fate

This cat family was living under the door steps of the Chinese Historical Museum located at the waterfront in Kuching when I last saw them. I only managed to develop the film and scanned the negative recently. This was the second last time I saw them. The second evening before I left for KL. The first time I met the mother cat was a few weeks back from the time I shot this picture. I had a very cheap compact camera with me that was given free from the purchase of some electrical appliance.

The next time I saw her again, she already had her kittens. I left for KL a few days later. May be I’ll see them again some day.

my father

A snap of my father with an ancient olympus sp35 I found in a drawer. The full auto feature still works pretty well, surprisingly.

bookstores in kuching

I have been running around kuching looking for books on sarawak and kuching. Here is the list of bookshops I have been to and some comments.

1. Star (时达）bookstore at main bazaar. This is a very old bookstore in kuching. They have plenty of textbooks and some old general books as well. This is where I found the K.F.Wong’s biography. They obviously have not been buying any new books. Most of their books look like second hand book. Still, there is always some surprises in between the piles of old books.

2.青天bookstore is located somewhere behind Tun Jugah shopping mall. They have plenty of textbooks and only very little general books.

3. The shop at Dewan Tun Abdul Razak. This is sort of like a souvenir shop for the museum. They have some very antique books on sarawak in the shop as well.

4. The Red bookshop at pustaka negeri library. There aren’t many books on sarawak there but sometimes their discounted old books can be pretty good buy.

5. Book Castle at Jalan Keretapi. This is where I bought most of my used books. I don’t know if this is the only one in kuching but this is the only second hand bookshop I know. A very friendly owner.

6. Glory Art at Crown Tower. They have a good collection of books from china. They also carry some locally published books. They sell a wide range of things from paintings, tea sets, chinese chess set to chinese paint brushes.

7. Popular bookstores. The local kuching popular bookstores are just smaller version of those in KL. They don’t carry any local books.

8. The small bookshop cum moneychanger at LG of sarawak plaza. They do carry some really good books on sarawak.There aren’t any new addition. Most of them are pretty old. the owner doesn’t seem very interested to maintain the bookshop anymore.

9. Smart bookstore at hock lee centre. They carry a wide range of books including some local writers.

10. Sarawakraf Pavillion. This is a restaurant and a souvenir shop at Jln Tabuan. They have some borneo books as well but very limited. But a good place to buy souvenirs. Better than any of the shops at main bazaar.

The best place to find books in kuching is still the DBKU library and the Pustaka Library. I wouldn’t have to buy so many books if I were staying in kuching.

Books from Kuching

Only another few days to go before I have to end my stay in kuching. So i thought I put together my books for an inventory to make sure I can get them all back to KL in one piece.

1. Alternative Medicine: Should we swallow it? Published by the Institute of Ideas in 2002. A collection of essays by Tiffany Jenkins, Anthony Campbell, Sarah Cant, Brid Hehir, Michael Fox and Michael Fitzpatrick. Each essays gave very balanced views approaching the various contemporary issues and subject of alternative medicine. Don’t expect an answer to the debate. At the end of the day, it is about knowing how to detect the ballony from the facts with evidence. A worthy RM5 book from the Pustaka Negeri Library bookshop.

2. “Introduction to Photography” by Robert B. Rhode and Floyd H. McCall. Published by The MacMillan Company, London, 1965. A very comprehensive book on the basics of photography. A good reference.

3. “Kids say the darndest things!” by Art Linkletter. A hardcover book published by Prentice Hall in 1957. It also has the illustration by Charles M. Schulz and foreword by Walt Disney. A great book for light reading.

4. “Care of the Dog” by Will Judy. I don’t really care much for dog but I bought this book simply because it was published in 1946 by Judy Publishing Company. And also the very funny way it was written accompanied by some really funny illustrations. very different considering it was illustrated in 1946.

5. “My First Kitten” by Rosmarie Hausherr. This is perhaps the best buy I got this time. Published in 1985 by Macmillan Publishing. Rosmarie Hausherr is an awardwinning photographer in US. This is a story about a young boy’s journey to discover the experience of having a cat as a pet. Along with the story are excellent black and white photos by Rosmarie. I love the photos and the story. The condition of the hardcover is abit bad but the rest of the book is in great condition.

6. Some academic books: “Reading the popular” by John Fiske. An old academic book published in 1989. “Consumer Culture and Postmodernism” by Mike Featherstone. Sage London 1991. “Origins of Modern Sculpture” by W.R.Valentiner. Wittenborn and Company, New York, 1946. “Asylum” by Ervin Goffman.

7. Ho Ah Chon’s books: Sarawak in Pictures 1940s-1970s, Kuching 1960-1963 Sir Alexander Waddell’s Era, Kuching 1950-1959 Sir Anthony Foster Abell’s Era, Kuching in Pictures 1841-1991, Kuching in 1990, The Sarawak River.

8. “世界著名摄影家黄杰夫” by 房汉佳 and 林韶华. A biography of K.F.Wong the photographer. This book was published in China in 1995. Mr.Wong passed away quietly in 1998 年10月14日 at the age of 83 in his home village in Fujian. He was once famous for his pictorial books Borneo Scene, Pagan Innocence and the vanishing world. He also founded the sarawak photographic society and started his own commercial studio in 1938. Anna studio today is still a familiar name for many in kuching.

