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Showing posts from October, 2012

Fuk Teck Kong, Beliong - The Kiss Of The Dragon

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From a distance, Fuk Teck Gong temple is floating on water, like a floating lotus. Going to Beliong is a step back in time. Visitors are ferried across the Samarahan River by boatmen in sampans after a leisurely and refreshing drive through the Asajaya countryside. Alighting from the boats, they are greeted by farmers who peddle an array of fresh produce from their farms – sweet corn, pineapples, bananas and coconuts. A cluster of Malay houses emerges from among coconut palms as you walk towards the Kampung. There is no road in Beliong. People walk or cycle. At mid-day, or anytime of the day, the place is quiet. There is no sound of traffic except for the sputtering of the outboard engine from the sampan ferrying visitors to the village or that of the occasional motorbike. This is a place which seems out of this world, spared the trappings of modern development. Meaning of Beliong Beliong in Chinese is Wen Loong. Literally, it means kissing the dragon. But there ar

Masjid Bandar Kuching - Oldest Mosque, facing demolition

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A more than 170 years old Indian Mosque in Kuching, Gambir Street, is facing demolition... “Currently, the plan for a new mosque or for Masjid Bandar Kuching is in the final stage of approval and very soon we can start building from the present site,", as reported by the Borneo Post... “The SHS is dismayed at the realisation that it is the private organisations and owners charged with the care of these historic buildings, who are promoting the destruction of these venerable examples of their own heritage, as in the case of the Summerhouse in the Museum Gardens, traditional shophouses, two town-centre Chinese temples.", as reported by the Star... "...although the mosque is the oldest in the State, few youths know about it.",  from e-borneo.com