I have always liked this part of Kuala Lumpur for reasons I cannot describe. Perhaps one of them is the cultural vibrancy here. Minus the cafeteria, I enjoy every minute spent at the Central Market and not to mention the various cultural events held there. My affinity to this part of Kuala Lumpur starts with Farish A. Noor’s "From Modesty Plates to Peranakan Lingerie” held in the Annexe Gallery. Many historical and cultural hotspots in KL are also within walking distance. To name but a few, National Textile Museum, Kuala Lumpur Memorial Library, Masjid Jamek, National Mosque and National Museum.
On June 12, my friends and I set off to witness the wedding of Sam’s sister nearby the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, the most historic Hindu temple in KL established by K. Thamboosamy Pillai in 1873. On an interesting side note, K. Thamboosamy Pillai is also one of the founders of Victoria Institution established in 1893. Our tour guide of the day, a KL-ite, decided to have a detour before the wedding. So, we had a stroll around the Petaling Street.
Plaza Warisan
UO Superstore
Kim Lian Kee Hokkien Mee 金莲记福建面
A stroll down the Petaling Street
Lee Rubber Building (南益大厦), currently Popular Book Store. It housed Public Bank before. Its Art Deco architecture was a work of AO Coltman who also designed Wisma Ekran at Jalan Tangsi, OCBC Building, Bank Bumiputra Building (formerly the Oriental Building) at Jalan Tun Perak and Odeon Cinema built by Cathay Organization nearby Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman.
Since I carry a Lee in my name, I shall introduce Lee Rubber (南益) in more details. It was founded by Lee Kong Chian (李光前), the richest in Southeast Asia back in the 1950s and 1960s. His brainchild, Lee Foundation, has been pouring its vast fund into various causes, regardless of race and religion, both in Malaysia and Singapore. What is worth mentioning is that the organization was also actively involved in the development of SJK (C) Kuo Kuang 国光华小 where I studied.
Next up is Sri Maha Mariamman Temple
The wedding hall greeted us with the deliberate decoration made of colored grains, the Kolam. The two peacocks fuse into one. A closer look would have shown you how delicate the color shading was. It must been days of hard to work to arrange colored grains into this piece of art.
As usual, we had a cam-whore session before the start of the ceremony.
The grandeur of the wedding hall was breathtaking. Alongside the red carpet leading all the way up to the wedding mandap were golden lamp curtained with silk. The glory of the wedding can only be matched with that of the bride and bridegroom and the bless-giving crowd. Everyone looked brilliant in his or her own traditional outfits: sari, shalwar kameez a.k.a. punjabi suit, dhoti, baju melayu and baju kurung.
The ceremony retained South Asian traditional elements. The mandap was decorated with banana leaves, coconuts, kalasha (symbol of abundance, essentially a pot filled with water and covered with garland of mango leaves and coconut). The lengthy ritual was highly religious. Priests were there to give blessings in Sanskrit. The most memorable process for me was showering the two with rice grains as our blessings towards them. After that part, the couple walked around a fire to seal their marriage while reciting vows of love.
As with most weddings in Malaysia, food were served. Other than the usual Indian cuisines, we were served the Kulfi, my now favorite dessert. It is the traditional Indian milk-based ice creams, much creamier and denser than those in Macdonald. It takes a while longer to melt on your tongue. Ah, a bliss under summer-like weather in Malaysia. Kulfi was once a privilege for the royalty and the upperclassmen before the advent of modern refrigeration technology.
On our way back from the banquet, we passed by the Confucian Private Secondary School (尊孔独中) founded back in 1906. It is one of the few Chinese independent high schools in Malaysia.
Maybank Tower which also houses Maybank Numismatic Museum. It was once the tallest skyscraper in Malaysia with its 244m height before the Twin Tower.
Further down the lane, we stumbled upon the Muzium Telekom which presents us the development of telecommunication in Malaysia since the prehistoric time. Located at the intersection of Jalan Gereja and Jalan Raja Chulan, the neo-classical Greek building has stood there since year 1928. Tun Mahathir’s few words saved it from demolishment in 1985. Originally a manual telephone exchange, it now stores the stories from the past told through past phone recordings.
The signboard at the entrance seemed out of place on the neo-classical Greek façade.
Fellow holders of smartphones, if you ever wonder how your parents or even grandparents whisper to each other across the distance in those days, Telekom Museum is the place to be. Each exhibit is accompanied with short and sweet explanation. What sets it apart from other museums is that certain phones are not only still functional but also replays call recordings from the past. These recordings might be a desperate call for help, a sweet couple talk or a daughter’s calling father at work. It is an interactive way to bring the old history to eyes, or should I say, ears.
Exhibits of antiques phones
Left: Antique Quran manuscript; Right: A telegrapher
Antique typewriters
Left: Inner parts of typewriter; Right: Phone books from the 60s
Left: An operator with telephone switchboard; Right: Equipment
Did you know what a telephone switchboard is? It is basically a platform that connects a group of telephones among one another. When one calls, the operator answers and then manually connects the wire to the destination telephone. There is a supervision lamp to alert the operator when the call is over. Such scene is common in TV shows or films based on the 60s and 70s.
Left: Having fun with Morse Code; Right: Phone replaying old recordings
On our way to the nearby CapSquare to catch a movie, we stumbled upon this insightful graffiti drawing on the wall. Is the little boy hesitating or ready for sharing? If the skeleton figure is that poor, how to explain the bangle on his wrist? Does this symbolize the ill effect of drug abuse or the income gap in KL?
Further down the lane, we passed by the St. Johns Cathedral and St. Johns Institution. St. Johns Cathedral was founded way back in 1883. It acts as the Mother Church of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur. The fate of St. Johns Institution intertwines with that of St. Johns Cathedral. The school was opened by the La Sallian Brothers back in 1904. La Sallian heritage lays the foundation of the brotherhood with other La Salle schools in Malaysia. From within this red and white bricks of this Grecian-Spanish building born many notable alumni like Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, Tan Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz and Farish A. Noor.
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Cun ah pictures all. DSLRs overated.
ReplyDeleteHaha, thank you Thaya. DSLR is still better in many ways lah, provided that it's on the right person's hands :)
ReplyDelete