Enjoy!!!

Enjoy!!!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The downfall of Cherating

I've known Cherating since 1988. I have had some great times there, especially in the mid 1990s - mid 2010s.
My last visit was Aug 2008 when the place looked like a bombsite due to redevelopment, see my 2008 album. For various reasons I didn't go back for 2 years, which is probably the longest time I have been away from Cherating.

My next visit was Sept 2010. I went with high hopes that the place would look smart and attractive after its big redevelopment project. I went 2 weeks after Raya and was worried the place might be full.

I arrived on a weekend to find a shabby, rundown, and totally quiet village. I couldn't believe what a sorry state everything was in. And a total lack of tourists, only a handful of Westerners. I was quite shocked, and very disappointed. I checked into a guest house and soon realised I was the only one staying.

In the 1970-80s Cherating started to become THE backpackers place in Malaysia. In the 1990s it was booming. All the backpackers rooms were constantly full, and the place was alive. But in the last 5+ years the Western tourists started avoiding Cherating, for various reasons, and Cherating became more popular with locals. Now most of the visitors are locals going for weekends or day trips. The character has totally changed - for the worst in my opinion.

For more than a decade, the local gov't has been pumping in money, and doing "beautifications" etc, but nothing actually worked or lasted. New trees 2008, now gone -

One of the very first projects was the Budaya Centre, the Cherating Cultural Complex. This was a white elephant from the very start. The restaurant and art centre closed down soon after opening. The main centre is rarely used except when busloads of students etc are sent in for a function.
Cultural centre 2010

In more recent times, vast sums of money were spent on the road, widening it, making fancy pavements and ornate lamp posts. This was done a couple of times, as the first time the drainage was wrong. Strange cobbles -
The road was done up right as far as the river - where few people go - 2008 & 2010 views -


A new tourist office was built by the main road a couple of years ago. It has a huge, empty carpark, is surrounded by waste land and looks very uninviting.
Tourist signs everywhere -


In 2008 the village underwent what looked like a major transformation. That was when I last saw it, until my current trip.

The place is a mess. Old buildings have been left abandoned, many shops and restaurants are closed. One problem is the lack of staff, locals don't want to work, and it is expensive to legally hire foreign labour. So places just closed. The shops that are open all seem to be selling the same Tshirts. Amidst all the mess, some people are building, maybe they think they can succeed where others have failed. Some places are up for sale. Main street 2007 -
Cherating Cottage looking forlorn -
I used to eat here often
New pub - or bird house!!!

There is no sign of any new buildings along the road. The only new building, which is definitely the smartest building in town is the new toilet block on the beach!! However I didn't risk checking it from the inside. 2007 view -
toilets 2010

Other new structures are the 2 rescue watchtowers on the beach. However I never saw these manned, even though I was there at a weekend. Watchtower & restaurant 2007 -
the restaurant 2010
unmanned on a Sunday

I found it strange that there seems to be an obsession to build things in Balinese style. This seems totally unnecessary in a Malay kampung.
Outside the Budaya centre, the roadside structures look Balinese, along the main road other things like Balinese, and the riverside pub has been renamed Little Bali. Structure on right looks Balinese -


Walking around there is no life or activity. Night time it has become almost a ghost village. Compare that to the heydays when the whole strip was bustling, there were many bars, cafes, music everywhere, and sometimes nowhere to park. Remember when Pop Inn was totally crowded.
empty beach
Not much activity on the main street in 2010
Looks univiting
the only activity in town
new construction 2010

One good thing was that the beach was relatively litter free. Probably due to the lack of visitors. However there are vast expanses of muddy areas and there is a lot of green weed thriving on these areas. I wonder if this weed was surviving due to abundance of food in the water - sewage??? The other bad thing about the beach is there are so many bricks and tiles and wooden blocks half buried in the sand. I guess they are left over from construction, and people have taken them to the beach to use as a base for BBQ, and of course just leave them. They present a real hazard to bare feet.

chalets being built 2007

Cherating used to be famous for the local beachbums. Even these have moved on in these quiet times. The few that remain have become internet bums and are hanging around the 2 or 3 internet places.

I used to have several friends living in the village, some had been there as long as 25 years. But every one of them has gone, moved on, having abandoned the sinking ship. Even the beach dogs seem to have gone. And the horses at the stable near Duyong are no longer there. But I was happy to see that the hornbills are still flying around, and there are still macaques and dusky langurs.
At least the cemetery is maintained -
Take your pick -


Despite the lack of backpackers, there are still thefts occuring, and 2 separate incidents have been reported in Sept. There has always been a police station at Cherating, but now a larger station is being built on the main road towards Legend Hotel.

Despite the fact that Cherating is only a 3 hour drive from KL, compared to 5 hours before the highway was built, I won't be in a hurry to return.

