What a beautiful backdrop, don't you think so? The lady in the picture is Anna Harvey from Sheffield, England, who happens to be the great-granddaughter of Leslie William Arnold, a former pre-World War Two headmaster of Penang Free School.
So there I was with the Headmaster, Syed Sultan, when Anna arrived with Geam Liang in tow, basically because she was his guest. We had a good 45 minutes of exchanging information, myself telling her about the school and she telling us about her family. Then the Headmaster whipped out a copy of Let the Aisles Proclaim to present to her and I did the honour of adding my signature to the book.
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| Myself, Anna, Syed Sultan and Geam Liang who was the School Captain in 1977, and a teacher in the Free School for several years from 1992, which made him an ex-colleague of Syed Sultan too. And incidentally, Syed Sultan had his first posting in Penang Free School in 1992, left in 2000 to be a Senior Assistant elsewhere and returned as the Free School Headmaster in January 2022. |
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Later, Geam Liang and I took her on a quick tour of the school. Visited the hall where she was happy to see Arnold's picture above one of the doors, the school plaques - the Headmaster plaque as well as the Roll of Honour where Arnold's contributions were acknowledged. Then onward to the Archives block where she tried searching for Arnold in some of the old school publications and archived pictures. She asked a lot of questions about some other personalities featured in the room, like Tunku Abdul Rahman, P Ramlee and Lim Chong Eu. Anna took particular interest in the music score of the School Rally.
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| Any resemblance? Nope, I don't think so! But yes, four generations apart. |
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| It's a shame that these old colonial bungalows are rather rundown and unoccupied. They are also very big with several bedrooms on the top floor which is accessible from an external staircase at the back. The kitchen and presumably the servant's quarters are in a separate annexe behind the main bungalow building. These bungalows were built three years before the main school building was occupied in 1928 and the senior school masters moved in to stay from 1925. At that time, they bordered the fringes of the jungle in the Green Lane area. This must have been a very secluded spot then, totally unsafe and eerie. I wonder whether there were any security then, from animals or even unwelcomed people. |
A short walk took us to the former Headmaster's bungalow which has been transformed into the Penang Digital Library. Anna was fascinated by the idea of a digital library but wasn't sure of how it works. I could only tell her vaguely that the members could borrow the digital books to read on their computers for a limited time before the access to the books expired. We looked over the bungalow but with every nook and cranny already completely renovated and modernised, there wasn't anything much to appreciate. But I believe the staircases still maintained their old charm.
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Breath-taking view of the Bukit Mertajam hill at Cherok Tokun this morning as I left the house. A blend of hill that was partially covered with clouds.
This is my first time stepping into this place - not far from our house - but their offers are certainly value for money, in my opinion, because if one orders two or three items from their "small" menu, although we ordered only one, before proceeding to the heavier "big" menu which can be shared by two people, one's appetite certainly cannot go unsatisfied!
So this was our little adventure of the day in Bukit Mertajam searching for a finer dining experience.
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| Brinjal Bruschetta on a sourdough base |
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| Kagoshima Pork Loin |
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| Roasted Cauliflower |
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| See you again! |
There were many high points in our Kedah road trip with the Nandaka Vihara monks last month but undoubtedly, the highlight was the overnight stay at the Jerai Hill Resort up at Gunong Jerai. Personally, this was our second visit to the resort as we had visited in April last year.
This time around, we booked ourselves and the whole group of monks and volunteers into the chalets instead of the duplex apartments. Everyone in the group enjoyed the cool air and moreover, they enjoyed the breath-taking views which looked over the Kedah rice fields and coastline at Yan District.
I could see that they were most impressed with the evening views. The Sri Lankan monk was the first to make a beeline for the viewpoint as he waited patiently for the sun to drop below the horizon. Soon enough, he was joined by the chief monk as well as the volunteers who had joined the road trip. There were 15 of us in total, if I'm not mistaken.
At about eight o'clock, a group of the volunteers assembled outside for chanting until the temperature became too cold for them to continue. Me? I had preferred the warmer temperature of the chalets. We moved off in the morning after breakfast but I could sense that one day, we shall return again to the Jerai Hill Resort.
