mchwen

First it was the “Pirate” Duck;
But it got lost after a Gunung Ledang trek.
For so long, a replacement was sought
To fill the void left vacant.

The Powerpuff Girls tried one trek…
And was seen no more!
Little did they know that Gunung Tahan
Wasn’t for the hard headed ones.

For a while, the Green Crocodile came along
It scaled two mountains rather reluctantly.
Even so, the height of it’s achievement
Was Gunung Kinabalu.
Since then, it declared an early retirement
Choosing to resume its duty as a librarian.
And so, a vacancy was to be filled again.

The wait is short and least expected;
When along came a Blue Elephant.
Like its immediate predecessor,
It strolled up it’s first mountain—Gunung Irau—
and became an instant darling to all.

Lepok Falls in 2008

The original plan was to head to Simpang Pulai and look for Chelik Falls. When that didn’t work out, the plan was to do a walk at Klang Gates. I wanted a waterfall. So as I was driving, and everone else was fast asleep, I headed towards Pangsun for Lepok Falls.

It has been nearly two years since I last visited Lepok Falls.

I still remember it being a relatively non-strenuous walk, and wouldn’t take too long either. But there were two deceptive looking forks on the trail now. The first one was quite easy to figure out. But the second played on me. I had allowed others to go ahead of me; as I walked I remarked, “This doesn’t look familiar to me.” But still we went on until we hit the river. We were at the wrong spot. So everyone waited and waded their feet in the water while I took off in different directions to find a way upstream on land. I spent quite a bit of time searching for a way. I got around the dead end and up the river, but the waterfall wasn’t in sight. I wish I had my parang with me. I had left it in the car and for the second time in a day I felt hopeless in the forest.

The first time was when I met an Orang Asli and he had asked me if I carried any weapons to the waterfall. I said, “Saya pernah ke air terjun. Kan jalan ini selamat?” (trans: “I’ve been to the waterfall before. Isn’t this path safe?”)

He said, “Yalah, tapi kena bawa senjata. Mana tahu jumpa apa kat dalam?” (trans: “Yes, but you’ve got to bring a weapon. Who knows what you might meet in there [the jungle]?”)

Then he added, “Apa lagi awak seorang bawa lima bini.”

I shrugged. I had nothing to say to respond to that. Luckily I didn’t have to say anything as a companion of his came by and they took off together.

When the conversation took place, we were already some half hour into our journey, and didn’t think of turning back to get my parang. At the river, I was irritated by not knowing where we were. And that sort of clouded my senses for a while. The good thing was without the parang the most sensible thing to do was turn back to the most noticeable fork and try the other route.

And so it was that as time moved forward on, we were retracing steps. And as I walked, I drew lines in the air; retracing the trail I took from two years again my head. From memory, I didn’t think we branched off too far away. When we hit an open ground, I told everyone to stop. I didn’t think we needed to head all the way back to the first fork. So while everyone fed the hungry mosquitoes, I conjured up a headache by digging through the archive of trails I’ve walked before. Though the jungles and trails may look the same and confusing to some, I seem to have drawn some landmarks for each tril I’ve been to before.

Luckily my memory served me well. The memory was faint, and bits and pieces were missing, but there were enough for me to “find” another trail from where we stood. Oh, Why didn’t I see that fork earlier!” Once I hit the trail, everything looked familiar again.

That was until one steep section.

This section had gone missing in my memory! I just couldn’t place the short steep slope. I had remembered the left and right turns, abandoned “home”, and moss-covered water pipe to some extent, but I couldn’t remember the steep slope. I didn’t know how long it was, so I sat down and waited—and everyone became victims of mosquitoes and lurking leeches again. I dug deeper into my memory for a glimpse of steep slope to Lepok. Blank. Then I remembered Nee On. I called him on the phone, but he doesn’t remember much. Yet he mentioned that there was a steep section midway. Oh well, I’m already here. Might as well as push on pass the steep slope. If it leads to no where, I can scream at Nee On. So the journey resumed and true enough, I got to the familiar trail that seemed like a low-trench with rich green shrubs growing on both banks.

