FEBRUARY 2015 POSTING

Having been away from blogging for  months, it gets difficult to get back to the path or clicking to note down what you planned to do. Your attempts to find your dashboard also meet with failure. Memories and patience become the tester; you may easily give up when several attempts find no way out. You lose your blogs?

Thankfully there is a discovery and here you are typing away. The next best way to go back to your album and post photos taken in the past months. They recorded intact what memories may not recollect immediately while you grope for stories.

 At the home of a family friend near Batu in Kuala Lumpur, it was a surprise to meet up with an old friend of the teaching days. Only upon asking we found out the next person sitting near to us was  Abdul Rahman Yeop, a former headmaster and Pengarah Pelajaran Selangor in the 1970's.Forty years and more have passed by and thankfully recognition stays put and help us to be connected again.

Last month while driving to Baling that historical town where Tunku Abdul Rahman met Chin Peng, we saw again this building at Jeniang in the district of Sik Kedah. Astride a river, I stopped to take this photo from the bridge of an old police station dating back to the prewar days and still in service with its well kept grounds. How much longer will it stay there? Will it give way to a new police station? Badan Warisan Negara must take note of this building in Sik Kedah.  

A Visit to Langkawi took me to this site where the owner tended to his orchard while at the same time showed us this rows of tree trunks positioned as they were. He is a 'honey' collector but not derived from bees  but from 'kelulut'. Rightly there has been many enterprises set up to collect 'honey' from 'kelulut'. 

While many of the old timers may recognize this plant or creeper which naturally clings to telephone or electric poles and on fences in our homes yet one of many that has  disappeared from the local scenes,yet here it was and I am told its food for the 'kelulut'. It's name ... "ayer mata pengantin" . wow!!!

 Early February 2015 morning, as I tended to the small garden at home and upon looking up saw this beautiful sight. Our tall 'kuinin' tree has blossomed signaling that its the beginning of 'spring' in Kedah and like similar fruit trees we may expect a good fruit season.

 Alor Setar and Kuala Kedah as a estuary close by has a small port with ferries commuting between it and Langkawi. It too has a large LKIM building with fishing as a spearhead of the community here. What a surprise and a pleasant one too when for the first time I was here and discovered a picturesque site with activities that made you clicking away the shutters of your camera. The three pictures below speak better than words.   

    

December 2014, January and February 2015 have  caused us to continue with our works and at the same time allow us to discover activities, episodes and programs that helped to link us to the communities, neighbours and friends.Thankful that Allah gives us the energy and the opportunity to discover  and see more of His Creations and Magnificence.

MAKING NEWS ...ADORING THE EVENINGS

 TT GAJAH - AT TWILIGHT TIME , CAUGHT THIS PICTURE JUST AFTER THE RAIN SHOWER HAD COOLED DOWN THE TEMPERATURE AND RELIEVED THE SOIL 17 FEB 2013

RESTORAN TTGAJAH WELCOMED ITS GUESTS 1 FEB 2013

      7 FEB 2013 6.47 am IN THE MORNING WOKE UP MUCH EARLIER THAN THE BIRDS

THAT CHOSE TO FIND THEIR SAFE SANCTUARY ON THE WIRES NEAR MAYBANK GRIK PERAK

 WE WERE AT A COOKING ACADEMY IN KUALA LUMPUR AND SAT DOWN FOR BRUCH WITH AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR AND HER HUSBAND. SEEN MY WIFE AND HER MOTHER -17 FEB 2013

 NO, I AM NOT LEARNING THE FINERY OF COOKING BUT GETTING THE CHANCE TO BE ON CAMERA WITH A MASTER CHEF AND HER STUDENTS. 17 FEB 2013

 15 FEB 2013 UNEXPECTEDLY WE WERE AT JELUBU NEGERI SEMBILAN AND HAD THE PLEASURE OF VISITING TWO NEW HOMES UNDER CONSTRUCTION. REALLY MARVELOUS THAT OUR PEOPLE HAVE FOUND IT FITTING TO ENVISAGE  THE BUILDING AND RESTORATION OF WOODEN MALAY HOMES.

THE OWNER BOUGHT AN OLD HOUSE FROM PANTAI SALAK PERAK AND MOVED IT TO JELEBU AND HERE IT IS STANDING RIGHTEOUSLY AGAIN.

