Gunung Semanggol... The threat from the mountains

Continuing from where we left off... From Taiping arriving at Gunung Semanggol...

The small town of Gunung Semanggol lies at a junction heading for Bukit Merah which is quite famous for its big lake and an amusement park. Gunung Semanggol on the other hand is probably well-known only to those who read history voraciously especially on subjects related to the resurgence of Islamicic movements against the British colonisation of the Malay Archipelago...

The first time I went to Gunung Semanggol was about a year or two ago... To find the original location of an old house which has been relocated to Janda Baik, Bentong, Pahang. Click Rumah lama Perak di Janda Baik (An old Perak house in Janda Baik) for the story.

Prior to that my knowledge of Gunung Semanggol was that it used to be quite a prominent place for people who wants to deepen their Islamic knowledge. The idea I got was the place holds some esotoric secret knowledge based on the deeper and more spiritual aspects of Islam.

The name which could be translated as the mountain of (gunung) Semanggol itself sounded rather mystical... Although I've heard about it more than 20 years ago and since then I've passed it a few times while going from Taiping to Parit Buntar and vice versa, it's only quite recently I actually stopped there and try to find out what's all the fuss about...

A view of parts of Gunung Semanggol from a restaurant I stopped by at. Notice my travelling gear which includes a 'promotion kit' for my "Berpetualang ke Aceh" (literally translated as "The trip to Aceh") book series?

As I've said earlier, I first stopped here a year or two ago to find the original location of a certain old house and dig it's history and significance. That's when I found out there's a prominent and very famous (among those interested that is) religious school called Ma'ahad Ihya Il Sharif!

I stopped by at the main mosque... Got the time to hang my book series poster. God willing, a pictorial story on the mosque will be written for the bi-lingual blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) later.

Back to Maahad Ihya Il Sharif. I don't remember when it was established but it has been around at least since early 20th Century. The story goes that the school saw the first official grouping and meetings of Malay nationalists fighting for the independence of Malaysia (then known as Federation of the Malay states or something like that), even earlier than the meetings against the British-invented concept of Malay Union which resulted in the creation of the Malay political party UMNO in 1946.

The problem is the nationalists which gathered at Gunung Semanggol were staunch Muslims, the kind that were later officially announced by the powers-that be as being related ( I believed allegedly) to a certain opposition party. Yes, the meeting did give some people the impetus to create a pro-Islamic party which has been labelled as anti-development but I do believe the people who lighted up the fire of independence there where not into partisan politics. They were just decent Muslims who were tired of the country being run by infidels...

Nevertheless, the confidence they inspired made certain parties worry especially the British. And so the people who converged in Gunung Semanggol to fight for the rights of the Malay (mind you, being a Malay MUST MEAN you are a Muslim, if you actually know what Malay stands for) were labelled by the British as the threat from the mountains (as in gunung). The propaganda machines painted them in unflattering ways as if they were communists trying to create hell for the people.

Anyway, it's time to leave Gunung Semanggol...

This is the actual hills known as Gunung Semanggol. Not tall enough to be regarded as mountains... Nevertheless, there's an ominous presence which says there's more than meets the eye... Just like the name Gunung Semanggol seems to reverberate through my being everytime I think of it...

While on the bus to Taiping, I tried to snap as many scenic pictures as possible using my cheap digital camera which doesn't register too well on bumpy rides...

Nevertheless I tried even though the result were 'wavy' pictures like this... Perhaps this picture could denote the fact that life is just like a dream? Que sera sera... Next story please!