I could write a cheese-filled, gush-dripping, bathetic salute to Klang Valley. But I will not. All valley folks have their own reasons why they love this place, and I'm sure I would echo similar ones. So we all love Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa, the fun and funky people around town, and we all fancy the pants off our 'multicultural diversity.'

 

 

Perhaps though, I can say why I don't dislike it too much. Why of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, I could see myself settling for a PJ mamak stall with the occasional lipas or two. This is after all a question I am asked frequently, even more so nowadays. For I am in the great city of London, doing a mindnumbing Masters, and I could stay on further if I really wanted to. "Are you going to go back?" and "Why don't you find something here?" are the questions I have been hearing almost every day as the end of my programme gets closer.

 

 

Why colour me a snorter, I could go further. Why not seek a job in Paris? Why not try some bartendering in Ireland? Why not become a flamenco-dancing gypsy who teaches English to male supermodels during the weekends in Barcelona? Well. The answer is pretty simple really. Home's kind of cool. She drives me nutty sometimes but we get along smashingly enough. Her traffic is pretty awful, but I have been through the heartstopping fright of Delhi roads. Her crime issues are worrying, but we manage somehow and we are not CCTV nation. Yet. Her cost of living is dear, but have you been shopping in London or Tokyo lately?

 

 

This is Kuala Lumpur, and the best thing about it is that we are at the epicentre of Interesting. We are Bolehticity par excellence. Yes, we have made fun of the government-promoted term as much as we have made fun of the government, but the thing about corny clichÈs are that they are usually true. I have been studying political sociology and South East Asia is acknowledged to be one of the most fascinating areas when it comes to democratisation, transitional politics and lingering authoritarianism. And whilst one would be forgiven for thinking Malaysia was just oh-so-boring in this respect (we have had essentially the very same government since independence, after all), we saw this year that things are hotting up. And this is not just in the realm of politics. Things are seriously brewing in other areas.

 

 

Within the span of several years we have seen a dizzying explosion in the arts and music, poetry and civil awareness, in culinary and communications. The whole nation lapped it up, but it was Klang Valleyites who took the bull by its horns. Unless you have been living under the proverbial tempurung, you would have also noticed that things are extremely 'do-able' here. Yes, America has the trademark on the expression 'Land of Opportunity', but currently this fits our little city like a glove. As long as you've enough brain power, a little talent, a good dose of gumption and a chockful of will, you can pretty much do what you dream. Want to open an online business? Do it. Want to be a DJ? Spin something. Want to be a writer? Well, write. Home's still a fresh bud blooming, and everyone is hungry for new things. We are not jaded or saturated like the older, grander and hipper cities. 'Starting up' anything is immensely harder in New York or London, and you'd be fighting with an army of people hungrier, hipper and more in-the-know than you.

 

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Klang Valleyites are bunch of sad losers who would crash and burn overseas. It's just that this is bee's knees, folks. Now's the time, this is the place. Your ideas have a playground. I know of friends who have started businesses from scratch. One who built up an entire Capoeira community, and from an engineering background, no less. Another who set up a classy art gallery. The list goes on. I'm sure many have a list too. It helps that (and we know this) that Klang Valley is a pretty incestuous place. They talk about 6 degrees of separation and we probably operate on just two. If the business is based on 'who you know', then you can tweak those niggling degrees and fight to make whatever you want happen. Just don't be an annoying cow, if you can.

 

 

We should be heedful though. In the frenetic enthusiasm to start new things and be our dreams, perhaps the Malaysian tendency to do things is to ape others. We do follow trends, style and substance from other countries and understandably so. In our protective stance to encourage our own, we sometimes let substandard stuff through. And we are an annoyingly nice, uncritical lot. The 2 degrees of separation doesn't help either. But if the turd stinks, it stinks. And aping, even if done well, is still just plain copying in the end. We need our own generation of ideas. We must learn that 'Okay what?', 'Cool what?' or 'Support Malaysian!' are unserviceable reviews. This would be tantamount to leaving our bubbling baby of a city in the bathwater.

 

I would like to come back. I want to grow with the fresh, eager, blinking eyes of Klang Valley, and not sit in bathwater. Bathwater's just not more appealing than flamenco-dancing and them Spanish supermodels, sorry.