Showing posts with label old Penang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label old Penang. Show all posts

Wednesday, 13 February 2019

Pulau Talang Talang sedia berlepas...

Found it floating around the social media, WhatsApp specifically.

PULAU Talang Talang sedia untuk berlepas (Pulau Talang Talang is ready to depart),” the voice booms over the public announcement system. This is quickly followed by two short blasts of the ship’s horn. Almost immediately, the entire vessel starts to shudder as its powerful engines below deck effortlessly nudge the submerged propellers to life.

Fortunate to get a choice position right next to the metal railing at the upper deck bow, I join the dozens of excited holidaymakers and regular commuters in enjoying the scenic landscape that lay in front of us as the ferry slowly glides towards Pengkalan Raja Tun Uda, our disembarkation point on Penang Island.

Apart from enjoying the fresh and invigorating sea breeze blowing in our faces, quite a number of my fellow passengers also start taking selfies and wefies with the imposing city skyline forming an irresistible backdrop. At the same time, the smell of freshly baked bread wafting in the air successfully attracts quite a number of hungry passengers to the snack shop just a few steps away from me.

BIRTH OF THE FERRY SERVICE

Everyone on board seems to be having a whale of a time as there’s practically nothing to dislike about this iconic ferry service that first started to take root in its most basic form sometime between 1893 and 1894. The inaugural regular service was initiated by a local entrepreneur, Quah Beng Kee who, together with his four brothers, worked under the collective name, Beng Brothers.

The siblings descended from a well-established Straits Chinese family headed by their China-born father, Quah Joo Moey who immigrated to Penang in the middle of the 19th century. Beng Kee, born in 1872, was educated in Penang Free School and Roberts’ College in Calcutta, India. He married the daughter of Chew Choo Im, the Chinese Kapitan of Deli in Dutch-ruled Sumatra and had five sons and two daughters.

The Beng Brothers’ service operated between Kedah Pier on the island and Bagan Tuan Kecil Pier in Butterworth. Apart from this main route, they also provided transportation services to other nearby areas like Teluk Ayer Tawar, Bagan Ajam, Bagan Luar, Simpang Empat, Bukit Tambun and Kuala Kurau. As motorised vehicles were yet to make their appearance at that time, the fleet only consisted of three large steamers and seven smaller steam launches.

BUSINESS EXPANSION

A few years later, in 1897, Beng Kee bought out his siblings’ shares in Beng Brothers and began operating the ferry service under his own company, Guan Lee Hin Steamship Company. When his business prospered in tandem with growing passenger and cargo demand, Beng Kee made the decision to convert his concern into a limited company and named it the Eastern Shipping Company Limited.

Besides maintaining its lucrative local ferry service, the Eastern Shipping Company Limited extended its activities by running ships regularly between Penang and ports in other parts of Malaya, Sumatra, Siam (today Thailand) and Burma (now Myanmar).

While keeping a close watch on his expanding shipping venture, Beng Kee also made his fortune by exporting copra from his Penang estates in Glugor and Sungai Nibong. He also dabbled in iron works and owned the Penang Foundry.

The onset of the First World War in 1914 witnessed the Straits Settlements Government requisitioning all local steamers including those belonging to the Eastern Shipping Company Limited. Thanks to the limited effects of the war on Malaya, the authorities released the vessels back to their owners by the end of that same year.

It was business as usual for Beng Kee until 1922 when he accepted a lucrative offer from Singapore’s Straits Steamship Company Limited to take over the ferry service between Kedah Pier and Bagan Tuan Kecil Pier. The new owners’ tenure, however, proved to be short-lived as the venture changed hands once again when the Penang Harbour Board gained control on Dec 1, 1924.

TRANSPORTING CARS AND PASSENGERS

At that time, the Penang Harbour Board was aware of the exponential growth of cars in Malaya, and it was just a matter of time before service to transport vehicle across the Penang Straits was needed. It conducted a study of the harbour and found that the water depth during low tide at the Bagan Tuan Kecil Pier wasn’t sufficient for the ferries transporting motor vehicles to operate efficiently and safely.

