People Watching in KL

We've only been in KL for six weeks and have witnessed and experienced the stark contrast between the rich and the poor. Throughout the week, and often on the weekends we live in a bubble of affluence. Day-to-day we take a cab from our condo to the gated school and back again. We lounge poolside, eat at nice restaurants, and shop. I don't mean to sound like we splash money around and have cash to burn, we are simply living the Western standard of life in a developing country where things are cheap.

In a country where restaurant workers make a little more than a dollar an hour, it's hard to ignore that there are a lot of working poor. This doesn't seem so bad as the cost of living is low..right? They still eat, have homes and can buy the amenities. Then there is a class far below poor, which is often a portrait of human suffering and very hard to turn a blind eye to.

A couple of weekends ago, Tyler and I were wandering around China Town, searching out cheap knock-offs and eating forbidden pork products (in an officially Muslim country). We sat down on some steps a few feet away from a (seemingly) homeless man sleeping/passed out on the steps. Several people had left takeout containers of food beside the sleeping beauty. We sat, and watched, and thought about how nice it was that people were being generous, and caring. While re-hydrating and reflecting on the kindness of strangers, a Chinese man walked over and abruptly burst our humanity-loving bubble by dumping a bucket of dirty mop water on our sleeping, homeless friend. Now, I understand that if I was a business owner, I probably wouldn't want someone using my doorstep as their bedroom, but there are definitely nicer ways to address this problem.

Seeing extreme poverty can be unsettling, but is a fact of life in all big cities. I think that the reason why the China Town episode has stuck with me for longer than a glance, is that it was such an illustration of a tragic human condition;  The lack of compassion for each other.When we are often so consumed by declaring our individuality and celebrating our uniqueness, we can forget that we aren't so different. Despite our flaws, our gifts and talents, our professions, our nationalities, our mental health or our economic standing, we all need care, we all need human connections and we all need love.