Tag Archives: history

Carey Island

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Welcome to Carey Island. The mysterious Pulau Carey is named after Valentine Carey, a British planter during the turn of the century (1904). The island is now covered with cultivated oil palm trees but pockets of wildlife still exists. Carey Island is also home to the Mah Meri Orang Asli (aboriginal) tribe, famous for their masks crafted from mangrove wood.

Carey’s other claim to fame was his import of crows from Sri Lanka to control pests on his rubber trees then. Like a mad scientist’s experiment gone awry, the intelligent crows flew to the mainland, multiplied and became today’s pesky urban scavengers.

Carey Island

Coliseum Cafe

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Opened in 1921, the Coliseum Cafe is living heritage from the days of colonial Malaya. In later years, this Kuala Lumpur landmark is known more for its sizzling Hainanese steaks served by very old waiters (who still wrap a white napkin around your neck). Patrons went there more for the ambience than the food. The furniture and architecture remained as it was during the time when William Somerset Maugham patronised the bar. The place was occupied by the Japanese Army during the 2nd World War and it probably saw its fair share of executions.

It is hard to level some old buildings in the viewfinder as the horizontal beams are often not truly straight. What I did when framing the facade was to line up the vertical grid lines against the swing door. I was fooling with Snapseed’s grunge filter to add some texture to compliment the rainy day and out came these 2 skeletal patrons. Hey! It is still the Chinese Hungry Ghost Month.

Coliseum Cafe

The Great Lakes Of Malaysia

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In the previous post, Predator Lake in Thailand is also referred to as Monster Lake. We have a monster lake right in our backyard.

Monster Lake, Puchong

Monster Lake, Puchong

It is actually a former mining pit in Puchong, just like the many so-called lakes in Malaysia. Unlike a natural lake, the water in abandoned tin mines is usually contaminated with heavy metal, making it uninhabitable for most fishes.  Yet, the lifeless mines can be magically transformed into water parks or theme parks, provided the location is strategic or the conditions conducive enough.

The view of one of these excavated lakes is quite spectacular when seen from the recently opened portion of the SKVE linking Puchong. The new highway known as South Klang Valley Expressway will connect Kajang/Putrajaya to the Westport eventually. MyCen has a detailed map of the route, directions, location of the lakes and other info here.

While the current flavour of planting oil palm can result in rapid deforestation (as seen in Indonesia), tin mining was harmful to our environment too.  In Nigeria, the tin mines left a legacy of polluted water supplies, impoverished land and even radioactive waste.

With scant awareness of the health hazards, thousands of men and women toiled to make our nation the world’s top producer of tin at one time. Ironically, their contributions and place in history are largely ignored and conveniently overlooked.

The giant scars now serve as silent epitaphs to a past forgotten…