Shame on Taiping!

Posted on June 1, 2013 by janstu

Now that Malaysia has become my second home, I can say that Taiping is my second hometown..:-) I am a frequent visitor and became a member of the Taiping Heritage Society.

Taiping is rightly proud about its many historical firsts: the Prison (1879), the New Club (1881), the Lake Gardens (1881), the Clock tower (1881), the King Edward VII school (1883), the Perak Museum (1883) and many more.

So why is this post titled Shame on Taiping? Because the list of firsts contains two items that are at this moment in a deplorable state, being completely neglected for years already.

The first is the (location of the) Residence. In 1877, on a hill overlooking Taiping, a residence was built for the British Assistant Resident (Maxwell). It was here that Isabella Bird wrote several letters for her book the Golden Chersonese A few years later (1884) the building was enlarged and became the residence for the British Resident (Low). Nothing is left these days of this Residence, except the stone pillars, upon which the wooden house was built. After Merdeka a hotel was built at the back of these pillars. About ten years ago I have stayed overnight in this Casuarina inn. The inn is visible in the background. Basic accommodation.

It has been closed now for many years already. Without any fencing, freely accessible, a haven for drug addicts. No wonder that every time I come and have a look, it is more ruined. It may not be possible to exploit a hotel here, but this historical location should be preserved. Shame on Taiping!

Here is a collection of pictures taken recently.

: The pillars of the Residence

: Facade

: Reception

: Room

: Kitchen

: Annexe

The Casuarina inn started as the New Resthouse. Why new? Because there exists another Resthouse, a real first, built in 1894. Opposite the King Edward school and not far from the Railway station. Also here I have stayed overnight, many years ago. It was at that time named the Lagenda Hotel. Quite acceptable budget hotel, good location.

About five years ago, the hotel/resthouse was closed. In the beginning hardly any fencing, even now it is easy to enter the premises. With a predictable effect: the place is going to pieces and is now already probably beyond redemption. Shame on Taiping!

: Fence with entrance

: Adjacent building

: Corner building

: You can just walk in

The last pictures have been taken of and in the buildings to the left of the Resthouse. They must be old as well, and especially the corner one looks architecturally interesting. Here too, you can just walk in, with predictable effect. Shame on Taiping!

Wesak 2013

Posted on June 1, 2013 by janstu

In the Christian religion the birth of Jesus Christ is celebrated in December (Christmas), his death in March/April (Good Friday) and his ascension to Heaven in May (Ascension Day).

Buddhism is more efficient and commemorates birth, death and the reaching of Nirvana of Gautama Buddha on the same day, called Wesak. It is celebrated on the Full Moon day in May, which fell this year on May 24. I was in Taiping at that time, visiting my friends George and Jennie.

There are several Buddhist temples in Taiping. In the morning we visited the Thai Wat Phodhiyaram (Thai) and the Bodi Langka Ram Temple (Sri Lankan), located next to each other in Assam Kumbang, Taiping. And in the evening we went to the Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary (SBS), high up in the hills of Tupai. All of them belong to the Theravada school of Buddhism.

As you know I am a secular humanist, opposed to religion. But I feel quite attracted to the philosophy of Theravada Buddhism. I do not believe in reincarnation, but the concepts of Anicca (impermanence), Dukkha (suffering) and Anatta (not-self) appeal to me. Although I must confess that I have not yet made much progress on the Noble Eightfold Path 🙂

In Sri Lanka I have attended Wesak many years ago. There it is a very solemn, quiet event, people are dressed in white sarongs and visit the dagoba (temple) to offer flowers. There may be some food, but that is for the poor.

How different was the atmosphere this time in Malaysia! Many people come just for the free (vegetarian) food, I think, I saw many Indian (hindu) people. In the Thai temple a long queue of devotees was waiting to pour water on a Buddha (and then take this holy water home to bathe themselves). More Mahayana than Theravada…?

Many people had been lighting candles, a very nice sight.

Here are a few more pictures taken during our morning visit

: In the Thai temple

: Many lights

: The main hall

: The bo tree in the Sri Lankan temple

The SBS is not a real temple but a Buddhist training and meditation center. I had visited it several times before, once during the Katina ceremony, when the devotees give new robes to the monks, very impressive.

As the Sanctuary, high up in the hills, can only be reached by a narrow winding road, you had to park your car at the cemetery(!) down the hill, after which volunteers with 4WD’s shuttled you up. Well organised!

From the sanctuary you have a magnificent view of the sunset and Taiping, deep down.

Focal point of the sanctuary is this statue of the Buddha in the so-called Dhyana (meditation) Asana. The back of the right hand rests on the palm of the other in such a way that the tips of the thumbs lightly touch one another.

