An Afternoon in Kay El : Sin Sze Yi Temple, Pasar Seni, Old Town

One of my favourite places to walk around in KL is around the old town where I get off an the Masjid Jamek LRT stop. The old colonial buildings of old KL still stand along the river delta. In fact, Masjid Jamek is located where KL's river splits into two. This is where the earliest development of Kuala Lumpur, the capital started. One of the men who contributed greatly to developing this city is a chinese labourer turned Kapitan, Yap Ah Loy. Despite his great contributions, Yap has not been given enough credit by the Malaysian government. He risks being omitted from Malaysian history in the near future.

One of the buildings which will stand as Yap's memorial is the Sin Sze Yi Temple, a stone's throw away from Pasar Seni, KL's Central Market. Most tourists who visit the Central Market are not aware of this temple. In fact, it should not be missed simply for the ambience and its history. It is one of the oldest temples in KL which is still welcoming devotees today.

The crowd peaks on major chinese festivals especially Chinese New Year. On normal days, it is tranquil and one can hear the occasional ritual chanted by the caretakers for the odd devotees coming in.

As a child, I would follow my family to this temple on the morning of the first day of chinese new year. I waited anxiously for my grandma to summon me when she is done with the praying at the main alters. One of the gods she prays to is the Scholar God. My grandma would call out to us kids to walk under the alter table from one side to the other. Apparently, this was supposed to make us more obedient and brighter in our studies. I can testify that this ritual, as it is, has a 50% effectiveness rate.

This afternoon, I find myself sitting on the long bench I used to sit on together with my dad and grandpa. We were just waiting for grandma, my mum and my aunties to finish with their prayers. Yeps...in a chinese family, even the praying is outsourced to the women folk. With both dad and grandma gone, I find myself drifting into a sentimental mood. So I do what most chinese do. I got up and move on.

The next on my agenda was the Pasar Seni. I am not a big fan of this place but there is a shop I fancy. Pasar Seni is the typical tourist trap. All dressed up but not much substance. The non-adventurous tourist will find it easy but expensive. Most stalls sell their goods at a 100% mark up on average. The store I visited is one of its kind in the world.

I arrived shortly after lunch. Ferrelle's owners is a brother and sister team. The sister designs the shoes and handbags. They are made from batik. I will not say it's Malaysian batik lest my Indonesian friends be dismayed. Whatever it is, I love the shoes and bags here. The owners are very helpful and given its unique design, I am more willing to pay the price quoted.

From Pasar Seni, I ventured on further to China Town. In my opinion, China Town's main street has become like an overly dressed lady with too much red rouge on. The show is put up for foreigners by mostly foreigners. I get mistaken for a Japanese again. The scores of Bangladeshi stall keepers and some chinese boys yelling out Japanese to me.
"Konichiwa?" No answer. Two seconds silence and then "Toyota? Suzuki? Honda?". I walked on trying to hide my grin.

The reason why I came to China Town was to buy some chinese tea at Purple Cane. For those who fancy a meal cooked with tea, >Purple Cane also has a restaurant nearby. But for this afternoon, I headed for some sago gula melaka at Culture Street.

With more calories in my system, I walked back to the Pasar Seni LRT station. Next stop, KLCC.

Suria KLCC is the posh shopping mall below the Petronas Twin Towers. Most international brands are available here. I opted for the food court. It has a wide array of food, both local and international in one space. I miss the food court concept which is non-existent in Denmark. To top it all, the food court has a nice view over KLCC park and the surrounding skyscrappers. Another place to sit and have a coffee is right above the food court at the Kinokuniya bookshop. I love the abundance of English books, something I find lacking in Denmark.

I left KLCC just before the 5pm crowd. Another nice afternoon in KL.

