly surprised. And that's exactly the case for me and Malaysia. Since this country was not on our agenda and we decided to come here during the trip, I knew relatively little about Malaysia in advance (even though we had the topic of Southeast Asia in geography class :/).

I didn't even know that the state religion is Islam, which is why I had to get used to seeing so many women wearing headscarves in the first few days in Langkawi. You get used to that pretty quickly - having hardly anything to eat during the day, not so much. I also didn't know beforehand that we were going to Malaysia during the fasting month of Ramadan.

Nevertheless, the time here was consistently positive and I will definitely not have visited Georgetown and Kuala Lumpur for the last time in my life.

Because in these two places you can feel most intensely what makes Malaysia so special for me.

I'm talking about the diversity and peaceful coexistence of different religions.

Even though in today's time Islamist fundamentalists from the Middle East are certainly abusing the country as a retreat, I personally never felt threatened by the beliefs of people of different faiths. Nobody looked at us strangely when we kissed on the street or ate pork in a Chinese restaurant.

If even in a country where Islam is enshrined in the constitution it works, why should a few refugees, who are a minority, be able to prevent us Germans from developing freely in a country like Germany? I would advise anyone who is afraid of that to come to Malaysia once. Even though at the time of Malaysian independence the Chinese were still in the majority and today it is the Malaysians - due to higher birth rates - you still see Chinese shops and temples everywhere. My God, Malaysia has the most public holidays because of its different religions! If that's not an argument for diversity, then I don't know what is.

Apart from all religious aspects, the people were generally much more open and friendly towards us again. All of this together makes me even more convinced that there is nothing that educates you more than discovering unknown places and interacting with the unfamiliar. Because only in this way can you develop an understanding for others.

Highlights:

- Nightlife in Kuala Lumpur

Most beautiful place:

- George Town

Most interesting place:

- Cave in Merapoh