Brick Lane area, east London

After visiting the Singapore Inside Out exhibition in the old Truman brewery, I decided to check out Brick Lane. I have never been to this part of London before. It is located near Liverpool St Station and Shoreditch High Street station in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Brick Lane is the heart of the city's Bangladeshi-Sylheti community. It is also famous for the curry houses.

Brick Lane mosque -

 It is interesting to read on Wikipedia that the mosque was originally " established in 1743 as a Protestant chapel by London's French Huguenot community. In 1809 it became a Wesleyan chapel, bought by the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews but this phase of its history lasted only 10 years. From 1819, the building became a Methodist chapel. In the late 19th century, the building at 59 Brick Lane was adopted by yet another community. It became the Machzike Adass, the Spitalfields Great Synagogue. During this time, the area was home to many Jewish refugees from Russia and Central Europe. The population of Jews decreased over the years, with many moving to areas of North London. During the 1970s, the area of Spitalfields and Brick Lane was populated mainly by Bangladeshis who had come to Britain from the Sylhet region looking for better work. Many found work in factories and the textile trade. That growing community required a place of worship, and the building at 59 Brick Lane was bought and refurbished. In 1976, it reopened as a mosque, the London Jamme Masjid. Today, although it has been renamed, it still serves the Bangladeshi community as a mosque."

Some curry houses, all advertising the 'best' food !!! I went to Muhib for a set lunch -

Some street art -

Start of Brick Lane -

Near Brick Lane is the old Spitalfields market -

And further away is the "London gherkin", 30 St Mary Axe. It was opened in April 2004, is 180 m tall and has 41 storeys -

 --

Singapore Inside Out exhibition in London 2015

Singapore Inside Out
A creative showcase to celebrate Singapore's 50th anniversary celebrations through the creative scene. In 2015 it visits Beijing, London, New York and then Singapore.

In June 2015 it was held in the old Truman brewery in Brick Lane, east London. 

Brick Lane is famous for its Bangladeshi and Indian curry houses. It was my first visit to this part of London. There were plenty of signs to show the way.

Have to admit the displays were too 'arty' for me and there wasn't a great deal to see. This display caught my attention, a 'tree' of laboratory glassware with clamp stands producing 'music' by hitting the glassware.

Streaking wax on a glass window

This piece of edible art by chef Janice Wong was my favourite part. A painted ceiling drilled with 2000 holes and chocolate lollipops filled with pork and poprocks, laksa, and kaffir hang from the holes waiting for the visitors to eat. There were also chocolates filled with kaya and chilli. Even the walls of the room were streaked with chocolate. Yummy!

Then it was time for lunch. As there was no food at the exhibition I left to check out Brick Lane.

------

UPDATE 2023 -

See my blog on Truman's House at 4 Princelet Street, Spitalfields. 

Birds flying at dusk - crows and swifts

On the evening of 4 May I saw a lot of birds flying around. They seemed to be mainly crows with a few kites as well. They were flying for about 15 minutes before they decided onto the roof of a neighbouring building. They stayed there for a few minutes before flying off, presumably to their roosts. It was 6.05pm when they left. This is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Then 40 minutes later I heard a lot of swifts flying around, both in front and at the back of my condo. They make quite a lot of  noise when flying. It was impossible to get a clear photo of the swifts with my camera as they fly so fast, but this video is better.

It was surprising seeing these 2 sets of birds on one evening. I wonder if it was due to an abundance of insects that evening.

Silvered langur monkey in Kuala Lumpur

At dusk I heard the birds shrieking in the trees outside my kitchen window and to my huge surprise I saw a monkey sitting in the tree. It was eating and seemed unconcerned by the birds. Unfortunately it was getting dark and I wasn't able to take great photos.

I assumed it was a long tailed macaque but when I looked at my photos, I realised it is a silvered langur, Trachypithecus cristatus. It was on its own. I have no idea what it is doing so close to the city as normally these monkeys are found in coastal or rivers. There are plenty at Bukit Melawati at Kuala Selangor and those are a tourist attraction.

 

 

According to the IUCN Red List it is 'near threatened' and only occurs in Peninsula Malaysia along the western coastal strip.

 

 

 

 

Bad English again

Bad English again

Visit Malaysia visual which has made headlines all over the world.
It reads: "Don't be stressed, come and distress in Malaysia!" 

[taken from Citizen Nades,  The Sun 21.04.15 ]

A few weeks ago, MAS started using a slogan "We want to see more of you"........ sounds like they want passengers to get undressed!!!!!!!

Alcohol in Indonesia

Indonesia announced it would remove the visa fees for citizens of many countries including GB. That is a good move as the 30 day visa is US$30. They used to have a cheaper 7 day visa but they scrapped that.

But now Indonesia has announced it is banning the sale of beer and pre-mixed alcoholic drinks in small shops. This will really affect the tourism industry, especially on Bali. However this rule might be eased on Bali.

Lim Lian Geok memorial, KL - Chinese educationist

Some time ago, when I was taking photos in the Kwong Tong cemetery in Kuala Lumpur, I made a point of looking at the Lim Lian Geok memorial. This is at the start of the cemetery near the Alice Smith School. At that time I didn't know anything about Lim Lian Geok, who is regarded as the most revered Chinese educationist in Malaysia.

In April 2015, Hong invited me to join him on a visit to the LLG memorial in KL, so I readily agreed. This memorial is at LLG: 89 & 91, Jalan Maharajalela in KL, not far from the Chinese Assembly Hall.

We were given a tour of the exhibits about Lim Lian Geok, housed on the 4th floor. The displays were in Chinese, Malay and English.

Lim Lian Geok, (1901-1985) was a revered Chinese educationist and was the pioneer of the civil society movement in Malaysia.

He arrived in Malaya in 1927 but then went to Java for a while and also back to China.

trunk with clothes used by Lim

 

He was a teacher at the Confucian School in KL from 1935-1961. In 1951 he was active in the protest against the Barnes Report that wanted to abolish Chinese and Tamil schools. This led to the formation of the United Chinese Schools Teachers' Association and Lim became president from 1953.

Extract from the Barnes Report / Education Ordinance 1952

In his Hari Raya Aidifitri message in 1956, he said "Every ethnic community should be accepted as a member of this nation's family, equal in their rights and in their national duty. They should share the nation's abundance and stand together to face all challenges in building a strong and sound nation."

At that time he was a supporter of Malay mother tongue eduction.

He wanted all citizens of Malaya to be united and work together to build the nation. He advocated that Malayan Chinese must be loyal to the country and the Chinese school text books must reflect the true situation in Malaya.

Lim was aware of the socio-economic disparity between ethnic groups and that those groups lagging behind was due to the colonial government's economic segregation policy. Believing in equality he urged the government to address this difference.

He was opposed to the 1960 Razak Report and 1961 Education Act that required all secondary schools to teach in English or Malay.

As a result, his citizenship and teaching permit were revoked by the government due to his strong
opposition against conversion of Chinese secondary schools. 54 out of 70 Chinese schools converted to 'national type secondary schools'. However he refused to return to China.

When he died in 1985 his funeral procession in KL was the largest ever seen for any Malaysian Chinese. He was honoured by the Malaysian Chinese.

In his honour, the LLG Cultural Development Centre was set up. One of their objectives is "To promote mother tongue education and foster traditional ethnic cultures".

The last part of the display is a long way with 'cartoon' pictures depicting the history of Malaya during Lim's time -

See more on the LLG Cultural Development Centre.