The Tourism Minister Yen Yen should go to Cherating and learn what not to do in a tourist resort!

Bye bye Cherating


© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Saturday, September 11, 2010

tree in restaurant

I'm always taking picutres of this small Indian restaurant, as I think the tree is beautiful. The shop has been built around the tree. It is located opposite the Alice Smith school at Jalan Bellamy in KL.

There is a green plastic hoop attached to one of the branches (the one above the 'f' of fast car wash, 1st photo). Don't know how it got there, but it's been there a few years.



© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

KL Kwong Tong cemetery

Having moved back to my old condo, I now have the cemetery inhabitants as my neighbours. Some Malaysians are horrified at the thought of living near a cemetery, and some also hate the greeness and the trees surrounding my condo. But I love it.

I love to walk in the cemetery. And I'm not the only one, as many of the condo residents who own dogs, also walk their dogs there. It's a great place, quiet, with an abundance of birds and small reptiles, lizards, snakes etc. And there is often a pleasant scent when the frangipani are in bloom.

Over the years I think I've covered most of the paths. I find the graves fascinating, even though I can't understand the Chinese inscriptions. However I haven't found Yap Ah Loy's grave. [Since posting this album, I have visited Yap Ah Loy's grave] Unfortunately the heritage park sign is only in Chinese. Parts of the cemetery have been restored, and turned into a heritage park.

There have been a few changes in the area closest to Alice Smith school. There is a new large memorial to Lim Lian Giok. I must admit I hadn't heard of Lim Lian Giok, so had to google him. I didn't find much, but learnt he was a Malaysian education official, basically a Chinese teacher who fought for the right to a Chinese-language education in Malaysia, which he always regarded as a multi-ethnic and multicultural state of which he was a proud citizen. Ironically, it was the fears of so-called “nationalists” that in the end created in this simple teacher a hero and Chinese “cultural ambassador.

In recent years Kuen Cheng School which is on the Federal Highway just near the Istana, has built a 2nd campus on the edge of the cemetery, so this has meant an increase in traffic.

The cemetery actually extends across the Middle Ring road (the road between Pustaka and the Istana) but I've never explored this section.

If I drive to KL I often take the route through the cemetery. However many taxi drivers are not so keen, especially at night! Coming home via the cemetery I have to go through Bukit Petaling & Jalan Bellamy which is another nice area.































view to city


Brickfields on the left

KL Sentral



dead car

entrance to big tomb

don't know who is buried here




the pub!


frangipani with Le Meridien at the back
Lim Lian Giok









4  languages


school


Google Earth view

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The following is taken from wikimapia.org :
KWONG TONG CEMETERY (KTC); THE LARGEST AND OLDEST GRAVES IN THE CITY OF KUALA LUMPUR. THIS CHINESE CEMETERY COVERS 343 ACRES, IN EXISTENCE FOR 112 YEARS AND MAINTAINED IN ITS ORIGINAL HISTORICAL` STATE. IT IS THE FINAL RESTING PLACE OF PROMINENT CITY PIONEER; CAPITAN YAP AH LOY, LOKE YEW [no he is not buried here], YAP KWAN SENG ETC. THE MAIN STREETS IN THE CITY NAMED AFTER THESE CITY PIONEER. IN 2007, THE KTC HAS BEEN RENAMED AS “HERITAGE PARK”. SUBSEQUENTLY, EXTENSIVE LANDSCAPING HAS TURNED THIS PARK INTO THE GREEN LUNG OF THE CITY. IN ADDITION, A CULTURAL MUSEUM WAS BUILT AND COMPREHENSIVE COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION RELATED TO PROMINENT CHINESE PIONEER. AS WELL AS CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL EVENTS OF THE CITY DEVELOPMENTS ARE DISPLAYED IN THIS CULTURAL MUSEUM. IT HAS NOW NOT ONLY BECOME A CULTURAL, HERITAGE AND HISTORICAL MASTER PIECE, BUT IT HAS ALSO BECOME A RESEARCH CENTER AND TOURIST DESTINATION OF THE CITY. WALKATHON IS HELD ANNUALLY WITHIN THE HERITAGE PARK. IN 2007, IT ATTRACTED 5,000 PARTICIPANTS OF MULTI-RACIAL AND MULTI-NATIONAL PARTICIPANTS. TO OBTAIN MAP OF HERITAGE PARK AND FURTHER INFORMATION REFER TO WEBSITE: http://ktc.org.my OR EMAIL: info@ktc.org.my

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UPDATE 2015 - see more on Lim Lian Geok at the memorial hall in KL.
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UPDATE 2017 - "Yap Ah Loy’s descendant is sad and disappointed that Yap’s contribution was obliterated" in Malaysian Chinese News 12 May.

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© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission