Life in Kuala Lumpur has been moving at a fast pace. Once again, as the last blog, I am working away at this blog in Pucks Cafe (only the best thing in the city)…. The city, my internship, and everyday experiences here have woven together a mosaic of cultural pockets. This hybridity has led me to reflect on the concept of the “third place.” Traditionally, the third place refers to social environments that are separate from the two usual settings of home and the workplace. While this definition is accurate, it doesn’t fully capture the cultural hybridity of the spaces, people, and minds I’ve encountered over the past three months.
I’ve spent a lot of time in new places where cultural, societal, and physical spaces intersect. Each of these intersections creates a new kind of third space—an environment that defies easy categorization and instead blends multiple influences into something unique. Describing these experiences to someone else has proven to be quite challenging, as the previous interns warned me it would be. It’s nearly impossible to fully convey the going ons and subsequently, ‘why’ and ‘how’ what happens in and outside of work here. But here goes…
MSRI
When coming to MSRI, essentially one intern is ordained as the teacher for their time. That one is me. I teach a morning and afternoon class called ‘Tuition’ which is essentially a class for those with low English levels and majority are recently arrived minors into the country.
Rough start. Rough middle. There is no way to make linear progress in people’s lives that have been flipped on its head and then having to learn an entirely new language.There’s no straightforward way to create linear progress in the lives of people whose worlds have been turned upside down and who are now faced with the task of learning a new language. It has been a demanding experience, but one that I never imagined would offer me the opportunity to form such deep connections with the younger generation.
The language barrier is difficult, yes, and there’s also a cultural divide. I’m a privileged Canadian here by choice, while many of my students see Malaysia as a temporary stopover in their journey. My morning class is a diverse mix of Sudanese, Somali, Afghan, Iranian, and Rohingya students. On one hand, I’m incredibly grateful to be in a room filled with such diversity, where we can share cultural experiences. It’s comforting to me, as I’ve always grown up surrounded by diverse expressions and people. But on the other hand, I recognize that many of my students haven’t had this same exposure to diversity.
They spend their break times singing and sharing food and are very insistent I have their snack with them, and have been DEMANDING I sing with them. I’m sorry, but I must refuse.
The girls in my class get excited for the opportunity to play football, something they have shared with me they didn’t have a chance to in their home country. And they are still unconvinced I don’t speak Farsi, or Arabic, and look me in the eyes expecting me to surprise them one day. Here, there is not a day where I am taken off guard teaching children. The students, on one hand, can be so ruthless in their honesty. Nothing stings more than a teenager telling you at the end of a hard class, ‘Teacher, today you’re like… 👎🏽’. They are so unserious, I never know what to expect. (Although best thing I’ve heard is that ‘teacher, if I have a fight I’m calling you’)
It’s difficult to explain the day to day. If I’m not teaching my class, I could be doing anything. It is never quiet. We had our gaelic football day, took 250 students for a little sports day, ran a few HPV clinics with the most effervescent doctor I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing, had an open day where my classes put together original stories, and much much more.
KL
City-wise, I’m getting to know everything better. I’ve found an outlet—an “in” to the art spaces, largely through skateboarding. I’ve met and made community in music, fashion, art spaces and can always ask someone what and where to go on a weekend to see festivities. Although walking in the tropics can be a challenge, I still manage to get out and explore on some days. KL is such a vast city with so many holidays and festivals, there is always something going on!
My friends take me to many different places here, teaching me the most important words along the way of course. ‘Macam Biasa’ as usual (ex. ‘You wanna hang out’ ‘yeah“ ‘where?’ ”ampark macam biasa’) and ‘barai’ which they say best translates to ‘toasted’ (how are you feeling? ‘baraaaiiiii’)
We’ve been fortunate to have visitors, and I’ve been grateful for the proximity to some friends from around the world who’ve taken the opportunity to visit and share in this new life with me.
Exploring the many art spaces in the city, particularly around Chinatown/Petaling Street near REXKL, has been a wonderful. Probably my favourite place to frequent (I need a shirt that says “I ❤️ Pucks Coffee”).
This area is a cultural hub for the younger generation, and I’ve made new friends just by striking up conversations with people. I’ve had my tarot read, discovered cool books, food, clothing, and met some fascinating individuals. If you appreciate a mish-mash of all scenes, you’ll find it here. However, in a conservative country like this, you’ll also hear stories of oppression that are quite different from what I’m used to back home. Of course here, smoking weed, and being LGBTQ+ is a punishable offence. I’ve made friends with the local ‘Queen of Drag’ who organizes shows, and runs an NGO clinic for the community. Despite knowing it an offence, it was shocking to learn from her that they must always have their shows and community events in secret, with planned emergency exits; almost like preparing for a natural disaster. Moving from Victoria to Kuala Lumpur I knew, but never quite wrapped my head around, the potential harm a law like that could bring. It’s very different when you see the real impact on people’s lives. Yet, despite these challenges, the creative community continues to flourish and thrive. It’s inspiring to see the community’s resilience and the amazing things they create and do.
And, around the city, there is never a catless day.
Other Places / Visiting Interns
We have visited the interns living in Borneo, which was a great break from the city life of KL. Great little crossover episode. There is an abundance of green. We had opportunity to meet with the locals at their boss’ kampung, where we were shown the community garden and met many people. I was really excited to get to see the site of their work, and meet the community the other two interns were working with— we definitely got the full experience. As rite of passage we had to partake in the homemade rice wine before noon. This, I fear, you cannot refuse.
We got to explore much of KK thanks to the interns there, and it’s great to catch up with other interns and see where they are at. They took us to the art collective, at which I held us up by having too many questions and going back and forth with different records and art with the owner (I had too much fun). I would highly recommend to anyone in KK go visit them at Ruang Tamu Ekosistem.
I also took a solo trip to Bangkok for my visa run, had an overnight catch up with my friend, and met up with the CAPI interns living there. It was nice for a change in scenery, great being in a walkable city with so many great food options. There were so many friendly people and I noticed such a difference in how laid back everyone was compared to KL. I also allowed myself to be tourist trapped by the markets and the temples. (I completely vortexed for 8 hours in Chattachuk/Bang Sue). Sometimes it is necessary.
And the other times, I felt like I was being guiding on a wild goose chase. My kind masseuse asked if I’d eaten yet. I said no. She said okay walk fifteen minutes that way and you will find a market where you can eat. I asked for the name, she said ‘no name just walk fifteen minutes that way’. It seems that no such market existed. I searched google with false hope. I kept walking. An hour. Luck on my side, I found some of the best food on these lost travels in Bangkok. But never solved the mystery.
Meeting up with the interns in Bangkok was fun, again, to have a little crossover and see what they had been up to. It is so interesting to see the lay of the land and witness another person become a ‘local’, by seeing the city through their eyes and experiences. They’ve got the rhythm of the city down.
At the tail end of this visa run, I went to Phuket and met up with all the interns which was so great. We stayed ten people in a villa, celebrating my birthday early with the other Ana (An(n)a squared birthday), saw the beautiful blue (or… green?) ocean which I miss dearly, and even island hopped which has inspired me to read ‘The Beach’.
This definitely isn’t all linear, but now I’m back at MSRI puttering away at making exams for my class and reflecting on how every interaction and place feels like I’m being transported to another world. It’s crazy to think there is only three months left. I feel like I’ve just started to ‘get’ the work and the city beat down. I’ll definitely be trying to make the most of it!
a psa: if you see really awesome pictures from Thailand from other interns, most likely it was I taking them on my digital. I suggest future interns invest in a camera -it gives your memories charm and makes you wonder if you should start charging a fee.