This revelation resulted in the construction of the Church Street Ghaut Pier on the island and Mitchell Pier on the other side. By early 1925, the transportation of cars using decked-in lighters towed by launches were initiated. The trial service was so successful that a steam ferry vessel, aptly named Seberang, built by the Singapore Harbour Board was put into service late that same year to transport both motor cars as well as passengers.

By the beginning of 1928, the number of passengers and vehicles using the ferry service had increased to the extent that vessels with higher carrying capacity became a necessity. An order for two larger steam vessels was subsequently placed with the Singapore Harbour Board.

NEW VESSELS ARRIVE

Contracts for extension work on both piers were also awarded, and the work was completed before the new ferries, Tanjong and Kulim, came into service in early 1929. Together with Seberang, the fleet provided uninterrupted half hourly services during daylight hours.

The number of passengers and vehicles using the ferry service continued to increase annually in the first half of the 1930s. By 1937, it became evident that the older Seberang could no longer accommodate the burgeoning vehicular traffic. Seberang was sold off after the Singapore Harbour Board delivered a new vessel named Bagan in 1938.

The three vessels continued to serve the company well and contributed enormously towards Penang’s economic growth. Things, however, began to take a turn for the worse when the winds of war started blowing towards Malaya in December 1941.

CHAOTIC WAR PERIOD

Just as the Japanese Imperial Army was making its way across neighbouring Kedah, a strategic decision was made to scuttle Kulim within the boundaries of Penang Harbour while Tanjong, whose engines were already damaged, was sunk by gunfire in the same area. The sinking of both vessels was necessary to prevent them from falling into the hands of the advancing enemy.

Only the relatively new Bagan was spared a watery grave. The British War Office used it to transport evacuees to Singapore, and from there on to Sumatra. Unfortunately, Bagan was captured during the final leg of its journey and was used by the Japanese to support their war effort in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).

These unlucky string of events left Penang without any proper ferry services during the Second World War. To maintain a connection between the island and the mainland, the Japanese authorities operated an irregular service using a wooden motor ship for passengers and decked-in lighters towed by launches for vehicles.

“Look! There’s something in the water!” a middle-aged gentleman near me suddenly hollers while excitedly gesturing towards the water surface. I crane my neck to have a closer look, wishing for the most remote possibility that he’d discovered the long-lost wreckage of Kulim and Tanjong. Alas, the mysterious object turns out to be a common jellyfish swimming slightly below the water surface.

SERVICES REINSTATED

Returning my sights to the distant horizon, I’m in time to see another ferry glide past in the opposite direction. The regular service that we enjoy today is indeed a far cry from the haphazard ferry schedule experienced soon after liberation in September 1945. During that time, the returning British forces tried their best to reinstate the popular ferry services by reassigning four Z-type tank landing crafts for cross-strait transportation.

The situation improved further after the Penang Harbour Board was reconstituted in April 1946. Bagan, which was recaptured by the Allied forces during the closing days of the war, returned to Penang where it was quickly put back into service.

To improve service further, two of the military landing crafts were given simple modifications at the Bagan Dalam slipway. Renamed Senangin and Lidah, these two vessels teamed up with Bagan to meet the essential needs of passenger transport.

The remaining two tank landing crafts, however, underwent extensive reconstruction at the Bagan Dalam slipway. They were each given an entirely new passenger deck that boasted of higher standards of convenience and comfort. Called Talang and Tenggiri, the two vessels formed part of the post-war fleet that managed to keep up with the growing cross-strait traffic until the mid-1950s.

COMPLETE MAKEOVER

The number of vehicles carried by the ferry service in 1946 was nearly 247,000, but a decade later, the number almost tripled to 711,000. Keen to maintain this phenomenal growth momentum, the Penang Harbour Board hired consulting engineers, Bruce White, Wolfe Barry & Partners, London in 1953 to examine the possibility of increasing capacity as well as plan an entirely new set up to replace the existing ferry service once it reached the point of saturation.

The study revealed that the existing fleet was outdated and had to make way for a new generation of ferries endowed with greater power, capacity and manoeuvrability while equipped with separate passenger and vehicle decks. The consultants also recommended building new terminals, each with double berths, on both sides of the Penang Strait so that service frequency could be increased beyond 15 minutes.