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| Enjoying some small talk with Mr Salim, the General Manager of Jerai Hill Resort |
Unlike Sungai Batu which was the centre of commerce and industry around the Third Century, the Bujang Valley archaeological site, about 6½ kilometres away as the crow flies, was the seat of Hinduism and Buddhism in pre-Islamic Kedah. The Bujang Valley was located at the base of Kedah Peak - or what is now known as the Jerai Hills - which could be seen from a long way off and seafarers could easily navigate themselves towards this centre of commerce and religion.
My wife and I first visited the Bujang Valley archaeological site in April 2022. We had walked the grounds and visited every one of the five chandi structures there. But unfortunately, all that are present today are the broken-down remains. As important relics, these chandi structures are now all cordoned off for preservation. Visitors are prevented from getting too close and damaging them.
When we visited the archaeological site last month with some monks from the Nandaka Vihara meditation society, we chose to look through the exhibits in the museum which we missed the last time. I was astonished by rick collection. The displays were evidence of a flourishing Bujang Valley all those centuries ago. Traders from China, India and the Middle East had made their way here to interact with one another. This was a significant cultural hotspot for centuries until it was gradually abandoned over time (why?) and eventually forgotten, only for it to be discovered later by the archaeologists.
By the way, this museum, and in fact, the whole archaeological site, is part of the Jerai Geopark.
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| Tuyere, an important tool in the smelting and processing of iron. It is a wind blower in which air is sent to the furnace to regulate the temperature for various types of metal. The word comes from the Old German word tuyau and this tool is also called tu-iron, twyer or twire-pipe. |
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| Jars for liquid storage |
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| Glazed urine pots from Siam |
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| Clay pots with stamping technique |
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| Hundreds of thousands of ancient beads of various shapes, sizes and colours were discovered at Sungai Mas in Kuala Muda. These beads were made of glass, gemstones, onyx, comelian, shell, turquoise stone, gold silver, clay, terracotta and fish bones |
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| Obviously from the Middle-East |
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| It would be a bit remiss to write about the museum without saying something about the archaeological site itself. There are various chandi structures on display here. For example, the Pendiat Temple which was originally located in Kampong Pendiat and subsequently relocated to the archaeological grounds. |
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| This Bukit Batu Pahat Temple was the main temple in the Bujang Valley. It was originally sited in Bukit Batu Pahat and subsequently relocated here by the archaeologists. |
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| Initially found in Kampong Bendang Dalam, this chandi was taken apart and painstakingly reassembled here, just like all the rest |
Day 4 was not supposed to happen. Not for me, anyway. But suddenly, I realised that I had some loose ends to tie up with my friend, Siang Jin, and he was at the school. So willy-nilly, I joined up with him on the final day of our exploration. Truth was, there was a lot left to explore. What a wise man told me several years ago was correct. If you slow down, you will notice more of everything around you. If you rush from one place to another, you will miss seeing many important things in your life. So these four days at Penang Free School did a lot to unveil several beautiful aspects of school life and the school building. Who knows, we may yet return for more photo-shoots in the future....
Click here for Day 3 pictures
Click here for Day 2 pictures
Click here for Day 1 pictures
The Sungai Batu archaeological site is a stone's throw from the Sungai Merbok mangrove forest reserve, barely 2.5 kilometres separate them. However, getting from the forest reserve to the archaeological site by car takes one through a 7.5-kilometre route. However, the place is well worth a visit to learn a bit more about the rich history of the Bujang Valley.
Here in Sungai Batu, one can see the remains of old stone furnaces that dated back to the Third Century which were used for iron smelting. There is also evidence of an old riverine network from the remains of an old jetty used to load and unload trade commodities that may include iron ore. Although the ancient river has disappeared, these remains showed that Sungai Batu was once part of a maritime network connected to other parts of Southeast Asia, India and possibly China.
Sungai Batu is thus one of the most significant archaeological sites in the country. It offers valuable insights into the ancient trading networks, cultural exchanges and technological advancements of the Iron Age civilisations in South-east Asia. And like the Sungai Merbok mangrove forest reserve, it is part of the Jerai Geopark complex.
ADDENDUM: What a coincidence! There's a web story from Channel News Asia today on this very same topic: the sungai Batu archaeological site which can be read here. It mentioned that Sungai Batu is possibly older than Borobudur in Indonesia and Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The Malaysian Government must be appreciative of this fact and be brave enough to support the archaeological studies around Sungai Batu and the Bujang Valley fully and not let politics or the past cloud its better judgment.
