The Cullinan is the largest rough cut diamond ever discovered. Presented by South Africa to the king (Edward VII) ,it was cut into , amongst others , the largest clear cut diamond in the world . It and another were incorporated into the Crown Jewels . During its journeys it was sent under armed escort by sea ; well that was a ruse to deter thieves. In fact it was variously posted or carried in a coat pocket, risky ? . Relevance to Malaysia , read on!
We first stayed in KL ( Kuala Lumpur ) 25 years ago ; where did those years go ! Then the city’s road network was in its’ infancy . Junctions on major roads were still roundabouts or traffic lights . To keep the traffic moving during the rush hour they were manned by a phalanx of traffic cops . After a never ending series of complaints , they withdrew one day . The city grid locked ; no moans thereafter ! The major road users then were motor cyclists who had a flexible approach to traffic congestion . A major road near us was a small six lane road , which during peak times, the two wheelers turned into to an unofficial contra flow of five lanes in one direction ; oncoming traffic just sort refuge in the one remaining lane . Those cyclists were referred to as TC s ( temporary citizens ) . The vast proportion were immigrant labour from Indonesia , who didn’t appear in any statistics on mortality .
Construction of road improvements and an over-head light railway just increased traffic congestion . Now that is all passed and the city’s communication has been transformed by a seemingly never ending network of motorway standard roads , and at least ten light rail networks . To ensure that Malaysians would not be held hostage by their train drivers , all trains are not only conductor-less but also driverless . The whole system is fully automatic, with frequency determined by need , not driver rotas . Makes the UK looks the third world country now !
The city’s wealth has converted most motorcycles into cars . I passed one large house on my walk which had managed to squeeze ten large German saloon cars onto its forecourt. There’s would be a brain teaser to extract the needed vehicle each morning ; although I suspect that it would be the chauffeurs’ job.
All this money and cars need somewhere to go ; shopping malls are the solution . Within a ten minute taxi drive of us there are no fewer than six , with another vast complex under construction. Mega mall with 400 shops is linked to Garden mall with a further 200 . Whenever we have been, they have been heaving . There was even a ten deep queue outside Louis Vuitton’s handbag shop one Wednesday afternoon ! Pop-up shops provided even more opportunity to spend . HSBC even had one , focussing on what freebies you could get from being a loyal customer . I am not sure what market the bank was targeting , but judging by the lack of quality , it wasn’t those in the queue nearby!
Our local mall is barely 10 metres away and caters for rich Malays and expats on company expenses. The in store supermarket even has a Waitrose corner . To access the mall we have to pass the passenger drop off points. It would seem that every third car is either an S class Mercedes or a Toyota MPV . I had to look up that one . It stands for Multi purpose vehicle . In this case, it is large enough to incorporate business class seats, complete with electric sliding doors for the over indulged passengers . There are a sprinkling of SUV’s including a few Bentleys . I can always remember the car magazine article with the phrase “ would you take your off-road Bentley , off -road ?” . To encourage that sort of outdoor activity , an optional extra was a leather bound fly-fishing kit for just another £60,000.
So now we come to ‘that ‘ diamonds relevancy . Not to be outdone by their upstart competitor , Roll Royce now have an SUV , the Cullinan named after that rock .At $500,000 on the road price in Malaysia it is only for those with , well no pockets , just banks or conglomerates . For even more you can have the high performance version : “The Black Badge “ . One passed by on the a way from the mall ; I had to struggle to see its famous marque. When the diamond was offered to the king he at first declined . He no doubt had perceived the cost of ownership ( the expense of almost a years worth of transformation into cut diamonds ) , and then the weight of possession . Having no practical function , those diamonds were added to The Crown and Septre . It anyone can remember to sight of the previous queen at her coronation struggling with her newly acquired weighty royal accoutrements ; then you can appreciate her forebears reluctance . As an owner of that RR , I am not sure I would take if out of the garage , let alone off road!
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