History, Present & 1 Vision

Personally, I thought 'Blog4FT' was a pretty good exposure platform for new and amateur Malaysians alike to give some insights on our country especially the Federal Territories namely Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan.

As an amateur, I've barely started blogging on April 2009 this year. I've been living in Kuala Lumpur  (KL) for over 37 years now and I gotta say that we have develop so much so that we are in some ways very close to our neighbouring developed countries. I can still remember cleary that at about 10 years back, people in KL use to go down south in Singapore to shop during festival eves but these days KL has some of the best shopping in asia. Well, we are all aware that Pavilion Kuala Lumpur now has won the prestigious Fiabci Prix d'Excellence Awards 2009, the international property award under the retail category. In short, we have most of what the international retail has to offer now.

Here's two of the photos taken a while back while in town showing the more prominent and reknowned retail shopping in KL. Before this we all have to settle for Globe Silk Store, Hankyu Jaya, Yuyi Shangdian and Pertama Complex. Not all shopping mall manage to last in a couple of decades but with the older ones and current existing retail around towns and some upcoming ones in neighbourhood like Sunway and Bandar Utama, the consumers really do have a variety of choices.

Despite having staying in Kuala Lumpur for 37 years, I don't really know much of what happens before 1972 except of what we find in our history text books. So I guess maybe I should do some case studies and back track a bit on our history before I blog any further. I came across numerous sites featuring Kuala Lumpur history from wikipedia which was pretty darn good. As I was searching deeper into the WWW, I found a site named chinahistoryforum.com. For a moment, I really thought this could be a good way to start considering my background as a chinese. Upon venturing into the site I realise that it has a small section featuring Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) Old Time Memories.

The site has some of the earliest shots of Kuala Lumpur in 1880s when KL was in actual fact 'Kuala Berlumpur' or what some called 'muddy confluence' where Gombak and Klang rivers merge. I was quite awe with the shots because it really brings back the time when KL was merely a small town and as it progresses, the transformation was depicted quite well despite some are rather grainy. One might have forgotten how old was Pudu Jail but the photos do give you a rough indication that it has been here for more than 113 years since 1896. We may have seen tourist or perhaps we ourselves have taken pictures of Sultan Abdul Samad but not much of us have seen a photo taken during the World War II. As a small glimpse on this web site, here's a snapshot montage as gathered and please do click on the URL link above for more. Nevertheless, I did found it quite truthful and realise that a picture really does tells a thousand stories.

After viewing the forum with all this backstory photos of Kuala Lumpur, I decided to take a good look at some of the same spot today on 15 October 2009 at around Sultan Abdul Samad. It seems part of the mid section was undergoing some reconstruction with scaffolding surrounding it. This could be a good sign of our local authority are still actively preserving some of the historical buildings for next generation to witness and appreciate. Well, there goes my chance to take a close up shot but I manage to take a couple of wider shots here below using my high pixel phone.

The 2nd shot is the present day KTM Railway Station taken on 18 October 2009. It was a pretty shiny bright day indeed and I must say it's pretty hot too. With a temperature fluctuation ranging from 26 to 33 degress Celcius daily, it's really the ultimate summer time almost all year long. A quick look in comparison at the earlier historical 1950s photos above revealed pretty much of the architecture are still intact. The Kuala Lumpur Railway Station was designed by Arthur Benison Hubback and the building was completed in 1911. It is surrounded by other notable buildings like the National Mosque, Heritage Station Hotel and Dayabumi Complex.

Kuala Lumpur has undergone tremendous change these days and it's good that some of the things we have improved but most importantly our values must still be intact. These old but historical buildings for some reasons do make us ponder about the past and remind us the roots of our culture and our society.

Sometimes it's not always history which shapes us to become what we are but also vision and will to carve the future. I'm quite sure we use to debate with colleagues or peers about how Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad gives us his vision and laid the foundation to bring us out from an agricultural depending sector to the Information Technology age. One of the notable achievements by Mahathir is the formation of the Administrative Centre of the Federal Government of Malaysia in Putrajaya which is situated west of Cyberjaya and within the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC).

Frankly, I've not been to Putrajaya not until 2006 when I was invited to attend a conference in Putrajaya International Convention Centre. It was pretty awesome to actually feel the space within the halls and corridors. We were invited to have an early breakfast at the wide corridors facing the glass facade towards the east. Coincidentally, it was also the sunrise and I gotta say that the wide corridors glass facade on the elevated floors above ground really do give you a sense of wide view towards the horizon. I only manage to take a few shots within the conference at the end of the day and maybe I thought I showed it here. (See below)

Overtime, I get to know more about Putrajaya after my first visit. Putrajaya needs no introduction about its facts but with an estimated cost of US$ 8.1 billion and the amount of job opportunities created due to mostly Malaysian companies participation, it's no small feat for other Prime Minister to emulate. I've also manage to take some of these shots below when I was in Putrajaya several times since 2006 till now.

