Tutong

 I grew up in a small town. It is called Tutong town. I went back for cny and stayed at The Lanes which used to be called Halim Plaza. Only managed to stay for 1 night though. When it was first built, as kids, we used to go up and down the spiral way on foot to get up to the car park which never opened even after the building was completed. It was the tallest building that ever happened in that small town. There is a supermarket there called Sim Kim Huat. At first, there was only Soon Lee and Teguh Raya. Teguh Raya no longer opened. The first department store Hua Ho and a cinema opened for quite some time around the area too. Probably the center point of all the fun moved to these place which weren’t there before. It used to be jungle there. Probably I have biked through it once but cannot really remember. We were kids and we thought we can go everywhere with a bicycle. Back then it’s like a resort. Everywhere was green. Now more like a ghost town. Memories there were vague. 

 A lot of the owners were gone, management changed, and the town was not as vibrant as before. Foreigners gone back to their own countries after the law changed in recent years and still changing. The locals gone to heaven. Robberies which were the least of worries have increased.

Abdul Wahab Complex. We used to stay at No.6. Our shop was on the Ground floor while we stayed on the 3rd floor. 3 storeys building. I am used to running up and down the staircase. The whole block was where we played hide and seek. Roller blading. Cycling around the block like a small stadium. Nobody did that now. The whole place was not maintained ever since the owner passed away.

From there, I can cross the road to the other complexes. These were the very first that was there for the longest of time. The complex that we stayed on was actually newly built when I was like 6 or 7 years old. The post office is the building at the hill top. Then the Sungai Petani is there. It is a real river. 

Getting the shot from our room. Sungai Petani.

 These buildings were there only there after I went to college. Behind there was the school. It used to be trees and small streams. I walked past there to get to school. The school was on a hill too but after renovations, the hill was gone. The primary school was fully destructed. I used to be chased by dogs everytime, I passed by though. I guess that time I was skinny because I used to outrun the dogs plus living on the 3rd floor. I ran for my life. At one time, there were like 6-7 wild dogs. They just barked fiercely at me as I passed by. When I felt like they became aggressive, I sprint off to where I knew they wouldn’t go. 

This used to be our shop front. Most afternoon, I would be there to help my mum look after the shop til dawn. Like 6 pm. I would cook lunch if I weren’t doing extra classes in the afternoon. Life back then was quite simple. The hairdresser was on the second floor. We used to get our haircut there. Everything was within reach.