There is a street here in Penang nicknamed the “street of harmony.” It is where the oldest Baptist Church, one of the oldest Taoist Temples and where one of the oldest Mosques are found. All on one street. There are schools for Christians, and separate schools (based on gender) for the Muslims as well as Buddhist schools all operating under the “public system,” where taxpayers pay the education while parents pay for the uniforms. As I was told.
Today, on the bus from Penang National Park back into town, there were these 4 girls all in headscarves talking to a British girl about life and about other things. I think they were practicing their English but all were talking about Justin Beiber and playing on their cell phones. It was such a cool thing to see on a bus.
Last night I met some locals at a restaurant and asked them some questions about their country. If you go to K.L. the main language is Cantonese. Here is a different dialect of Malay (the “national language”) and almost all are taught English and Putonghua in their schools with various degrees of success. Due to it’s Muslim heritage, there is a lot of Arabic learned here as well. In Canada people complain (and I was one of them) about just learning French. In America there were massive protests when someone decided to translate the national anthem into Spanish.
Walking around there are just so many different cultures working together and going about their business. It is the first time I have seen so much diversity since I left Toronto. Korea was very homogeneous. Hong Kong is a bit better than Korea but still predominantly Cantonese. Here there just seems to be a mix of everything and it is what makes it great here.
It is all of these differences that I find amazing here.