Something that I very much look forward to... the morning walks :). And last weekend Chiam and I were at one of the many aboriginal villages here in Malaysia, the Aboriginal Chinggong Village in the state of Perak. Yet another unforgettable experience :)
An old lady carrying bamboos, on her way home from a nearby forest. These bamboos are later chopped to small pieces and sold as chinese prayer sticks. A bundle of 100 sticks can be sold for RM5.00 to RM4.50, which if you ask me is way too cheap for all the hard work !! But this is one of the ways for them to earn a living.
At a nearby river, a lady washing bamboo. I was hoping that she'd turned around... and she did !! :)
A father finding a spot on one of the rocks where he then placed his son on and bathe him. I thought this was such a beautiful sight.. love, care and devotion. The kid later was, while shivering, wailing as his father soaped him up. I guess the soap got into his eye.. :).
This was exactly one of the shots I was really hoping to capture... a woman washing clothes at the river and smashing clothes on a rock :).
A girl brushing her teeth. She had just finished washing the basins, pots and pans...
A very kind hearted and friendly man in front of his home making a birdcage. When I enquired about the village and told him that Chiam and I were there for photography, he suggested that we check out a nearby river. He further said that there'll be kids swimming and women washing clothes. I immediately got excited of course.. hehehe :). He then actually asked us to take 2 of his children [whose sweet adorable photos will be in my next album] in the car to show us where the river is !! Wow.. such hospitality !! I never thought I'd get such generous and warm welcome :)
An elderly man who seemed to have just gotten back from work. I did not enquire where he was from but from what I was informed one of the way to earn a living by the villager is rubber tapping. Perhaps he just finished his morning round.
His name his Aching. I was introduced to him by his sister-in-law, a sweet and very informative lady [the wife of the birdcage maker above] who offered to take us around the village [which we so happily accepted :)] and we eventually got to Aching's house. Aching is 19 years old and he has to use a wheelchair to move around. When he was 11 years old, he had a terrible fever and since then bit by bit he lost the ability to use his hands and legs like other people. I chatted a bit but he was too shy and only ocasionally smiled. I was further told that once in a while his brother will carry him to the river for a swim. I almost teared up right there. And most times while his cousin [who is staying with him] is out for work, the village kids will come around to help him with the daily chores. They'll cook and feed him, wash the dishes and fold the clothes. This just touches my heart. Then I got to know that the cousin will be getting married soon and will have to move away. This worries his sister-in-law.... and it worries me too... and I prayed for him...
Aching's very simple and very humble living room...
a very interesting village.