Accepting the recommendations, the Penang Harbour Board put in place plans in early 1955 to help achieve its ultimate service frequency of five minutes. To make this feat a reality, contracts for new double-ended ferries with end-loading capabilities for faster vehicular embarkation and disembarkation times were awarded. The one for a single prototype was assigned to the Singapore Harbour Board while Cheoy Lee Shipyard in Hong Kong received an order for four vessels.

A NEW DAWN

The prototype, named Penang, was delivered in May 1957. Apart from its many revolutionary new features, it retained the old styled side-loading capability so that it could still be used at the existing piers while awaiting the completion of the new ferry terminals.

“Excuse me. Please move aside,” the voice of the attendant jolts me out of my reverie. Looking around, I realise that the ferry has already reached its berth. The attendant swings the railings apart as soon as the hydraulic drawbridge is in place and in that instant, everyone starts to surge forward.

While walking through Pengkalan Raja Tun Uda, I pause momentarily to turn back the hands of time to Sept 24, 1959. On that historic day, this terminal was simultaneously declared open together with Pengkalan Sultan Abdul Halim on the mainland. The opening heralded a new dawn for the ferry service in Penang.

By the 1970s, the ferry service’s exponential growth eventually became its own undoing. Second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak mooted the idea to build a bridge linking the island to the mainland to ease the frequent traffic congestion at the ferry terminals.

The ferry service lost its prominence on Aug 3, 1985, when the Penang Bridge was officially opened by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his capacity as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia at that time.

Even though it’s the slower alternative to reach Penang, many were heartened by Transport Minister Anthony Loke’s recent comment to retain Penang’s iconic ferry services. Loke announced plans to improve services by introducing catamarans and upgrade existing ferry terminals. With these novel ideas in the pipeline, there’s definitely better days ahead for the Penang ferry service.

Friday, 17 August 2018

Got your nostalgic fix?

We are told that the fundamental need of man is simple. All he needs are food, sleep and the chance to procreate. The high water mark of procreation, the ecstasy of climax, must have been added by Nature to lure Man to help in the continuity of his species. With increasing complexity, when Man started living in communities, and social mores began creeping in, their fundamental needs zeroed on food, clothing and protection from the harmful elements of Nature. With further sophistication, when the society progressed, the essential things in life do not remain basic anymore.

There used to be a time when food was a necessity, or perhaps obligatory, for one's body to be able to burn enough energy for one to garner sufficient might to provide for his loved ones. With their God-given limbs, the immigrants and the sojourners alike tried to change their fate through sheer hard work and willpower. Whatever came their way which was nutritious and palatable was consumed for sustenance.

Now, food is a novelty. It has become an art form, an experience and an indulgence. With affluence, it has become an over-indulgence, actually. We no longer eat to live but rather live our lives to eat. This, we do despite knowing very well the ill-effect of gluttony and sloth. But we pamper ourselves with catchphrases like 'you only live once' and 'these are the simple pleasures of life'. 'You live once' may be true if you do not believe that karma is a bitch that would return to haunt the living days out of you to make you feel the pain of starvation, but that the life lived once should not be a burden to society and the immediate family members around you. But then, in your next life, you will not have any recollection of your past misdeeds!

During my trip to Penang recently, it came to my attention of a hawker who sold authentic Penang home-made coffee. His core business, his only one, is to sell coffee and in its various variants. That is it; somewhat like Starbucks minus the accompaniments. The irony of this unfancy hawker stall is that it is so famous that people from the island over throng to this joint. They do not mind waiting, sometimes more than half an hour sacrificing valuable time to enjoy their cuppa. Even outstation visitors were well aware of its caffeine-rich condensed milk sweetened blend. People do not seem to mind the somewhat unsophisticated surrounding of its premises.
On the contrary, I think it adds to its pull factor. People these days are suckers for nostalgia. Anything with a hint of our past sells (like hotcakes); unlike a time in our distant history when nostalgia was indeed a disease akin to what is now termed as PTSD!

