Between Yesterday and Today – Malaysia in Pictures (Part One)

“A Malay Village”. Drawn and engraved by T. & W. Daniell, 1810

I remain in this state of mind turned to the past.

After the Philippines and Thailand, I want to go back to Malaysia.

Also, on this country I have, and it could not be otherwise, a beautiful volume of 340 pages that tells the evolution of Malaysia through its pictorial history from 1400 to 2004, as mentioned in the title.

An impressive work created by Wendy Khadijah Moore and published by Editions Didier Millet in 2004, in Kuala Lumpur.

But this time, in addition to telling the stories behind some photographs, I want to go back to enjoying the game I played in the past with Indonesia, that is to compare the photos of the time with those taken by me during my stay in Malaysia.

So that the old images give historical depth to my photographs of the present and the latter give color and life to the first ones.

While for those who live in those places, it will be a profound emotional experience: they will be able to know how those places were a century earlier, filling the temporal gap with love and pride for what had now become a visual habit.

Therefore, unlike the first two articles, I will let emotions and images speak more, obviously choosing only those places that I found in the archive of this book.

 

It's a must to start from Penang, because it's the state of which I have the most photographs, having lived there for almost two years.

But it also has an interesting historical implication.

Let's go back to our dear book “Photography in Southeast Asia - A Survey” by Zhuang Wubin.

Just to put-in-frame the photographic history of Malaysia.

First of all, also for Malaysia, the Pictorialist movement of the early twentieth century was fundamental, which experienced photography as a form of art and not just a mere reproduction of reality.

In many Asian countries the first photographic experiments were inspired by this attitude brought into place by European travelers who went to distant lands in search of inspiration – I will never tire of remembering the great importance that the work of our Felice Beato had.

However, in Malaysia, the Perak Amateur Photographic Society was the first to be started in 1897, thanks to its founder Leonard Wray who was a member of the Royal Photographic Society (RPS).

The arrival of this movement in Malaysia during the colonial era saw some Chinese immigrant photographers immediately specialize in this technique, not unlike their skills with ink paintings – they were among the first to produce images of Malaysian landscapes and rural life.

But it was, historically, Tuanku Ismail Nasiruddin Shah (1907-79), born in Kuala Terengganu, Sultan of Terengganu until his death, he was considered the first great photographer of Malaysia, member of honor of the RPS. He was also one of the first to take a distance from the so fashionable Pictorialism to take a first social photograph, depicting the world “as he saw it”.

But in the history of photography in Malaysia the most famous name is that of Ismail Hashim, born in 1940 in Penang where he died in 2013.

But we have already gone too far.

Let's go back to our book which begins by remembering how the past is a foreign country. Let us therefore allow ourselves to be led back in time by these images.

The book begins with the period of the sultanates preceding the arrival of photography; even if it will have to wait for the arrival of foreigners to have faithful representations of reality because, as soon as it converted to Islam, Malaysia prohibited realistic representation in art.

It is said that the first drawing of a beach with its palm trees, in Malacca, was done by a European sailor.

Malacca and Penang were the first places where art first arrived, thanks to their strategic role as seaports and international trade.

And we start from Penang, even if I have already written a lot about it before.

From what is considered one of the symbols of the heart of the city, namely the Kapitan Keling Mosque, built in 1801 by the first settlement of Muslim Indians in Penang.

In this photo of 1920, it appears in its simplicity, with only the entrance and the minaret still, while for the surrounding wall we will have to wait for the following images of the 1930s.

Masjid Kapitan Keling, 1920

This famous mosque, which we see as it is today in a photograph of me, is not only part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, like the whole area of George Town, but it was also one of the symbols of Islamization in Malaysia.

At that time already disaffected with the colonizing “foreigners”, the Malaysian people sought their identity in Islam, recalling to them all the scholars who had left to attend the Koranic schools in Arab countries.

Joining their forces, Malaysians, Indians and Arabs, they built the first great mosques, especially in Penang, Terengganu, Kelantan, with which they remarked their extraneousness to foreign colonizers.

This mosque is one of its most famous symbols.

Masjid Kapitan Keling, 2017

Another place that everyone knows in Penang is Penang Hill, the highest point from which you can admire the entire city.

This place – which we see here in an image from 1920 – has its origin in the tourist ferment that has characterized this city from its origins. Until the Second World War, Penang was the second urban area in the entire Malay Peninsula, thanks to its seaport activity. Therefore, given the large number of merchants from all over the world, its transport network was intensified as in no other city of the time.

Despite the economic crisis that hit the whole country in the 1920s, Penang has never stopped its growth, as evidenced by the completion of the Penang Hill funicular network in 1920, even though the station was for the exclusive use of the European elite.

