Though it's a small island, it yields many pleasant surprises. Not having the kind of land we have on the mainland forces people to be creative. All the houses are built on stilts of course, and the roads inside the island do not allow passage of cars anything larger than a bike (though we did see some carts driven by diesel motors). Cycling is the most wheeled transport.
People painted their houses in various bright colours. We saw blue houses, orange houses, purple (or is it lavender) houses, and many other colours. Their taste in colour would certainly shock our staid housing developers!
The air is fresh and invigorating, a rarity in the smog and haze-filled air of the cities. Life forms that we were not familiar with thrived on this island. I mistook mudskippers for newts (thanks Kok Cheng). Wooden bridges, some still solid, some a little rickety, formed a significant part of the transportation "system". Gradually, they are being replaced by concrete pathways. (Which I regret somewhat, as it diminishes that old village charm).
There is also a shipyard where wooden ships are made by hand. Will this art form survive the ravages of modernisation? Will Pulau Ketam as a whole be able to withstand being buffetted by the winds of change?
See more of these photos on my Facebook albums at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=113438&id=606887744&l=cf8c57057b
No comments:
Post a Comment