A visit to my old haunt at The New Straits Times

Last week, I went to The New Straits Times group building in Bangsar to hand a copy of my latest book "Berpetualang ke Aceh: Sirih Pulang ke Gagang?" ("The trip to Aceh: The prodigal son returns?" or so) or BKA III to the Berita Harian literary section for review. It was a short stop as I had much to do that day. Only the next day did I went there again, this time spending a whole day to get a friend to help me with the graphics of a bunting I'm designing to promote the whole "Berpetualang ke Aceh" book series.

I took the opportunity to visit almost every section of the dailies The New Straits Times, Malay Mail, Berita Harian and Metro where many people still knew me from the old days. One of them suggested I visit my old haunt... The sixth floor of the building where, believe it or not, I used to spend almost 3 years bunking and sleeping on the floor while working as journalist! Hence the pictures here....

Now, much have changed since I left the company at the end of 2001... For one, the control over the company have changed hands a number of times but the essence is still the same... Those who work for the powers-that-be of the day control the place... It doesn't matter much who is or are actually at the helm... What matters are, do they work in the tandem with those who control the present national policy.

I don't care anymore who rules the company literally or not. Once, I was banished from the place... In fact I was banned from stepping foot within the confines of the office building by a former cabinet minister of yore who then become the most powerful editorial personality in Malaysia. Then again he was sacked a few years later when the country changed reins again...

What do concern me is the change of atmosphere at the work-place... Somehow much have changed... Perhaps the whole personality of the company!

For one, the floors have shifted. When I was still around, the 4th floor used to house the main editorial components of The New Straits Times paper and Berita Harian. It also houses the Malay Mail while Metro is at third.

Now, NST is in 2nd, Berita Harian 4th... Hmm... Funny, I've forgotten the exact location of the editorial floors of the two other dailies under the NST group.

Still, that's besides the matter. What troubles me is the interior decor which looks much sleeker than before... Sure, aesthetically, you could say it is much pleasing but somehow to me (and some of the guys still serving there too), it is just too plastic...

Instead of looking like a place for people of the press to juggle the importance out of the day's events for public consumption, it felt more like an advertising place... It doesn't feel like a place where people returned to and sort things out after finding news... It looks like a factory to manufacture news!

The full brunt of the change only occur to me when I went up the old haunt, the 6th floor where I have spent many nights within a period of 3 years snuggled inside a sleeping bag alone... Sure, the place, an open-air car-park looked much more developed with a Futsal court on it but the many slogans dished out on the walls say it all.... H.G. Wells (or was it Orson something)'s big brother have arrived full-time in Malaysia to keep an eye and determine what's news, what's not...

The testimony to that is the conspicuous absence of many senior journalists from the mainstream papers... Once upon a time, they can boldly argue with the upper editorial figures as to what makes the pages. Now, it's more like hear ye, hear ye... Follow the line or take the walk to oblivion like I did six years ago.

It didn't take a genius to figure out, this place is now under strict control... Of much bigger proportion than it ever was including during my days. Enough said....

Text for Views from on top a telecommunication tower in Muar...

OK... Two weeks ago I did say I will be telling the story for the posting titled Views from on top a telecommunication tower in Muar... . I'm sorry that it took longer than I thought before I could even say a few words on the matter... I was stuck with so much work regarding the release of my third book "Berpetualang ke Aceh: Sirih Pulang ke Gagang?" ("The trip to Aceh: The prodigal son returns?" or so) or BKA III. And whatever time I had in-between was either spent sleeping to get rid of the tiredness or travelling here and there to get the juices flowing... So let me just get this over with ya...

When I first posted the pictures, I was thinking of dissecting it into groups which explained what happened then... How I climbed from stage to stage of a certain telecommunication tour near my village in Muar and enjoyed a very refreshing perspective of the local geography especially that which concerns the winding Muar river...

What happened was the day before I took the pictures, I decided to take a long walk, about 5km or so around Bukit Treh and at the end of the walk then I saw this telecommunication tower which felt like it was calling out to me to take a climb and look around. It's just the time then was almost 7pm and I might not get a good view. So I decided to wait until the following day, a Friday... The day I decided to return to Kuala Lumpur after spending a week in Muar at my parents' place for the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration and holidays.

As it turn out, it rained quite long that Friday morning. The moment it stopped, I went on to start the climb only to find the ladder quite slippery while there was no safety column to save me should I slip and fall.

My God! I nearly quit after arriving at the first stage almost 30 feet above ground. You see, two days before I had quite a nasty fall at Tanjung Emas where I was teasing some monkeys... I jumped and immediately climbed a tree at point some 10 feet high before it snapped while my whole body was already up! So there I was falling straight to the grown on my back (ouch!) while the 8-inch thick and12 foot long section which broke fell down and hit my breast.

