Malaysia

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Flag of Malaysia Malaysia
Information
Language: Malay
Capital: Kuala Lumpur
Population: 28,310,000
Currency: Ringgit / RM (MYR)
Hitchability: <rating country='my' />
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Malaysia is a country in South Eastern Asia. It has borders with Thailand to the north, Singapore to the south, and Indonesia to the west and south. Its Capital city is Kuala Lumpur. The country is separated in two parts : the Malay Peninsula, and the north of Borneo Island. Currency is the Malay Ringgit : 1 RM = 0,23€ = US$1,36 (october 2011)


Malaysia is nice for hitching. There is a real expressway running on the north-south axis from the Thai border, via Kuala Lumpur, towards Singapore. Stay on the gas stations with the nice food stalls. It is pretty easy to get a ride there, and in rural areas it's even easier. On the onramps of the highway after the toll booth you can usually hitchhike as well, and it's possible to regularly stop multiple cars at once. The only problem being that the drivers are often heading lots of different directions than indicated on your sign.

Drivers usually speak English and stop easily. Cars are modern and fast. Local roads seem generally to be in a good condition, and are fast and enjoyable to hitch.

Gas stations

You can usually find tasty cheap meals for about 2 or 3 euro, and thus don't need to carry a lot of food, if any at all. Cold showers, a real treat in the hot climate, are often available free of charge.

Number Plates

It can come handy to know where the car goes before asking, at a petrol station for exemple. Malaysian license plates are generally black with white letters and Numbers. The pattern is XXX-9999 or XXX-999. The first letter indicates which state the car comes from:

A list can be found on wikipedia : wikipedia:Vehicle registration plates of Malaysia

Border Crossings

with Thailand

At the Bukit Ayer Hitam border with Thailand User Craig wasn't allowed to ask motorists in the car immigration area for a lift. Go to the rest area and ask there!

with Brunei (East Malaysia or Borneo)

Malaysians are paranoid about immigrations issues, so if you go from Eastern Malaysia to Brunei you get your passport stamped like crazy.

with Indonesia

There is a ferry from Melaka to Dumai, Indonesia (20USD) and police will give you real trouble if you try to leave by a cargo boat (if you can even enter the port. If you make it please inform us here.) In Georgetown there's a small marina with private yachts. But it's easier to get a free ride with a boat in Langkawi. Most of the boats go to Indonesia.

with Singapore

There are two border crossings to Singapore, from the Malaysian city of Johor Bahru. One is Woodlands checkpoint to the north of Singapore, and the other is Tual checkpoint to the west. See Singapore for further informations.

Languages

The official language of Malaysia is Malay. It is quite easy to learn the basics as it is a very easy language. The country has a fairly amount of "native" Chineses and Indians who speak Mandarin or Hokkien for the former, and Tamil for the latter. But usually everybody knows Malay language (known as Bahasa Melayu). As for english, it is spoken in every level, from zero to fluent, but generally you won't find trouble to communicate at least for the basics.

Some useful sentences :

  • Hello = Selamat Pagi(am)/Petang(pm) OR Hi
  • Good bye = Selamat Jalan OR Bye
  • Where are you going? = Mana anda pergi?
  • I am going to (City) = Saya pergi (City)
  • I don't have money = Saya tidak wang
  • Can you help me? = Anda boleh tolong saya?
  • Please = Tolong
  • Thank you = Terimah Kasih
  • My name is Tourto = Nama Saya Turto
  • Have you eaten already? = Sudah Makan?
  • Yes/No = Ya/Tidak but Yes/No works too
  • I don't understand = Tidak faham
  • I don't know = Tidak tau
  • Do you speak english? = Cakap bahasa Englis?
  • I know a bit of Malay = Saya tau sikit bahasa malayu
  • Saya = I/me/mine ; Anda = You/yours
  • Hitchhiking = Tumpang (meaning exactly "have a lift" as Hitchhiking is not known in Malaysia)

Bahasa means languages, hence Bahasa Malayu = Malay Language, or Bahasa Englis = English Language. Tidak is the negation. It is also shortened to Tak very often.

  • G is always pronounced as in goat and never as germany
  • ng is pronounced as the Spanish ñ
  • k at the end of a word is replaced by a throat sound, marking the stop.
  • c is always pronouced as the English ch
  • j is always pronounced as the English j (like in journey)
  • The rest is more or less as the Spanish prononciation.

If you want to know more and actually learn Malay, this online free set of lessons is particularly good : [|Free online Malay lessons]

Main Cities

Malaysian States and Territories

Malaysia is divided into 13 States (11 in Peninsular Malaysia and 2 in Malaysian Borneo) and 3 Federal territories.

Peninsular Malaysia

Malaysian Borneo

Experiences

  • User Craig hitched along the Silk Road from Istanbul to Malaysia and wrote about his experiences here: Thumbing Asia From West to East Don't hitch-hike at night! You'd need the luck to get dropped at well lit places. Otherwise people won't stop! Beside that, Malaysia is really comfortable to hitch-hike. I topped 120 km/h average hitching speed!
States and Territories of Malaysia

Peninsular Malaysia states: Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur | Federal Territory of Labuan | Federal Territory of Putrajaya | Johor | Kedah | Kelantan | Malacca | Negeri Sembilan | Pahang | Perak | Perlis | Penang | Selangor | Terengganu

East Malaysia (Borneo) states: Sabah | Sarawak

Main cities of Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur | Johor Bahru | George Town (Penang) | Melaka | Ipoh | Kota Kinabalu


trash:Country wikipedia:Country