Not long after, we reached the waterfall.

Two years. Two years had been too long to revisit a place sometimes.

The waterfall looks as beautiful as ever, perhaps more than when I was here before. And perhaps it has been two years and like when old friends meet there is a greater sense of appreciation, perhaps I’ve been to Chiling too many times and that has dulled my senses to something familiar, perhaps the water this time was stronger than from two years ago (it rained the day before this time) and that display of bravura swept me away, perhaps it’s the company of people who came along this time–5 girls–and it was better than four guys splashing in the water in 2006. Perhaps. All possibilities. But really, it’s simply that Lepok Falls is a beautiful waterfall.

Lines and Curves

Mushrooms in Hiding

Furry Caterpillar

Black & Striking Red Dragonfly

———————
Related Link:
� Suyin’s blog entry, “Up Sg.Lepok Waterfall,” of the same outing.
� “Lepok Falls” is Jessin’s version
� “20060823 � When Four Guys Went Splashing Water Together” is the historical first time when I went to Lepok with Nee On, Adrian and Kourosh.

Fishy Communication; Acquaria, KL Convention Centre

When you reach a goal, you reach a summit, [and] you’ve actually lost a summit. Something that you’ve been striving for so long, you lost it because you’ve gained it. When you gained it, you put it behind you. You’ve got nothing in front of you. And there’s really only one solution: to keep coming up with new challenges—new challenges that excite you and inspire you. I’ve climbed Mount Everest, but it’s a been there done that. What is important to me now is what I’m doing now and what lies ahead.

—Peter Hillary

I didn’t expect that I’d be planning to go back up Kinabalu again so soon after the Tambuyukon-Kinabalu Twofer of 2007. But there I was, in January 2008, and I was talking about getting fifteen to twenty people up Kinabalu for free.

I now have fourteen other names added to mine own: (1) Marc-Andre Plouffe—who was with me on Tambuyukon and Kinabalu in December 2007; (2) Jenn Collins—who was with me on Kinabalu in December 2007; (3) Tet Leon; (4) Suyin—who recently caught the mountain bug on Suku Saturday; (5) Mei; (6) Qi Kit; (7) Gabby; (8) Jessin; (9) Vairavan; (10) Faril; (11) May; (12) Shamini; (13) Nadia; and (14) Quin Jean.

If I had known Don Mah and Ian Wikarski got 20 people up in their 2002 expedition, I wouldn’t be devising a wicked plan just to top that number. As of May 26, I have yet to get any additional spots to stay on the mountain. But I will not stop to increase my numbers until the day I step on the plane to Kota Kinabalu in August. No. I do not rage nor am I blind to my death in front of me as Ahab was.

Apart from increasing the number of people in the team, the next step in the plan is to raise enough money for everyone. For that, we’ve some dedicated volunteers to help us in our cause. But to simply raise fund to reach the summit of Malaysia’s highest mountain can seem somewhat of a selfish ambition. I have now a team of fifteen, and so much more can be done—especially when I’m quite concerned about the well-being of the environment and the indigenous peoples of Malaysia. Here was an opportunity to impact people’s lives, to teach them and to raise them, as it were, to be more conscious about their social responsibility to the society in which they live in. No doubt, there are only few of us, but I believe much can be done.

And so it is that in raising money for the trek, we would also focus on raising awareness among the public for the need for cleaner peaks, and find doors to open to improve the quality of life among the orang asli. I’d like to think that we instill the philosophy propagated in the animated film, Robots: “See A Need, Fill A Need,” yet at the same time acknowledging that we can only do so much in the time given to us.

May 10-18: Fund Raising Efforts Round 1—Car Wash
� car wash over two days in the hot sun

Mei and Marc-Andre

Kit

Suyin

Andrew

� Suyin, wearing the prototype T-shirt, went on stage for the Punan Bah Longhouse Cause on a Monday. Though only a few minutes, it was great exposure.
� On the Friday, 250 T-shirts arrived!