Honestly, I felt like I almost fainted. In fact I'm sure my heart stopped a beat or two and so was my breath. Strangely, my auto-pilot reaction was to throw aside the section that broke and immediately jumped backed up straight, the pain throbbing in my chest notwithstanding.

Back to the climb up the telecommunication tower. The memory of what happened in Tanjung Emas almost made me quit. By right, one should wear a safety harness to climb up the tower but I don't have one meaning I would fall straight down should I lose grip.

So there I was contemplating the next step action... Then I made the decision... If I quit, it's going to bug me the rest of my life or until I make a succesful climb at some other tower if not this one... So I decided to continue with a lot of caution and prayers...

The result is the pictures in Views from on top a telecommunication tower in Muar... . I believe from here on, the pictures taken from several angles should be able to explain itself. Enough ya!

Views from on top a telecommunication tower in Muar...

Note: Dear readers, I don't have much time... Here are some pictures I took while on my Hari Raya holiday in my mother's kampung in Muar... I will tell the story in a few days time ya. Cheers!

Janda Baik revisited again...

Now that the stories on my last long travel has been wrapped up, I feel like sharing these pictures taken in the last 2 days in Janda Baik, Pahang...

Here is the pix of Gunung Nuang, the tallest mountain in Selangor taken from the Pulau Santap area in Janda Baik which is in the district of Bentong, Pahang.

This is part of Janda Baik in front of the only regular school within a 15km radius or so...

The main mosque of Janda Baik...

Another view of Gunung Nuang, a kilometre of so closer...

And this is a pix of a small waterfall which is actually outside of Janda Baik, perhaps 20km from that area on the old Bentong to Kuala Lumpur road... By the way, this pix was taken about 4 hours ago...

I climbed a bit to reach this part and took a dip in the nude... Later I arrived in Kuala Lumpur and made several postings in my blogspots including this one. That's all ya! Enjoy the weekend and to Muslim all over the world., Eid Mubarak or Selamat Hari Raya!!! :]

Finally, back to Kuala Lumpur!

And as the title suggest, time to wrap up the stories made based on my last long travel covering Pahang, Kelantan, Kedah, Perak and Selangor...

From Kuala Kubu Baru, a friend came to bring me back to Kuala Lumpur... We decided to use the Batang Kali route and stopped at this nice little vacation area...

If I'm not mistaken, the river is called Sungai Tua, a nice river for taking a few dips...

Now I could just end this story by going straight to Kuala Lumpur or just ignore my little incursion to this place but my strange instinct told me just write these parts even if it look irrelevent, at least for closure...

We stopped by at one side of the place to watch people playing motor-cross . Then it's time to go...

Actually I didn't go straight to KL. Another friend called to meet me up to Rawang. So I went there. Only later at night did I return by Komuter train and then the LRT...

This picture is taken the next day in KL, Monday 30th July after a nice sleep at an auntie's place in Ampang where I'm currently staying at... Put up the "Berpetualang ke Aceh" promotional poster as a sign the tour ends.

Now that this is done, do try to follow the stories again from the start. God willing, you'll find some messages useful to you. Cheers! :]

A day at Kuala Kubu Baru

OK. In my last posting here From Perak to Selangor... Time to start settling down , I mentioned that the day was ended with me taking a bus to Kuala Kubu Baru. So I arrived at the rather cute Selangor town at around a 9pm or so and found a cheap hotel...

The next day, I decided to snap some pictures of the town...

This is a food-stall where I often stopped at when visiting Kuala Kubu Baru...

The day was a weekend, Sunday, 29th July... So the streets were practically deserted accept for this part where some people were selling fruits picked direct from nearby orchards.

I did have a closer look but forgot to snap pictures of the fruits available, mainly rambutans and mangosteens...

Whatever, Kuala Kubu Baru never fails to impress me in a strange calming way... Maybe because of the many pre-war shoplots in a quite atmosphere, maybe because it is situated near the main range of mountains of Banjaran Titiwangsa?

I took the opportunity to hang the "Berpetualang ke Aceh" promotional poster at what I consider a strategic spot. Next! :]

From Perak to Selangor... Time to start settling down

Greetings dear readers... Without much further ado, let me just continue from where we left off in Revisiting Teluk Intan the birth-place of my dad...

Above is a picture of the leaning tower of Teluk Intan. After spending 3 nights there it's time to make a move. As it is, before that I've stayed 2 nights in Ipoh and a night in Kuala Kangsar. That sums up to 6 nights in Perak so far.

Remember in my previous articles, I mentioned that I've stayed 4 nights in Pahang followed by 5 in Kelantan and 6 in Kedah? Thus following the sequence of numbers, logic dictates (mine that is!) I must spend 7 nights in Perak and I've already done 6... So it's another night to go in the state where my dad was born but not in Teluk Intan. It has to be elsewhere as I've already spent 3 nights there, 2 in Ipoh and 1 in Kuala Kangsar...

