Georgetown, one of the listed cities on World Heritage. I wanted to walk around the historic spots, but our bus didn't stop at those places. At first, our bus stopped by a market in the busiest street. There was lots of sea food and meat exposed to the open air. I wondered if they didn't get rotten rapidly, and this question was shared by other tourists. The atmosphere in the street was just the same as that of Malacca that I had visited last summer.
St. George's Church, the oldest British church in Southeast Asia, stood in the city, but I was just able to see it from the bus. It seemed to have a memorial canopy in honor of Francis Light's arrival on the island. I wasn't able to understand the reason why he had won the respect of citizens in spite of conquering them, and I wanted to examine what he had done on the island. His tomb was in the Christian Cemetery near the pier, but I wasn't able to visit it due to the restriction of time.
The bus stopped at a famous Hindu temple, which didn't attract me at all. Something was wrong with JTB tour company. Arrange other options to visit historic places, please. Then, I was taken to Penang State Museum. The exhibition was set mainly about the period of British times, but there were a few descriptions about only 4 years of Japanese times. I didn't have enough time to read them through, and the tour guide's explanation was superficial. The guy who had led me in Malacca last summer was really great, but this time, I wasn't satisfied with the guidance.
The funniest stuff that I found in the exhibition was the description on the shameful custom of foot binding in the Qing dynasty. Look at the last picture but one below. Women in the Qing dynasty were forced to stay lifelong in the house just as if they were chained and were treated like slaves. Foot binding was the invention for women not to flee. On the other hand, high heels were designed to make women look more beautiful. They shouldn't be confused. Their excuse for cruel food binding looked ugly to me.
The last picture was shot through the window just before leaving the tour bus. Do you notice a white sailboat?
(Vocabulary)
Qing dynasty 清朝
マラッカ海峡クルージング記： ジョージタウン観光 ＪＴＢのバスツアー
世界遺産に登録された街、ジョージタウン。その歴史をたどってみたいが用意されたバスは僕の行きたいところは素通り。まずは市場に寄った。暑い土地なのに魚介類や肉類が無造作に置かれている。腐らないのだろうか？周囲にいた日本人観光客みなが感じた疑問。そして街中を歩いてみたが、昨年訪問したマラッカと同様、プラナカンの街だった。この午前中のツアーは僕には無意味なものだった。
１８１８年建築の東南アジアで最古のイギリス教会St. George's Churchはバスから眺めただけ。Francis Lightの初上陸を記念したメモリアルキャノピーがあるという。ペナンでなぜFrancis Lightが尊敬されているのか、全く理解できず、彼にまつわるものを１日掛けて調べてみたかった。彼の墓はこのジョージタウン、埠頭から近いクリスチャン共同墓地The Christian Cemeteryにあるのだが、すぐ近くまで来て時間の関係で訪問できなかった。実に心残りだ。
で、何の興味も無いヒンズー教寺院には寄ったりする。どうかしてるぞ＞ＪＴＢツアー！ツアーの選択種を増やしてくれ。つづいてペナン博物館を訪問。イギリス統治時代が中心だが、日本時代についても展示があった。しかし、十分な時間も無く、ガイドは日本人に当たり障りのない程度の説明しかしない。今回のガイドはハズレだった。
ひとつ面白かったのが、次の写真。清朝の纏足は女性を家に閉じ込めて逃げないようにした恥ずべき風習だが、それを見事に誤魔化している。清朝は纏足をしたが、現代西洋では女性にハイヒールを履かせる、、という自己弁護の文章の下にあった図。おいおい、ハイヒールは女性を美しく見せるためのものだぞ。纏足と一緒にしてはいかんだろ。最後の写真はバスから降りる直前に撮影したもの。ダイヤモンド・プリンセスの手前にある帆船は？？
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