May 21-23: Fund Raising Efforts Round 2—T-Shirt Sales
This project I like—for three good reasons:

1. For every shirt sold, RM2.00 would be donated to the Punan Bah Longhouse Charity Initiative that we’ve started. Initially the plan was to run a clothes, toys and stationery donation drive only. But here was an opportunity to give back to the community, too. So here’s our bit to raise awareness about the Orang Asli’s plight and to raise some money for them to rebuild their longhouses and lives.

2. A small part of the profit will go towards achieving our goal of going to Kinabalu.

3. For the simple fact that whenever someone wears the shirt, it’s a public display of my untrained skill in art. The sketch was originally just a doodle on a piece of paper, but with modern technology, I managed to turn it into a use-able piece of artwork for a shirt design. Like it or not, I’m proud of my own work. Whoo-Hoo!

I’m not sure how the sales would go. But with only a limited run of 250 shirts (and with two variations), the shirts are sure to go off the shelves really quick. Let’s see what the team can do.

May 26: Accommodation on Gunung Kinabalu
I love it when things go the way I want it to be. Well, don’t we all? I called my contact in Sabah today, and was happy to hear that my initial booking for the 15 spots on Laban Rata has been down-graded to the non-heated rooms at Gunting Lagadan. We’ll be higher up the mountain, and the air will be much cooler. I can just imagine sipping a steaming cup of tea on the veranda. That’s one of the better ways to spend an evening.

May 26-30: Spin-off Initiative—Punan Bah Longhouse Donation Drive
A few weeks back, Suyin made a presentation to the student population on the Canadian Matriculation Programme of Sunway University College. Little did I know that she did a podcast on one of her blogs as part of her school work. With a number of us chipping in and helping out in different ways, the Clothes Collection Charity Drive finally got on the way.

We actually didn’t know what to expect (not that we were expecting anyway). If we had no clothes, at least we would have created awareness about the situation in Sarawak. But already people are donating clothes in bundles. It’ll be some work sorting them before handing them over to the Punan Bah Longhouse.

Clothes Collected at Collection Centres on Day 1

June 15: Spin-off Initiative—Punan Bah Longhouse Donation Drive

The Growing Pile of Clothes

Boxes to Put the Clothes In

We Got the Strength!

We Fold Fold Fold and Fold

Joseph Goh of MTR was so kind as to give us a huge discount to send the boxes over to Bintulu by freight. The seven boxes sat in the belly of plane and was picked up by Calvin.

The Boxes—Sealed, Sent and Safe in Bintulu

� The extra clothes that were collected and not sent to Bintulu were donated to the Red Crescent Society—Donate and Buy.
� We still have two boxes that will go to the Orang Asli at Kampung Jantung. I’ve called Ismail, and I plan to visit him soon (my third in three months).
� Another two boxes—of soft toys and stationeries—should find their new home in an orphanage in Cameron Highlands.

June 30: What a Month June Has Been…
� All the air tickets have been purchased. I am not sure how prepared everyone is for the trip, but we’ll be flying there.
� Ms Lee of SSL has confirmed me 19 spots. Right now, there are only 14 going. I’ll have one week to find another 5 persons to join the gang. Otherwise, the numbers will reamain at fourteen.

This post entry will be updated, modified and edited periodically.

Mark Shim and I had spent months organizing a dozen of students to produce a semester-end book (kinda like a yearbook). Everyone poured their heart and soul into producing the book—it was hard work taking photographs over the last few months, and learning Adobe Photoshop. Then when the crunch time came, people slogged through till late evenings—sometimes working in dire hunger, sometimes with abundant food. Once, we had guests coming to visit half-knowing that I was buying pizza. At the eleventh hour, some of us were awake ’till the most ungodly of hours of the night; patiently waiting for files to be transfered over the World Wide Web. Once out of our hands, the students waited in heightened anticipation until the printed books arrived at our doorstep.