Note the somewhat orderly queuing of patrons. Malaysians are notoriously disciplined to appear obedient in two places: when buying food at a lowly joint like under a tree/ by the roadside or at a betting outlet (Magnum4D, Sports Toto or DaMaCai). Also, notice the symbiotic nature of the shops around the vicinity. Eateries mushroom the coffee pushcart to justify its existence! The sight of unplastered walls of buildings, I suppose, adds to the authenticity and the yesteryear feel to the beverages served. ©FG

The skyline of Penang; the complementary compromise of the old and the new. Living true to the idiom that 'one who forgets his past does not reach where he is going to', Penangites excel in the juggle of re-enacting the past to head for the future. It also helps that this exercise draws money. After all, money changes everything. ©FG

Tuesday, 7 August 2018

Teachers, glad you didn't leave us kids alone!


PFS 55 GTG 2018
A meeting of students honouring their dear teachers. 
©FG

The excitement was palpably clear. Hints of tinges of moistening of the angle of eyes were there but they tried to suppress it. Laughter was free-flowing, so were the stories of an era so distant yet so near. It was a reminiscence of the memory of a bygone era of Malaysia that we yearn to re-live and re-create. Chatter interspersed with occasional bouts of schoolboy chuckling and heckling was drowning the background piped-in music.

A student went, "Gagool (as we referred to one of the fiercest teachers in Form 1; after the character in Henry Huggard Ridley's 'King Solomon's Mines') told me that I stank." The speaker is now a former state football player, who, during school holidays, was forever seen in possession of a soccer ball. It appeared like his main intention of attending school was to play football. He could come to school early, at noon, for the afternoon session, just to play football with whoever was playing. After a hard play in the heat of the tropical high noon sun, he would enter the classroom all dishevelled, clammy and reeking of sweat. It was as though coming to class was an interlude as he would rush to the field during recess and again after school. Disapproving of his overindulgence in extra-curricular activities, 'Gagool' and many teachers would admonish him. He, however, defying all odds, secured a place in the state football team and is doing well in his career too.


And another went, "My economics teacher, Mr NB was so crossed with me that I kept getting poor grades in his subject that he said that he would eat his shoes if I passed my economics." "That spurred me to push hard. When the A-levels results were out and I got through with flying colours, the first thing I did was to ask NB, 'would you like ketchup with that, Sir?' "

Thus went the night with talks of moments that left a mark in their respective lives. Something that may be trivial to some, which the teachers did in the course of their day to day duties may have been a game changer in some. The bottom line is the respect of people of the yesteryears gave to figures of authority. Unlike the people of the 21st century, folks then gave their undivided support to teachers. If a student was punished in school for whatever reason, the last thing that he would do is to complain to his parents. He knows that that would signal another barrage of missiles from the parents instead! Such was the trust in the system. Everybody did their given job well with dedication. Job satisfaction was not measured in terms of monetary figures but in unspoken deeds of appreciation, staying true to the profession and moments like this.

Pink Floyd must be wrong. We need education. Our thoughts need to be controlled and steered towards the path most travelled. Only after that can we venture to areas less explored. We need sarcasm as we need to see the other side of things, from a different perspective. Did I say it makes you witty? We are all another brick in the wall but left to our own devices and the elements of Nature, we would wither away. We need the resilience to fight a good fight. All in all, don't just leave us alone! 

Thank you for all the guidance and the selfless contributions that went beyond the call of duty. 


  

 
©FG


Saturday, 31 March 2018

No sacrifice?

The partially completed Kek Lok Si
temple in Penang in 1905. It holds
the dark secret of a melancholic
monk with self-inflicted wounds
after his tireless endeavours to
rebuild the temple was sabotaged
and bad-mouthed. In its annals
too, woven are the intriguing
narrations of the selfless services
of a young Dr Wu Lien Teh
who nursed him back to health.
What is a sacrifice? Is it an overused word with its meaning taken for granted? A suicide bomber is making a sacrifice when he decides to blow himself to smithereens to make a statement or to martyr himself for the good of those who share the same belief as him? Is he not being selfish as his own remunerations that await him in the afterlife? Is he being selfless or selfish when he plunges the red button?

Is the symbolism of death on The Cross the ultimate sacrifice for the human race? Is it true altruism when able bodies with the spring of youth ahead of them give up their earthly pleasures to serve God and the downtrodden? Can volunteers who endanger themselves in the vein of Father Damien to care for lepers or Franciscan friars signify the pinnacle of human renouncement?

