I was
presented with the opportunity to start the new year of 2020 in SE Asia so early
on New Years' Eve day I boarded a China Airline Boeing 777 at SFO and flew to
Kuala Lumpur to start a two month journey through new lands and cultures.
Having spent 44 years in the construction industry, I had a great interest in
seeing two major building projects: the Petronas Towers in KL which, for a
brief moment in time, were the tallest buildings in the world and Angkor Wat,
the mystical and astounding Buddhist Temple near Siem Reap, Cambodia. Much to
my surprise and amazement, there was
much, much more in the way of building and construction to see and photograph in
both locations and, adding in Singapore, this trip was of great fascination to
an inveterate builder like myself.
Another
highlight of this trip was the food. Malaysian, Chinese, Thai, Cambodian,
Moslem Halal, Vietnamese, Indian, European and American cuisines and all sorts of
fusion combinations were available everywhere for very reasonable prices in a huge
selection of restaurants and street hawker stands. Everything was delicious.
For the
first time I was in a non-western world arena where Asian people of all
different nationalities and of three main religious, Hindu, Moslem and Buddhist,
have been living at peace with each for at least the last two decades. I do
believe that right now SE Asia is truly the calmest place on the planet. The peoples of
Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Singapore have transformed a
land of strife, turmoil and genocide into tourist, agricultural and industrial
economies where the diverse populations have learned to value of "just
getting along".