IT HAS BEEN A HECTIC WEEK NO DOUBT BUT FILLED WITH MOMENTS OF ADORATION AND LEARNING EXPERIENCE

THE ALLURE OF WOOD

Trees of course we are familiar with. More so with fruit trees that grow by the sides of our homes. There are also shaded trees that cover the routes we take every day, giving us shelter from the noon day sun. Yet forest trees from the deep jungles are getting felled down and vast areas of once thick forested areas become less and less and helping to cause vast damages of all kinds. Almost all areas by the sides of main roads now show commercial trees organized as plantations. Timber lorries which once frequented the main roads with their heavy loads of sized logs, sometimes only a single trunk now carted several pieces of tree trunks and more ever rarely seen.

Now what has become of the logs? Furniture for one and buildings the next. Surely modern wooden houses are seldom built for the simple reason that timber has exploded in price.

This subject particularly looks what one friend has tried to capture the lure of timber while bringing home the exquisite quality and finery of timber. Yet it has taken him more than a year to complete his home, painstakingly worked by craftsmen who share the skills and expertise of building wooden homes. Hopefully when completed it would be a treasure house expounding what we can do with timber in modern times. Nevertheless it does not require total pure quality timber to grace our homes. Even the discarded timber pieces or left-overs could be treasure piece giving our homes especially the grounds a fixture of their own. The following pictures would speak for themselves helping to indulge you in quality wooden frameworks, with skills that hard to come by now. Then interest and a little share of 'madness' may awake you to indulge in the beauty of wood and all its forms. 

 Notice the two wooden pieces that become a show piece. Punctured with holes and possibly discarded they stood as master piece of art.

Three roof tops for three separate buildings, shelters for the timber buildings.

Notice several other pieces of wood that in the foreground as supports.

     Old railway sleepers become good choices either standing vertically or horizontally.
     A gazebo or a small hut for the children is another construction piece that utilized timber.

          The large wooden house which has taken him more than a year to complete but since it is a a labour of love even the long period has given satisfaction and the dream can still endure until full completion.

         The man's creativity is seen in many places. Possibly there are many more secret pieces that remain hidden from view. Whatever I salute the owner for the painstaking planning and accomplishment.

Not often we get the opportunity to view such interesting pieces and works. Surely as they lay hidden within the gates of private homes. Given the chance a camera in hand is a necessary perquisite. THANK YOU

At another venue we see the roots of a tree trunk being turned into a beautiful piece of art and below teak planks for a cabin house being dried in the sun. All adding to beauty and creativity but at the same time reducing the timbers trees and greenery in our country unless replacements are in order via replanting.

A GEORGIAN HOME IN PENANG - SUFFOLK HOME.

I had the opportunity to visit a restored building today. On many occasions I had passed the road and saw the signage that invites visitors to the home just outside the city but never managed to take the turn and call at the place. The home has also been featured by Badan Warisan Malaysia in its publications. Itself managing the home now. Its historical background naturally added to the desire to know more and therefore the drive that led to it this morning.    

Surprisingly, you would expect to see the building smack on the frontage of a main road. Only after taking several corners and by passing two old government quarters, I came upon the majestic building. Stuck in its nakedness and an object to behold. Yes this was the 'SUFFOLK HOME'. It was an unexpected discovery because I had never imagined it to be as it is. It was if if I was transported to an earlier century.   

What a sight that greets you upon reaching the  large open space outside 'Suffolk Home'. Matured trees a true vintage of Penang showed its mark here. 

Francis Light, who established a trading port in " Pooloo Penang"  owned a pepper estate called 'Suffolk' after his home country in England. History cannot accept that he founded Penang as it was already owned by Kedah and even Admiral Cheng Ho had earlier mentioned about the island. Discovering history again no doubt placed things in its perspective.

Restoration of old buildings of course does not only manage to conserve the past but help to dig into reports about the building as much as the relevant insides of the project in question.

    The gravel road that takes the visitor to the front entrance of the home

The two storey house viewed at its frontage with its lawn.On the top floor could be 

seen the open terrace

below part of the open terrace overlooking the garden and the meandering river.

    Another open terrace above the main entrance with its polished wooden floor -

the South Colonnade.

Francis Light traded in Penang in 1786 and had negotiation with the Sultan of Kedah over its territory. He died in1794. 'Suffolk' referred to two early residences built on the same site. The first was Light's residence whereas the second residence was built after his death. 

A note written by Capt James Welsh husband of Sarah Light daughter of Francis Light in 1818 noted:
     

" Our next visit was to Suffolk, three miles in the interior, where I had the pleasure of breakfasting with Col Bannerman, the Governor. The valuable estate of Suffolk once the private property of Mr Light and his favourite residence is one of the prettiest spots I have ever beheld. In the midst of fine extensive lawn, surrounded by majestic trees, a box bridge, with a clean brook meandering through the centre, stands the noble and commodious house , with a park and aviary in its front and the hill gradually receding in the background, crowned with woods of the richest foliage. Italy itself could not produce a more verdant or lovely landscape and to add to its unique attraction, the principal trees in the avenue leading from different directions to the house were all nutmegs, actually loaded with fruit much lie a large apricot."

