Chinese New Year Celebration for the Physically Handicapped

The Association for the Physically Handicapped, Taiping held a small scale celebration for the members on 19th Feb. 2012.  The event took place at its official premises - 122 Thomson Road, Taiping.  Volunteers and well-wishers gathered early to welcome the children and inmates.

The official premises of the Association for the Physically Handicapped, Taiping

Volunteers helping a member to get down from the van onto a wheelchair. 

Leader of the district committee, Dr Micheal Wong, gave a welcome speech.  

Children from the centre posing for a picture.

Children from the centre enjoyed tossing the "yee sang" together.

Dr Micheal Wong handing out 'ang-pow' to the members and children.

Mr Francis helping to distribute oranges around the hall.

Food is served.

At the end of the day, everyone had a good time together.

Seen Hock Yeen temple in Chemor

Somewhere just outside the town of Chemor in Perak, is this temple - Seen Hock Yeen temple, a very beautiful place that must be visited if one is in the vicinity of Chemor.  Just ask the locals and they will tell you the way to get there.  The temple ground covers a vast area which includes a lake at the centre, surrounded by several temples and related structures.  

When passing through Chemor town, look out for the traffic lights after the shell petrol station and take the road that leads to Tanjung Rambutan on the left.  Not far from the junction is an overhead railway bridge, not far from the bridge, turn left at the first junction and go straight, the temple is on your right. 

When you turn left after the railway overhead bridge, you will see this sign board to the temple. 

This is the wall with the name and the address of the temple. 

A large brass bell stands at the entrance to the temple.  People who donate money for oil for the lamps at the temple get to sound the bell.  

The doorway to the main altar of the temple.

The  main altar faces the lake.  Large joss sticks are burnt as devotees offer prayers. 

The next pavilion houses another deity, as devotees are taken on a guided tour by a temple committee member.  

On the courtyard are statues of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac.

Another pavilion for another deity, again the official guide will explain to the devotees on information about the deity. 

Then, it's time to cross the bridge to the other side of the lake.  Notice that one is not allowed to cross the bridge without permission.  In other words, only those guided by the temple officials are allowed to do so. When crossing the bridge, everyone should remain silent and should look to the left.

This is the view from the other side of the lake, after crossing the bridge. 

An artificial waterfall greets the visitors on this side of the lake, and devotees make a wish by throwing coins at the head of the fountain. 

Finally, the devotees were taken one round of the lake and back to the main pavilion and refreshment is served.

Old Cinemas in Taiping

     Not so very long ago, cinema was the place to go for an affordable entertainment.  School children, young couples, families and lonely souls, all found it a place to escape from the harsh realities of life for an hour or two.  Tickets for a show were affordable -ranging from 65 cents to two Malaysian dollars in the early sixties and seventies.  Gradually, the prices went up from RM4 to RM 6 in the nineties.  It became no longer cheap anymore for many.  Then came digital technology and home entertainment units.  That spelled the end of many cinemas.    The cinemas in Taiping too faced the same destiny, all the old cinemas stopped screening movies, for it was no longer profitable to do so.  Some of the old cinema buildings have been renovated and have assumed  new functions.  Others were not so lucky, they were demolished and left no trace at all.  Here are some old cinema buildings that have survived demolition, but for how long, I don't know.  

CAPITOL CINEMA

 

 

The Capitol cinema is located at Jalan Chung Thye Phin, a short distance from the New Market.  It used to show Chinese movies and has a spacious car park.  After it had stopped screening movies, this place was converted into another form of entertainment centre.  It becomes the Capitol Club - a fun pub and karaoke centre.  

CATHAY CINEMA 

 The Cathay cinema is located at Jalan Ngah Ibrahim,  next to Soon Lee Restarurant.   In fact, the compound of the Cathay cinema is now converted into a car park for the patrons of Soon Lee Restaurant.  As for the building itself, it is left to rot.  In the past, this cinema used to show mostly English movies and a few Malay, Hindi and Chinese movies too. Those who used to go to this cinema could still remember the famous cathay 'lok-lok' stall by the roadside just beside the cinema.  I think the stall is still there by it has lost many of its patrons.   The Cathay group has now moved into modern cineplex business in shopping malls and so all its old cinemas are no longer in operation.       

LIDO CINEMA

The Lido cinema is located at Jalan Sultan Abdullah.  It was also very popular because of its location.  It is easily accessible and has a large parking area.  Patrons to the cinema used to frequent the famous Lido laksa stall located within the cinema building.  It was definitely  'good' laksa prepared by the Chinese owner.  After it stopped showing movies, the building was rented out as a place for warehouse sales.  That business failed. It was also rented to a video games operator, and that too failed.  Then, it is now rented out to a restaurant / hawker centre at the back and a karaoke centre operates within the premises.  

MANDARIN CINEMA     

The Mandarin Cinema is located at Jalan Stesen, just behind the HSBC Bank.   It used to show Chinese, English and Indian movies.  This was also the place in Taiping to have a delicious bowl of ice-kacang. The stall was located within the car-park area and was always full of customers.  I think it was in the early eighties when the cinema caught fire and most of the interior of the building was destroyed.  The cinema was left abandoned like that since then and no one has moved in to rent that place and neither is there any sign of renovation.  We are all left to wonder what the future of this place would be like.  Let's wait and see. 

Brastagi to Lake Toba

The journey continued through the beautiful countryside from Brastagi to Lake Toba. It took about four hours by bus and we moved from Batak Simalungun territory to Batak Toba region.  The people there grew beautiful flowers, fruit trees and vegetable on the fertile volcanic soil.  The dark volcanic soil can be seen all over the area.  

This is the district governor's office and it is built according to the traditional Batak architectural style. 

Nearby, there is this big mosque, as there is a large number of Muslims in this area. 

Not to far away, is this Hurai Batak Protestant church, which is also built according to traditional Batak style.

As the bus stopped at a Pertamina Petrol Station to for a gas refill, the view of the active volcano, 

Mt. Sinabung, at the background, is just magnificent.

A van-bus filled with passengers too pulled up for gas.  This is the only petrol station between Brastagi and Lake Toba, so most vehicles traveling along this road stop for a refill.   

All around, is agricultural land, and with the rich volcanic soil, almost anything grows well here.  

This is the family cemetery.  Each farming family will allocate a small area for burial of family members.  Of course, the great grand ancestor who first worked on the land is given a grand memorial / grave such as this one.  The whole countryside here is dotted with family graves, from farm to farm. 

The favourite food of the Batak here - Babi Panggang Karo.  In every village, there will be stalls with the sign BPK - selling roast pigs. 

Finally, after four hours the bus arrived at Parapat, a town at the edge of Lake Toba.  This is the famous Sipiso-piso waterfalls, located at the fringe of Lake Toba. 

A school near Parapat.

 

This is Permatang Purba, the village of the royal palaces of the King of Batak Simalungun.

This is one of the reconstructed royal houses at the village.

Tourists going from house to house to inspect the royal palaces. 

This is the largest palace, and it is said that this was the house of the 24 wives of the King!

Lake Toba is finally visible, and its vastness is simply mind-blogging!  It is said to be about a few times the size of Singapore island! 

Lake Toba seen from another place

Lake Toba, seen with its islands in the centre.   

The weather was just nice that day for getting a good picture of the lake.