Meet Me at the Muddy Confluence - a photo on Flickriver

Where the River Gombak meets the River Klang -- that’s where you’ll find Kuala Lumpur, which is Malay for, literally, “Muddy Confluence”. As an enthusiast of etymology, I find the meaning of “Kuala Lumpur" to be one of the most fascinating names for a gigantic city, which started off as a small mining town for tin, situated at the meeting point of two rivers.

This is probably my favorite aerial image of Kuala Lumpur, as it shows how expansive and vast the sprawl of the city actually is, all the way to the haze in the background. It was an incredibly hazy morning, I recall.

The pilot was really cool. He was probably in his early to mid 20s. After about 45 minutes, when I had all the shots I needed, I said we could land. He looked back at me and said -- literally -- “I’m not going to land this plane.” Speaking so boldly, I thought he was making a joke, and then noticed he was serious. I repeated that we could land. The reason why he didn’t want to was based more on culture than an attempt to be belligerent or adversarial. Our flight assignment was scheduled for one hour, and I was saying we could end after 45 minutes. The pilot said, “I’m not going to land until you confirm that I’ve done a good job of what you asked.” His interpretation of my asking to conclude early was that he was not providing a good service, which was completely contrary to the reality. I reassured him of this, after which he smiled and we returned to the airport.

I loved Malaysia, in particular, because there was so much honor in what people do from day to day. People want to know and be acknowledged for providing a good service, with respect and personal dignity. Saying “thank you” really *means* something of significance, and is not considered trite or rudimentary by any means. Singapore was very similar in this cultural aspect as well.

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Taken in: Malaysia / Kuala Lumpur / Kuala Lumpur (show map)

Taken on: December 23, 2013

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