Vanishing trades ----the Indian Kueh Seller

Growing up in Penang in the late 50's and 60's, we have our mobile barbers in his bicycle carrying his little bag; our "bottle man" buying old bottles, junk & old newspaper; then of course we have our kueh seller.

today I met the same old kueh seller...still selling kueh.....but instead of carrying them in basket with a kandar stick...he pushes a cart...he must be at least 70 years or more....

when i first met him, buying his kueh in around the area in lumba kuda...i was only 6 or 7 years old.....today i'm 52......

seeing him bring back many memories.....friends and playmates....we have all gone our separate ways...my mom and dad...who always spoil us with purchases of kueh...& also laksa

somehow i also feel for him, so old yet still peddling kueh....does he need do it to survive...does he have any children to support him......yet i admire him....his desire to be independent and earn his own keep...syabas my indian kueh seller, i salute you for your tenacity & strength...

The wonders of a neem tree

Dried leaves of the neem tree can be used as a natural insect repellent. Put some in your rice pot and stop weevils from invading.......

As a bookmark, and silverfish will give it a miss.......i haven't squeeze the leaves and apply the juice on my legs and arms to see whether they can ward off the horrid mossies......

Penang water - stress, new (higher) tariffs, cleaner water???

The Penang Government is pretty ambitious with regard to water.....it wants to install a new membrane filter system that can filter out almost 99% of all disease causing pathogens.......then it want to raise the water tariffs because Pg is a water stressed state...whatever that means.......and of course reduce the non-revenue water from 20% to 15%......

If we can get clean water without the need again to filter it at home......we don't mind paying a higher tariff....but installing new filters are just not enough.....the pipes carrying the water needs to be changed......the water leaving the filration and treatment plants is probably very clean...yeah even up to WHO standards but by the time it reaches our home......the water had picked up so much muck along the way...that it arrives at our home in a dirty state....such is our water....we need to change the pipes....and in Pg.....that's a monumental task......most of our pipes are ancient......

Few buses on the road today than it was a decade ago

Strangely but i started to notice that there are much fewer buses on the road now than it was decade ago. I thot we're supposed to have a new bus system.....maybe it so bashed up and butchered that the general public had already given up on the system and had been hitting the road with their own vehicles or are using taxi 'sapu'......

Fast track for Naza's plant at Bertam

The naza's plant at bertam, kepala batas.....was given a fast track approval (instant?) because it has a good track record of abiding by all the government's regulations. Such privelege according to Tan Sri Koh, Pg's CM is only accorded to state owned companies or companies owned by PDC.......

I hope this fast tracked plant will not come back to haunt the state and the people especially those living around Bertam.....i just hope.....

Lunch at Seri Bahari Road

Seri Bahari Road is a road of eats.....for a very short road...it has many good restaurants. Start off with the Ship for steak and western grill, then u have a thai restaurant....two good chinese restaurants....goh swee kee and feng wei..... then at the junction with penang road...u have to two coffee shops selling typical penang.

Feng Wei, i'm told, is run of chinese chefs from the former mandarin hotel (now agora hotel). they are the 40 year veterns in the chinese food cuisine business ...even the waitress are from the old restaurant.....the food is fabulous and for penangites...value for money......the choon peah is great.... it is always crowded....goh swee kee is good but slightly below one notch from feng wei.....

The coffee shop (at the right hand side as u r entering into pg rd from seri bahari rd) have a stall selling very good lor bah & 'hey chee' & tau kua.....great stuff....

so if u r in pg....why don't try some of the food at seri bahari road....

Georgetown & its suburbs: Trees 7 - Our neems, the medicinal tree

Many in penang do not know that we have rows and rows of pharmacies in our city, lining up our roads in the form of our Neem trees. The leaves, bark, fruits and roots of these trees also known as Margosa trees, have been used in India as medicine for more than 2,000 years.



Known as the village phramacy, the tree had been the mainstay of indian ayurvedic medicine. Recently the European and US companies tried to patent on it. however, the Indian government sued and won, resulting in the patents being withdrawn. Thank God.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neem

"Our water catchments are safe" says Penang CM

Its heartening to know that our landfill is located far way from our main water sources so that we be spared the fate of our fellow citizens in the Klang Valley.

Yet, for the life of me, I can never understand how the authorities could approved landfills so close to their water sources......in the case of Semenyih.....about 100 meters.......again i suspect the right hand of the local governments do not really bother about the other brnaches of the government i.e. the state government who is responsible for the water supply in the state and more so since the water supply had been privatised.......

We are always shooting ourselves in the foot.....& our governments seemed to be runned by the 3 stooges......well i hope in pg....we can do better.......PBA, the Penang Water Authority, seems to perform well thus far.......

Metallic Pinang

"Sebagai Pinang belah dua" the malay saying we learned in school means "like peas in a pod"...... similar in character, inseparable..... well I don't know what we want to say in this sculpture.....


