After walking my daughter to school last Friday morning, I decided to take a short-cut home. When I reached the vast parking lot between Pudu Prison and Hang Tuah LRT station, I saw an elderly Caucasian gentleman standing in front of one of the two remaining watch towers of the half-demolished prison. He was immaculately dressed and worn a cowboy hat. In his hands were a sketch book and a pen. The weather was kind to him, it was a clear day and he was busy sketching away. Being curious of what he was drawing, I walked towards him.
“Excuse me sir, are you drawing the prison’s tower?” I asked him smilingly.
“Yes, that one with a pointed roof!” he replied amiably. “Come, have a look,” he offered me his half-finished work.
It was beautifully drawn, right to the last detail – just exactly how it looked like right in front of us. It looked real indeed. I was impressed by his artistic talent.
“What’s your name and where’re you from?” I asked, handing him back the sketch book.
“Oh, I’m Buz Walker Teach and I’m an American,” he answered casually.
“So, are you a professional artist or are you doing it as a hobby?” I queried further.
“Well, I’m an artist and I used to lecture in one of the local university in Kuala Lumpur for a few years before I went to Singapore where I’m based now,” he revealed.
“Oh I see-so you’re an artist,”
“I’m back here for a couple of days, so I thought I better record them down before they’re gone forever a couple of years later!” he laughed lightly, shaking his head.
“You better do it fast, soon all these historical buildings will be a thing of the past,” I advised him.
“Yup, what we’re going to have later will all be like that ugly thing!” he said, pointing to the tall dark brown colored Berjaya Times Square building looming in front of us. We both laughed.
“It’s real sad, to see you guys tearing down all these cultural and historical structures; they are your national identities, your soul, I mean, you Malaysians should have keep them for your future generations,” he said, shaking his head as his eyes kept gluing onto his sketch book. I could detect some sadness and regrets in his gentle voice.
“Sadly those in powers do not share your view. They could not see the beauty that you are seeing now. All they could see are the opportunities to make lots of money replacing these historical structures with brand new ones,” I said, feeling ashamed that a foreigner could see the need to preserve our identity when our own authorities could not.
“Yeah, it’s a pity,” he agreed.
“I have some photos of the prison’s interior, taken before they demolished the wall surrounding it. Some arches, stairs, windows and doors are very unique; perhaps you might like to draw them too. I also have the pictures of the towers facing Jalan Pudu. Give me your e-mail address and I’ll send them to you,” I made him an offer.
“Sure, that would be lovely,” he said delightedly and handed me his business card.
“Have you been to Chinatown further down? There are some interesting buildings there which could be torn down soon to make way for the MRT project?” I asked him.
“Oh yes, I intended to draw them too before going back home. In fact I have been to Penang and Malacca for the same reason too,” he said keenly.
“You mean you drew the Kek Lok Si Temple, the Khoo Kongsi clan house and those tourist attractions of Malacca?”
“Yup, all of them, they are very exotic and very Asian, you should be proud of these architectural wonders!” Buz pointed out.
“I think Penang is safe, its Chief Minister is a sensible fellow but I’m not so sure of Malacca and my hometown of Ipoh, the buildings there might be still here today but will be gone tomorrow,” I said sadly.
“Singapore fared better in its heritage preservation exercise. They managed to keep some real gems and here’s that famous Emerald Hill mansion,” he said, showing me his sketch book again.
“Oh, that’s nice,” I can’t help marveling his passion for buildings with historical flavor.
“Sorry, I got to go now, I’ll send you those photos soon,” I said and bade him goodbye.
“Thanks,” he said, “and good luck to Malaysia in preserving her rich heritage!”
I nodded and smiled as I walked away from that spot.
Thank you for recording these down for us Buz, I knew one day soon, they will all be gone!
P/S Buz had just sent two of his sketches to me to be shared with my readers. Thanks Buz, for your enthusiasm and generosity!
‘
Find out more : Our heritage building through the eyes of Buz Walker
April 9, 2012 by Ipohgal
.
Also appeared in Malaysia Chronicle
Wake up BN: Our heritage buildings – here today, gone tomorrow!
Written by Frances Yip ( The Scissors Sharpener’s Daughter )
.
You may visit to Buzwalker’s flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/buzwalker/
.
