Article

2007-02-24 Southeast Asia

Man compensated for being stuck inside Malaysia

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Posted by ryuge 2007-02-24 02:35|| || Front Page|| [8 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 As someone who has spent time in both places, I'd suggest that Mr. Beadle just got another break. My experience was that there were many more good-looking women in Malaysia than in the UK, so if he had to be stuck someplace, Malaysia had some serious advantages. It was probably tougher to get a pint sometimes, but then no place is perfect...

Posted by mac 2007-02-24 07:18|| 2007-02-24 07:18|| Front Page Top

#2 Good looking women do not alone make a life. To be trapped in the capitol, Kuala Lumpur, is one thing, but I spent a week in Kuanton on the other side of the peninsula, and it's one of the few places I've been (granted my experience is limited, and I have been quite sheltered from the harsher realities of life) that I would be completely uninterested in living for any longer. There was practically nothing to do, practically no place to go, and only the same small group of people to talk to, day after day after day. I live in the outer suburbs now, so my need for society is demonstrably not that of the urban elite, but there I should have gone mad -- and Kuantan is the seat of one of Malaysia's sultans.

Posted by trailing wife 2007-02-24 13:04|| 2007-02-24 13:04|| Front Page Top

#3 It surprises me to see you write that, TW. If you had been there longer, I'm certain that with your boundless curiosity you would have immediately set to learning Malay and getting an in-depth grasp of the local culture. Whether Mr. Beadle had any such intentions we can't know, but he obviously learned enough of the local culture to take a wife from it.

That leads to another comment: from a guy's standpoint, while good-looking women may not alone make a life, they can come darned close. A good-looking and happily compliant woman who frequently smiles, decently cooks, and brings home the odd bit of alcohol now and then will keep most men very thoroughly engaged for quite a long time.

Posted by mac 2007-02-24 17:53|| 2007-02-24 17:53|| Front Page Top

#4 You are a darling, mac. :-) You're right, I would've started learning the language had we stayed another week or so. But I'm Jewish, half Israeli, and I have strong opinions on all sorts of subjects, as I think you'll have noticed, about which I sometimes forget to be tactful. ;-) How long until the Muslims expressed opinions of their own about mine, d'you think? I'm sure there are worse places to be trapped for a decade and a half -- Saudi Arabia comes to mind -- but Kuantan truly is the first place I ever visited where I was not willing to live.

Posted by trailing wife 2007-02-24 20:53|| 2007-02-24 20:53|| Front Page Top

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