This blog has undoubtedly given me the chance to look back and explore the past or history which shapes our present day lives and we know that with a vision, we will be able to chart out our path in succeeding the Vision 2020 of becoming a modernize country. Let us all hope that we will reach that path at the end of the tunnel but not forgetting our responsiblities and values.

Finally, I would like to dedicate this short movie and wallpaper I've created for all Malaysians and let's not forget the importance of the Federal Territories of Malaysia.

    

Visions In Your Eyes from Ah Loke on Vimeo.
The full version of the 720p HD movie can be downloaded HERE

My Wide Shots & Montage

I guess one of my favourite photography is taking wide shots and most of the time people enjoy the scenic views when they go on vacation but taking the photos may turn out differently. I took the above photos largely from Angkor Wat and the bottom photo is a wide shot of Tanjung Rhu, Langkawi. The 3rd photo from the top is taken from Banteay Srei, Cambodia and it's considered as one of the smaller 10th century hindu influenced temple with intricate craftmanship. It was built mostly in red sandstone and to really enjoy it is to visit Banteay Srei right before sunrise.

The red sanstone and the many carvings of devatas truly shines once the first morning light hits and washes the walls. At first my friend did told me to prepare for Banteay Srei in the early morning when we were still doing our case studies before even we book the tickets to Cambodia. I was thinking to myself why would we want to get up in the early morning before sunrise just to view this site? Aren't we suppose to relax and view the sites in Angkor Wat at our own pace? But now, after witnessing it, I gotta say Banteay Srei looks perfect during sunrise.

Well, it's quite true also in photography that sunrise is the perfect timing to take photos whether if it's an outdoor setting, scenic view or family outing. This is because the natural color saturation are higher and you don't really rely much on various settings in your DSLR to achieve a good picture.

KL - A Nite 2 Remember

Kuala Lumpur nightlife is definitely not everyone's cup of tea but nevertheless one may see some pretty fancy pubs, live band performances, fine dining, cafe and a host of others from Bukit Bintang, Jalan Pinang, Jalan P Ramlee and Jalan Ampang. I personally don't go out that frequent but I did tried out Aloha live band performances in one of the festival eves. It's kindda nuts 'cuz the amount of people pouring in is staggering. Later over the nite, my friend and I proceeded to  what  some of us dubbed as the more trendier bar in town, Luna rooftop bar with a decent pool at the centre of an open rooftop.

We manage to go up the upper deck pretty much towards mid nite and I gotta say that Kuala Lumpur skyline is quite breathtaking from the rooftop. The lighting from the highrise around the city can be seen  very cleary. It's situated at 34th Floor, Menara PanGlobal, Jalan Punchak, Off Jalan P. Ramlee. Frankly, having witness the Kuala Lumpur skyline from the highest peak gondola level right below the antenna of Petronas tower was quite exciting but the sight from Luna bar made me realise Kuala Lumpur has more to offer.

I'll probably post the shots taken from the gondola level in my next post but for the moment here's 2 shots taken right after mid nite in Bukit Bintang.

The Forsaken & The Revitalised

Having working in an architectural firm for a while, my desire over architecture or buildings have diminished over the years. Maybe due to the long wee hours of design and documentation work which had made me a tad bit weary. But quite recently the desire to go back and appreciate some of the older buildings around Kuala Lumpur {KL} has keep my interest back purely because of my present nature of work which involves property development and after exiting the consultancy office. For the most part despite a steep learning curve I've to face in property, I managed to go thru the tougher times.

I took a few shots on some of the oldest building around town in KL situated in Petaling Street, Jalan Loke Yew and Sultan Abdul Samad building. Not much of us really appreciate these buildings nowadays but this is how our city of KL all started. Some of which were revitalised and some were taken down to make way for new development.

Frankly, KL started off as a tin mining area from as early as 1857. During that period, Raja Abdullah, the Royal family of Selangor had pave ways for chinese to thrived in tin mining. With the tin mining and trading from various merchants ranging from Ampang, Klang and Gombak, KL has eventually emerged as capital of Malaysia. It's no surprise that KL has undergone quite a lot of hurdles before it reaches to it stature today considering the Japanese occupation, communist-led guerrilla insurgency and others.

At around 1974, KL was formally detached from the State of Selangor and made into a Federal Territory. KL is now has its own administration headed by a minister of cabinet rank.