PENANG

SORRY, BUT THE PAST FEW DAYS HAVE BEEN FULLY FILLED, AND I JUST COULD NOT FIND TIME TO SEND OUT POSTINGS. NOTHING IMPORTANT, BUT TIME-CONSUMING. PLUS, THE WI-FI WAS ALSO VERY SLOW. The next couple of postings will show photos and not say much.

We docked in Penang, Malaysia, and you wonder if India can learn something from Malaysia. We docked in 3 India ports. In each, if you wanted to leave the ship, you first needed to get a pre-approved visa. Several people on the ship failed to succeed. They were stuck on board. Thankfully, though, the pre-condition that you could not even board the ship in Dubai if you did not have an India visa was waived, so at least they could take this cruise.

So, anyway, every time you left the ship, India had THREE check points in the port before boarding the tour bus. Then, when you returned to the Explorer, THREE check points to insure that you were you and not a terrorist or something worse. You have to show the same documents each time. Thus, if you went on tours in all three cities you went through 18 checks.

Malaysia was totally different. Each time you left the ship there was no document check. There was no one even checking your come and go. Thus, two tours in two cities (Penang and Kuala Lumpur) and ZERO checks. And Malaysia only ranks in the middle of Asian countries.

India is notorious for its bloated bureaucracy, and Malaysia is not infested with terrorists and bad people. There should be a message here.

Penang is one of Malaysia's states, and essentially is one island of 113 square miles. Note that Lanai is 140 square miles. The big difference is that Penang has 1.8 million people and Lanai has 3100.

The British arrived in 1592, Japan took over in 1941, and Great Britain returned after the war, with independence coming in 1957 when Penang economically suffered, with Kuala Lumpur dominating. The two longest bridges in the Orient connect this island with the main peninsula. This led to favorable development and a good Human Development Index.

Here are a few photos I took, without explanation.