a couple of weeks ago she went to the dusun with lily, naj and q.
the durians hung on fragile branches, mangosteen, rambutans, cempedak and langsat were plentiful too,crowding the spreading trees.
how the hills looked much lower now. those very hills that used to taunt her. she used to wonder what lay beyond them. she used to dream of climbing to see what was on the other side. when she was small, she thought hills were just ridges, and there'd be valleys over on the other side.
now she googled and saw that the hills separated her village from the sea. but the hills were wide, plateau-like. covered with rainforest of course.
then all at once she felt once more the singular beauty of an evening in the hamlet. strange pale yellow light filtered through leaves. why is light yellow in this village? flowers bloomed here and there unassumingly, often hidden behind lush foliage.
it seemed so long ago when she used to sit on the wooden chair by the door of her grandparents' house facing the hills.
she'd be there very early in the mornings captivated by the mist and cuttingly fresh wind. the birds chirping joyously from slender boughs. chickens hurrying after early worms...
and the evenings.... oh how she loved watching the western skies in the unbelievable profusion of colors, ever changing...so ephemeral...
oh, that was so very long ago.....
Friday, 13 June 2014
the book
writing 'the book' gives a lot to ponder.
she delved into the earliest days of marshy Kuala Lumpur. The Malays had mined tin around the muddy confluence of the Kelang and Gombak rivers for centuries, even in the 16th century! that was way before immigrants were brought to the Malay Peninsula to work in bigger tin mines in the 19th century.
Raja Abdullah Bin Raja Jaafar, a Selangor nobleman founded Kuala Lumpur and was its first chieftain in the 19th century.
Malay villages dotted the Kelang river valley, where dwellings of timber and attap roof were built on stilts close to the rivers. Timber was abundant in the nearby rainforests and the nipah fronds were plentiful in the swamps and marshes. Attap roof finish were woven nipah fronds, excellent for the hot, humid days and cool nights of the Malay archipelago.
tin, gold and forest products were transported by river to the coastal ports.
The muddy confluence, Kuala Lumpur, had such a humble beginning. Yet now it is a gleaming metropolis and growing, one of the most vibrant in Asia.
time...
she delved into the earliest days of marshy Kuala Lumpur. The Malays had mined tin around the muddy confluence of the Kelang and Gombak rivers for centuries, even in the 16th century! that was way before immigrants were brought to the Malay Peninsula to work in bigger tin mines in the 19th century.
Raja Abdullah Bin Raja Jaafar, a Selangor nobleman founded Kuala Lumpur and was its first chieftain in the 19th century.
Malay villages dotted the Kelang river valley, where dwellings of timber and attap roof were built on stilts close to the rivers. Timber was abundant in the nearby rainforests and the nipah fronds were plentiful in the swamps and marshes. Attap roof finish were woven nipah fronds, excellent for the hot, humid days and cool nights of the Malay archipelago.
tin, gold and forest products were transported by river to the coastal ports.
The muddy confluence, Kuala Lumpur, had such a humble beginning. Yet now it is a gleaming metropolis and growing, one of the most vibrant in Asia.
time...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)