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