Singapore Heritage Society organised a five day tour to Colonial Perak, Malaysia led by Dr Lai Chee Kien. It was an intense trip to places I would have never otherwise gone myself. I found myself photographing not so much the sights themselves but Singaporeans seeing this Malaysia for the first time. The very colonial Padangs, five footways and Istanas. Every thing was familiar yet unfamiliar. The photo below sees us examining the first rubber tree that was planted in Malaysia by Henry Ridley in Kuala Kangsar. The same Ridley who headed Singapore’s first Botanic Gardens. Later, I watched Amir Muhammad’s The Last Communist again, and saw the same locations and people including Taiping historian Lee Eng Kew and my beloved charcoal factory in Kuala Sepetang featured from the MCP’s point of view! Love it!