Compared with Sri Lanka, also here the atmosphere was more festive, there were even fireworks. And lots of food…:-) We saw a few Kungming lanterns (hot air balloons). Altogether it was a bit too carnavalesque to my taste.

Here is a selection of pictures

: Steep winding road

: Walking to the sanctuary

: Waiting for the lighting ceremony

: Lighting the candles

: Food

: Well prepared

: Nice vegetarian laksa

: Numerous candles everywhere

: Kungming lanterns

: Fireworks

: Still eating

: Nice kids, without a clue what was celebrated.

After the ceremony was finished, the thousands of visitors had to be transported back to the parking. Long queue, but kudos for all the volunteers!

Here is a video of the fireworks

Nostalgia

Posted on May 28, 2013 by janstu

About five years ago, I have made two trips with my Kiara (walking) and Gang of Four (birding) friends. Searching my archive for something else, I came across the pictures taken during these trips.

Nostalgia! Here are two trips down memory lane..:-)

The first one was on 8-5-2008. A few months earlier I had discovered a nice restaurant in Ulu Yam, so I wanted to bring my friends there and offer them lunch. A Dutch treat, so to speak..:-). The route to Ulu Yam passes the Batu reservoir, where we took a picture of the group.

Here are some pictures of the trip. We stopped for a while at the Sg Tua waterfall and then continued to the WK restaurant. Their menu is limited but the quality is good and it is VFM (Value For Money). After the lunch we visited the Buddhist Monastery and Temple near Ulu Yam. It is the Sakya school of (Tibetan) Buddhism that is followed here.

: The Batu reservoir

: One for the album

: Sg Tua waterfall

: Lunch at WK restaurant in Ulu Yam

: Buddhist monastery and temple

: The temple gardens

: Two monkeys

: And another one

The second trip was a few months later, on 4-9-2008, to the Chiling waterfall. This is one of the most popular waterfalls in Malaysia, an interesting adventure because you have to cross the river several times before you arrive at the fall. During our trip the water level was high, resulting in a strong current, as you can see in this picture

Because of the high water level, crossing was not that easy, but helping each other we managed.

Just before you reach the fall, some scrambling is needed. Also here our fellowship made it easy.

This is the impressive Chiling waterfall.

And here is the proof that we have been there. Still so “young” and adventurous…:-)

More pictures in the gallery below. Our group was a mixed one, a few birders stayed behind and took pictures, the others followed me to the waterfall. We had big fun at the fall, before we walked back. Lunch was again at the WK restaurant.

: Breakfast in Rasa

: A hungry mob….:-)

: What are they looking at?

: Nice pitcher plant

: Just beside the trail!

: Henry taking the lead

: One of the many crossings

: Another one

: Chiling fall with Hwenry

: More daredevils

: On our way back

: Lunch at WK as a reward

Here are two videos. Quality is not very good, but you can feel the fellowship and the fun we had.

Ulu Rening adventure

Posted on May 19, 2013 by janstu

The last waterfall I visited was the Upper Tebing Tinggi waterfall in Perak, see A Dream Come True , end of March. That is a long time ago for a waterfall addict like me, I was really craving for a waterfall. Siang Hui had given me info about a waterfall near Ulu Rening, quite remote and not known to many people. A perfect destination for a day trip.

After our usual breakfast in a mamak restaurant, we (Aric, Rani, Edwin and I) drove to Batang Kali, where we bought nasi lemak for our lunch. Siang Hui had provided me with GPS-data and that was very helpful. The beginning of the trail was very clear, later it became more vague, but no problem for experienced jungle trekkers like Rani and Edwin

It took us about two hours to reach the waterfall, about 4.5 km from where we had parked our car. At the end we had to cross the river a few times. The weather was perfect.

The waterfall was a nice surprise, because of the magnificent, very deep pool with crystal-clear water. In the picture you see the waterfall at the back, the water thundering down in a narrow gorge. To get there you have to swim and then scramble up the rocks to the right. Here, in a picture taken by Aric, you see Rani and Edwin trying to get closer to the waterfall in the background.

We spent a full two hours at the waterfall, having our lunch, making coffee, enjoying the peaceful surroundings. And of course playing with the water..:-) Before reaching the pool, the water went down one last step over smooth rocks, so you could slide down.Big fun!

As you can see, the water was very turbulent, not without danger as I experienced the second time I slid down. I was pulled down and back by the turbulence (see video) but I did not panic and managed to swim out. Scary moment for my friends, who were already prepared to come to my rescue! That is why the video stops so suddenly..:-)

Here are more pictures of this wonderful trip.

We were hungry when we came out and Edwin suggested a Thai shop near Serendah. Ky IKEA friends had mentioned this shop a few times, but I had never been there. You must really know where it is, otherwise you will overlook it…:-) We had nice Tom Yam noodles, Fried chicken, and Lok Mei (drink) for RM 41. A place to remember.
Here are two more video clips. The first one shows daredevils Rani and Edwin, conquering the current, so that Aric could take a picture (he is shouting “don’t move” to them, because the picture shown above is actually a HDR composite of three pictures)

And in this video Aric shows how to go down the slide without being caught in the turbulence…:-)

Chatting with my sister in the Netherlands after I came back home, I wondered if I was not getting too old for this kind of playing around.She sent me this cartoon.

The translation of the Dutch text is:

We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.

Thanks, sis…:-)!

GE13: the results

Posted on May 6, 2013 by janstu

Just a short post.

It was an exciting day, yesterday, with a slightly disappointing outcome: BN will remain in power, although with a reduced majority. Here are the results of the GE13 election, together with the results of the 2004 and 2008 elections

In my last post I explained the malapportionment and the gerrymandering, resulting in an unbalance between the percentage of votes and the percentage of seats in Parliament. In G13 this has led to a dramatic result. BN still has a majority in seats, but, for the first time in many decades, it has lost in the popular vote! The government received 48.7 % of the votes, the opposition 51.3% (Data taken from the Malaysian Insider)

I joined Aric’s family to the polling station. Of course we first had a nice breakfast (dim sum).

The voting takes place in schools, same as in the Netherlands. It was well organised, with different queues for the various age groups. I was not allowed to enter the school grounds, but I did not have to wait long, before the family came out again.For the first time “indelible” ink was used to make it impossible to vote twice! Of course everybody tried to test how indelible the ink was. Not very, it seems, just use toothpaste or grass or chlorox..:-)

So, what will happen now? Opposition leader Anwar is protesting that there have been many irregularities. Yesterday, many video clips were circulating on the Internet about “foreign” voters, who had supposedly been given IC cards by BN. A good thing is that there have hardly been any clashes after the results came out, yesterday evening.

So probably no Ubah this time…:-(

It will be interesting to see if these GE13 results will weaken the position of PM Najib. The former PM, Badawi, resigned after the disastrous results of the 2008 election. The expectation was that Najib would at least win back some of the losses. But the results of these elections are worse for BN! Ok, the opposition lost Kedah, but strengthened its position in Penang and Selangor.

GE13

Posted on May 4, 2013 by janstu

In my last post I mentioned that tomorrow the 13th General Elections will be held in Malasysia. Some of my Dutch friends asked me for more information about these elections and why everybody here is so excited/anxious/worried about the outcome.

So this post is meant primarily for my non-Malaysian followers, but of course I hope that my Malaysian friends will also read it. It is now Election’s Eve, so I must publish it fast, hopefully without mistakes…:-)

The present government is formed by BN (Barisan Nasional = National Front). BN is a racially based coalition of basically three parties, UMNO (Malay), MCA (Chinese) and MIC (Indian). BN (and its predecessor Alliance) has been in power from the Independence of Malaysia in 1957. That is more than 55 year and almost all the time they had absolute power ( more then 2/3 majority).

Well, as you know: Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely!

About the corruption and the cronyism in BN, I will not elaborate in this post. Do a Google search for Altantuyaa, Teoh Beng Hock, Rosmah, Taib, Khir Toyo, etc if you are interested.

Was there no opposition? Yes, there was. But Malaysia doesn’t have proportional representation, like we have in the Netherlands (and in many European countries). The country has (at this time) 222 parliamentary seats and is divided in 222 constituencies. In each constituency the winner takes all. So, if in each constituency the opposition gets 40% of the votes, at the end of the day they will not be represented in Parliament at all!

Before the 2004 election, the opposition parties formed an alternative coalition, Barisan Alternatif. Basically consisting of three parties: Keadilan (multiracial, progressive), DAP (Chinese, progressive) and PAS (Malay, conservative). At first not very successful, quite a lot of distrust between the component parties. But under the charismatic leadership of Anwar, they managed to cooperate better in the 2008 election. With a shocking result!

For the first time in decades BN lost its 2/3 majority!

Now, when you study the statistics in this table, you will notice something strange. In these last election the opposition got 47.8 % of the votes, but only 37% of the seats! And in 2004 it was even much worse, 36% of the votes against not even 10% of the seats!

How can that happen? The answer is: by Malapportionment and Gerrymandering

About Mal-apportionment: If you have an election system with constituencies, each of them voting for one MP, then each constituency should have about the same number of voters, right? In Malaysia that would result in about 49.000 voters for each constituency.

The real situation is stunningly different! Here is a graph of the constituencies in the 2008 election. As you see, there is a huge difference in size between the constituencies. The largest one, Kapar, has more than 100.000 voters, the smallest one, Putrajaya (center of the government!) not even 7000.

Most countries with a constituency system (like the UK) have (constitutional?) election rules about which differences in size are allowed between constituencies (for example + or – 15%). Malaysia had those rules, but first they were relaxed and later replaced in 1973 by a vague “a measure of weightage”. Yes! With all due respect to my 2nd home, politically Malaysia is still a banana republic…:-(

But this is not all. In the graph the results of the 2008 elections are represented. Blue for a BN win, red for a win by the opposition. Do I have to explain in more detail? The constituencies with a small number of voters are dominantly BN, the larger ones vote for the opposition! Accidentally? No way. This is gerrymandering, choosing the boundaries of the constituencies in such a way, that it favours the ruling powers. I find it really unbelievable that this is accepted by the Malaysian population.

Ok, back to tomorrow’s elections. It will be a battle between a (weakened) BN and Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Alliance), the successor of Barisan Alernatif. The elections are already named the dirtiest in the history of Malaysia. BN is doing its utmost best to remain in power, by any means. They have been flooding the country with flags and banners, rumours are that they are flying in phantom voters from Sarawak and Sabah while I am writing this. But there is a kind of vibrant feeling in the air, that a Malaysian spring might occur this time.

Ubah! Ini Kali lah = Change! This it the time

Here are a few pics taken the last few days.

Are people worried? Well, after the 1969 elections, race riots exploded, which are still remembered vividly by everybody staying in Malaysia at that time. Many people died, there was a curfew for several days. However, times have changed.

Will update you soon…:-)

Journal 1-5-2013

Posted on May 2, 2013 by janstu

The last week we had some unusually heavy downpours, sometimes with strong winds. On my daily walks in Bukit Kiara I encountered several uprooted trees. I also noticed these uncommon flowers, stemming directly from the tree trunk. Beautiful.

When I had my breakfast in IKEA, there was this big group of Malay ladies, probably on an outing, having a jolly good time. I asked permission to take their picture, no problem, and after that of course I had to be in the picture too.

Sunday May 5, the 13th General Election will be held in Malaysia. It will be a battle between Barisan Nasional, in power since the Independence of Malaysia and tainted with cronyism and corruption, and Pakatan Rakyat, a loose coalition of opposition parties. BN has spent a lot of (taxpayers?) money on flags and banners, many streets are colored blue. In Bangsar and also my neighbourhood the last few days, many small flags have appeared in bright colors, symbolising the “Malaysian Spring” which will hopefully begin this weekend.

In my native country on the 30st of April, the coronation took place of the new Dutch king, Willem Alexander, the first male Dutch monarch in more than 100 years. The Dutch population in Malaysia had received an invitation from the ambassador for a Coronation Party at his residence. Although basically more of a Republican than a Royalist I decided to attend the event. It was actually quite a nice happening, there was a large crowd, more than 400 people. Large TV screens with streaming video, so we could follow the ceremony live. After the speech by the ambassador, I even joined in the singing of the National Anthem! Good that the staff had distributed the text, because to be honest, I only know the first lines of the first verse….:-)

There was Heineken beer, herring, “bitterballen”, probably not only for me an important reason to attend the event…:-)

Here is the official photo taken after the coronation, with some of the royal guests. It is a tradition that ruling monarchs will not attend the coronation ceremony, only crown princes, so that after the coronation the new king is automatically the highest in rank! And an interesting detail: for Charles, the Prince of Wales, this is the second time that he attends a Dutch coronation ceremony, as he was already the crown prince when Beatrix became queen, 33 years ago..:-)

Destruction of Bukit Kiara

Posted on April 28, 2013 by janstu

Time for another post about Bukit Kiara. Here is a GE screenshot of this Green Lung of KL. The tar roads are in white, the maze of trails, created and maintained by TRAKS are in green. The infamous fence in red. The southern part of the hill should be gazetted already years ago as a park. FoBK (Friends of Bukit KIara) is at the moment mainly concerned with the claim of Berjaya on a part of this park.

The part of Bukit Kiara north of the Penchala Tunnel is less visited and more remote. Apparently it is a so-called Malay reserve, which means that only Malay can own/develop it. Recently bikers and hikers noticed that development in this part has started. With my walking kaki Pola Singh we have done a recce. In the GE screenshot the (northern) fence and a few of the trails have been indicated. The white road is a new road, that has been bulldozed, starting from Kiaramas.

Talking with the contractor, the purpose of this road became clear. On the ridge a plot of land of 3 acres (~12.000 square meter!) will be cleared for the construction of 3 (!) bungalows. To get an idea of the size I have roughly indicated in orange what a plot of 3 acres would amount to.Later we heard from TRAKS that the plan is to clear a total of 12 acres. Unbelievable and sad. You wonder who the builders are and who has given them permission for this destruction…:-(

Here are some pictures, no need for much comment..:-(