Are politicians or pop stars who clamour to be afront flashes of pixels to be seen giving and caring, spread more goodness to the world? 

Is it sacrifice when a hungry mother willingly serves the only remaining bowl of broth to her offspring knowing well that she can withstand hunger pangs better than her young? Or is the random kindness that one extends to a stranger, but then there is no sacrifice, is there? Should it be just second nature to help?

Should we just send another soul as a sacrificial lamb and claim that we had forgone something close to gain points? Some insist that living a simple life, forfeiting simple pleasures of life beget special considerations for Judgement Day.


Lt. Col. Arnaud Jean-Georges Beltrame (18 April 1973 – 24 March 2018)
killed by ISIS terrorists after having exchanged himself for a hostage. [Wiki]
Or is it in a selfless act of devoting one's life to an obviously bleak situation, knowing pretty well the outcome just because it is your job?




Creative Commons License

Tuesday, 28 November 2017

Monday, 6 March 2017

The Journey!

The Chulia in Penang
Patronage and Place-Making around The Kapitan Kling Mosque 1786-1957
Author- Khoo Salma Nasution
With a year like 1786, they knew they could not go wrong. Muslims from South Asia are known to use the numerals 786, a calculation in a traditional numerology system of the Abbasid Caliphate, as a short form for the salutations b-ismi-llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm.

It was that year that the British decided to make 'Pulo Pinang' as their trading post and Tamil Muslims choose to place their future in this land of fortune. The British never 'discovered' Penang as it was already inhabited by fishermen and villagers. Only the British saw their potential for big things. The Tamil Muslim traders and talented sea-faring merchants had earlier established their own trade routes along the Straits of Malacca all the way to North Sumatra and beyond with the help of the monsoon winds. They had marked their presence into the Malacca Sultanate and other Malay courts. 

The term 'Chulias' mainly refers to Tamil Muslims from the Coromandel coast (east) of South India who sojourned our shores when seafaring vessels and businesses got sidelined by the burgeoning might the European might and influence. The word 'Chulia' must be a corruption from the mighty Cholas. Even, shipbuilders from the Malabar coast, Muslims who were descendants of Arab traders, got displaced to the east by the European fleet. They, the Marrikars, were also in the influx to this new found land. 

Cauder Mahuddeen, the Captain of the Tamil Muslim community, is said to have acquired a piece of land from the East India Company for the establishment of a 'Mohamedan Church' in the place they use to call Tanjong Penagrie @ Tanjung Pudukarai. Generations of immigration followed suit. Slowly with integration with the local populace, slowly appeared a group of people who called themselves 'Jawi Peranakan'.

Nagore Durgha Sheriff, George Town

The Marakkayars, fighting against the forces of Nature, moved around putting their trusts in patron saint, Saint Nagore. They built a shrine in appreciation with the donation from wealthy Sufi donors.

Slowly and steadily, through the book, one can see how the Chulias made this country great through their engagements with the ruling British. When the rule of British Law came into effect, they exerted their influences within the confines of the law, dancing to and sometimes skirting it. They also brought in the concept of waqf land to ensure that the property they possess continued in their family for generations to come, immune against unscrupulous leaders. 

The book guides through many names that still ring a bell to pure-bred Penangites. Names like Noordin of Noordin Street and Noordin Flats are known to many but know that Mahomad Merican Noordin was a famous and influential shipowner and international merchant.

Dato Koya was a Malabari convict who was banished to Penang. He later found revelation and became a Sufi saint with healing powers. His shrine is located in Transfer Road in town.

Kapitan Kling Mosque, the first principal mosque, catered for the Tamil speaking Muslim population. Later a mosque was built in Acheen Street to cater for the Malay speaking congregation. Over time they were a serious cleavage within the Muslim community. The elders decided that, in order to mend fences, the Friday sermons would alternate between the two mosques.

There was a time in the late 1850s when the Red Flag and White Flag secret societies reared their ugly faces. The activities usually flared up during Muharram celebrations and boria performances which became eponym with Penang. At one time, boria was blacklisted as bad, promoting promiscuity and polluting the minds of the young. It was the domain of the Jawi Peranakan. Bangsawan theatre is another product from Penang which made its origin from the Farsi theatre and was a hit amongst all layers of Penang society.

