Remembering a Passionate Photographer

The news of Henry Chin's passing did not come as a surprise in the early morning of 18 November 2018.

Ever since the detection of cancerous blood disorder in his body last year, he had shown to be tenacious and unyielding in confronting the illness. Whenever his health permitted, he would arm himself with a newly acquired but much smaller camera and continue to take photos. His illness did not dampen his passion for photography.

A couple of months ago when he had to put on face mask to minimize risk of infection, he was still seen moving about shooting from his camera. Much of the conversation I had with him then was still confine to giving tips and fine points about camera and photography.

Henry's younger daughter and my daughter are good friends and of similar age. Henry had taken photos of them both whenever opportunity arose. It is therefore not a surprise that my daughter was among the first few to receive news of Henry's passing.

Henry will be missed by friends and peers especially those in the photography fraternity.

His captioned FB photo aptly portrays his passion and achievement.

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Photos taken by Henry during the BCCM KKE 

Christmas Eve Church Service 2017 

and posted in his Facebook.

The Greatest Wealth is Health - MU Fifians Reconnect

It was amazing that a group of friends were able to sit around the same sofa after a lapse of thirteen years. With a deep sense of gratitude and thanksgiving, I truly appreciate the meaning of the saying, "The Greatest Wealth is Health".

True to the saying, friends that last for a life time are those made in schools and university. Ever since we got to know each other in 1973 in the Fifth Residential College of the University of Malaya, we have not ceased to meet whenever opportunity arises. Our last gathering (Read here) was in August 2015, just over three years ago.

At our age, there is no career to pursue and no assignment deadline to meet. We gather to talk about anything under the sun and we look for food that pleases our taste buds. We understand that we have the time but do recognize that time is fast becoming a diminishing commodity.

August 2005.

13 November 2018.

At the Visitor Centre, UMS

At UMS Jetty

A very short evening to be awed by Tanjung Aru sunset. Unfortunately, it was not the best sunset that Tanjung Aru beach usually offers. It was past 6.00pm by the time we arrived and the sun had disappeared below the horizon. The usual golden orange glow was dampened by dark cloud that hovered above the thin strip of golden horizon.

At the Signal Hill Observatory to have a
bird eye view of KK by night.

Overwhelmed by the big bowl and Q taste of the
fish noodle at  Tian Yuan, Taman Khidmat.

The visitors too have high mark for our pau at
Kedai Kopi Chakitiam, Damai Plaza Phase 4.

Savoring Tamparuli Mee at Wun Chiap Restaurant,
Tamparuli.

Durian at Tamparuli Tamu.

At the Tamparuli Tamu, the guests had a chance to mingle with the local folks and be fascinated by the local produce and unique delicacies.

Fish noodle at Kuo Man Restaurant.

We all agreed that we have had a good time and we had thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. Even as they left for KL, talk has started about the next visit to KK!

Friends in Kuching

My primary objective of visiting Kuching was to meet up with friends some of whom I have not seen for over forty years.

My MU Fifth College mate, Nan Ping whom I contacted before the trip managed to get two other friends for a reunion dinner at Kuching Club House on 6 November 2018, Ha Ting Leong and Fong Vui Kiong.

From left: Me, Fong Vui Kiong, Sun Nan Ping, Ha Ting Leong,

Nan Ping's wife, Vui Kiong's wife and my wife.

Taken on 6 Nov 18 at Kuching Club House after the dinner.

Nan Ping is one of the uni friends whom I meet up comparatively more often. The last encounter was on 14 July 2018 at the 70th birthday celebration of another ex-5th collegian, Lai Kui Len, a Sabahan in KK. Nan Ping, one of the active chatters in the 5th Collegian Chat Group has recently been noticeably quiet. From my recent chat with him in Kuching, I discovered the reason why he has been rather quiet - "I just need to spend as much time as possible with my fast growing grandson. That window of opportunity is fast disappearing". What he said is indeed true. This is a "concern" of almost every grandfather!

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7 July 2018 - At the wedding banquet of Paul Ha's son.
From left: Chiam Khoon Swee, a MU Civil engineering
course mate from Sarawak and Ting Leong at right.

Another friend whom I met that night is Ha Ting Leong, a Sarawakian who did electrical engineering in the same engineering faculty in MU in the 70's with me. We last met in KL at the wedding banquet of his nephew. The bridegroom's dad, Paul Ha is a civil engineering course mate of mine and the younger brother of Ting Leong.

