Jerteh, Besut, Terengganu

There are a couple of images to share when I went back to my hometown, Jerteh during the last school holiday.

Let’s start with some images of Kuala Besut.  Kuala Besut acts both as a fishing port at which the fishing boats dock and unload their catch and it also acts as a jetty from which the tour boats ferry the holidaymakers to one of the most popular island destinations in Malaysia – Pulau Perhentian. Many more pictures of Besut can be found here in my zenfolio website.

Yellow fishing boat in Kuala Besut

A boat's bow

Deep-sea fishing vessels in Kuala Besut

Fishing boats moored in Kuala Besut

Pantai Bukit Kluang.  The most popular beach in Besut and the safest beach to swim at.

Bukit Kluang beach - A very popular beach in Jerteh

Bukit Kluang beach - A very popular beach in Jerteh

Bukit Kluang beach - A very popular beach in Jerteh

Jerteh’s new landmark – Masjid Hadhari a.k.a. Masjid Jerteh. You are welcomed to browse more pictures of Masjid Jerteh here in my zenfolio website.

Masjid Hadhari a.k.a. Masjid Jerteh

Masjid Hadhari a.k.a. Masjid Jerteh

Masjid Hadhari a.k.a. Masjid Jerteh

Masjid Hadhari a.k.a. Masjid Jerteh

Enlightening facts about Besut:

Mostly outsiders are confused about Besut. When they come to Besut they complain that they cannot find Besut town. Certainly you will never find Besut town. The town of Besut is Jerteh.  Besut is actually a district while the “capital” of the Besut district is Jerteh. Or is it Kampung Raja since Kampung Raja is the administrative town? Yes folks Besut is actually much more visionary and more forward thinking than its Federal Government of Malaysia. It was only as recent as 15 years ago that the then Prime Minister of Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad was thinking about having a separate town from Kuala Lumpur as an administrative capital, hence the inception of Putrajaya.

But this has been long practised by Besut as far as I can remember by having a separate town between administrative centre and commercial centre being Jerteh as a commercial centre while Kampung Raja as an administrative centre.

Just like Washington DC as the administrative capital and New York as the commercial centre for the US or Canberra as the administrative centre and Sydney as the commercial centre for Australia.

Funny but true for the rural backwater of a district in the state of Terengganu – a state rich with petroleum but sadly not rightfully treated by the power-that-be thus still remains under-developed.

Paddy field in Sekinchan

I was so thrilled to see the vast expanse of paddy field in Sekinchan when I went to Kuala Selangor recently.  Sekinchan is about 30km from Kuala Selangor en route to Perak on the north. I am pleased to share the pictures with you here

A vast expanse of paddy field in Sekinchan

Paddy field in Sekinchan

A tractor

Street photography – a hawker selling grilled chicken

Stumbled on this scene when dropping by at Bandar Baru Kuala Lipis on the way back to KL from my hometown, Jerteh. Loved the smoke emanating from the burning charcoal added with low-angled lighting in the late evening.  It gave a sense of drama and atmosphere. My personal opinion-lah

What do you think?

A hawker selling grilled chicken

Colourful and decorative fishing boats of Pantai Sabak

Pantai Sabak (Sabak Beach in English) in Kelantan is an invaluable historical site. It was the beach on which the Japanese Army first landed before they occupied Malaysia (it was known then as Malaya) during World War II.  Pantai Sabak will forever be remembered for this historical event and it is part of the Malaysian World War II history. Pantai Sabak is a fishing village whose people are made up of mostly fishermen.

However besides its historical site there is at least another attraction to Pantai Sabak. It is where you can find the famous colourful and heavily decorative fishing boats which have become subjects of numerous photographers, local and foreign ones. It is only here that you can find the colourful and decorative fishing boats in a large number.

I had an opportunity to shoot this picturesque fishing pier when I went to Pantai Sabak last week for other purpose actually. It was a classic case of killing two birds with one stone.

The colourful boats were moored at the mouth of the river and there were quite a number of them at the time I was there as it was on a Friday.  Friday for Kelantan state is the rest day. Most of the fishermen were taking this opportunity to do some repair work to their boats or to mend their fishing nets or to just hang out with friends.

Luckily the weather was superb on that day and the beautiful late evening sunlight further motivated me to do the shooting. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Colourful fishing boats of Pantai Sabak

Colourful fishing boats of Pantai Sabak

Colourful fishing boats of Pantai Sabak

Colourful fishing boats of Pantai Sabak

Colourful fishing boats of Pantai Sabak

Colourful fishing boats of Pantai Sabak

Colourful fishing boats of Pantai Sabak

Colourful fishing boats of Pantai Sabak

Colourful fishing boats of Pantai Sabak

A mother’s unconditional love

A silvered leaf monkey mother with her infant

A silvered leaf monkey mother with her infant

A silvered leaf monkey mother with her infant

Even an animal naturally knows how to love and care for their infants. And the way this silvered leaf monkey showed her love and tender care for her baby was very similar to humans just like any other species of primates.

This makes me wonder why human mothers have the heart to just literally dump their babies as widely covered by Malaysian local press of late. To say such act is inhumane is even an understatement because if you say it is inhumane most probably we are referring it to an act by animal standard but then even animals do love their infants. Or maybe most animals especially mammals. So these humans are even worse than animals.

So think twice before you indulge in the momentary pleasure because the impact can be so huge and the sin will forever haunt you for the rest of your life.

Enough of rumblings. I almost forgot to tell you that the silvered leaf monkeys above were photographed on Bukit Malawati, Kuala Selangor when I visited Kuala Selangor with my family recently. Bukit Malawati is their natural habitat but they seemed very familiar with human presence and very tame. I was particularly attracted to this one as it was carrying her baby.

Something unique about the silvered leaf monkey baby is when born it is orange in colour but it takes about three months to develop its adult coats which is black with grey tips. That’s the miracle of God’s creation. Subhanallah.

Silvered leaf monkey (Trachypithecus cristatus) is called lutung in Malay. I overheard the conversation between two visitors on Bukit Malawati that the monkeys there looked different than the “usual” monkeys.  Perhaps the “usual monkeys” they meant are the ubiquitous long-tailed macaque/crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis) or kera in Malay which is native to South East Asia. Probably that two visitors do not have access to wikipedia.

Masjid Asy-Syariff

On the weekend before last I went to Meru by accident as I was just driving through the unfamiliar route looking for photo opportunities.  I stumbled on this beautiful mosque in Meru.  The weather fortunately was flattering resulting in very beautiful lighting that any photographer won’t resist jumping from bed and grab the camera to go shooting. I may be exaggerating but the lighting was the main motivational factor for me to go out and search for good subject on that day.

In fact most of the time lighting is the chief factor that normally motivates me to go out shooting. This is normally the case for outdoor photographers who depend only on sole light source which is the sun light. The quality of the light is very important to produce beautiful photos with crisp colours and contrasty tone. That I guess what differentiates photographs from ordinary snapshots.

Anyway these are the pictures of the Asy-Syariff Mosque (Masjid Asy-Syariff) in Meru.  Its vibrant yellow coat of paint contrasts well with deep blue sky in the background.

Pix #1

Pix #2

Pix #3

Pix #4

Pix #5

Pix #6

Pix #7

This man is about to finish his minor ablution

Comments and criticism are welcomed

Check out the Asy-Syariff Mosque’s official website. It is full of religious activities. Kudos to its committee members who make full use of the technology for the benefit of Islam and muslims.

Please check out this page to see more photos of the mosque and click here for a slideshow of the mosque pictures above.