.jpg?resize=200%2C200)
188 Hugh Low Street, Ipoh 
Really very sad indeed. Even a foreigner knows how to appreciate our historical buildings. When I was at Bon Ton, Langkawi for the first time, I told the owner, an Australian lady that I really like the resort and restaurant which feature reclaimed and restored kampung houses. She said to me that they are preserving the houses which are our heritage because very little is being done about them. She is hoping to save more pre-war buildings. *hangs head down in shame*
Hi Barb,
I could feel the shame too 😦 Shame that foreigners are helping us to preserve our heritage 🙂 while our own could only see the $$$$$$ in front of them 😦
All my life I’ve had dreams of architecture – different, inexplicable ones. Looking back at my early childhood in Penang, [6 to nearly 9], I now realise where they may have originated from. (I’m English btw). I had no idea there was so much beauty – both Malayan and the Colonial in Penang as well as on the mainland.
So many treasures, like people, unrecognised for their value, shunned or crushed if they’re in the way of certain people’s ugly march towards worldwide conformity and greed.
Hi Sheila,
There are many heritage buildings in Malaysia, especially in Penang, Malacca, Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh that are worth keeping for the next generations to marvel at. 🙂
Too bad our authorities, in their zeal to erase our colonial past, demolished them one by one, particularly those with Anglo-Sino flavours. In their places now, stood cold and soulless concrete and glass skyscrappers. 😦
Well, I can understand wanting to get rid of a Colonial past – Malaysia (sorry, in my head, it’s still Malaya) has its own inherent qualities. The truth is is that worldwide people have stomped all over each other at one time or another, have either been absorbed into the mix or left good things behind.
Yes, plenty of cold concrete and glass over here too. Some modern and contemporary buildings can be beautiful, but too few, too few and most are horrendous. They want people like that (workers, citizens). Our culture does at least try to keep the treasures we have.
Hi Sheila,
The more we wanted to forget our past, the more it will come back to haunt us. Why not turn these heritage buildings to work for our advantage, like turning them into tourist attractions that will generate income instead of just demolishing them? Just my opinion 🙂
Couldn’t agree with you more Ipohgal. That’s what we’ve done. The National Trust and other individual people or Heritage companies look after them, repair them and collect fees from visitors – from both home and abroad: it’s an expensive business, but they do very well. We’re fascinated by the architectural, cultural, artistic and historical aspects – looking at an old way of life interests most people, whether people were of high station or low. Human beings just can’t help being fascinated by how other people live and have lived. 😀
My ex-husband was a landscape gardener working for the National Trust and we lived on site in a house that dated back to the 16th century – the main house was about 12th Century I think, with a moat around it. Beautiful gardens can attract people for their own sake and help give an aura to the place.
There are also a lot of smaller places as well as the large houses – cottages, even relatively small modern brick buildings – built maybe in the 30’s which illustrate what it was like to live in those times – what food , clothes, manners, beliefs, customs etc. It’s education for the children too, who may see that we haven’t always lived the way we do now. Even on a small scale, it’s possible.
Hi Sheila,
You’re absolutely correct – humans are indeed curious and fascinated with how people used to live in the past – their dwellings, their way of life – that is why many of us would travel all over the world to find out more from places other than our own.
In the town of Melaka or Malacca, there still stood some private heritage houses of the Baba and Nyonya people. They are also called “Straits Chinese” or “Peranakan” whereby they dressed, speak and eat like the Malays but in certain aspects like faith or beliefs, they are on the Chinese side.
Google Baba and Nyonya homes, then type “images” and you can have a glimpse into how their homes and furnitures looks like. You can drop in and have a tour inside for a fee. It is very popular among foreign tourists. It is like walking into a living museum. 🙂
In Ipoh, we have some beautiful townhouses along Panglima Lane, also known as Concubine Lane. The mistresses of rich tin-mining owners are kept in these houses, hence the name of these narrow lanes. But these properties are not being kept in good order, were abandoned and neglected. I will feature this place in my next blog since you are interested in heritage buildings!
Thank you very much! I’ll have a look! 😀
Re: facing the past. I agree with you about that too.
Britain has been trying to face its Empire building past – and further back than that too, with mixed results, and sometimes it can be hard, but at least we’re trying and there has been some understanding. There are some countries (no names) who haven’t even started to do that and it makes them naive and something really troubles them underneath it all. They will have to face this ignorance (surface or not) of the dark side otherwise it will turn to poison.
Sometimes I envy them though because they feel confident and at home with their culture while as English and a Westerner, it often feels like an embarrassment with the weight of what has gone on under the Empire and STILL goes on.
Thinking about it, I suppose we (English) may believe that it’s harder to face the history of one’s country, than someone in India (for example) who was a victim but perhaps it isn’t – maybe it’s just as hard for both victor or victim. Interesting.
The hope is something like the internet where the new generations (and everyone else of course) can share stuff that have hardly been shared before on such a scale. Your flag counter testifies to this.