In 1905, the British enacted the Mohamedan and Hindu Endowment Boards to allow locals to administer their own affairs. The Kapitan Kling mosque, with their loyal worshippers, contributed vastly to their upkeep. The Mosque council went on to renovate its premises and acquired land around it to build quarters and shophouses to collect rent.

As steamships rolled along the Malayan shores, the Tamil Muslim sea-faring days seem over. They ventured into various businesses locally and internationally.

The Muslim society in Penang was also instrumental in developing the printing press.

Penang, in the early 20th century, was a changed place. With deteriorating living conditions in India and migration of Indians into Malayan, the landscape changed again. Tamil Muslim migrants started filling up the harbour workforce. Migrants from different parts of Tamil Nadu came with their own expertise to offer. Jewellers and precious stones moved in. To feed the empty stomachs of the workforce, cooks and eateries sprung up. Their foods and taste soon the natural flavour of the country. Recreational clubs gave a lot of support to the development of football in the state.

Many things happened after the two world wars. The nationalistic spirit in Malayans finally earned them independence and the right to choose their political path.

Thursday, 14 January 2016

A rose tinted view?



Whicker’s World Classic Full Documentary: Penang
I Haven't Taken My Own Shoes Off for 45 Years...! (1976)

One cannot imagine how much Penang has changed in 40 years. When we view this documentary, we can see how much the skyline is obscured by buildings and there is not much of a horizon to see.

Alan Whicker gives a rare glimpse of Penang that I had first-hand experience, Penang in 1976, as a teenager trying to make sense of things around me. The documentary looks at the island of Penang, of a third world country, from the rose-tinted lenses of the British man. His main highlight seems to be to show the Thaipusam celebrations, a self-mutilating theatrics of penance and gratitude to the Gods, as described by him.  

His first three guests include an ex-civil servant, Cunningham Brown, who decided to stay behind in the comforts of the tropics after Independence. He still has a cushy life as a king, cared for by the natives. A Scottish doctor, Dr Reed Tweedy, came to Malaya in the 1930s joining the bandwagon of Brits who wanted to be in the thick of actions and the inflated high pay in the exotic East. When there was an opening for a post of a Medical Assistant in British Malaya, he jumped in, after leaving his practice in London. After living through the thick and thin of times, the thick of the jungle through the World War and the thin of times as a prisoner under the Japanese, he is comfortably very much at home in tropical Penang. He lives as how the British Raj lived during the colonial times, with servants to serve and clean. He is treated as demigod amongst the Indian poor of Penang. He runs a dispensary, filled with archaic treatment modalities with a condescending attitude and plenty of placebo!

Mrs Daphne Jones, a former headmistress, and her sister find joy in caring for the animals on the island. They go to great lengths to feed and treat unwanted animals. These people feel very much at home and may feel awkward to be with their own kind back in the UK.

The second part of the documentary give a rare interview with Tunku Abdul Rahman as he relaxes by the Penang Turf Club and cruises on his motorboat by the beach. More street Thaipusam party and more reels of the ordinary people. The then Governor, Saadon Jubir, finally takes the narrator around town in his imported American automobile, accompanied by his outriders, in what appears like a blatant disregard to protocols, driving around town for a private business!

At the end of the day, the take home message seems to be that the British tamed the natives, brought them education, civilisation, governance and development. They paved the way for democratic rule and protected them from communism with apparently with purest of intentions. The interviewee alerted that the country would plunge into mayhem if the clean incorruptible demeanour of the British were not continued by the ruling government.

Are they looking purely at the nostalgic good old day through the white men’s rose tinted glasses blanking off all the atrocities and the injustices that were swept under the carpet in the name of honour of the Queen and natural justice of the ‘civilised world’?

P.S. A British Raj official could not take off his shoes at a Gandhi memorial because he had not taken off his shoes in 45 years! His coolie had taken it of for him.

Friday, 21 August 2015

Penang pix - Indian Muslim diaspora

Thanks Malaysian Heritage and History Club and Buruhanudeen Abubakar for sharing.

