FT of Malaysia

  • Art & Places,  FT of Malaysia,  Kuala Lumpur,  sculpture

    Art & Places: The Wave, KL

    I was looking for some information about Whale and Dolphins sculpture when Niza told me it might be Abdul Multhalib’s work. I went google-ing his name and came across Arcawam’s blog article about local sculptures in Malaysia where it features Abdul Multhalib. Thanks to the writer/sculptor, Rosli Zakaria, I managed to get information about who sculpted Whale and Dolphins.

    So later, I became interested in finding more information about Abdul Multhalib and his works. From his website, I found out that some of his works are displayed here in KL and jotted down the list on my phone. Last weekend I made that effort (it’s not like I have to take cheap flights to get there, it was just a 20 minutes drive) with my son to go and find one of his outdoor sculptures named The Wave, situated at Wisma Selangor Dredging. But of course, this won’t be the only only as I’ll be making the hunt for his other sculptures when time permits.

    Abdul Multhalib Musa is known for his ‘fluid metal sculptures’ which seem to have been effortlessly carved out of metal. He has been granted numerous international awards and residencies in recognition of the works that he has done. An architect by training, Abdul Muthalib chose to be a sculptor and artist because he loves art more and according to him, he would be doing art and art related stuff, even if he was working as an architect. Using his knowledge in architecture, he created a one-of-a-kind style in his work. This is to bridge the highly technical aspect in architectural work and abstract representation of form more commonly associated to art. Cutting metals for these sculptures may be needing equipment like this Squickmons CNC plasma cutter here.

    Now let’s take a look at The Wave.

    The Wave by Abdul Multhalib Musa.
    The Wave.

    Yassin and the wave
    My son,Yassin, in front of The Wave.

    According to Abdul Multhalib, The Wave reflects the eminent presence of Selangor Dredging Berhad (SDB) over the years, creating a wave in the market that has been sustained since being established in the 1960s. The overall undulating element of the sculpture evokes a strong presence that is responsible in creating this continuous flowing motion. This is the intangible yet prominent force that the SDB exudes to its surrounding environment.

    The mound at the base of the sculpture creates an illusion that the sculpture is rising from the earth. This relates thematically to the history of SDB, beginning as a company that is literally, down to earth. The earth and the mound acts as a firm foundation and rising from this is the artwork, a steel sculpture design that reflects a modern and contemporary style of living. This is in line with the current focus of SDB to promote a better quality lifestyle for the Malaysian public. The sculpture conveys a new direction towards strength and innovation as SDB seeks to build lifelong relationships by being caring and respectful towards their stakeholders, the people and the environment.”

    The Wave was completed in 2006 and was made from mild steel tube. It stands at 2.2m high with 4.8m length x 5.5m width. This work gave rise to another similar work of his; ‘Swell‘.

    If you are interested to see The Wave, do visit Wisma Selangor Dredging, just opposite Angkasa Raya building at Jalan Ampang, very near to KLCC.

    Last but not least, I would like to extend my gratitude to Abdul Multhalib for taking the time to reply my e-mail regarding this particular work of his. Please do check out his works here: ((())) and Inchek Multhalib’s FB.

    Reference:
    http://www.multhalib.com
    Abdul Multhalib himself (through e-mail conversation)

  • FT of Malaysia,  Putrajaya

    Autoshow @ Putrajaya

    The only time I saw fancy colorful cars, like those which may have also utilized shop paint supplies for your car, was when I watched The Cars movie. Remember when the truck was sleepy and McQueen was sleeping safe and sound inside, there was a group of cars with loud music and fire coming out from the exhaust?

    Well, I saw real ones today. My family and I was attending a wedding at Perbadanan Putrajaya hall when we saw an autoshow at Precint 3 Boulevard. We stopped by as my son wants to see the cars up-close. He was very excited!

    Here are some of the pictures I captured during the autoshow.

    Bumblebee
    Yassin and his dad with their favourite Bumblebee.

    fireexhaust
    Whoaaa… fire-spitting exhaust!

    HelloKitty
    Hellooooo Kitty!

    insdieHK
    This shows how the owner loves Hello Kitty so much.

    Bambush
    Bambush.

    ChunLi
    Chun Li.

     More on my Instagram or sidebar mini gallery later!

  • Art & Places,  FT of Malaysia,  Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia,  sculpture,  TRAVEL/HOLIDAYS

    Art & Places: Dataran Merdeka Fountain, KL

    If you are visiting Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square)  in Kuala Lumpur, do take the time to look for the fountain situated near the flag-pole here. And also, please look at the very interesting details of the fountain.