.....maybe just pinang.........planting pinang trees around the roundabout would had been cheaper........but then again the I appreciate the metallic pinang....shows more class and sophistication

Ha....but at what cost my cynic self tells me.....but then again, nobody argues about the cost of the Lourve' Mueseum......yes Oscar Wilde says that of all cynics who know "the cost of everything but the value of nothing".......in malaysia we have all become cynics unfortunately........it is a survival mechanism........

Penang Second Link

Well the saga of what happened to the "scenic" or "crooked" __________(or filled in the blanks) bridge in Johor Bahru......one must wondering whether we can believed what our politicians openly say or declare.

What the heck, if some cronies don't get what they want from the second link......will they then postpone, truncate....or called off the bridge.......

No surpise that Malaysians rank politicians, government ministers and businessman at the bottom of the list of people they can trust....of course politicians rule the roost from the bottoms up....

Seeing how these groups are often one and the same person playing these three roles........it does not surprise anyone to see these three amigos at the bottom....

Penang Lawyer - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle & Sherlock Holmes

Penang lawyers were mentioned in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novels and short stories involving his alter ego, Sherlock Holmes. Penang lawyers, yes, but not those who dress up in fancy gowns, have funny hair-dos and appear in the courts.

Instead the Penang lawyer mentioned in the third sentence of the opening chapter of "The Hound of the Baskerville" referred to a ' a fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous headed, of the sort which is known as a Penang lawyer.' In the short story "Silver Blazes" the Penang lawyer is described as a "clublike walking stick".


Apparently Penang lawyer as a "walking stick" is a quite well-known product from this part of the world in 19th century Great Britain....as described by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a gentleman's walking stick. He would most likely had one too, I supposed.

The Penang lawyer is made from the stem of a small (it cannot grow any bigger) palm known as Licuala acutifida, Griffith. The walking sticks are prepared by scrapping the skin of the stem by glass, they are then straightened by fire and given a polishing. It is also called Licuala spinosa (according to Kew Garden website on Licuala palms).

Source: Photo courtesy University of Florida-IFAS (found in http://www.plantapalm.com/vpe/photos/Species/licuala_spinosa.htm)

The term Penang lawyer came about most likely because of the way the English pronunced Malay words......Penang lawyer is "Pinang liar" in Malay or wild pinang as opposed to the cultivated ones......

There is another story why this clublike walking stick is called Penang lawyer....."a heavy walking stick, supposed to be so called from its usefulness in settling disputes in Penang"........probably during the early days of the settlement....when everything had to be referred to the office of the Indian East Company in Madras, India......a long way off by sail boat......

The third story of how the name came about is because these stick were originally made by convicts exiled to Penang from India....and these convicts were nicknamed "lawyers"....so the named stucked...

Trivia....trivia and more trivia

Penang - passover .....jewish cemetry......

Tonight, jews celebrate the passover and christians remember good friday....the death of jesus at twelve noon.

In Penang, we have the only jewish cemetry in South East Asia (correct me if I'm wrong....do singapore have one?). Sadly, we do not have any jewish community in Penang or in Malaysia anymore. The last recognised jew living in penang died or emigrated in the early 1980's. There maybe jews here, but i doubt whether they would openly acknowledge it......the current climate certainly is not conducive

Who are they? What were they doing? Except for the cemetry...they did not leave much behind....I'm told that the bungalow owned by Boon Siew in Tanjong Bungah , at the start of Sham Rock beach was formerly owned by a Jew......who was involved in the "Robinson's" of Penang known as "Whiteaways". I am not able to confirmed this.....

Penang - Minden, USM - Battle of Minden 1759

I was at USM Minden Campus this morning. As I was walking along its pleasant tree lined roads, I wondered how many of its students know the origin of the name of its campus, "Minden". I did a quick survey and asked the students I met. Sadly yet predictably, like most people in malaysia, none of the students was able tell me. They know almost nothing about local history, nor the significance of names and name places in Malaysia.

In its previous "incarnation", many many years before USM (or Penang University as it was first called) established, the campus was a British military base, called Minden Barracks. It was home to a group of British Sodiers known by King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI).

25th Light Infantry in the Battle of Minden 1759

Their base in Penang was named "Minden" in honour of the regiment's heroic role they played with other light infantry in defeating the French in the Battle of Minden in 1759 (Minden is a town near Hanover, Germany).

The foot soldiers marched and fought against the French Calvary, based on a misinterpretation of its orders. There now occurred one of the incidents beloved of British military history. It is said that an order was sent that the infantry were to “advance on the beat of drum” and that this was misinterpreted as an order to “advance to the beat of drum”.

51st Infantry (KOYLI) attacking the French Calvary at the Battle of Minden

The French Commander, Marshal Contades is reputed to have said bitterly after the battle: “I never thought to see a single line of infantry break through three lines of cavalry ranked in order of battle and tumble them to ruin.”

Source:http://www.britishbattles.com/seven-years/minden.htm

Georgetown & its suburbs: Trees 6 - Angsanas flowering & u know its Cheng Beng in Penang

Come to Penang in early April and you will be greeted with garlands of delightful yellow flowers. These flowers of the Angsana bloom after each drought, welcoming the early rains.

