These images from Kg Tanjung Tokong were taken during a Raya event on Sunday, 11 October at a time when the villagers are facing an uncertain future.
Photos by Kim MK
Oct 152009
Oct 022009
Mahmud Yusoff, who grew up in Kg Tanjung Tokong in Penang, shares with us his thoughts on the uncertain future facing the villagers:
I was born and grew up in the kampung until Form Five and later left for further studies and work in KL; so my heart is never far from developments in the kampung i.e. through regular visits and involvement in local NGOs for the sake of villagers’ rights…
Back in 1974, the federal government (during the leadership of the late Tun Razak) decided to develop Tanjong Tokong through the Urban Development Authority (Uda). Thus, the state government transferred 48 acres of the land for a token RM1. The traditional villagers who have been there for the last 200 years were declared “squatters” through Uda’s affidavit filed in the Penang High Court on 10 December 2008. Are they doing justice to the villagers?
Sep 102009
A morning blaze in a kampung off Mengkuang Road in Butterworth
Fire in a kampung
From a distance, grey plumes
Darken the morning sky,
Someone’s in trouble,
Someone’s home is ablaze.
Passers-by gawk in awe,
Fire-fighters frustrated,
As hoses run dry,
Valuable moments lost.