Mark Shim ordered only 400 copies, and we had to pay for them in a week’s time. I was somewhat worried that we’d see red. But in the end, all things worked out. There are still copies sitting in our office areas, but we didn’t make a loss. That was a relief.

After riding all the emotions (mostly stressful) in the last few months, it was time for food. Mark sent out invitations to all who had been involved, and he was quite adamant on heading out to Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur for nasi lemak. Upon learning about this, Manny Avila invited himself. Sadly, only five students could join us–Suyin, Carmen, Niniek, May and Smita—and they were all girls. Suyin invited Janie, who came along, too.

Mark With His Personalized Manchester United Gift

Kampung Baru did not materialize. We ended up having dinner at Dome in Subang Parade after spending the longest time deciding on a restaurant. The meal wasn’t as elaborate and expensive, but the company, laughter and hilarious moments made it an enjoyable outing—the right antidote to purge all the stress that had accumulated. I even got everyone little gifts just to say thanks. It’s just too bad others—Regina, Alex, Kit, Wing Hang, Jessie, and Joanne—couldn’t make it.

May Trying To Contain Her Excitement When She Got a Map Book!/i>

Suyin’s Jenga Moments; Carmen at the Back

Smita And the Coke Truck, With Niniek

Gabby modeling the T-Shirt

In a bid to raise money to subsidize future treks, the CIMP Trekking Club is printing T-shirts. The first design “I’m addicted… Take me high up the mountains” comes in two variations—Grey and Purple (Magenta) for the front design—with a total production run of only 250 pieces. The shirts will hit the shelves beginning May 20, 2008.

View from the top

• We started the journey at Kampung Pertak. After 24 minutes, we reached the open ground where we camped for the night.

• We played UNO for hours. I brought my UNO H2O and we were standing in the river to play. Good thing the cards sink when they drop in the water. Alex gave me a scare when he dropped some cards while shuffling them. The kids used very different rules and the game lasted for hours. We played only one game as it was getting late. But it was still too early to sleep, and I spent hours on a rock in the river.

• The fun thing to happen was watching Tet Leon and Alex catching live prawns, fish and a crab. And that was when we found out that Suyin was terrified of live prawns. The look on her face is a classic that’ll be remembered for years. It was absolutely mean of me to torment her, but I couldn’t help it. Days later, I would name it penaeidaphobia—the fear of prawns—and place it in an article written by someone.

• Oh, and I helped the crab escape. When I held a prawn to Suyin, the crab clenched it’s claw on the prawn and somehow jumped out into the river and freedom.

• Later in the night, I was so hungry I went back to camp to cook pasta. But someone ate them all, and so I decided I to go to sleep to stop my tummy from grumbling. But because I hadn’t planned to sleep, I had no sleeping bag, no blanket, no long pants, and no tent for myself. I was cold I had to lie beside other human bodies, and snuck my hands and feet under other peoples’ sleeping bags.

• What do you expect? I couldn’t sleep well.

• Next morning, we all woke up at about 7am.

• At 8.24am, Amos, Nee On and Gin May showed up. Suyin had asked if they would be coming when they didn’t show up at the scheduled time. I told her that if I know them correctly, they’d reach the campsite at 8.30am. Six minutes was cutting it really close.

The group without Amos, Nee On and Gin May � Khoo Nee On

• The going up was pretty uneventful.

• At the gigantic rocks, Amos and I got to the top of the rockface for the first time. We left others to sit and rest and took off for a short detour.

• When we got down, everyone else had left. But I caught up with the rest when they took a longer route; they must have missed the trail and went on an extra 10 minute walk.

• The highlight of Bukit Kutu is to be on the rock at the summit. I’ve been there numerous times, and I didn’t go all the way up to the highest point this time. I was on the rock, looking at the distant hill and looking for the “other” bungalow Taiping Goh mentioned when we were at Pos Atap.

• I couldn’t distinguish anything through the canopy of trees. So I went down and hit the trail, searching for the bungalow all by myself. I couldn’t find it.

