Views from the bridge at Kuala Besut

Just some views from the bridge crossing the Besut river at the town of Kuala Besut, Terengganu...

A quick visit to the Terengganu state museum...

This picture of the Terengganu state museum is taken just before I went to the Taman Tamadun and the Masjid Kristal as potrayed in the articles Taman Tamadun Islam (The Islamic civilisation park) of Terengganu... and Masjid Kristal (The Crystal Mosque)... Built for genuine worship or just to impress? So I made it a point to visit the museum later...

However, right after visiting the Masjid Kristal, I got a lift straight to Kampung Paloh where I did my afternoon prayers at the mosque of Tokku Paloh, named after a deceased venerable religious scholar of saintly status... The mosque is actually sandwiched between lands belonging to the museum. Here is part of the museum complex seen from beside the Tokku Paloh mosque...

When I'm done at the mosque, it's time to enter the museum, through it's backyard entrance that is... There, once could see a few Malay traditional houses as part of the museum exhibits, transported from elsewhere such as this...

I have always admired this house which sits just beside the Tokku Paloh mosque but in my latest visit on the 30th March 2008 only did I bother to find out the history of the house...

Here is another Malay traditional house on display...

Pass one or two more houses and you could see the museum's main hall beckoning...

Time to enter...

Now, I just wanted to have a quick look especially of some of the new exhibits under the theme Jawi history or something... Then I saw these tombstones, Aceh-type tombstones and just couldn't resist...

What made me excited was this particular Aceh tombstone... I found out that the stone was originally used to mark the tomb of a certain woman whose tomb I happened to have just visited earlier the same day! Her name is Tengku Maimunah binti (daughter of) Sultan Ahmad and I have posted a picture of her tomb (with new tombstone) along with some others in the article Masjid Tokku Tuan Besar dan makam-makam di belakangnya (The mosque of Tokku Tuan Besar and the tombs behind it) made in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) last night...

Since I've started taking pictures, might as well took some of the other exhibits... This vest with Quranic verse woven on it looks interesting...

The notice below says it is a vest worn by warriors as a sort of talisman for protection in wars...

Hmm... I think a lot of readers recognise what this is...

The unique Malay dagger known as the keris and its many variations are quite famous all over the world at least among martial-arts enthusiasts.

Time to leave the museum...

This staircase and the buildings beside are also part of the complex. For the record, the Terengganu state museum is the biggest museum in Malaysia! And for the record too, this is my 191th posting in this blogspot. Good night! :]

Masjid Kristal (The Crystal Mosque)... Built for genuine worship or just to impress?

Continued from the posting Taman Tamadun Islam (The Islamic civilisation park) of Terengganu... made yesterday. I believe, like the Taman Tamadun, many have also heard the name Masjid Kristal, a spanking new mosque build in Terengganu which showcases glassy structures making it look like a mosque built from crystals... Here it is...

Less than a kilometre away from Taman Tamadun and lying on the same island known as Pulau Wan Man is this impressive structure known as Masjid Kristal...

I mean just look at the way all the glasses make the mosque look... Is this supposed to be the high-tech answer to the way mosques should look in the future?

Sure, it looks nice and impressive. But I for one have reservations for the purpose of building this mosque...

Visitors certainly find this mosque impressive but one must remember the real function of a mosque... A place for congregation and worship of God, not a place to impress people and show off!

Location-wise, one must say that it serves no function at all for the locals...

Situated on an island in the middle of the Terengganu river, it is only accesible by boat or from a newly built road winding pass the state muzium. Either way, it is far from any local settlement... Besides there's already a few other mosque within vicinity of the closest local populaces...

So why is this mosque built in the first place? Let me offer a clue... I think many have heard about how the state of Terengganu have been receiving a yearly royalty of 5 per cent out of the sales of petroleum extracted from its shores... It's just because of the prevailing political conditions over the last few years, the 5 per cent which amounted to some RM 1 billion have been diverted through certain hands and it is believed that these hands are responsible for having this mosque built!

On thing's for sure, the Masjid Kristal is built to impress...

