Tag Archives: malaysia

Bus to KL

I’ve taken a fair few bus journeys over the years, but none as frequently as this one. I never tire of it.More

Malacca in retrospect

Singapore-Malaysia border Both my parents were born in Malacca, Malaysia, so as a kid, we went there at least once a year to visit family (mostly Mum’s though: my aunties, uncle and grandfather). A long while ago. It has been more than 20 years since I’d stepped into my uncle’s house. The place itself was…More

Chee Ancestral Hall

I was a bit obsessed with this place when I was little, thinking of it as The Palace On Heeren Street. It’s actually the ancestral home of the Chee family, an old Peranakan (Straits-born Chinese) clan. It was built around the turn of the last century by Chee Swee Cheng, the first chairman of the…More

On the bus to KL

When I was growing up in Singapore, trips to Malaysia happened several times a year. Both my folks, being originally Malaysian, have family there, and my Dad also went game fishing in Malaysian waters all the time. It remains, for me, a place of myth and magic. Every supernatural tale I’ve heard originated there. These…More

Lost in the lines

My mother, silhouetted in transit at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia. From the In Transit seriesMore

Outside inside

All is as if the world did cease to exist. The city’s monuments go unseen, its past unheard, and its culture slowly fading in the dismal sea. – Nathan Reese Maher Singapore to Kuala Lumpur: Fellow passengers make their way back to the bus, after a short break at one of the rest stops on…More

Street hawker

I’ve never seen street hawkers in Singapore, where I grew up. By the time I was old enough to actively think about my surroundings, they were gone, relocated to ubiquitous hawker centers found all over the island. Scenes like this never fail to make me think of home though. Not the sense of place, but situation. A communal meal…More

Prayers

A devotee offers prayers at the Goddess of Mercy Temple in Georgetown. Built around 1800 by the Hokkien and Cantonese, it is Penang’s oldest temple and ‘home’ to 87 gods of the Taoist, Buddhist and Confucianist faiths. Penang, Malaysia.More

Love is…

Love is: utilitarian, service, sacrifice, shelter, feeding, unspoken, a gesture, a look, a debt, a prayer, a reason to continue. Providing shelter, that he might finish his meal while it rains. Penang, Malaysia.More

Georgetown, Penang

Singapore and Malaysia have a history of mutual distrust. Nevertheless, being only a kilometre apart, the two nations have strong cultural and social ties, and a lot of Singaporeans have family in Malaysia. On a personal level, both my parents were Malaysian before leaving to find a better life in Singapore. I’ve spent a lot of time in Malaysia as a…More