This is Yee's wish !

It was a long time ago that I used to pass through this town to get to work in the off-shore rigs in the early eighties ! Not much has changed since then. Of course I have also been here for the occasional day trip, but still that don't matter much as when now that I'm here for "another" and personal visit, I have to admit I am taking a closer look at one stark similarity from then and now, which I paid no interest then !

I'm talking about the periodic floods and the almost absolute absence of proper drains ! Yes, I spoke to a few very ordinary people I met apart from the very "famous" people I had the honor to meet earlier yesterday, and it was a plea from these ordinary rakyat that irked me most. Here I must confess that I have not touched base with the locals before !

Take Yee (that's all he wanted me to address him as) and his family for instance, seen here below having a meal at 3pm. with his family as I walked around town yesterday. He warmly invited me to join his family for the meal, which I politely declined, but looking at the warm and welcoming smiles of his kids, I agreed to have a cup of coffee anyway ! Here's his story.
He has been living here in this dilapidated house operating a local food outlet with 4 kids ages ranging from 6 to 15 years, together with his wife and a sister-in-law. Makes enough to put food on the table, but never enough to take his family for a holiday. Got his share of "wang ehsan", yes, but still fears leaving home for fear of floods while he's away !

Now the state government has offered him a choice of "selling out" his business and home for a sum he claims as "measly", for a 3 room apartment building still under construction and pay rental to the developers monthly upon completion OR "upgrade" his place of business as it is situated on a main road, which also is an eye-sore for the many foreign visitors of Kuala Terengganu ! Mind you, he has been living here from his "nenek-moyang"days !

His contention is the government is not doing much to curb the periodic flooding for a simple reason.....so that he'd get fed-up of the flooding and move house and the then vacant land be in turn sold to a private contractor who would then build more apartments for more people like Yee to rent or purchase ! Clever idea but at whose expense, I might ask ?? That is the trend here in this here town that is pocketed with "slums" amidst high-rise buildings. And the question I would like to ask is why isn't the "wang ehsan" been used to build real monsoon drains for countering these floodings all these years ?

I am posting some photographs taken in the heart of Kuala Terengganu below for your viewing pleasure (if you might want to call it that !). And you would have seen the photos of the "elite" houses in the other blogs by now, so here's the view of the uglier side of town.

....notice the size of the drain that services the entire row of houses.....

...a view from my hotel over-looking the "shanty" pockets of the dwellers in Kuala Trengganu.......and the building of new high-rise buildings taking shape...As I said goodbye to Yee and his family, I wished him well and he hoped the government would focus on building monsoon drains and not host monsoon cups ! I also slyly asked him who he'd be backing in this by-election and he sheepishly replied he'd rather not tell me yet....but pointed to a green flag posted hear his home by the road-side with a wink !