cum · grano · salis

As it draws closer to the departure date, I decided to take a closer look of my home country, Malaysia. While certain parts of this country is undoubtedly posh and chic ( at least physically ), many hidden areas still retain their old world charm. Armed with a basic, no frills digital camera, I tried my very best to capture the essence of Jalan Pasar.

Faithful to its' name, Jalan Pasar ( Pasar means market in Bahasa Melayu ),is a no-holds-barred market. When I reached there, the wet market was already closing, leaving the air smelling of fish guts, blood and Saturday afternoon rain. Beside the wet market were many traders selling various items from torchlights, traditional miracle remedies to dodgy looking sex toys from China. Down the road from the flea market was a whole row of ornamental fish shops, or should I rather call them stalls. It was rather difficult to distinguish if they were a shop or a stall, as some stalls were extension from shops. Various fishes were put into small blue buckets, arranged in a rather orderly manner. I can tell that competition is great there as some shops have resorted to hiring young girls ( I think they know nothing about fishkeeping ) ply their goods. The numerous 'by the hour' hotels in that area somehow raises my suspicion. There must a connection between those 'fish girls' and the hotels. Perhaps they were offering more than fishes. However, I do not wish to test my hypothesis for good reasons.

In the end, I finally knew why the Chinese call this place 'Half-Jungle Road'. It does not take a genius to figure out why once he or she has visited this place for real. Jalan Pasar, like many other parts of Malaysia, is in a limbo, trapped between the past and the present. Before I sign off, I leave you with a few photographs of Jalan Pasar.

Fancy a haircut?


A prayer in red


Fish and buckets


Lakeside homes