The International Muzium Day-Ktr.

Hari Muzium Antarabangsa, International Muzium Day this year was held in the city of Kuala Trengganu. I was privillaged to be invited to participate in the event and the opportunity to visit my old stomping ground where my teenage years were spent.

In the South China Sea a fishing boat lay gently sawying to the rythm of the sea. It seems solitary and removed from from all the rat race life that I had left behind me in Penang.

I am headed for Pulau Kapas along with the group of muzium staff from USM. It was a choice made on the spur of the moment when we arrived in Marang and the Director decided that he wanted to spend the day on the island of Kapas a thirty minute boat ride from Marang.

Not bad huh? Nope i am not sketching her portrait, would not dare to for I am not good at sketching people when they sit there staring at me. Most people think just because I can draw and sketch I can do portraits, I cannot not unless the victim is not aware that I am doing it.

A lame excuse i know but the truth nonetheless, dont ask me why, maybe just neve studied it in school or simply no confidence.

This view of the Terengganu River from the ninth floor of the apartment building is the epitome of the Town's tranquil beauty with its mixture of the old and the new existing amidst each other.

This morning I did some sketching of two old 'Perahus' or Malay traditional boats that is now a part of the Muzium Terengganu permanent collection of ancient relics. The sketching did not came up as well as i had expected as i was not fully focussed on what i was doing or perhaps being over confident. However, while I was in the process of working on my pictures thoughts began to float into my mid as to what the hell was i doing here in the first place. I have been invited to tag along by the Director of the Muzium Gallery Tuanku Fauziah of USM, to participate in the Muzium Week celebration in Kuala Terengganu.


Anything or anywhere to get away from Penang, I gladly accepted the offer and so there i was sitting on board the old vassel or Perahu Pinis that once used to plow the South China Seas in the days of winds and sails. The official opening ceremony was yesterday evening and today was the first day for the public and as expected there was practically a no show save one or two schools that showed up in the evening.

We depart from the small town of Marang headed for Kapas Island, this fishing town is located about twelve miles south of Kuala Terengganu.

The ferry boat has the capacity to carry twelve passengers maximum and we were twenty three of us plus a few extra passengers but we made it and the ferry man made the bucks.

How else can we make our school system and the general public become more concious of such store houses of knowledge such as the muziums. Terengganu has one of the most well designed muzium with so much space and well planned layouts. The muzium houses some of the most unique historical artifacts and culutral heritage that is enviable. But on the opening day of a national event such as the Muzium week hardly a fraction of the people turned up. Every state in the country has ent their representatives including a group or two from Indonesia displaying their cultural heritage in the booths set up. But the local schools and the general public are asleep to this event that can enhance their childrens' lives if not their own.

Well lets hope the rest of the week would proof better otherwise this whole event could have gone to waste for the Terengganu residence. Terengganu is a backward town compared to most towns and cities in Malaysia. It is laid back and the people are mellow, down to earth and really happy with their lot despite all the political happenings here and the rest of the country. Sitting at coffee shops is the favorite pastime here for old and young alike. The town goes to sleep early as the night life is pretty much non existant except in areas where non Malays could be found enjoying the night in merrymaking.

We are staying at an apartment building where three apartments was rented for our accomodation at Kampung Tiong close to Kampung Cina. The view from the ninth floor window of the building presented a great panaramic view of the Kuala Terengganu area with its river mouth oppening out into the South China Sea. A cluster of rustic houses surrounded by palm trees and undergrowth is the remnant of the 'old' Kuala Terengganu landscape which has yet to be leveled and developped. It is indeed a beautiful contrast to see the old and the new buildings growing up around it, like a piece of settlement where time has forgotten. Another Heritage Area that is a reminder of what was... fat chance! Too imaginative for most developers who most probably are already working on the blue print of money making projects for these prime piece of land. After all beauty is to the eye of the beholder, what may be aesthetically a jewel for me may be a mosquito infested eyesore to others.

From the balcony part of Kampung Cina (China Town) can be viewed too and with its back drop of the Terengganu River Mouth and further the beaches and boats of Seberang Takir. Ferry boats or Penambangs fleeting to and fro carrying passengers to and from K.Tr. Further to the left is the Hotel and The Monsoon Cup facilty building (name?) where every year the International Monsoon Cup Regata is held, built smack in the center of the river. Pulau Bidung (Bidung island ) sits in the horizon way out in the South China Sea. The island where the Vietnamese Boat People were interned during the exodus of Boat People during the Vietnam War years. Today the island is slowly returning back to its natural beauty after the whole Island's flora and fauna including its coral reefs were being ravaged by the precence of the refugees. There are still remnants of what once was on the island such as broken down buildings and forms of human habitat telling tales of miseries and human sufferings. Another potential Heritage preservation project? Perhaps if some far sighted decision maker in the government of this State can see the historical cultural reasons behind it instead of seeing the mega buck that can be made through building more resorts and chalets instead.

This evening i sat with my closest friend Mohd Rafi at the Marine Police (Coast Guard) Depot located on the bank of the River on board of one of the many fishing trawlers that was seized on high seas due to one infringement or another of the maritime laws of the Malaysian Government. Most were from Vietnam and Thailand caught trawler fishing too close to the Malaysian waters. For an artist the whole scene of huge trawlers parked haphazardly along the river bank is a feast for the aesthete. The boats themselves were a presence as they tell of human toils in the high seas and the risk they have to take while living on these vassels sometimes for six months of their lives. Every small item every discarded object on board is a testimony to blood sweat and tears of the fishermen and for these boats they end up in the custody of the maritime police. The boats will one day end up being auctioned off and one or two will be deep sixed (sunk to the sea bottom). Another Heritage Preservation item to be looked into by the Muzium Departments not to mention the Fisheries department all over the nation. According to my friend it is not impossible as intergovernment projects can easily be accomodated if it benifits the government and the people. After all these boats are not easy to get rid of, turning them into Muzium collection is one way that might help to solve the problem making it a win win situation for all parties involved. Waste not want not...

I am sitting at a cyber cafe writing this located in what used to be the Cathay Cinema Theater in the old days where I have spent my teenage years watching Chinese Kung Fu Movies and Japanese Sanmurai Movies with my eldest brother often times. Today it has been turned into a cyber cafe and not too long ago a cloathing store among others things. I found out that my nephew runs the cafe in the same building and is now busy fighting his war on the PC next to me. My fresh orange drink is offcourse on the house. What else can a man want of ask for? I am at home, comfortable with my twin brother's son beside me and his buddies around me, in a theater that I grew up with and bringing back memories of the old Clint Eastwood cowboy days and Katsu Shintaro as Zatoichi, The Blind Swords Man. This was the heart of Kuala Terengganu in the sixties and seventies teenagers used to hang out before and after the movies. Today you can sit and watch Astro's 'Max Movie' on the TV screen and no one else present only you. While the wars rages on in the cyber cafe..."fire in the hole!!"