    Dataran Merdeka Fountain

    Also known as Queen Victoria Fountain, this fountain was imported from England and assembled in 1897. The fountain was originally erected at Market Square, but was moved to Dataran Merdeka (previously known as Parade Ground) upon objection from the police as it obstructed the traffic flow. This fountain was erected as a tribute to the Queen.

    Close-up of QV Fountain

    The base of the fountain is a basin and from the centre, an octagon-shaped marble stones rise to support five tiers of basins and above them, a pinnacle where the water comes out. The basins are decorated with floral and shell reliefs.

    The art nouveau fountain features Heraldic creatures of lions and dragons that I supposed to represent the Victorian empire. Nevertheless, the iconic beasts have been characterized as having the intelligence, loyalty, honesty, and strength necessary to guard what is valued.

    The combination colors of green, blue and brown represents the colors of nature; tree, sky and earth.

    Location: Jalan Raja, 50150 Kuala Lumpur.

     

  • Family travel,  FT of Malaysia,  Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia

    National Textile Museum, KL

    Since I was in the vicinity of Independence Square last school holiday (I visited KL Children’s Library and KL City Gallery), I took the chance to bring my son and nephew to visit the National Textile Museum. Well, it think it was more of me taking the chance. I love looking at textile and thought I go and educate myself on the history of textiles.

    The National Textile Museum is located in a building  formerly the Federated Malay States Railway Station built in 1905. It was conserved and refurbished as museum on 2007.

    The museum explores the rich diversity of the peoples of Malaysia and traces the development and trend of textiles that have characterised and shaped the lifestyle of Malaysians as early as the pre-historic era right up to the modern time. Upon entering the museum on the ground floor we visited two galleries: Gallery Pelangi and Gallery Pohon Budi. Gallery Pelangi traces the Malaysia’s textile evolution and exhibits selected heritage collection of batiks (block prints, tie-dye and hand drawn), Baba & Nyonya textile, Sarawak textile and India textile.


    Textile on display.


    1. Wooden block with floral motif. | 2. Relak nuts – a traditional material used in washing the cloth to be calendered so that the cloth will smell fragrant.

    Gallery Pohon Budi showcases the origins of textiles from the pre-historic time as well as its growth through trade. Also exhibited are tools, materials and techniques of textile-making processes of weaving, embroidery, batik-printing and many more. There are also videos showing the process and I actually felt pretty proud because my husband was one of the person involved in the making of the videos.

    Before we could climb the stairs to see exhibits in other galleries, Yassin and Danial were already tired. So we skipped the upper part of the museum and promised to come back and continue. It was really tiring as we were out as early as  9.30am up until 1pm. We took a bus to KL as my car was in a workshop due to a minor accident. We had heavy breakfast at 10am at Secret Recipe’s, Central Market.

    Overall, we had a great time reading the print exhibits and learning the history of textiles and how textiles were made. One of the things we learned that the checkered Pelikat sarong was brought from Port of Pulicat, India during Melaka’s heyday as prominent trading center in the 15th century. I always love the feeling of getting ‘richer’ with information when visiting museums. Do you feel that way?

    For those who like to visit the National Textile Museum, opening time is from 9.00am to 6pm daily. It will on be closed on first day of Eid’ul Fitri and Eid’ul Adha. Admission is free. Free guided tours are available upon request. You need to call for reservation for groups and schools.

    Address:
    National Textile Museum
    26, Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin
    50050 KL.
    Tel: +603-26943457/3461

     

  • Family travel,  FT of Malaysia,  Kuala Lumpur

    Kuala Lumpur City Gallery

    After taking Yassin and his cousin to KL Children’s Library, we visited Kuala Lumpur City Gallery. It is a great learning experience for them and for me as well. We learned some great history; what influenced the architecture, why some roads are higher than the shophouses, old road names and many more. Did you know that Jalan Sultan Ismail was previously known as Treacher Road? And did you know Jalan Masjid India was formerly known as Dickson Street? I bet you didn’t! A reason for you to visit the gallery as well.

    Kuala Lumpur City Gallery is located in a 114 years old building formerly known as The Government Printing Office. The admission is free. Upon entering, there is a big map of Kuala Lumpur and illustrations of buildings as well as information about the type of buildings.

    When we entered the Memories of Kuala Lumpur exhibit area, we were blown away by the miniature replica models. My son, Yassin, loves to look at building models since he was little and I just let him enjoy the models.

    Other than models, there are exhibits of old photographs, maps and newspaper spread of Straits Times (published in 1971).