9. “The Book of the cat” edited by Michael and Sally Walters. Published by Summit Books New York in 1980. This is not only an encyclopedic book on cats but the pictures of cats in the books were not photos but fantastic illustrations of cats by a painter named Peter Warner(http://www.peterwarner.com/).

Although the libraries here in Kuching are very convenient, but I just can’t figure out where to go to find books on sarawak and kuching. What happen to all the writers and publishers from kuching and sarawak? Where are their books? I can find them in libraries but no bookshops seem to carry any stock of those books. Anyway, there is a limit how much I can carry back.

the square tower, kuching

No, this is not the square tower by the riverside. This is the government clinic at Mosque road. “Si-bang-lao” in hokkien. “Si-Bang” means square and “lao” means tower or building. This is the common people’s clinic. The tiny two row parking area is always packed with cars. The cramp little waiting areas inside is also always filled with the sick. The photo was taken when the haze was still around. Before eight in the morning, the clinic was already packed with people. Incidently, the square tower title does not refer to this building. It was the old clinic building that locals remembered. I am not sure which one from my father’s description, but it is located opposite the post office, somewhere behind the round tower. The round tower was used as the clinic and dispensary before. But this is not the one. It is the wooden building behind it. I will have to verify this when I pass by the place again. But when you mention si-bang-lao, everyone knows what it refers to and what to do there.

I brought my father for his blood test. The clinic is for outpatient treatment and also the testing laboratory. We came about 7:30am, half-an-hour before the clinic opened to take a number. He only needed to have his blood sample taken for testing and ECG test for the heart.

The central padang is on the left of the picture, where some of the huge cotton tree (I think) still around since my childhood days.

historical buildings in kuching #2

Another two maps from 1890 and 1917.

Kuching Historical Buildings

A good reference for the location of historical buildings in Kuching. There are 17 buildings listed above:

1. The Istana (1870)
2. The Sarawak Museum (1891)
3. General Post Office (1931)
4. Fort Margherita (1879)
5. The Square Tower (1879)
6. The court House (1874)
7. The Pavilion (1909)
8. Chinese Chamber of Commerce (1912)
9. The Sarawak Club (1927)
10. The Indian Mosque (1876)
11. The Diocesan (1886)
12. Kuching Prison (1882)
13. The Bishop’s House (1849)
14. The Round Tower (1886)
15. Tua Pek Kong Temple (1876)
16. Kuek SEng Ong Temple (1895)
17. Guan Thian Siang Ti Temple (1889)

This is taken from Ho Ah Chon’s book “Sarawak in Pictures”. This same photographer has also published and compiled many books related to the history in Sarawak. I have not been able to find much information about this author. All the limited edition books are very expensive. And the few copies in the DBKU library may not last very long with many pages missing already. Here are some of the books all by the same author:

1. Kuching In Pictures 1840s-1960s (Vanguard press)

2. Kuching in Pictures 1990 (see hua daily)

3. Kuching in Pictures 1991 (see hua daily)

4. Kuching: 1950-1959: Sir Anthony Foster Abell’s era (1960)

5. Kuching: 1960-1963: Sir Alexander Waddell’s era (1991)

6. Sarawak in Pictures 1940s-1970s

7. Sarawak Historical Events 1941-1945

8. Sarawak Historical Events 1961-1963

9. The history of Kuching Municipal (1997)

10. Changing landscape of Kuching (1995)

Here is the man in person, taken from the same book.

Recent Photo Events in Kuching

I am somewhat fortunate and unfortunate at the same time to come back to Kuching during this time. There is finally some rain today. This is the first time I see rain at my house in Everbright Jaya since my return more than a week ago. As I am writing this, rain finally pouring down outside. Hopefully this time it will last longer.

I am a bit fortunate to run into several photography events in Kuching last week. A senior photographer Tai Lek Pin (FRPS) is having his works exhibited at the Boonia Frame Gallery(文雅轩in chinese). It is located at Jalan Padungan. It doesn’t look anything like a gallery from the outside that one travel blog I ran into actually mistook it for a wine shop because there were a few bottles of chinese wine displayed at the shop window. The gallery owner is Mr. Liew Boon Poh, a chinese caligrapher himself. He just had the master Chieh Thien Song over from KL for an exhibition in July. Mr.Tai, the photographer is an old timer in Sarawak. He’s the founder of Pearl Studio now ran by his son Jonathan Tai, who is a well-known photographer as well. I was very fortunate again to have a short chat with Mr.Tai at the gallery. He is not only a good photographer but also a great writer.

I also ran into a Sarawak Photographic Society’s exhibition held in Tun Abdul Razak Museum. It was showing a collection of works by the society members. It was not a very well curated exhibition but with a great variety of works on display.

And most fortunate of all, I attended a gathering of the Sarawak photo-art society at Crown Tower yesterday evening. It was a sharing session from one of the member 刘勇辉 from his trip to Dongchuan and Yuanyang China in April this year. There was a pretty good turnout from the members and a few non-members as well. Most of the committees I met are all commercial photographers. This is definitely an interesting group to explore.