A tourist in Penang

I played tourist in Penang, and it was nice. I did not try very hard to search out hidden secrets, but went with the tourist flow, sitting on a rickshaw and being taken to famous temples and Peranakan homes. And yes, eating well all the way. You can see that the 'modern' world is encroaching on life, but there is still plenty of charm left in Penang.

It strikes me that the scale of George Town Penang, is small, but its aspirations are the same as people all over the world. So many people want to be healthy, wealthy and somehow avoid death. But if you cannot avoid death, let's home that the living relatives will send pleasures like cars and mansions and soft drinks to the other side by burning paper representations of them.

Are we all just searching for other things that we do not know? We are bound by our circumstances, and we try so hard to manipulate it. When our little human efforts have their limited little effects, we pray for higher intervention. We make offerings to figures, hoping that someone else or something else will perform a miracle for us.

I may not have the faith that many people have, I believe in living. This trip is a pilgrimage to life. Taking photos is part of my meditation. Perhaps this act is like that of circling a sacred monument, perhaps it will bring salvation. Or perhaps the moment is perfect, but I am simply too blind to see it.

The first stop on my long journey was very nice and I want to come back to visit Penang again. I do hope that this bodes well for the rest of my trip.


Kuan Yin Temple


Kuan Yin Temple


Altar in a tree outside Kuan Yin Temple


A Hindu altar outside the Kuan Yin Temple


Altar outside the Kuan Yin Temple


Khoo Kingsi Clan House - Part clan house, part religious temple


Khoo Kingsi Clan House


Khoo Kingsi Clan House - Ancestral tablets and a reminder of the inevitable


Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple


Offerings for the dead,Lebuh Carnavon


Altar at the Chew Village by the sea


A relatively modern dream, already cast aside