Sun Setting On A Rest House

The Tanjung Malim Rest House stands like a crumbling monument to an era long gone. There used to be a rest house in every town but only a few have survived or are still operating. Government rest houses are now mostly a British colonial day relic left abandoned and to fade away silently.

This one is unique as it is one of few with the original design from more than a 100 years ago. One of the last caretakers was a Hainanese. Not surprisingly, the rest house was well-known for the food he served.

During its glory days, this rest house not only served as a hotel (or motel) but also as a popular dining venue for royalty, other VIPs and room guests.

Now, the wooden structure is rotting away, the fittings stripped bare and creepers are encircling it in a slow strangle of death. Only thing that will probably remain is the eponymous Rest House Road it stands on.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f11, 1/320 sec.

The Yellow Lake Of Proton City

Nestled within a quiet housing estate in Proton City is a picturesque but deserted park. Risqi, 4 and Rifa, 7, were taking in the the view of the lake from under a gazebo.

Their mother Nani, a science teacher from a school in nearby Kuala Slim, told me the lake was a tin-mining pit. She reckoned the yellowish water was caused by heavy rain the night before.

I was also told by other Tanjung Malim folks that, on weekends, it is a popular place for kite flying and other recreational activities.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f6.3, 1/250 sec.

On The Street Where You Live

People stop and stare, they don’t bother me
For there’s nowhere else on earth that I would rather be
Let the time go by, I won’t care
If I can be here on the street where you live

The wonderful love song by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner from the Broadway musical (and later the film) “My Fair Lady” sounds creepy in this day and age. Sounds like a stalker anthem. Haha.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f6.3, 1/160 sec.

The Rohingyas On Land – Compassion

A Muslim Burmese lady was feeding abandoned kittens by the roadside. She declined to have her face photographed.

As I photographed the kittens, a busybody stranger remarked that she’ll be getting massive ‘pahala’ points (based on the concept of receiving blessings as reward for good deeds).

I thought the man’s Malay accent sounded like that of a Bangladeshi migrant living in Malaysia. When I met him later inside a Toto shop, he told me he is Rohingya as well.

The lady seem annoyed by his remark. She declared: “I’m doing it because I can’t bear to see a living thing die of hunger. Not for any reward.”

Compassion. It reminds me of a quote attributed to Mahatma Gandhi:

“It ill becomes us to invoke in our daily prayers the blessings of God, the Compassionate, if we in turn will not practice elementary compassion towards our fellow creatures” .

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 320, f4, 1/200 sec.

The Rohingyas On Land – Lost & Found

We found the kitten in a drain, eventually. The kind man retrieved the fallen stray and it was reunited with the mother.

It was my lucky day. Further down the street, I was to stumble upon another animal lover and witnessed another good deed.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 320, f4, 1/200 sec.