See the logic behind the sequence? Thus the question is where next in Perak? What is for sure it has to be somewhere on the way to the state of Selangor as it is time to return to Kuala Lumpur after 3 weeks being on the road. It's time to start settling down...

Now there's two major routes to get to Selangor from Teluk Intan... One heading south-west through Hutan Melintang before entering the state through Kuala Selangor, the capital of Selangor 18th up to the end of 19th Century AD... Another which is a more regular route goes south-east to Bidor before entering Selangor via the town of Tanjung Malim. I chose the second one as it is the more straight-forward route back to Kuala Lumpur...

From Batak Rabit where I spent the night at a relative's place, I arrived in the town of Teluk Intan at about 12.20 or so , just in time to catch the 12.30 bus to Bidor. Problem is the day, 27th July 2007 was a Friday... As a good Muslim I should be joining the weekly congregational prayer at the closest big mosque which should start at 1.30...

Now, if I go for the prayers, I would not only have to miss the 12.30 bus but also the 1.30pm service too... The next one would be at 2.30pm, meaning I have to spent 2 more hours in Teluk Intan should I decide to go for the Friday prayers here. So how?

After deliberating for some time, I decided to gamble. Bidor is about 40km (or was it 60km?) from Teluk Intan... If I take the 12.30 bus, I might be able to catch the Friday prayers in Bidor!

Too bad, I missed the prayers there by just about 10 minutes or so... As I walked towards the main mosque of Bidor (seen in the picture above) some 300 metres from the bus station, others were leaving the mosque after completing their Friday prayers.

Luckily, as a long-distance traveller, I'm not obliged to do the prayers although I try to make it everytime possible. Instead I substituted it for the regular Zuhur (afternoon prayers) which I combined with Asar (late afternoon) as allowed under Islamic rules for those travelling more than a distance of 90km or so.

From Bidor I went to Sungkai. Now, I could either take a bus straight to Tanjung Malim which is just beside the state border of Selangor or stop in-between at a place called Trolak. A fan of my "Berpetualang ke Aceh" book series have many times voiced his wish to meet me in person. The guy in his early 20s happens to be related to my big family tree in Teluk Intan, at least that's what he claimed having seen some postings regarding my family roots made in an Internet forum... So I thought why not, all in the name of trying to mend ties between relatives (or possible relatives?) especially those I've never met my whole life...

So there I was making my way to the Felda (a government body coordinating settlers opening up new areas for plantations) area of Trolak... I've called the guy in question and he picked me up to his house where I had a long chat with his father about my big family in Teluk Intan.

Of particular note was the spiritual subject that was brought up in our conversation. His father could somehow surmise my connections with the Perak royalty especially the spiritual guidance I've been receiving through the blessings of certain ancestors who are said to be of saintly status.

Later at night I was asked, do I want to spend the night, my 7th and last night (remember? I had to follow a certain progression after spending 4 nights in Pahang, 5 in Kelantan and 6 in Kedah) at their house or go to Tanjung Malim. Somehow earlier, my heart got the message that I must go to Tanjung Malim... The father said he also got the same message through spiritual means but only after Isyak, the late night prayer. And so the family, the guy, his father and mother send me to the town at the Perak-Selangor border some 30 km away...

Above is a picture of parts of Tanjung Malim taken after spending the night at the town's main mosque. A pictorial story of the mosque will be done later in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART)

Actually I would like to write longer explaining what happened but the computer I'm using right now at an Internet Cafe in Brickfields gives me a lot of headache... Somehow without me realising it, portions of text including pictures are defined and then wiped out and this happened many many times. So sorry, now I have to be really brief.

Above is monument that marks one is about to leave Perak...

This is a river in Tanjung Malim which marks the border between the states of Perak (on the left) and Selangor... Oh, the name is Bernam river...

I stopped by an erected the "Berpetualang ke Aceh" book promotion poster made a month before using a picture of the same scenery!

There. I'm officially in Selangor...

Stopped a while at the Sheikh Ismail mosque... You can read about the mosque in Masjid Sheikh Ismail di Ulu Bernama (The mosque of...

After walking some time, I got a bus to Kuala Kubu Baru. There... Enough headache for the day. Cheers! :]


note: From Brickfields, I broke my Ramadhan fasting with a packet drink at the KL Sentral station before conducting the Maghrib (early night) prayers at the surau (small praying hall) there. Then I took the Komuter train to Kajang... Feels like spending the night alone at a family house. I had a hefty meal at Kentucky's and then a glass of sirap bandung (syrup with milk) and a foodstall nearby. Next, after feeling much better that is, I went to an Internet Cafe and made these note...

I also added a bit on the writings above but come to the part where I mentioned about the problem I had with the computer at the Internet Cafe in Brickfields, I just couldn't add more. So I hope whatever is already written is enough to maintain the continuity of story-telling regarding the long travelling made over 2 months ago. Cheers! :]