• I got back to the rocks and had a roti canai and a slice of bread.

Amos and I Roti Canai-ing; Gin May with Her Bread � Khoo Nee On

• When it was time to get down the mountain, I took off and ran. I like running down mountains—to feel the rushing wind rush over me, and the need to have quick reflexes to avoid slippages, harmless rocks, stumps, roots and other objects of Nature that become dangerous obstacles and unfriendly weapons that hurt. I run. But no longer as fast as the wind. I am not fast as I used to be. Perhaps age has caught up with me. Sometimes I slow down to take an extra long breather. Perhaps I have mellowed and no longer take risks. Perhaps I’ve grown closer to Nature. These days, I slow down to pick up distracting pieces of garbage. Yet still I run—tired muscles I can handle; but to walk down is to slowly inject more pain into the knee.

• When I got down the mountain, Marshall, Tet Leon and Andrew were already down. One of them taunted me for being slower than them. I was too tired to pick a fight. The extra 20 minutes I spent on a detour drained me. When we started the journey down from the peak, I chose to run down without carrying water to drink; this bad habit could be the death of me in the future. Andrew was with me for the early part of the run. When we reached the gigantic rockface to wait for others to regroup, the two of had overtaken everyone else.

Five at the Rocks

• When we continued the journey, Marshall and Tet Leon took off first. Andrew was with me for a while, but when I slowed down he follow the other two. I normally wouldn’t have let anyone go their own ways if I didn’t believe they could take care of themselves.

• Alone in the jungle, I decided I’d look for the shortcut I had used before (and which I couldn’t find last year), and didn’t want anyone with me. As I ran down hill, I found where the trail started (or ended depending on how you look at it). I went down the trail, and walked some 10 minutes through a faint path walled by thick undergrowth. I reached a stream, and I was still on the right path. Then it took a strange turn and started moving uphill to a place I didn’t recognise. Then I was standing in front of a jungle with no clear or faith path. I tried one path but came to a dead-end. I decided not try any other path in case I really got lost. I turned back; rejoined the main trail, and continued running down.

• And so it was that when I got out I was drained and overly thirsty. That was at about 2.55 pm.I was surprised that even with my detour, no one was ahead of me. I kept wondering: Were the others that slow?

Suyin Imitating a Live Prawn

• May, Suyin and Jenn showed up next. Then Amos, Gin May and Nee On showed up. Then I was surprised to see Marc-Andre come out because I thought he was sweeping. That was when we realized that someone could have been missing.

• At about 4.30pm I was running up the mountain with Marc-Andre behind me. Amos was on another trail up, too. Someone was missing and we were looking for him. Except for Brian on this same mountain years ago, no one else had gotten lost in my charge. I was worried for the kid, but at the same time, Amos and I knew that if the kid kept walking downhill or followed the river, he would get out. He wasn’t the first one to go missing on Bukit Kutu. Years ago, Bernadette had taken a different trail and followed a river out. Brian had pushed through a different trail (and nearly got out) before he turned back to the main trail.

• As we walked up the hill, we were shouting our lungs out. After a while tiredness kicked in and I slowed down. All I had for lunch was one roti canai and a slice of bread. Even in tiredness, Marc-Andre and I pushed on till we were quite close to the peak. We didn’t find who we were looking for and turned back at 6pm, hoping that Amos found him. On the way down, we heard Amos calling for us, and the missing one had gotten out by himself.

• I was angry, but also relieved.

• He came out with cuts on his arms and legs. Some thought it looked bad. I looked at the cuts and said they were only minor cuts and there wasn’t anything to worry about. I had seen worse.

• We got home late because of the search and the kid who went missing for a few hours. We left Kampung Pertak only at about 6.40pm when I estimated we could be leaving at about 4.30pm. A few of us missed important Mother’s Day dinner plans.

• We were dropped off at Sunway University College by a driver who was rushing for time to be at a wedding. I was so hungry, but still had to cycle home after that.