It is built to show that Terengganu now have something to be proud of! Is it? Is this something to be proud of if the building doesn't really reflect the real conditions of the Terengganu people? Sure, the mosque could be said to be a reflection of the state's income of at least RM1 billion a year (from the petroleum royalty), never mind if the money doesn't actually land in the state's hand... But how can you reconcile that with the fact (sorry, I forgot who said this but I reckon it is a well-known fact OK...) that Terengganu is the second-poorest state in Malaysia?

So don't be shocked if many believed the building of this mosque and the Taman Tamadun close to it is just a way for certain people to siphon off money for their own nasty interest whatever that is... Some even quoted figures saying the official cost of building these impressive monuments as told to all and sundry is about double the actual cost meaning at least tens, even hundreds of millions of RM ended inside someone's pocket just like that. Enough said! :]

Taman Tamadun Islam (The Islamic civilisation park) of Terengganu...

Greetings dear readers. I think by now, most Malaysians have heard about the project called Taman Tamadun Islam (the Islamic civilisation park) of Terengganu... So let me present some of the pictures I took when having a look there a month ago. Come! :]

This building which is a monumental gate marked the outer boundaries of the park which is actually situated on an island in the middle of the Terengganu river... But from this road still under construction, you would likely not notice its position on the waters...

Once pass the gate, you could see this replica of the dome of the rock in Jerusalem...

But you are still outside the park... One have to actually circumvent half the park first before arriving at its public entry point...

Still, along the way, you could catch a good glimpse at what's inside...

There, the building which marks the actual entrance to the park...

Outside, one could see this building... I'm not sure what purpose it serves...

Now, a look inside the park... Funny sight though to see some funfair rides inside... I thought this is an Islamic civilisational park!

There's even a carousel and... Hmm... I don't know what you call that thing on the right... Anyway, a replica of Malaysia's very own Masjid Negara or the national mosque could be seen behind...

I don't know what mosque is this supposed to be...

The tower on the left should be a replica of a mosque in Africa or something...

This certainly look Chinese... I think a replica of a mosque in Xian, China...

Hmm... The dome of the rock across a lake or was is it something else?

This one I recognise immediately... The Hassanal Bolkiah mosque in Brunei!

Hmm... From this angle, this building sure looks very big... That is if I don't notice the actual size shown in perspective by the presence of a woman in the right of the picture...

Whatever, I do enjoy looking at the replicas...

And I'm sure most of the visitors enjoyed it too... While it's free that is, hehe! :]

The building which I taught looked almost real-size and life-like from a far... If I remember correctly, a replica of the mosque of Sunan Kudus (a well-known saint) in the island of Java, Indonesia...

And lastly a look at the city of Kuala Terengganu from the park which is situated on the island of Wan Man. That's all! :]

From Kuala Berang to Pulau Manis...

OK... Continuing from Visiting old tombs in Kuala Berang... After I'm done there, it's time to head back to Kuala Terengganu before I can go nortwards into the state of Kelantan as part of the main itenarery for my latest trip to the East Coast... But first I must stop at Pulau Manis some 15km or more from south-west from Terengganu... There's a place I must visit there which is related to the places I visited in Kuala Berang...

But since Pulau Manis lies off the main route to Kuala Terengganu and I'm afraid I've already missed the scarce bus service which passes this way, I decided to walk while trying to hitchike a ride... Walked on to this junction some 3km or so from Kuala Berang...

Then I managed to get a ride on the bike and was sent to this area which is very close to Pulau Manis...

Had to walk again but for only a kilometre or so through this parts of the woods...

There it is, the blue building which is the surau (small praying hall) of Tok Pulau Manis... A venerable religious man and a saint of 17th Century Terengganu... His tomb lies just 50 metres or so behind the yellow brick building which is actually as place for rest for visitors to the tomb. However I would only do a story of the saint later in a coming posting for the blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU ...

Just 100 metres away is the mosque of Pulau Manis...

Behind it is the river Terengganu... The story will continue another day with some more views of Kuala Terengganu ya. Cheers! :]