   '... fine extensive lawn, surrounded by majestic trees, 

a box bridge with a clean brook...'

I cannot agree more with the writer who penned his attraction to the home and its site almost two centuries ago. As I stood at the site in the 21st century I cannot help admiring the pain- staking job carried by Badan Warisan, the Heritage Society of Penang and the restorers and planners to bring 'Suffolk Home' alive as it was before. Except with the absence of the nutmeg trees ( pokok buah pala)  all seems alive as pictured by Capt.Welsh.

The house reflected in a large mirror on a deck open cabana which formed part of the 

restaurant  at Suffolk Home now.

Our historical study of Francis Light in school before never disclosed that he had five children, three girls, Sarah, Mary  Ann and two boys William and Francis Lanoon. He willed his estate to Martina Rozells the woman he lived with for 22 years but never married  , a part Siamese and Portuguese woman reportedly a Kedah 'princess' awarded to Light by the Kedah Sultan. A marriage would undoubtedly put him an Anglican in a difficult position.  The property was reported as being taken over by James Scott and William Fairlie , business partners and executors of Light's estate.

Wandering through the country you might come across the most unexpected places. Today I came across one and and through its pages of history gets enlighten by the past and the present. Thankful to those that care to restore and preserve for our future.  

FROM LAGENDARY LANGKAWI TO CAPITAL CITY PUTRAJAYA

 Several hotels on the island of Langkawi offer choicest accommodations.  One here, wooden chalets right in the sea will give you traditional as well exclusiveness. Imagine throwing your fishing line from your veranda. while seeping tea and being surprised by your catch. You will be surprised to see how old Malay houses have been restored on the island and have become 'luxury' homes especially for foreigners and visitors.

White pristine beach exclusive to the hotel complex gives the guests the relaxation and rest they look for plus peace and quiet with the closeness of nature close by.                

BEAUTY IN ALL ITS SPLENDOR

Back in 2007 I posted a story of Putrajaya with several photos of the capital city. Since then we have visited the place quite frequently and never tire of seeing the development on going. It has also become an icon, a touristic center with busloads of local as well as foreigners arriving daily. Happily you see them clicking their cameras or framing their best frames as reminders of their visit to the city, naturally with the background of their choice. The Putra Mosque and the Prime Minister's office complex seems to be the focus right now with the panoramic view of the lakeside added in. Thanks to the tourist guides or the bus drivers who prefer to halt near the Putra Mosque area. Maybe the food kiosks nearby would allow the visitors to have their lunch or tea break. Last week I was surprised to see a group of tourists from China celebrating their stop here and at the 'Nasi Kandar' stall especially having a whale of a time enjoying size-able plates of oven fresh succulent crabs and king prawns. Perhaps our tourist industry people need to observe the culinary choice of our visitors  and as such offer the best in this direction. Whereas the other food kiosks at the mall begged to be visited the 'Nasi Kandar' server was kept busy dishing out the favorites of the visitors. 

I believe observation of the visitors especially the foreign tourists at favorite spots would help the industry in many ways. Firstly where would they like to be photographed? What became their favorite background? Did they linger there much longer than usual? Souvenirs? What are their choices? Did they have enough time, besides the food break to take in the offers at sight. e,g a boat cruise on the lake? brief walk to other spots around the area where they had stopped earlier? At Putrajaya, the show case of the nation there's plenty to see, to know and admire.


As a regular visitor to the capital city, due to the exigency  of work routine surprisingly there are many that still escape my eyes. Firstly due to its size and secondly the constant growth and development.  Nevertheless let me share, several that hit me during the recent visit.




There are more visitor friendly and like-able places to visit at Putrajaya. One would be the new 'iron' mosque and since named as 'Masjid Tunku Mizan Zainal Abidin' since it was officially opened by the Yang Di Pertuan Agong himself 11 June 2010. The  mosque and the other touristic locations at Putrajaya guarantee that it will continue to be  a tourist hub. 


We were here earlier when the international hot air - balloon was on show or when the landscaping fraternity turned one corner into a garden. I believe the residents at Putrajaya and the nearby Cyberjaya will never be short of activities planned in the twin cities through out the year.

The imposing Perbadanan Putra Jaya office that undertakes control and development of the city with an arch that extended the view from the east to the west i.e from Istana Kehakiman ( Palace of Justice) to the Tunku Mizan Mosque at its western end encapsulate the thoughts,planning and strategy that has gone into the planning of Putrajaya as our capital city. Added to that several other Ministry buildings close by deserve scrutiny and attention too. Even if you are no artist, architect, planner, developer or engineer whose work naturally called for such review the existing  development deserve a close look and our pride for the nation.  