• At 10.30pm, in the company of a good friend, I ordered a huge plate of rice, with mutton curry, and vegetables enough to feed three people. I was so tired I couldn’t speak much. When I got home at about 12.30am I think I fainted.

• So much for Bukit Kutu. It’s 7-4-3-2 now. That’s for 7 attempts, 4 successful summits, 3 times I got lost, and 2 times someone got lost with me around.

The following is the press statement by Donny Dhwie, the Punan National Association Secretary:

Tuesday, 06 May 2008

PRESS STATEMENT
Punan oldest longhouse destroyed by fire

Punan Bah, Punan largest and oldest longhouse in Sarawak was destroyed by ragging fire yesterday. The longhouse which is a about 80 KM from Kapit, is consist of 4 blocks of longhouses next to each other. Each block has more than 12 unit/rooms. The longhouse total population is approximately 800 - 1000 people. The tragedy have made more than 300 of them without home.

Traditionally the Punan, at Bah area were farmers, but in recent years, many have migrated to urban areas such as Sibu, Bintulu, Kuching and Kuala Lumpur to escape rural poverty.

The fire started at around noon last Monday from one of the unit took less than 30 minutes to raze down three blocks of the four unit longhouses. The remaining longhouse which is about 60 meter away from the three longhouse were safe.

Also destroyed were four keliriengs or “burial poles”. The four “Keliriengs” believed to be at more than 200 years old each, were among the oldest “keliriengs” found in the whole of Sarawak. Kelirieng a uniquely Punan custom was built as a “burial place” for Punan aristocrats and leaders.

Punan National Association estimated more than half a million worth of personal properties were loss in the fire. The longhouse which were gradually rebuilt in favor of slightly modern structure made of belian and cement completed in 2000. The old longhouse were entirely made of solid wooden structure mostly “belian”.

It is time that the government consider helping the Punan communities by setting up up “rural firefigther (BOMBA) in our longhouses to prevent similar accident from recurring. At present none of Punan longhouses have any fire prevention measure in place.

Earlier this year another Punan longhouse - Punan Biau, about 20 minutes away from Punan Bah was also razed by fire. They have seen sheltering with relatives, while slowly rebuilding their longhouse. We hope relevant authorities would do something to help us.

How you can help?

You can help the fire victims by donating clothes, foodstuff, toys for kids, household appliances, stoves, and logitics. Punan National Association in collaboration with relevant authorities are working closely to coordinate relieve efforts.

* 013-8230 155 Mr Donny Dhwie - Kuching.
* 019-8550 910 Mr Calvin Jemarang - Bintulu
* 019 8183 367 Mr Paren Balan - Sibu
* 013 2235 114 Mr Daniel Batin - Miri
* 019 897 9447 Mr Johnny Adin - Kota Kinabalu
* 013 308 6748 / 013 571 3207 Mr Lida /Jalil - Kuala Lumpur

� source: Punan Community Website Blog

Punan Bah Longhouse on fire - Video (sourced from punan.info on May 13, 2008)

Punan Bah Longhouse Razed In Fire
by punan_info

———————
Related Links:
� Punan Community Website
� “Ancient Totems Ruined”
� “Longhouses Razed in fire.”

What is it that makes one return to a place again and again?

That’s a question that I am often asked. And for different places there are different reasons. Of all the mountains that I’ve reached the summit more than once, there’s always something that attracts me, something that warrants a return. It could be because I have fallen in love with the place—Gunung Irau and it’s fantasy-like mossy landscape immediately comes to mind. On the other extreme, I journey up Gunung Nuang just to remind myself why I hate it. Sometimes it’s simply to experience the place at different times of the day. I’ve been to Gunung Datuk so many times, but there’s still something that’s elusive. Of the 24 hours in a day, I’ve yet to be at the summit of Gunung Datuk from between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. To watch the sun set beyond the Straits of Malacca from the summit is what I want to do before the year is out.