Happy Deepavali Malaysia

Me in my Saree

Today is Deepavali or Diwali (the Festival of Light). There has been a lot of talk about 1Malaysia by the government politicians and a lot of criticism by ordinary Malaysians who think it's one of the government's empty promises. Well, my girlfriend Cheryl and I decided to do it our own way by getting to know our fellow Malaysians who celebrate Deepavali. Putting aside the politicians and the critics, I think 1Malaysia stand a better chance of success if ordinary Malaysians show more interest and understanding in our respective cultures. Malaysia is, afterall, malay and chinese and indian and iban and penan ...all the spectrum of backgrounds we bring with us to this land. On Thursday, I took the LRT and got off the Masjid Jamek stop. A short stroll down the river, I came to the Masjid India area, named after the mosque built there. Masjid India is an area dominated mainly my Indian muslims. My mission was to find a saree and experience some of the Deepavali atmosphere there. It didn't disappoint.

Shortly after crossing the river, I started to hear hindi music and smell the jasmine flowers which were made into colourful garlands. There were girls having their hands painted with henna.

A Decorated Kolam

I found my saree in one of the shops. The shop owner was a lady with a very fine saree on. She smiled and made some comments about me to the shopkeeper in tamil. He then smiled at me. I guess it was something nice they said? She picked a size 34 top for me. I put it on and it was tight. She assured me that that is the wya it's supposed to be. I dared not argue. I then asked her what time would be best to visit the temple the next day. Happy with my new saree, I strolled further down the street. There were a lot of people. Many were sitting in the bright gold jewellery shops. Chennai Jewellery, Bombay Jewellery and so forth. Many stared at me as I squeezed through the crowd. I thought "hopefully in a generation or two, this will be a norm i.e.chinese Malaysians celebrating Deepavali".

I stopped at one of the stalls where I bought some gold and turqoise bangles. Next to it, I stopped and got myself some murukku. I left Masjid India two hours later and moved on back to the Masjid Jamek area.

Clad in our sarees, Cheryl and I joined the Indian crowd at the Sri Mariamman temple this morning. Obviously, we were drawing a lot of attention. I was happy to find two other chinese young men who were there to shoot some photos. I thought to myself that when I move back to Malaysia, photography will be a good way to learn more about this country.

Cheryl turned out to be the perfect companion for this experience. Not only is she a great yoga teacher, but her interest in Indian culture and philosophy brings her to India for her personal pilgrimages. At the temple, I simply follow her lead.

First, we took off our shoes and then we washed our feet. We started with the main prayer hall where the chief deity Sri Maha Mariamman is in the middle. There were devotees lined up on either side of the centre space. Two priests held silver trays in their hands. On the trays were an oil lamp, some flowers and red powder. Cheryl guided me when we stood in line to receive blessings from the priests.

I placed some donation money on the tray and placed my hands close to the litted lamp. The priest dropped some red powder on my palms. I then used to powder to dot my forehead. Blessed am I!

We proceeded to the smaller halls, each time bending down to touch the floor before we enter. Cheryl explained to me that this is how we pay respect to the ground we were stepping into. As we watch the devotees pray and chant, Cheryl explained how the rotation of the lamp in their hand symbolizes different things. Clockwise for the Gods and anti-clockwise for those who have passed away.

On one of the prayer halls, devotees circled the middle alter of jasmine flowers and oil lamps. I was told that one could circle it 9 times or 108 times as they chant. holding an oil lamp. I followed those who clasp their palms together when one of the devotees waved at me to join in. The moist and scent of jasmine was really hypnotising. I glanced up once and saw the chart on the wall showing the position of the nine planets within the hall. One of the devotees in front of me poked a hole into his counting paper each time he completed a circle.

As I completed the nine circles, a chinese man took photographs of me. It was quite hillarious as he whispered "I'm such a bad photographer!" each time I hear the click on his camera.

We left the hall into the open space when a group of indian boys asked us to take some pictures with them. Strange, isn't it? It was harmless fun, I guess.

We stayed a little longer discussing why there are no guided tours for such things in Malaysia. I know many of my foreigner friends would be interested in seeing this side of Malaysia rather than just going to a tourist spot to snap pictures. Well, the more cultured of my friends anyway.

All in all, we left quite happy. Hinduism is truly an open religion. It is not money focussed. It is open to everyone. I felt very welcomed at Sri Mariamman today. I would recommend any visitor to Malaysia this special opportunity to share the experience of The Festival Of Light.