Three flag posts stand as sentinels. From the frontage of Istana Kehakiman you focus the view right through the arch and on to the Masjid Tunku Mizan at the western end.

 It can accommodate 25,000 jemaah or more. No fans, no air conditioning points or conduits to be seen.Yet it is cooling. Many factors and strategies have gone into the building of the "Iron Mosque"  Your view is extended to the outside as no walls blocked the frontage. 

You make like to refer to  http://en.wikipedia. org/w/Tuanku_Mizan_Zainal_Abidin_Mosque. 

We were here on Friday and being early thus the empty hall. It had its share of full jemaah at prayer time however. The two, 13 meter high imposing glass walls on each side of the mihrab have scribes from the Koran: one quote from Surah 2 Al Baqarah and the other from Surah 14 Ibrahim  

The exceptional exposure of the Surah on the glass frame as photographed. You may refer to Al Baqarah (ayat) 148 - 153 for the choice and meaning whereas the other side of the mighrab refers to Surah Ibrahim (ayat)  40 - 47.

   "Istana Kehakiman'  Palace of Justice which stands at the eastern side of the extended mall to the Tunku Mizan Zainal Abidin Mosque at the western end. Yet another architectural structure that make up the complex.

We move from one corner to another. One moment at the legendary island of Langkawi  and the next at the capital city. Like many others due to the exigencies and nature of our work giving service in consultancy we have moments to observe and share. The contrast of nature as to design and development each makes an impact. The off- shore fishing boats basking in the twilight at Pantai Kok in Langkawi and a bowl of 'ulam' salad as you prefer with 'sambal belacan' closes with a reminder that tradition die hard.  

- THE RUKUN NEGARA FOUNTAIN- CONTINUITY AND PRESERVATION

Rukun Negara Fountain as it stands in its last few weeks at the old crossroads in TelukWanjah before it makes way for a fly over that also goes over the railway crossing adjacent to it.

Continuity and change do not mean disappearance. Not especially for the Rukun Negara Fountain which had stood at the confluence of roads at Teluk Wanjah for over 40 years. Alor Setar will soon see a landmark disappear to make way for greater accessibility for motor vehicles as a fly-over takes precedence at a cross-road that cannot take the heavy traffic that chokes the city as well as a railway crossing barely 100 meters from it. Much as Jalan Teluk WanJah will get a face lift, so too the Rukun Negara Fountain will find a new home.

Built to commemorate the ascendancy of Tunku Abdul Halim, the Sultan of Kedah as the Yang DiPertuan Agong of Malaysia in 1970, it took its place at the crossroad of Jalan Teluk WanJah, Jalan Sultan Badlishah and Jalan Stadium. Back then, the round-about would not cause traffic congestion or would never need traffic policemen on duty at specific hours. It's another story now. All these have come about indirectly with the construction of double railway tracking beginning from Ipoh Perak to Padang Besar Perlis. causing a multiplying effects.

At the date of writing, construction works of flyovers at other sections of town have begun, This one at Jalan Teluk Wanjah and over the existing Rukun Negara Fountain has yet to begin at full steam when the fountain is pulled down. Yet its replacement has been built. The Rukun Negara symbolic monument with its highpoint declaring Malaysia's national philosophy / ideology was created out of the historic May 13 incident which rocked the country. The five symbolic principles which we adopted and promised to adhere to become guiding principles. Now at a time when tidbits of uneasiness seems to shake the roots of our unity and cohesion Rukun Negara needs exertion and 1 Malaysia maybe comes as an added leverage.

Whatever it is Kedah and Alor Setar especially has gained a new landmark far from its old maddening position but twelve kilometers to the north and fronting Sultan Abdul Halim Airport at Titi Gajah. Highlights of testings recently would certainly see crowd halting here either on their way to the airport or taking a quiet evening drive to see it in a new splendour amidst the green or yellow padifields depending on season with vast open spaces and occasionally musically droned by the music of the training aeroplanes of the Royal Air force Training School.

Welcome and see several night shots taken at the new site.

The white light at the top right hand corner adjacent to the crown shows the moving single engine plane flying by.

With a longer time lapse given you notice the stretching light of the plane. Of course the color lights of the fountain added dimensions to the new site.

The consultants together with the technicians, the electricians and the contractors have naturally given their best to make the new landmark a sight to behold and respecting the original objectives of the Rukun Negara Fountain

Two photos showing its early construction at site.