Serawak, Sabah, and Tronoh - Malaysia, 13-18 August 2007

I had a chance to visit Malaysia again, but this time a bit different. If normally I go to big cities, this time I went to rural areas to see the implementation of USO (universal service obligation) facilities in Malaysian villages. They assigned me and some friends to Serawak and Sabah, two states that I've never been to.

Malaysian villages are not much different from Indonesian's. However, their public infrastructure such as roads, electricity, and telecommunication are much better than ours. I imagined that our visits will take much energy, but that proved wrong. Even at places with no access roads, alternative transportation such as boats and ferries are available.

Their people are similar to ours: friendly and sincere. Even some of them cannot speak English, communication was not a problem since Malay language is very similar to Indonesian language. In Sarawak, there are 3 major ethnics: Malay, Chinese, and Dayak (Iban and Bedayuh). In Sabah, there is more diversity since Filipinos and Bugis are also there.

An interesting experience for me was the opportunities to taste Malaysian's unique cuisines. Among of them are teh tarik (pulled tea - because one has to "pull" upside the teapot to pour the tea to the glass), laksa Serawak, and red and pink durians. Foods are cheap here, a normal meal costs RM 3-4 (1 RM = Rp 2600, US$1 = RM 3).

On the way back, I had the chance to visit the University Teknologi Petronas (UTP) at Tronoh. Some of my colleagues study here, so it's worth to visit them. The campus is new (built in 2004). It has modern architecture with curvy theme. It is located in a remote area (around 1 hour from Ipoh, the state capital, and 4 hours from Kuala Lumpur - going there from Yogyakarta really takes time). Almost all students live on-campus, only students with familites live outside the campus. And since UTP is owned by the rich Petronas oil company, all students get scholarship from Petronas !