    There are also timeline panels of historical events that took place in KL as well as notable historical buildings around KL. I think I will cover these buildings individually on my next posts. After reading and admiring the exhibits, we went into a dark room of diorama models of Merdeka Square and Chinatown.

    And later, on the way out we passed by a room full of handmade crafts capturing the heritage, arts and culture of KL as well as the country. These gifts were made by ARCH – the official souvenir of Kuala Lumpur, endorsed by City Hall.

    We bought some small gifts as well as postcards. And last but not least, we took pictures at the  I-LOVE-KL structure as well as big die-cut print illustration of KL buildings.


    We love the learning experience and all the handmade building models made by ARCH. Do visit the Kuala Lumpur City Gallery and learn about the history of Kuala Lumpur.

    Here’s some information about the gallery:
    – Website: klcitygallery.com
    – Address:  No. 27, Jalan Raja, Dataran Merdeka, 50050 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    – Telephone:  +6 03 2698 3333
    – Operating time: 8am – 6pm daily

    How to get there:
    – Kuala Lumpur City Gallery is accessible by bus, taxi or LRT.
    – A seven-minute walk to Kuala Lumpur City Gallery from the Masjid Jamek Station (LRT).
    – A five-minute walk from Central Market.
    – It is also within the route of the KL Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour.

  • Family travel,  FT of Malaysia,  Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia,  TRAVEL/HOLIDAYS

    Shipwreck Treasures

    Went for a jogging this morning and suddenly my son saw a sign showing the way to the museum and insisted that we head our way there. As I am not that fond using the underpass connecting Lake Garden and National Museum (the smell is terrible), I drove to the museum after warming down.

    The both of us were really sweaty and smelly.  Haha. The air-conditioning during our 5 minutes drive to the museum did not really help.

    yassin

    There’s a new exhibition at Muzium Negara (National Museum) about Shipwreck Treasures going on now from 15 August 2011 until 1 January 2012.

    The exhibition is to educate us about the significance of maritime archaeology and to display collection of discoveries from shipwrecks which were discovered throughout Malaysia waters.

    china porcelains

    more discoveries

    The Malaysian waters was one of the most important trade routes in the world, traversed by merchants from China, Siam, India, Persia, Arabia and the Malay Archipelago since the start of the century and perhaps even earlier. The Southeast Asian waters not only brought together civilisations but became the setting of many tragic shipwrecks.

    Effort to find these wrecks has been carried out since 1980 by several parties, each with their own agenda. Systematic work based on techniques of maritime archaeology only started in 1995 when the museum salvaged the Dutch warship, Nassau, at Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan.

    Other wrecks that has been discovered in Malaysian waters include The Diana, The Wanli, The Desaru, Royal Nanhai and few others. The Diana has been discovered near Petronas oilrig in the straits of Malacca, The Desaru at the coast of Desaru Johor, The Wanli at the coast of Dungun, Terengganu and Royal Nanhai was found 40 nautical miles east of Kuantan in Peninsular Malaysia.

    Here are some pictures from the exhibition:

    Anyway to find out more, do visit the exhibition.

    poster taken from JMM website: www.jmm.gov.my

  • ABOUT ME,  Family travel,  FT of Malaysia,  Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia,  mixed media,  Putrajaya,  TRAVEL/HOLIDAYS

    On Saturday morning…

    …we went to Titiwangsa Lake after having breakfast at Restoran Haslam.

    Wanted to make this a routine but last Saturday, we couldn’t make it. Went there a week before last week.  Previously, it was not that full when we reached Titiwangsa Lake around 9am. But today, it was so full! I get to ask a boy with a fishing rod in his hand, “Dik, ada acara apa ni? Pertandingan memancing ke?” The boy replied, “haah, kak.” Ok there was a fishing competition this morning, no wonder. We made few rounds and luckily we found a spot.

    And the three of us, spent time doing things we love; Yassin with his cycling, me sketching, husband taking videos.

    titiwangsa lake

    Didn’t bring my camera as my bag was full..just relying on my phone camera.

    waterlily

    a frame from my husband’s camcorder

    Here are some of the sketches I got to draw on lovely Saturday morning:

    fern on palm tree

    Epiphytic ferns on palm tree

    waterlily

    waterlilies

    Later on, we went to another lake! hehe…Putrajaya Lake Garden. I love it there, we got the field in front of the Millennium Monument all to ourselves. There’s no other family except some guards and landscape workers.

    putrajaya lake garden

    payung ceritera

    Ceritera garden umbrella

    kacang

    Peanuts…
    [Kacang tak pernah lupakan kulit, kita je yang makan kacang dan buang kulitnya. ~ Emila
    ]