Even though these photos may be look old, I remember seeing these scenarios during my walks from Hutchings School to the City Council in Victoria Street from the early 1970s all through to 1975. Those were the daily sightings in my life as my young eyes ponder and imprinted all those everlasting memories in my grey matter. These laborious people in the pictures may have passed on, setting a foundation for their dependants to have a cushier life than theirs. Well, that must be the foundation of human existence - to do things easier, to go further, to smoothen things, to provide, to survive, to move up a notch in their social strata, to enjoy, to savour life and wither away living in the joyous memory of the past wishing that if only the present and the future could be as uncomplicated as the past.

Human Cart for transportation of goods

Fruits, anyone?

Tailor made undergarments?

Bengkang, Kueh lempeng, Kueh Koci, etc.

Renault TL in background, the hat used to be famous in 1920s. In Penang, the sanitation workers of the night-soil division had it as part of their uniform.

Slow business

Beverage still the same, Milo, Horlicks, Nescafe. Buns, the china Ming dynasty motifs cups and the glass look familiar.

Laksa panas-panas and kueh Talam to soothe it down.

Prized chained possessions

Kedai Ceremin dan Buat Friem 

In reflection

No touch drinking, straight from source

Onions in jut sack

Roti! Roti! to your doorstep on wheels.

Mammoth cooking with gargantuan utensil to whet giant appetite

Green Kueh Talam and Laksa

Pagoda singlet!

Wait, let me button up!

Many facets of malnourishment

I used to be fascinated by the folded banana leaf stopper at the the end of milk funnel/cover.

Transportation - new and old.

Cheers - where everybody knows your name!

Roti Bengali ada, Roti Ban ada, Kaya ada, Planta ada...

Sweet milk straight from the udder (almost)

Beedi - mini cheroot!

The exterior of a bachelor's pad

I want you...Show me the Way! 

Fresh organic farm produce

Fresh from bakery to your doorstep, personalised service.

Working for the Man

No, not my face you don't!

Before Walls and Magnum, the Ice Cream Man

Mutton Briyani anyone?

This ain't no IKEA.

Meet me at Merdeka Restaurant at the junction of Market Street and Queen Street.

Primal needs like an afternoon siesta need to continue, fanned by the breeze of moving vehicle.

I love you too, Abahdula!

Indian Onions - for flavour and oomph!

Certainly no Seville Row and no Kingsman but quality, yes! At your service, sire!

Use no hooks!

Unlike what Pink Floyd said, we need education. The writings are on the wall.

Carrom, game made in India!

I tell you, mark my word. A time in the future when people will be more interested in posing than working.

I am all set in my boogie shoes. Will join you after my favourite sherbet near Kapitan Kling mosque.

Food for the mind

We all live in a yellow submarine under the patronage of the King and his consort.

அல்லாவின் பெயரை சொல்லி, எல்லோரும் கொண்டாடுவோம் (Qawalli) In Allah's name , we rejoice!

It ain't heavy, it's for my family!

Gandum, gandum!

Pound the spices, I will back with the mutton after my shift.

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone. Gonna be bright sunshiny day!

A man got to do what a man got to do, like work for his family!

Teh Tarik satu, One foamy milked tea.

You calling me?

Calling it for the day

Yeah, sure. Politician, politicians!

Apam Manis - Sweetened coconut milk rice flour pancake

Filtered, unfiltered, beedi, 555?

Working 16 hours in 3by3 feet work area but you don't hear me complaining!

Joint venture. Putting the wheel before the cart!

Lazing around on a Sunday afternoon.

Whatever you say. You got me by the jugular!

Better be yummy!

Another spoke in the wheel

Green Energy?

Fanta, Coke, F&N?

Tonsorial artist at work, close shave!

Not getting any younger, are we?

A quick cuppa on the run.

The accounts do not balance. No, no donations received or given.

Man and wheels

We make, we sell but they call it 'Nyonya Kuih'!

A mandatory puff after the main course 

Who needs 7-11?

Any more Gandum? Second helping?

Another day another trip.

Loyalty unquestioned!

Honda kap-chai meant to be a two-seater!

Caught unawares!

I am alright!

The writer, of letters!

Life, on tenterhooks?

Get a S-NAP here! from Kandos!

A melting pot of cultures - Malaysia

Fab Fowl Four!

“Be afraid. Be very afraid.”*