Malaysian allure charms Arabs

The Middle East has come to the Far East, says hotel supervisor Winsom Wong, pointing to scores of Middle Eastern tourists crowding Arab Street - an aptly renamed footpath to honour the 'army of Arabs' who virtually take control of the Malaysian capital every August.

The scene is late evening in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, and families of well-heeled Middle Easterners are out window-shopping or packing the sidewalk cafes. Older women are wearing the black burqa, the head-to-toe Arabic dress. Today, the burqa is a permanent feature of the landscape. Arab youths are in casuals - sneakers and branded T-shirts complete with skateboards and savvy-looking gadgets.

'At one time, this area was a traditional Chinese enclave of small shops catering to Taiwanese tourists, but today it is a scene straight out of Lebanon or Kuwait,' says Mr Wong, 32, leaning on a railing outside Hotel Malaya, a quaint old hotel that has been taken over by scores of long-staying Arab families, mostly from Saudi Arabia.

Melodious Arabic now mixes easily with a cacophony of Malay, Chinese, Tamil and English, adding colour and vibrancy to the multi-ethnic 'melting pot' society that is Malaysia. August is the peak of what tour operators call the 'Arab season', when major hotels brim with Middle Easterners escaping their hot summer for wet and humid Islamic Malaysia.

The phenomenon started as a trickle soon after the 9/11 attacks in the US. Middle Easterners who usually holidayed in the US and Europe looked for 'safer' vacation retreats.

'Malaysia is one of the beneficiaries of the change in attitudes,' says Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor. 'We stepped in with numerous promotions to attract Middle Eastern tourists. It is our fastest growing market.'