Was good spending the first day of the fasting month observing life in Slim River. The day culminated at the Ramadan food bazaar in the middle of town.
The traders were friendly, generous and their food tasted good. A mother-daughter team seen here selling stir-fried kuey teow (flat rice noodles).
I like how the daughter sneaked in a smile behind the serious mother 🙂
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 320, f4, 1/250 sec.
Roadside stall in Slim River town selling strings of petai or stink beans (Parkia speciosa). From here to Bidor, Tapah and the road to Cameron Highlands, we will see many such stalls. Orang Asli people harvest the crop, sell it themselves or through local traders.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f11, 1/200 sec.
Such sweet and beautiful people, right? The mother (right) works in a garment shop owned by a Chinese. Her employer allows her to bring her child to work and that is good.
Now, for the bitter reality. Not sure about this family but the many kids born here to refugee parents are also stateless. Currently, such children are not accepted into our public schools.
One Rohingya parent told me she is planning to send her kids to southern Thailand. Schools there accept kids with no papers, it seems. Even then, it is limited to primary education, unfortunately.
She reckons it will still be good as her kids can at least read and write some basic stuff. This too, it is not an option for many as they cannot afford to travel as far.
I understand from another lady that UNHCR provides some form of classes. I hope other NGOs will also step in to help such children. The problem is not unique to the Rohingyas, though. It affects all stateless children.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 1000, f4, 1/60 sec.
Much of my time on the journey, so far, was spent engaging the locals. Usually the conversations can get quite interesting and long. Some will even invite me into their homes or to a coffee shop for a drink.
As for shopkeepers, I try to keep the conversations shorter as I know they need to tend to business and customers. But there is one businessman who can (and have the skills to) hold a long conversation.
The guy whose career began at the top; the barber.
The ideal place and time to join in a conversation is at where a conversation is already going on. I stepped into the Hibiscus Indian Barbershop in Tanjung Malim town.
Kumar the cheerful barber was originally from Tamil Nadu in India. He has been here for eight years and can speak fluent Malay. His customer, Deen from Kelantan, works in Tanjung Malim.
Apart from the two seen here, he has six other kids and that prompted a good-natured chat about traditional aphrodisiacs and birth control (or lack of). Heh.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 500, f4, 1/60 sec.