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The high point of the dinner in Kuching was meeting up with Fong Vui Kiong whom I have not seen for over forty four years. During my entry year to MU in 1973, he and I were staying in the same block (Block D) in 5th College. Being east Malaysians (somehow east Malaysians tend to be more comfortable with each other), we had spent many occasions together, one of which was visiting Zoo Negara in Selangor.

True to his spirit of adventure, he together with his wife now spends a significant amount of his time in travelling. 

1973 at Zoo Negara.

1973 at a lake side in Zoo Negara.

The next day after the reunion dinner, Fong and his wife offered to spend an afternoon with us. He started off by inviting us for lunch followed by a driving tour around Kuching city. He was particularly proud to show us some of the iconic buildings and old colonial buildings still being used in Kuching.

Another surprise was to discover that Fong's wife in fact grew up in Tawau, Sabahan. She was born in Sarawak but the family moved to settle down in Tawau when she was still very young.

At the lunch, we also met by chance Fong's in-law
(mother of Fong's son-in-law).

Sarawak Museum - unfortunately, the museum has been 
closed since 23 October 2018 and will remain closed for
one and a half  years for repair and conservation work.

Natural History Museum.

Main post office building, built in 1931.

South Kuching City Hall.

The Cats City

Earlier, we were offered a free two-night stay at a hotel in Kuching upon our attendance of an investment talk by a Sarawak company. With the free stay, we decided to plan a short trip to Kuching. We have also decided to extend the stay by one more day just in case there would be more places to see or more people we need to meet up with. In the end, I discovered the two nights stay is more than sufficient unless you are planning for out-of-town trekking or to climb Mount Santubong.

I last visited Kuching way back in 1979 or 1980. After a lapse of almost forty years ago, I have no recollection of what this town is really liked. Other than that the town is sited on a flatter terrain and spread over a much larger area compared to KK, I could not think of any other thing.

We stayed at Grand Margherita (former Holiday Inn) from 5th to 8th November. This hotel is strategically located at Kuching Waterfront. The famous cats statue is just across the street outside the hotel main entrance. The well-patronized Chong Choon Cafe is a mere five minutes walk from the hotel.

The first photo taken is at the Cats Statue.

Cats Statue by night.

At Chong Choon Cafe, we tried the Kuching Laksa,
said to one of the best and the Popiah.

We walked to the Carpenter Street (equivalent to Gaya Street of KK) a few times. But honestly, its vibrancy is in no way comparable to Gaya Street of KK. 

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We found this little road side store set up on a pedestrian walkway in between a busy road and the wall of a row of old shop building near Carpenter Street. This is something that we no longer see in KK but still found in many places in West Malaysia. This store which sells Cendol instantly reminded me of the Teochew Chendul (Read here) we had in Penang. In the end, I was more nostalgic about the traditional Cendol. I consider the Cendol Sago sold at this store to be a few stars behind compared to the Chendol in Penang as far as I am concerned!

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The most famous landmark in Kuching, the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly is visible from the hotel and within walking distance. To visit this landmark, we had to walk across Sarawak River via the "Crooked Pedestrian Bridge", which the local people like to call it. Our hotel is at the southern bank of Sarawak River within Kuching South City while the Legislative Building is at the northern bank within the Kuching North City. 

We hailed a boatman of a little boat who spent half an hour taking us around the vicinity of the Crooked Bridge. He too had this to say: "Someone you know who made a lot of money out of this bridge" after I said that the bridge must have been an expensive project. I knew he was referring to Sarawak former CM, Taib Mahmud.

Personally, I think the Crooked Bridge is a good project. The lighted-up bridge at night attract a lot of visitors. But I believe most are drawn to see the musical fountain built near the northern end of the bridge in front of the Legislative Building. 

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A friend in Kuching recommended us to dine at Lepau - a restaurant that serves Orang Ulu and Dayak food. This turned out to be a new culinary experience.

 

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Influenced by the TV's series "Jason's Market Trail", we also spent a morning at the huge Stutong Community Market. This two storey wet market is really huge. One can literally find anything  that you can think of - seafood, meats, vegetables, fruits, dried goods, clothing etc. Huge food court is found at the upper floor.

 

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Caught a glimpse of Mt. Santubong on the
way to Sarawak Cultural Village.

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We spent half a day at the Sarawak Cultural Village - a good place to understand the dwelling houses, handicrafts and culture of the indigenous people.

The climax of the tour is the cultural show at the auditorium

The visit to the Cultural Village ended with a lunch at the restaurant adjacent to the auditorium. That was another round of cuisine of the Ulu Orang and the Dayak - which they theme "Taste & Flavours of the Rainforest".