Sometimes I go on a journey to a same place because of the company of people or even if it’s just one person—a return to Gunung Kinabalu within a year of my first summit is one such case.

At other times, it’s the challenge and varying degrees of difficulties the mountains pose that make me go back again and again. Bukit Kutu is one such place. I have a pretty bad record with this mountain—I’ve only had a 50% chance of successfully reaching the summit. This mountain seems to play games with me. Many a times I decide to return to the place is because I find it embarrassing to tell people that I got lost at Bukit Kutu. It’s been over a year since I lost the trail after walking for an hour and lost in my bid to reach the summit. So I will go again. I have to—I can’t let the mountain have the better me.

But I’ve other reasons to return to Bukit Kutu now.

One of the attractions of the mountain is that there used to be bungalows at the summit, which were destroyed during World War II. The remains and ruins of the bungalows that once stood over a hundred years ago still exist. Just to see the lonesome fireplace and to drink from one of the existing wells makes hiking to the top a worthwhile experience. Having said that, I admit I’ve yet to explored all the ruins. Somehow I’ve never thought of venturing amongst the tall grass that has grown over the building sites. I’ve always been contented of reaching the summit.

But when I was spending the night in a bungalow provided by Orang Asli at Pos Atap, Goh spoke of the Bukit Kutu bungalows. I realized then that I should have explored all those places to truly know the place.

And so it is that I’ll be heading up Bukit Kutu again with the intention of placing footprints in the bungalows (or what’s left of them) sometime this year. But before I make that trip, I’ve been looking for materials from over a hundred years ago—back to the time when the bungalows were built by Lambert Bowen (apparently so, but I’ll need to confirm this).

The one that caught my interest is the “Photograph collection of the British Association of Malaysia and Singapore” that is held at the Cambridge University Library. In the collection of photographs presumably taken by Ernest Barton Maundrell (1880-1916) are about 10 photographs related to Bukit Kutu. One photograph is labeled: “New bungalow, Bukit Kutu. Showing Lambert Bowen (1870-), an engineer in Perak and Selangor and R. Desborough (no information), standing in the doorway of a small bungalow.”

To see that picture will be a wonderful journey through time. To see that picture will give evidence of the completed building. To see that picture will give me the pleasure of knowing more about Malaysia. I’ve written to the library, and am awaiting their response. I hope some good will come of it. and I have received a reply. The good news is that I can actually get a copy of the image now that the copyright has lapsed. The bad news is that it’ll make a large hole in my pockets. Well, I can get lesser quality images, but in this time of age the digital image in high resolution would be the best choice. Each digital image from the Cambridge University Library cost �24.00 per image. That’s way too much! Actually, I would get the images if I was earning my wage in Pounds. But the fact is I do not. As much as I’d like to get the image as soon as possible, the conversion rate between Ringgit and Pound is too high to warrant a purchase of even one print. Well, I know where I can get the image now, and I hope I can see that image one day.

An interesting clipping about ladies from The Story of Kuala Lumpur 1857-1939 by J. M. Gullick.

Other references to Bukit Kutu exist, and tracking them down is not easy. But thanks to Google Books, I got to read a few clippings and excerpts from various books. Now it’s time to track down books such as The Story of Kuala Lumpur 1857-1939 by J. M. Gullick and The Selangor Journal.

Pages 187 and 188 of The Selangor Journal Vol. 5. Click of images to get larger-sized images.

Pages 189 and 190 of The Selangor Journal Vol. 5. Click of images to get larger-sized images.

Sifting through antiquarian books and finding such stuff keeps me going because of my interest in history and the land. Reading such stuff makes me appreciate the places I go to even more. And I also like the fact that the search for more information can never really end as long as someone continues to write about them. I would love to learn more. I would love to have others search for more, too. And I would love it when one hundred or more years down the line, what I write become leading points for other seekers who return often.

Pitcher Plants (January 2008—May 2008)

Gunung Irau (May 2008— )

Changing headers is easier than I thought. I should do it more often.