Being raised in this small town, I always dream of coming here. I used to watch the lush, green hilltop which could be clearly seen from the verandah of my house, or when sitting laid back behind my late grandfather every morning and afternoon on his wheezy Honda cub when he fetched me to and from school. Thirty years back, this small town is very homely, quiet and peaceful, and everybody knows each other. During that time, I don’t think anybody knows about this place, save for the locals. Now, after 30 years, it is barely visible from my house anymore due to the hazy environment; thanks to the rapid urbanization and global warming. And only after 30 years, my dream (I have many, actually) has finally came true.

    My small hometown could no longer withhold the persistence urge of development, in line with the expansion of Kuala Lumpur. Located on the outskirts of Malaysia’ capital, this small town is undergoing a lot and drastic transformation, and is now crowded with city slickers that moves here when more and more housing estates being built to cater for the already jam-packed KL. Nowadays, everybody hardly knows each other.  I believe this place’s popularity gets hyped when the government proposed to build a 1.5 billion ringgit incinerator here somewhere in 2001. The incinerator, assumed to be the largest in Asia, is intended as a waste management system to reduce the Kuala Lumpur’s dependence on landfills. The proposal was undoubtedly rejected by the locals and the environmentalist, who know and value the green of this place, too good to be an alternative to a dumpsite. A lawsuit was filed, and finally in 2005 an injunction to stop development work of the incinerator was issued, followed by court orders to totally terminate the plan. During the campaign that people started to be aware of the beauty of this place; the number of visitors is increasing since then.

Ah, please forgive me for being sentimental. This place has a lot of memory of my childhood.