We are not our government. As someone said ‘There is less between us than between me and my government, and there is less between us than between you and your government.’ (Iranian woman I think).
Sorry – rambling rather a lot today. 😀
Hi Sheila,
I don’t recall hearing my late father (he is 92 if still around) speaking ill of the “white men” 🙂
But he will get into a rage whenever he recall the years 1941 to 1945 or known among the local populace as the “era of skimping on tapioca.” In those days, one might lose one’s head to the samurai sword if one is not careful enough! 😦
Understandably those perpetrators had yet to come to terms with their actrocities and their descendants were kept in the dark to this day 😦
You can read this to find out what make my father and those from his era so mad at: https://188hughlowstreet.wordpress.com/2011/06/25/a-river-of-peace-and-sorrow%e2%80%a6/
That’s who I was referring to, though they’re not the only ones. I’m surprised that there seems to be relative silence in your country about these terrible events. We’re used to knowing about who did what in the Second World War, including ourselves and there is a great deal about what happened in the ‘Far East’ (as you are to us), the terrible pain that people endured in their countries as well as our own soldiers and airmen, as well as women who were tortured and killed. Some, maybe many of my parent’s generation still retain prejudice about the Japanese, though those younger than myself wouldn’t have that raw family knowledge, even as they are aware of atrocities of the Nazis and the Japanese in particular.
Some of the reason on silence may not always be repressive, but it’s a natural thing that many families don’t want to pass horror onto their new generations. My father for example (RAF Spitfire pilot) wouldn’t talk about the war at all, but I also think it may be an excuse for people in that country to avoid the shame, like how the German people seem to have done.
It’s all too easy to justify one’s actions – like how many Americans feel justified in dropping the atom bomb? No one at the top certainly, because they’re still (with us dragged into it) trying to police other countries….! The British held themselves responsible for Malaya before the war (they decided for themselves) but as I understand it, unthinking arrogance at the very top and a difficult situation led the decision to abandon ship.
Oddly, for some reason, I’ve been interested in the Japanese for some time – their old culture and new and where they are as a people. I like them but the fascination may have to do with not only seeing what is human in all of us while being different in culture and history, but because it extends (to me) what it means to be a human puzzle.
It has alarmed me at how younger generations have been given the impression that the Japanese were somehow the victims. Haruki Murakami is attempting, through his writing, to address these issues and that things have not been as the Japanese have been taught (or not taught). Good for him. I do feel that they are a deeply, deeply divided people (inside). The famous author (?) who committed suicide had, although he was a raging right wing what’sisname, had a good point – he felt the nation was avoiding its volcanic nature and pretending to be all spiritual sweetness and light (words to that effect). Having to come to terms with an American occupation has affected their psyche enormously. I’m not excusing what they did in the war at all, I’ve heard too much about it, read about it, seen it in films – like your grandfather’s story, it’s not something to forget. I was in Penang when they filmed A Town Like Alice, though from a white perspective – only one in a line of many, many films about the war. Whenever we have a holiday, there are always war films on TV!! How about that for freaky! Most youngsters I think see it as all irrelevant now as the world has moved on. Well, yes and no.
It’s clear we need to learn from history, not hide from it, otherwise we’re not being honest and we can then never truly relate as human to human, whatever our wonderful and puzzling diversity.
Hi Sheila,
All over the world, history is always written by the conquerors, never by the vanquishers. Only the strong got to tell their side of the story, never the weak. 😦 We need a more balance in our history lessons; so that mistakes will not be repeated again. 🙂
Just two links: one to an old mill that inspired Tolkien [The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings] since he lived next to it (and I did too, though not at the same time 😉 and which collects income which helps its upkeep:
http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/things-to-do-in-birmingham/days-out-in-birmingham/2012/03/09/sarehole-mill-and-tolkien-trail-things-to-do-in-birmingham-97319-30499848/
and the other where I used to live:
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ighthammote/
Ok, I’m done now! 😀
Wow Sheila, to live in these places, you must have interesting tales to tell us! 🙂
I do. I have a Blog which is an autobiography, but I’ve only just started it and I’ve only got up to age 6 so far! (and haven’t done much lately because it’s going to be such a big job). Malaya is going to be next if you’re interested at all and you’re welcome to stop by 😉
I’ve never been one to look back on my life, since the present day is so fascinating and exciting, but prompting from friends made me take that step otherwise it would seem so self-indulgent and I didn’t think anyone would be interested. I do wish I’d kept a diary though – and some photos.
