Lives that are being pushed out to sea.

For more than eleven years I have been hanging out in this area of the local fisherman's jetty. I enjoyed the friendliness and respect shown to me by those who come and go here eking out a living in one form or another, from fishing to drug dealing and gambling, running a restaurant/ coffee shop to selling the local brew called  ketum or biak in Malay. 

The area has been raided by  the narcotics department of the police force on numerous occasions and has become their place of training any new intakes on how to make drug and gambling arrests. As much as there are arrests made there is also rampant police corruption when fines a being pocketed by the law and enforcement officers according to the victims who were arrested.  

The fisherman's jetty is home to predominantly Malay fishermen who had been here for many years making it their get away home to hang out with friends and the freedom from being cooped up in an apartment building. Here they have the chance to let it go and do as they please after getting their jobs done.. The stench of the polluted sea and the garbage strewn all along the shore is the constant sight . 

This is the epitome of the life of the local Malays on the Island of Penang. Being driven out into the sea and deprived of even the meagre sense of freedom from the authorities. Their is a life of adjec displacement and neglect especially by the previous government for which they had staunchly supported to the end. Where would they go after this who knows and who really cares!