Party Vibe

firstly, if you are planning on doing anything vaguely illegal/controversial (even if its not drugs, stuff like getting involved in environment/protest groups) or even just doing the low-cost “backpacking” bit you’d be best off not going anywhere near Malaysia as the authorities there remain very suspicious of “hippies/backpackers” etc. They have the same powers as UK authorities but more guns and have already implemented detention without trial (actually this is where the UK is getting the idea from as it was a old colonial law).

Even so, I expect they would tolerate a “middle class British youth” who kept his nose clean and was genuinely interested in the country.

also look carefully on a map, as is is split into two halves.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Malaysia_states_named.png

The bit of it where most of my family live (Peninsular Malaysia) is now highly developed and advanced in most places. Even the kampungs (jungle villages) have broadband!

Unfortunately, the towns and cities are crowded and polluted, and most of the wildlife (other than cats) has had its habitat destroyed. Everything green is getting hacked down for palm trees to provide “green biodiesel” for the World. To give you an idea of what Kuala Lumpur (the capital) is like, it can be seen on the final chase sequence of the Jackie Chan movie Police Story 3 (TBH it looks like a grander version of the M4 and railways from Reading to London!)

Many bits are not unlike 1950-1980s England mixed with Japanese/Chinese high tech buildings. However locals are friendly and there is lots of good food there (some people claim the national sport of Malaysia is eating).

The other bit (Malaysian Borneo or East Malaysia) is less developed has more jungle bits. It is proper jungle, there are lots of things there what could make you very ill and may even eat you. (there are still tigers!) If you wish to go there (and it may be the more “interesting” bit of the country), do your research well. There are some “guided tours” but they may be tourist traps and potentially exploiting the natural surroundings rather than interacting with them.

this thread is some years old now, I think the OP has long since been there and come back. Also although I would still never encourage folk to openly become inlolved in drugs in Malaysia they have chilled out loads there (and stopped hanging so many young people ).

This isn’t because they want them to take drugs but MY hasn’t been so badly hit by the economic depression as they have gained a lot of work from Japanese companies (due to Thailand getting flooded and the Japanese losing loads of factories in an earthquake, and also managing to make their own country (and a part of the South China Sea) radioactive in the process!).

Also birth rates in MY and SG are actually very low and the native women have menopause earlier than Western women (often as early as their 40s). well educated young couples who are likely to have children are valuable (as are babies of both genders, the thriving electronics industry employs a lot of girls and young women even if they have not gone to University or college) ) and it makes no sense to execute your up and coming generation for relatively minor crimes when they are needed to make or design all the new gadgets the world wants – Japanese companies often pick Malaysia and Singapore before China to set up factories when they are producing small portable items for export to the EU (such as hard drives) as although labour costs are greater, the build quality is perceived to be better. (Big heavy items and specialist equipment is still assembled in Europe, including the UK)