I love writing, like you do too. There are times when I don’t feel I have the time to even read your blog or have the link sent to me but then I find myself writing away.
My blog is:
http://scatteredcloudsanddust.blogspot.co.uk/
Hi Sheila,
Just been to your blog, I think you’re doing beautifully 🙂 A six year old girl on a plane to Malaya….what happened next? Do write on and make it your legacy 🙂
Writing is addictive….you will soon find out 🙂
About history being written by the conquerors I agree and if you look at our past history books (say up to the 2nd half of the 20th century) they certainly only told the story from a vanquisher’s point of view and we’ve been victors more times than we can count (but we have also been vanquished as well).
So when it comes to more modern times (ie WWII) that was true also, but things are more subtle than that: our contemporary history and culture has made a huge effort to see the ‘other’ side and there is a lot of knowledge widely known here of what we did that is highly, highly critizised by ourselves – for instance – our own extreme bombing of Berlin at the end of the war and our shameful part in slavery. True we got rid of the latter here but it took a hell of a time to do.
This is all public knowledge, coming from the studies of historians and intellectuals and liberals who, knowing the ‘natural’ patriotic jaundiced eye have tried to see what actually happened and its causes. Maybe if the Allies hadn’t pushed Germany so far after WWI, we may not have had WWII. We as a country bear huge responsibility, those mistakes. I could quote tons of instances. This is all expressed in our media, documentaries, books, in our schools etc. The impartiality of the news of BBC and the World Service has been widely respected though I believe it’s less true now. In throwing out the old, we’ve thrown what was laudable as well.
Despite all this, our politicians ignore the lessons of history and we just do whatever we think is the ‘right’ thing to do because that deep belief that we have ‘righteousness’ on our side which has been there for so many centuries is still embedded in Parliament. Then avaricious commerce is right behind them!
Our Empire was formed not by intent from the beginning. The first people out into ‘far flung lands’ were not exploiters, but individual adventurers fascinated and lovers of other people’s customs – then arrived the exploiters both commercial and political behind them.
Of course, although we can blame politicians, we as humans, we don’t yet understand that dominating, judging and seeing others as aliens isn’t a wise thing.
Hi Sheila,
History is an intriguing subject, much like a kaleidoscope. Adventurers, exploiters, conquerors – they changed events and left behind traces irreversible. What I am worried is whether we all got to learn real history, not constructed ones which politicians used as a tool for propaganda – maybe I am an idealist in this!
Oh, the politicians are another race entirely! 😉
They definitely use whatever distortions they want to get to do what they want or what they believe.
Here the forces of commerce – the multinational corporations – our own but especially the US ones are pushing, quietly and forcefully the politicians who often seem to start out with hugely good intentions and get dragged into all sorts of jiggery-pokery. Then they justify their actions with false fears of other races and cultures. I’m not sure if they distort history so much, more the present day. I doubt if their knowledge of history goes very deep anyway.
I don’t know much about Obama at all, but as far as I understand, he had seriously good intentions, but once someone gets into power, those who rule behind the scenes change their direction entirely. Of course, we don’t know what they know secretly, so we can’t tell if we ourselves would do the same ‘for the sake of the country’. I doubt it as an individual, because I can’t see quite how one can think that way in a narrow old patriotic way because we are no longer separate from the world …. what happens in China affects us, what happens in Iran, the US etc. etc. We need to think more globally. (my opinion, but I do care what happens in the Uk, it’s just not ….only us to think about – though definitely NOT trying to sort out other countries!)
Oddly, the monarchy which most intelligent people here despise and would love to get rid of, have worked tirelessly over the decades to promote peace and understanding with other cultures, to try and correct the imbalances of the Empire.
We are aware that there are dictators or dictatorial leaders around the world who are falsifying everything including history for their own narrow greed for power. Nasty, nasty. I do hope that the truth of history and the present time (they go together) will be there for you – I don’t think it is idealistic at all. However, even the truth is going to be coloured because we all have our individual truths as well, but at least a country should have some standard of attempting to be as truthful as possible about its history and expand from there! I think the internet is likely to have a part to play in this – but be warned, our government is now bringing in powers to police the internet here – the thin end of the wedge of control. The web is a precious freedom where we can all bring our truth – unless you live in China.
So sorry – long post.
Hi Sheila,
I think most of the problems we are seeing in the world today are the work of three groups of people – the politicians, the entrepreneurs and of course the clerics 😦
Thank you SO much Ipohgal, for your encouragement for my Blog. I really appreciate it. I shall have to get my act together… Thank you. 😀
Hi Sheila,
It is a waste if you do not 🙂