Penang is a garden filled with angsanas, more so two or three decades ago than now....but still the giant angsanas of Mcalister, Perak, Western and Scotland roads never ceased to amaze me....planted more than 70 years ago, they are a sight to behold.....not the puny, wimpy ones you see in KL or Orchard Road (Singapore)...but giants that were allowed to grow unhindered many many years ago before "cars ate up penang" and whatever we have in terms of space between the front of the house and the side of a road.....

Giants or relics.....sometimes 'butchered' by the Tenaga and City Council staff....with their tops lopped off.....yet remarkably the giants still survived the butchery....

The angsana also known as "narra" in the Philippines produced a very beautiful cabinet wood....cabinets, tables, table tops, chairs and carvings made from the wood are exquisite. Belonging to the same genus Pterocarpus, as rosewood.....you see why the wood is so fine....

"Springtime of sorts" in Penang

Angsana in bloom

Bungor (purple flowers) and Flame of the Forest (red flowers)

April showers in Penang comes after a period of drought of 3 months. The cloudless skies during the drought means more sunshine and daylight hours and together with the coming rains in april trigger off the flowering of trees and plants.......the longer the drought the more dramatic the flowers. A synchronous mass flowering of trees particularly in the northern states of the Peninsula (Perlis, Kedah, Penang & Kelantan) occurs once in three or four years......they are a sight to behold.....(yet many in penang are oblivious.....)

The most showy ones are the Angsana and the Flame of Forest (Semerak api) and in Penang, the Bungor (purple) and Jacaranda......the roads in Penang are sometimes littered with yellow confetti made up of fallen petals of the Angsana flowers........ a dangerous hazard to motocyclists as the wet petals after rain makes the roads slippery.....

Under a pokok tanjung, a vagrant did lay.....

Maybe it is the slightly intoxicating fragance the flowers exude.......& coupled with hot sun under cool shade...a person is soon tempted to snooze.....zzzzzzzzz

Penang Public Transport - start a watch group

It is exactly 10 days after new public transport system is in place.......the suffering public is crying out.....the authorities says "give them time"........the CM says "the state government is not responsible, its the federal Minister in charge of the Commercial Vehicle Licencing Board (CVLB)".......the public in Penang is caught between a rock and a hard place......lets keep our rage aflame, and remember our politicians when the elections come around in 2008.....Ask this Question "HOM MANY OF OUR MPS, BN OR OPPOSITION HAD HIGHLIGHTED OUR PUBLIC TRANSPORT WOES?"

Lets start our Public Transport watch group at the grassroots level. Lets monitor the performance of our stage and mini buses along our routes.....LETS BOMBARD THE FEDERAL MINISTER WITH OUR FINDINGS.....BOUQUETS WHEN IT IS GOOD AND BRICKBATS WHEN IT IS HORRID....

Get a group of local users, device a simple form and start monitoring....peak hours and off-peak hours....c how the buses perform.....u be surprised!!!!

Last week on Wednesday, I was shocked to see two minibuses going SIDE BY SIDE, along residency road at around 8.00am EMPTY......

OR on FRIDAY, two stage buses, one filled with people and the one directly behind him empty......i don't know whats happening.....aren't they suppose to be 20 minutes behind each other

Be seduced by the charms of Ole Penang

Main street in Georgetown (early 1900?)

Weld Quay (early 1900?)

(Source of photos:http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=143215---Old Photos of Malaysia)

There is something evocative about old photographs of the familiar places you passed by everyday. There is a certain charm that is seductive and enticing. It enticises you to reminince.

Nostalgic.....and with a dream-like quality, these old photos transfer you to another world......a world of quieter days, more placid......calmer and tranquil.....

Yet, these feelings are false. People who lived during those days have their share of problems and heartaches.....these are not captured in these idyllic scences.....the bad memories and pains are etched out....leaving behind only good ones that evoke nice feelings and good thots.....

Such are the joys of looking at old photographs.......

The joys of eating : Lunch at Carnavon Street

Had lunch today at a restaurant located at Carnavon Street, a few doors away from Hup Loong, the producer of powdered version of penang sauces.

The restaurant was jammed pack with people.....the food was 7 out of 10. but in terms of portion and prize, it was good. The dish i liked best was the deep fried black pomfret in chilly sauce. I chanced to look and smelled at what the next table was having....and i believed they had penang style curry assam tumis with ray fish and it smelled delicious....certainly would go there again.

The other restaurant i liked is Feng Wei at Seri Bahari Road.....the choon piah or spring roll is par excellance....the price is very reasonable.....but then again its always jammed packed.....but one drawback, almost no parking is available.....

Penang -The betel nut island

Got this from this web-site....check it out

http://www.sabrizain.demon.co.uk/malaya/straits4.htm

The name Pulo Pinang had been recorded by Captain James Lancaster in 1591, as the name used by the native malays when refering to the island.

Despite having a name change by captain francis light to prince of wales island, pulo pinang is by far the most popular name....and the name prince of wales island faded away through disuse...until it was finally dropped....