The Bottom Station, Penang Hill Railway, 1920

Today it is one of the most visited places, with its gardens and breathtaking views as in the early hours of the morning with the fog that opens over the city.

At 830 meters high, Penang Hill is also known as Bukit Bandera.

Penang Hill, panorama from above, 2019

 

Another splendid place is the Kek Lo Si Buddhist Temple.

Penang is home to one of the largest Chinese communities, and from the beginning, wherever they go, they have brought with them centuries and centuries of intertwining Taoist mysticism, Confucius and Buddha, building temples and celebrating their holidays, among which Chingay in Penang and Wang Kang Festival in Malacca.

The largest temple remains this one of Kek Lo Si, built from 1893 until 1905, although its Pagoda was completed in 1930, perched in the hills of Ayer Hitam.

Here we see it just finished, in 1906.

The Kek Lo Si Buddhist complex at Ayer Hitam, 1906

And how the view from the apex of its height offers itself today.

In the last days of the Chinese New Year the temple is fully illuminated at night and remains one of the most fascinating sights to see.

Kek Lo Si, 2017

 

Penang's rich vegetation has always been one of the things that most impressed European travelers.

Beaches, waterfalls, and forests were amazing attractions.

The first photographs date back to 1860, and locals were usually asked to pose motionless, to avoid the blur of long exposures and to give a sense of proportion, highlighting the majesty of rocks and waterfalls.

The most famous is that of the Waterfall Garden, known today as the Penang Botanical Garden. It is written that at the time, the bathroom at the foot of the waterfall was divided into three classes, each with different prices.

A cascading stream near the Waterfall Garden (now Penang Botanic Gardens), c. 1867

Even today the families of Penang have the weekend to spend whole days immersed in nature and bathing in the waters of the waterfall.

Families at the falls in Penang, 2019

The beaches of Penang are mostly made up of little sand and a lot of stone, sometimes with a bright red color.

Also in this case, the inhabitants of the place are posed to emphasize the size of the stones.

This image was most likely taken at Batu Ferringhi beach in 1867.

Penang Beach, probably present-day Batu Ferringhi, c. 1867

This is how the beach looks like today.

Batu Ferringhi Beach, 2019

And how it is not unusual to find these large red stones on the shores of the beaches in Malaysia, as in the beautiful Pulau Sayak in Kedah.

Pantai Pulau Sayak. Kedah, 20 October 2019

 

While we're in Kedah, I'll show you one of its symbolic places: the door to the Old Fort, in an image from 1912.

Kedah, along with Perlis, was one of the Unfederal Malaysia States (UMS), so they weren't much-photographed compared to the other states most visited by foreigners.

For most of 1900 Kedah and Perlis were threatened by Thai neighbors, which is why the Sultan of Kedah renounced Penang, handing it over to the British in exchange for protection from the Siam army.

Despite this, when the Thai army invaded Kedah in 1821, the British did not intervene until 1842 when they brought Kedah and Perlis back under British hegemony, even though the two states were forced to pay tribute to Thailand annually.

Only in 1909 did Thailand accept the Anglo-Siam treaty in Kedah, giving up the two territories.

Gateway of the Old Fort, Kuala Muda, Kedah, 1912-13

This is how it looks today in 2019.

Kuala Muda, Kedah, 2019

 

We conclude this first part of our journey through time, with Perak.

“I like Kwala Kangsa better than any place that I have been at in Asia, and am proportionately sorrier to leave it,” wrote Isabella Bird of the royal capital of Perak, in 1879.

Kuala Kangsar rests on the banks of the Perak River from which it is possible to admire the distant mountains.

There stands the royal residence of Sultan Idris who reigned from the end of 1880 until his death in 1916.

The Royal Residence – Istana – was built in 1892, at a cost of $55,000 with a grant from the Federated Malay States. The whole furniture came from Europe.

In this beautiful photograph from 1906 it can be seen from the banks of the river.

The Residency overlooking the Perak River, Kuala Kangsar, c. 1906

While today it is under restoration, it still retains all its charm.

Royal Palace (Istana), 2017

Kuala Kangsar is not only famous for the royal palace but also for its Ubudiah Mosque, built by Sultan Idris in 1913-17 with funds from the English administration.

Its construction was delayed when the royal elephants fled destroying the marbles and furnishings brought from Italy very slowly due to the First World War.

Unfortunately, the Sultan died before the completion of the works.

Here we see the Mosque in 1914 and how it looks today, without major differences.

Ubudiah Mosque, 1914

 

Ubudiah Mosque, 2017

Here ends the first part of our journey between space and time.

I will continue in the next part in other states and images.

 

Wendy Khadijah Moore: “Malaysia – A Pictorial History 1400-2004” (EDM, 2013)
Zhuang Wubin: “Photography in Southeast Asia – A Survey” (Nus Press Singapore, 2016)

Italian version